Giants Shutout Ports to Take Series
July 18, 2015 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE, CA - Martin Agosta fired six scoreless innings while Tyler Horan and Jeff Kobernus each homered in a 3-0 Giants victory over the Stockton Ports on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. Agosta, Ian Gardeck and Jake Smith combined on a five-hitter as San Jose earned their league-high tying ninth shutout of the season. With the victory, the Giants (43-48) took two out of three in the series and are 9-1 in their last 10 games.
Agosta (4-6) allowed five hits - all singles - with two walks and seven strikeouts during his 103-pitch performance to pick-up the win. Gardeck (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) then kept the Ports off the scoreboard over the seventh and eighth innings before Smith (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth for his fourth save of the year.
San Jose took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Angel Villalona led off the frame by drawing a walk before Horan stepped to the plate with two outs and smacked an opposite field two-run homer to left center. The home run was Horan's team-leading ninth of the season.
The Giants then pushed their advantage to 3-0 when Kobernus began the bottom of the third with a solo home run - his first of the season - down the left field line.
Meanwhile, Agosta worked around a pair of two-out singles in the top of the second as Stockton left runners on the corners. After a one-out single in the top of the fourth from Branden Cogswell, Agosta retired the next five Ports hitters. Stockton's best opportunity to score in the contest came in the top of the sixth. With San Jose still ahead 3-0, the inning began with a single to left off the bat of Franklin Barreto. Tyler Marincov then walked to put runners on first and second with none out. Agosta recovered to record consecutive swinging strikeouts of the next two hitters - Matt Chapman and Cogswell - before a full-count walk to John Nogowski loaded the bases. The Giants starter though was able to pitch out of trouble inducing Beau Taylor to fly out to shallow right to end the inning.
Gardeck relieved Agosta to begin the top of the seventh and needed just seven pitches to set down Stockton 1-2-3. In the eighth, Gardeck issued a two-out walk to Chapman, but came back to strikeout Cogswell to retire the side.
In the top of the ninth, Smith struck out Nogowski, set down Taylor on a groundout and then induced B.J. Boyd to fly out to left to finish the game.
Ports starter Chris Lamb (0-1) suffered the loss after yielding three runs (all earned) on three hits over 2 1/3 innings. Lamb, who was making his Stockton season debut after coming down from Double-A Midland earlier in the week, walked two and struck out one. Three Ports relievers then combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings with just three hits allowed.
Christian Arroyo (2-for-4, 3B), who singled and tripled, was the only Giants player to finish the game with more than one hit. San Jose out-hit Stockton by a 6-5 margin.
Notes:
* San Jose has three shutouts in their last eight games. Their nine shutouts overall this season are tied with Visalia for the league lead.
* Over the last 10 games (9-1 record), the Giants own a 1.47 team ERA.
* Agosta has tossed 14 scoreless innings over his last two starts (8 H, 3 BB, 15 SO).
* Horan has homered in back-to-back games.
* San Jose improved to 13-8 in the second half - two games behind Visalia (15-6) for first place in the North Division.
* The Giants' overall record (43-48) is within five games of the .500 mark for the first time since April 28 (7-12).
On Deck: The Giants continue their homestand on Saturday evening with the opener of a four-game series against the Lancaster JetHawks. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 PM. Jason Forjet (2-2, 3.09 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the JetHawks are expected to counter with Troy Scribner (2-3, 6.15 ERA). It's a Mix 106.5 Saturday in the Park and a spectacular fireworks show presented by South Bay Piping will follow the game. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from July 18, 2015
- Home Runs Power Giants to 4-1 Victory - San Jose Giants
- San Jose Giants on Deck: Giants Continue Homestand against Lancaster - San Jose Giants
- Nuts Miss Opportunities in 6-5 Loss - Modesto Nuts
- Blaze Deliver Walkoff Blow to Nuts in 11th, 6-5 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Giants Shutout Ports to Take Series - San Jose Giants
- Home Runs Sink Ports in 3-0 Loss - Stockton Ports
- Lancaster Blanked to End Lefty Duel - Lancaster JetHawks
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