CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Lose Lead, Drop Heartbreaker to Nuts

July 30, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


MODESTO, CA - Modesto's Dom Nunez hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Nuts to a 7-6 walk-off victory over the San Jose Giants on Friday evening at John Thurman Field. San Jose (55-50) was unable to hold a 5-0 lead in the contest as the Nuts rallied to even the series at a game apiece.

Modesto overcame the five-run deficit scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth and four times in the seventh inning to take a 6-5 lead. Jonah Arenado tied the game in the top of the eighth with a solo home run before Nunez won it for the Nuts with his ninth-inning hit.

Rene Melendez (2-for-4, RBI) and Daniel Carbonell (2-for-4, 2B) had two hits apiece for the Giants.

San Jose took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Robbie Garvey blasted a one-out solo home run to right. The homer was Garvey's first with the Giants this season.

San Jose then scored two runs in the second. Miguel Gomez led off with a single before Carbonell doubled to deep left center putting runners on second and third with none out. T.J. Bennett followed with an RBI groundout as Gomez scored to make it 2-0. Then with two down, Melendez lined a single into left center plating Carbonell for a 3-0 advantage.

The Giants extended their lead to 5-0 with two more runs in the top of the fifth. Consecutive singles from Melendez and Ronnie Jebavy began the frame before Garvey walked to load the bases. Dylan Davis then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Melendez with the first run of the inning. A wild pitch followed to plate Jebavy making the score 5-0.

Jose Reyes started on the mound for San Jose and began his outing with five scoreless innings. The right-hander pitched around a two-out walk and a single in the bottom of the second before escaping a bases loaded, two out jam in the third. Reyes then breezed through 1-2-3 fourth and fifth innings. The Giants starter allowed just one hit over the first five innings.

Trailing 5-0, the Nuts began their comeback in the bottom of the sixth. Omar Carrizales led off with a single before Reyes issued a one-out walk to Drew Weeks. Nunez then stepped to the plate and laced a double into the right field corner scoring both runners to bring Modesto to within 5-2.

Reyes finished his outing with two runs (both earned) and four hits allowed over six innings. He walked a season-high four and struck out four during his 94-pitch outing.

With the score still 5-2, Jeff Soptic (0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) relieved Reyes to begin the bottom of the seventh, but immediately ran into trouble. Emerson Jimenez and Wes Rogers produced back-to-back singles to start the inning. A walk to Forrest Wall then loaded the bases before Soptic uncorked a wild pitch to score Jimenez. Carrizales then lined an RBI single into center to cut the San Jose lead to 5-4 and end Soptic's night. Pat Young (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) entered with runners on the corners and none out and promptly struck out Josh Fuentes for the first out. Weeks was up next and during his at-bat, Carrizales, the potential go-ahead run, stole second. Moments later, Weeks blooped a single into shallow right scoring both Wall and Carrizales giving the Nuts a 6-5 lead. All four runs in the inning were charged to Soptic.

The Giants though immediately answered as Arenado led off the top of the eighth with a towering solo home run to left center off of Troy Neiman. The home run, Arenado's 12th of the season, tied the game 6-6.

Young returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and worked around a one-out walk to keep the game tied.

Neiman struck out two in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth before Modesto won the game in the bottom half. Carlos Diaz (2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) was summoned from the bullpen for San Jose and quickly retired the first two batters on a fly out and a strikeout. Fuentes though followed with a double off the fence in deep left center to put the winning run on base. Weeks was then intentionally walked to set it for Nunez, who lined a 2-2 pitch into shallow center for a single easily scoring Fuentes from second with the game-winning run.

Neiman (4-3) earned the win after tossing two innings of relief with one run and two hits allowed. He struck out four.

Diaz (0-1) was saddled his first loss of the season.

Notes - * The Giants suffered their fourth walk-off defeat this season. Three out of their last four road losses have been walk-offs. * Both teams finished with 10 hits on Friday. Modesto was 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position. * Davis (1-for-3) extended his hitting streak to seven games. * Reyes has a 3.12 ERA as a starter this season (8 GS). * Arenado has hit six out of his 12 home runs this year against the Nuts. * The five-run deficit was the largest overcome by Modesto in a win this season. * The Giants reached the midpoint of the second half following Friday's game. At 16-19, San Jose is in second place in the North Division - five games behind Bakersfield (21-14) for the top spot in the North Division.

On Deck: The Giants and Nuts continue their four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 7:05 PM. Jose Morel (2-4, 4.80 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Ryan Castellani (4-8, 4.45 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.

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