Giants Hang on for 6âÂÂ5 Victory over Modesto
June 16, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
Ricardo Genoves and Marco Luciano both homered before the Giants bullpen was able to hold off Modesto late for a 6-5 win over the Nuts on Tuesday evening at John Thurman Field. In the opener of a six-game series, reliever Austin Reich escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the one-run lead before keeping Modesto off the board in the eighth and ninth innings to secure the victory. San Jose (25-12) has now won four consecutive games and eight of their last nine overall.
After blasting 18 home runs during their six-game series in Stockton to open the current road trip, the Giants picked-up right where they left off with another long ball early in Tuesday's contest. With a runner on first base and two outs in the top of the first, Genoves stepped to the plate and launched a home run to deep center. The two-run shot, Genoves' sixth round-tripper of the season, gave San Jose a 2-0 lead.
Low-A West strikeout leader Carson Ragsdale started on the mound for the Giants and delivered another solid outing. Ragsdale tossed four scoreless innings and worked around two hits and four walks. The right-hander recorded seven strikeouts during his 75-pitch performance.
Ragsdale managed to pitch around a two-out walk in the first inning before working through a two-out single and a walk in the second. The bottom of the third was his only 1-2-3 inning of the night. In the fourth, two walks and a single loaded the bases with one out, but Ragsdale recorded a strikeout and induced a fly out to retire the side and keep the score at 2-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, Randy Rodriguez was summoned into pitch, which began an eventful night for the San Jose bullpen. Modesto was able to tie the game with a two-run fifth against Rodriguez despite managing just one hit in the inning. Victor Labrada drew a leadoff walk and scored the first Nuts run of the night when Cade Marlowe produced a two-out RBI double. Robert Perez Jr. was up next and he struck out, but the strike three pitch got away from the catcher Genoves. The wild pitch allowed Perez to safely reach first while Marlowe advanced to third. Then with Matt Scheffler at the plate, Rodriguez uncorked another wild pitch as Marlowe came home to tie the game 2-2. Rodriguez would recover to set down Scheffler on a fly out to end the inning.
The Giants though immediately answered with a four-run top of the sixth to move back in front. Following a leadoff walk to Genoves, Luciano came up and blasted a two-run home run to left for a 4-2 advantage. The home run was Luciano's team-high tying eighth of the season.
Casey Schmitt then restarted the rally with a double before consecutive one-out walks to Luis Toribio and Garrett Frechette loaded the bases. Brett Auerbach was up next and he hammered a deep fly ball that was caught by the center fielder Labrada as he crashed into the wall. While Auerbach was retired on the play, two runs managed to score on the deep sacrifice fly as both Schmitt and Toribio came home to make it 6-2.
The duo of Rodriguez and Juan Sanchez would combine to work a scoreless bottom of the sixth for San Jose, but the Nuts would rally in the seventh. Sanchez surrendered a one-out double to Trent Tingelstad before Marlowe's RBI single cut the Giants lead to 6-3. Wilkelma Castillo was then brought into the game, but he would not retire any of the four batters that he faced. After Perez Jr. singled, Scheffler worked a walk to load the bases. Castillo then walked Gomez on four pitches to force home another run and make the score 6-4. Then Amador Arias drew a full-count walk - the third consecutive free pass issued by Castillo - to bring Modesto to within 6-5.
With San Jose clinging to the lead, Austin Reich would become the third reliever of the inning and he kept the Giants ahead with an impressive long relief appearance. With the potential tying run at third and go-ahead run at second, Reich struck out Brett Rodriguez and retired Labrada on a fly out to right to end the inning.
Reich came back out for the bottom of the eighth and struck out two Nuts hitters in a 1-2-3 frame. He then returned to the mound for the ninth with the lead still at a single run and would slam the door to seal the victory. Scheffler drew a one-out walk in the inning to put the tying run on base, but Gomez lined into a double play to second to end the game.
GIANTS NOTES
Road Trip Update
The Giants improved to 6-1 on their current road trip. San Jose is averaging 7.1 runs per game and has hit 20 home runs on the trip.
Reich Saves The Day
Austin Reich earned his first save of the season after tossing 2 2/3 hitless innings to finish the game. Reich walked one, struck out three and retired seven of the eight batters he faced.
Hitting Leaders
Ricardo Genoves (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), Marco Luciano (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Brett Auerbach (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI) each drove home two runs for the Giants. Luis Matos (2-for-4, SB) also had a multi-hit game. Matos (nine games) and Alex Canario (eight games) both extended hitting streaks.
Roster Moves
The Giants made a flurry of roster moves before the game on Tuesday as outfielder Armani Smith was promoted to High-A Eugene and utility player Edison Mora was transferred to the Arizona Complex League (Rookie). Smith was leading San Jose with a .339 batting average this season. He also had four home runs and 14 RBI's in 15 games with the Giants. Outfielders Jairo Pomares and Carter Williams were added to San Jose's roster from Arizona. Pomares, the #14 prospect in the organization according to MLB.com, started in right field on Tuesday and went 0-for-4 with a walk.
Tied For First
The Giants remained in a tie for first place with the Fresno Grizzlies (25-12) in the North Division standings.
On Deck
The Giants and Nuts continue their series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at John Thurman Field set for 7:05 PM. Ryan Murphy is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
• Discuss this story on the California League message board...
California League Stories from June 16, 2021
- Robinson Pina Dazzles But Storm Come Back to Down Inland Empire - Inland Empire 66ers
- Grizzlies Slug Their Way Past Ports 14-3 - Fresno Grizzlies
- Grizzlies Bats TooÃÂ Strong Tuesday - Stockton Ports
- Giants Hang on for 6âÂÂ5 Victory over Modesto - San Jose Giants
- Two Big Home Runs Send Nuts to Third Straight Loss - Modesto Nuts
- Quakes Thump Rawhide in Opener - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
