CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Shutout Modesto in Series Opener, 5-0

Published on June 4, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


MODESTO - Jason Forjet and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout as the San Jose Giants blanked the Modesto Nuts by a 5-0 score on Monday evening at John Thurman Field. In the opener of a three-game series, San Jose pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts to lead the Giants to their fourth shutout of the season. The win improved San Jose's record to 35-22 while the Giants increased their first half North Division lead to three games over the Visalia Rawhide (32-25) with 13 to play.

Forjet (2-0) struck out a career-high eight batters over six shutout innings to pick-up the win. Forjet allowed just two singles and issued two walks during his dominant performance on the mound. Luis Rojas (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO), Cody Hall (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) and Josh Osich (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then each tossed a scoreless inning of relief to complete the shutout.

Angel Villalona (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Chris Lofton (2-for-5, 2B) each produced multi-hit games at the plate while Mac Williamson (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) hit his seventh home run of the season to lead San Jose offensively.

Williamson gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead when he led off the top of the second inning with a towering home run to left center field. San Jose then took advantage of three Modesto errors in the top of the fourth to push across two more runs and extend their lead to 3-0. Villalona led off the fourth inning with a single to right before Devin Harris' potential double play grounder was mishandled by Nuts third baseman Niko Gallego for an error. A catcher's interference call with Williamson at the plate then loaded the bases with none out. After Jeff Arnold struck out, Myles Schroder hit a slow grounder to second base. On the play, Modesto second baseman Taylor Featherston threw wildly to first with the pitcher covering as two runs scored to make it 3-0. Schroder was credited with one RBI on the error.

The Giants made it 4-0 in the top of the fifth as Lofton and Villalona both singled with one out before Harris drew a walk to load the bases. Williamson then picked-up an RBI on a fielder's choice groundout as Lofton scored the fourth San Jose run of the night.

Meanwhile, Forjet faced the minimum 12 hitters over the first four innings. Gallego singled with two outs in the bottom of the third for Modesto's first hit of the game, but was promptly picked-off by Forjet to end the inning. Forjet then fanned two in a perfect bottom of the fourth before pitching around a two-out walk in the fifth inning.

Trailing 4-0, the Nuts threatened in the bottom of the sixth as Gallego singled with one out before Trevor Story drew a two-out walk. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, but Taylor Featherston followed with a fly out to the warning track in left to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Rojas allowed a two-out double to Jared Simon, but struck out the next batter, Will Swanner, for the final out. Hall then struck out three straight hitters in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning.

The Giants extended their lead to 5-0 in the top of the ninth as Brock Bond walked with one out before Villalona laced a two-out RBI double into the left center field gap.

Osich entered the game to begin the bottom of the ninth and pitched around a one-out error to finish the game.

Modesto starter Ben Alsup (3-6) suffered the loss after yielding four runs (two earned) on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out four.

Notes: San Jose's four shutouts are tied for the league-lead (Visalia) ... Over his last two starts (both wins), Forjet has allowed one run in 12 innings ... Forjet was making just his fourth career start as a professional ... The Giants out-hit the Nuts by a 6-3 margin ... Villalona is batting .395 (15-for-38) over his last nine games ... San Jose is 4-0 at John Thurman Field this season ... The Giants also improved their overall road record to 22-7.

On Deck: The Giants and Nuts continue their three-game series on Tuesday evening with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 7:05 PM. Kelvin Marte (2-1, 3.13 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Eddie Butler (0-1, 5.73 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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



California League Stories from June 4, 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