CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Take Series from Nuts with 4-1 Victory

Published on May 9, 2014 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Joe Biagini, Mason McVay and Tyler Rogers combined to allow just one run while recording 11 strikeouts in a 4-1 San Jose victory over the Modesto Nuts on Thursday evening at Municipal Stadium. Brian Ragira and Blake Miller each produced a two-RBI double to lead the Giants offensively as San Jose won their third game in a row and took three out of four in the series from Modesto.

Biagini (1-2) picked-up his first win of the year after limiting the Nuts to a single run over six strong innings of work. The right-hander allowed five hits, walked four and struck out a season-high seven. McVay (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) then kept Modesto off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings to preserve a one-run lead before Rogers (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Giants plated two runs against Nuts starter Matt Flemer. Jesus Galindo led off the frame with a bunt single - San Jose's first baserunner of the night. With one out, Galindo stole second and then with two down, Mitch Delfino drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Ragira was up next and he belted a 1-2 pitch from Flemer into the right center field gap for a double. The hit scored both Galindo and Delfino giving the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Biagini began his night with five scoreless innings. Modesto threatened in the top of the second when they loaded the bases with one out, however Biagini struck out Dean Espy and then retired Juan Ciriaco on a groundout to end the inning. Biagini had set down seven straight hitters until Jordan Ribera drew a two-out walk in the top of the fourth. Biagini though quickly got out of the inning and then worked around a one-out single in the fifth.

The Nuts' only run of the contest came in the top of the sixth as Sean Dwyer began the rally with a one-out single. After Will Swanner struck out, Ribera drew a walk and then Sam Mende reached on an infield single to shortstop to load the bases. Espy was up next, but Biagini uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop on an 0-2 offering allowing Dwyer to score cutting the lead in half. However, Biagini settled down to strikeout Espy on the next pitch to end the inning and keep San Jose ahead.

McVay entered the game to begin the top of the seventh and promptly allowed a leadoff single to Ciriaco. After Ciriaco was forced out on David Kandilas' fielder's choice grounder, McVay threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt. The miscue allowed Kandilas, the potential tying run, to advance to third. McVay though recovered picking-up consecutive looking strikeouts of the next two hitters, Derek Jones and Trevor Story, to end the inning.

After McVay tossed 1-2-3 top of the eighth, the Giants plated two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Chris Lofton led off with a single before moving to second on Galindo's sacrifice bunt. After Trevor Brown walked, Miller blasted a double off the fence in left to score both runners for a 4-1 advantage.

In the top of the ninth, Rogers quickly set down the first two hitters before yielding a single to Ciriaco. However with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, Rogers struck out Kandilas on a 3-2 pitch to seal the victory.

Flemer (3-3) suffered the loss for Modesto despite allowing just two hits in six innings of work. Flemer was charged with two runs (both earned). He walked three and struck out five.

Notes: San Jose won their first series since April 17-19 when they took two out of three games from Bakersfield ... The Giants' current three-game winning streak is just one shy of their season-high (four in a row from April 15-18) ... Modesto out-hit San Jose by a 7-4 margin on Thursday ... No Giants players finished with more than one hit ... Delfino's (0-for-3, BB) hitting streak was snapped at seven games ... Biagini lowered his season ERA to 3.66 ... San Jose improved their record to 15-20.

On Deck: The Giants continue their homestand Friday evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Inland Empire 66ers. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Chris Stratton (2-3, 4.83 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Nate Smith (4-3, 3.28 ERA). The game will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104.

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