Giants Fall in Road Trip Finale
May 29, 2022 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The San Jose Giants concluded their 12-game road trip on Sunday afternoon with a 6-4 loss to the Modesto Nuts at John Thurman Field. A two-run bottom of the sixth inning put Modesto ahead for good before the Nuts held off a late Giants rally to claim the series finale. With the loss, San Jose (26-19) dropped four of six games in the series to Modesto and finished 5-7 on their road trip.
Sunday's contest began as a pitcher's duel between the Giants' Eric Silva and the Nuts' Joseph Hernandez. Hernandez began his start with three hitless innings retiring nine of the first 10 San Jose batters that came to the plate. The only run allowed by Silva came in the bottom of the second as Modesto took an early 1-0 lead. Robert Perez Jr. started the inning by getting hit by a pitch before he was forced out on Milkar Perez's fielder's choice grounder. Back-to-back wild pitches from Silva then advanced Perez to third before Walking Cabrera delivered an RBI single to put the Nuts ahead.
San Jose tied the game with a single tally in the top of the fourth. Victor Bericoto led off with a single - the Giants' first hit of the day. A wild pitch then moved Bericoto to second. After Riley Mahan's groundout advanced the runner to third, Yorlis Rodriguez grounded out to score Bericoto to make it 1-1.
Silva completed five innings in his start surrendering only one run and two hits. The right-hander walked none and struck out six during his 74-pitch performance. Silva, who set down the side 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings before pitching around a one-out single in the fifth, retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
San Jose would then push across a run in the top of the sixth to take their first lead. A one-out walk to Bericoto started the rally before Mahan singled. Garrett Frechette then walked with two outs to load the bases before a wild pitch uncorked by Nuts reliever Yeury Tatiz brought home Bericoto for a 2-1 Giants advantage. San Jose had an opportunity to extend their lead as Alexander Suarez walked to load the bases again, but Tatiz came back to strikeout Dilan Rosario to end the inning.
The Giants lead was then short-lived as Modesto responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth to go back ahead. Julio Rodriguez entered out of the bullpen to begin the inning and issued a one-out walk to Edwin Arroyo. Then with two down, Perez Jr. clubbed a double to the fence in deep right center scoring Arroyo all the way from the first with the tying run. Milkar Perez was up next and during his at-bat, Perez Jr. stole third and scored the go-ahead run when catcher Rayner Santana's throw bounced down the left field line for an error.
After San Jose went down quietly in the top of the seventh, the Nuts added to their lead in the bottom of the frame. With Manuel Mercedes on the mound, Brett Rodriguez reached safely on a one-out error before Randy Bednar stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run homer to straightaway center. The home run was Bednar's first of the season and it stretched the Modesto lead to 5-2.
The Nuts scored another run in the bottom of the eighth off of Mercedes as Ben Ramirez led off with a single, was balked to second and came home on Cabrera's two-out single to make it 6-2.
The Giants made it interesting in the top of the ninth scoring twice and putting the potential tying run on base, but would ultimately fall short. Max Wright led off the inning with a double to deep left center before Santana singled to put runners on the corners. Najee Gaskins then laced a double to the fence in deep left scoring both Wright and Santana to bring San Jose back to within 6-4. A one-out single from Mahan then moved Gaskins to third and brought the possible go-ahead run to the plate. Rodriguez though followed with a grounder near second that Modesto second baseman Amador Arias easily fielded before stepping on the bag and then throwing to first for a game-ending double play.
GIANTS NOTES
Rare Series Loss: The Giants suffered only their second series loss of the season - both of which have come to the Modesto Nuts (April 26-May 1 in San Jose). The Giants are 6-9 versus the Nuts this year and 20-10 against the rest of the league.
Silva's Start: Eric Silva retired 15 of the 18 batters he faced in his start on Sunday. In two starts against Modesto this week, Silva pitched 9 2/3 innings and allowed only four hits and three runs.
Bericoto Extends Hit Streak: Victor Bericoto was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles on Sunday to extend his hit streak to eight games. He's batting .406 (13-for-32) during the hit streak.
Standings Update: The Giants fell three games behind first-place Fresno (29-16) in the first half North Division race. 21 games remain in the half.
On Deck: The Giants return to Excite Ballpark on Monday afternoon to open a six-game series against the Stockton Ports. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM. Keaton Winn is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
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