CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Hold off Rawhide for Sixth Straight Win

Published on August 28, 2019 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


The Giants took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning on Tuesday night before holding off Visalia late to secure a 2-1 victory over the Rawhide at Excite Ballpark. First baseman Shane Matheny threw out the potential tying run at the plate on a wild play to end the game as San Jose claimed the opener of their final homestand of the season. The win was the Giants' sixth in a row overall and it maintained their 1 1/2 game lead over Modesto in the North wild card race with six to play.

Casey Meisner had a spectacular start on the mound in Tuesday's series opener with six no-hit innings. Meisner worked around three walks and a pair of errors during his outing to keep Visalia off the board. He struck out four during his 93-pitch outing.

San Jose built a 2-0 lead with single tallies in the third and sixth innings. In the bottom of the third, Kyle McPherson doubled with one out and immediately scored when the next batter, Matheny, ripped a single into right center.

The Giants then rallied with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, David Villar singled and Courtney Hawkins worked a full-count walk. Heath Quinn was up next and he blasted a double off the fence in deep left to bring home Villar with San Jose's second run of the night.

Meanwhile, the Rawhide didn't advance a runner into scoring position against Meisner until the top of the fifth when Jose Herrera and Ryan Grotjohn drew back-to-back one-out walks. Meisner though recovered to set down the next two hitters, Anfernee Grier and Alex King, on consecutive fly outs. In the sixth, Luis Basabe reached on a two-out error and was awarded second on a balk, but was stranded there when Meisner struck out Yoel Yanqui to end the inning.

With the Giants ahead by two runs, Camilo Doval entered from the bullpen to begin the top of the seventh and initially kept the no-hit bid intact. Doval issued a one-out walk in the seventh, but came back to strikeout Grotjohn and retire Grier on a fly out.

Visalia though would finally breakthrough in the top of the eighth. Doval walked pinch-hitter Jorge Perez to start the inning before Eduardo Diaz struck out. After a wild pitch moved Perez to second, Dbacks #1 prospect Alek Thomas hit a high chopper over the head of the third baseman Villar and into shallow left for the Rawhide's first hit of the game. The single brought home Perez to cut San Jose's lead to 2-1. Patrick Ruotolo was then summoned from the bullpen, but he promptly walked Basabe to put runners on first and second. The Giants, however, escaped as catcher Hamlet Marte picked-off Thomas at second base for the second out before Ruotolo fanned Yanqui to end the inning.

With the score still at 2-1, Ruotolo returned to the mound in the top of the ninth and walked Jancarlos Cintron on four pitches to start the inning. Ruotolo bounced back to strikeout Herrera, but Cintron would then steal second to put the potential tying run into scoring position. Following a strikeout of Grotjohn for the second out, Grier worked a full-count walk. Perez was up next and his sharp grounder to first took a bad hop and glanced high off Matheny's body and bounced in the air. As Matheny scrambled over to pick up the ball, Cintron raced around third and attempted to score the tying run. Matheny though managed to recover and after gloving the ball, fired a perfect throw home to nail Cintron in dramatic fashion for the final out of the game.

GIANTS NOTES

Win Streak

With six victories in a row, the Giants have matched their longest winning streak of the season. San Jose also won six straight from May 13-21. The Giants own a sparkling 1.67 team ERA during the current win streak.

Homestand Opener

Tuesday marked the beginning of San Jose's final homestand of 2019. Following three games against Visalia, the Giants will host Stockton in a four-game set to end the regular season.

On The Mound

Casey Meisner (6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO), Camilo Doval (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) and Patrick Ruotolo (1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 SO) combined on a two-hitter. Meisner earned the win to improve to 3-3 while Ruotolo notched his second save of the year. Meisner retired 17 of the 22 batters he faced.

Hitting Leaders

Shane Matheny (2-for-4, RBI) and David Villar (2-for-4) had multi-hit games for the Giants. Matheny has eight hits in his last three games. Heath Quinn's (1-for-3, 2B, RBI) double was his 13th of the season. San Jose out-hit Visalia 8-2.

Roster Moves

Relief pitcher Mac Marshall was activated from the injured list before the game. Marshall is returning from an oblique injury suffered on July 1. In a corresponding move, pitcher Clay Helvey returned to Salem-Keizer (Short-Season level).

Playoff Race

Modesto edged Stockton by a 4-3 score on Tuesday night. The Giants (62-71) maintained their 1 1/2 game lead over the Nuts (61-73) in the wild card race while they increased their advantage to 3 1/2 games over the Ports (58-74). Six games remain in the regular season.

On Deck

The Giants and Rawhide continue their series on Wednesday night with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 7:00 PM. Tristan Beck is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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