CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Pitchers Strike out 15 in 5-3 Win over Nuts

Published on June 12, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Edwin Escobar struck out nine and allowed just one run over six strong innings as the San Jose Giants earned a 5-3 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Tuesday evening at Municipal Stadium. San Jose pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts propelling the Giants to a fifth win through the first six games of the homestand.

San Jose (40-25) maintained their four-game lead over the Visalia Rawhide (36-29) in the North Division race with just five games remaining in the first half. With Tuesday's win, the Giants have reduced their magic number to clinch the division to two.

Escobar (1-3) picked-up his first win of the season after a dominant performance on the mound. The left-hander surrendered only one unearned run and scattered six hits with one walk during his 101-pitch performance. Escobar matched a season-high in both innings and strikeouts.

John Polonius (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) delivered a pair of key two-out, run-scoring hits to lead the Giants offensively. Devin Harris (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) also produced two hits while Mac Williamson (1-for-2, 2B) extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

The Giants never trailed in the contest scoring twice in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Back-to-back one-out doubles from Harris and Jeff Arnold scored the first run of the game. Then with two outs, Polonius ripped a double to the fence in center to bring home Arnold for a 2-0 advantage.

Escobar faced just one batter over the minimum in the first three innings working around a leadoff walk in the first and a leadoff single in the third. Modesto's only run against the San Jose starter came in the top of the fourth. With one out, Taylor Featherston singled before Ryan Casteel laced a two-out double into the left field corner. Featherston advanced to third on the hit and then scored when the left fielder Harris bobbled the ball for an error.

The Giants though got the run back in the bottom of the fourth before tacking on another run in the fifth inning. Williamson led off the fourth with a double and eventually scored on Polonius' two-out single into center. An inning later, Brock Bond drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on Chris Lofton's sacrifice bunt and scored on Harris' two-out single.

Meanwhile, Escobar allowed two singles to begin the top of the fifth, but struck out the next two batters before Featherston popped out to end the threat. In the sixth, Will Swanner doubled with two outs, but Harold Riggins followed by striking out to complete Escobar's night.

Trailing 4-1, the Nuts rallied against San Jose reliever Edward Concepcion (1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) in the top of the seventh. With one out, Niko Gallego singled before Trevor Story stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run to left. The home run, Story's fifth of the season, trimmed the Giants lead to 4-3.

Modesto then threatened against Luis Rojas (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) in the top of the eighth, but stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Jared Simon was hit by a pitch to start the frame while a one-out double from Swanner put runners on second and third. Rojas though recovered to strikeout Riggins on three pitches before Tyler Massey grounded out to first to end the inning.

San Jose plated an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth without the benefit of a hit to extend their lead to 5-3. Williamson led off by getting hit by a pitch before a one-out walk to Arnold. A wild pitch then advanced the runners to second and third with two outs. Polonius followed by striking out, but a passed ball on the catcher Swanner allowed the hitter to reach base and Williamson to score.

In the top of the ninth, Bryce Bandilla (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) struck out the side in a perfect inning to seal the victory. Bandilla was credited with his third save of the year.

Nuts starter Tyler Gagnon (5-4) suffered the loss after he was charged with four runs (three earned) on seven hits in six innings. Gagnon walked two and struck out six.

Notes: The teams have split the first two games of the series ... Escobar lowered his ERA to 3.23 ... His first win of the season came in his 11th start ... Modesto out-hit the Giants by a 9-7 margin ... The Nuts were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position ... Harris leads the team in doubles (17) and RBI's (39).

On Deck: The Giants and Nuts play the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Clayton Blackburn (3-3, 4.30 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Chris Jensen (2-4, 3.67 ERA). A spectacular fireworks show presented by Yahoo! will follow the game and tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



California League Stories from June 12, 2013


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.

OurSports Central