CalL1 San Jose Giants

Modesto Cruises Past Giants to Even Series

Published on August 11, 2019 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


One night after scoring a record-setting 20 runs, the Giants managed only three hits in a 10-3 loss to the Modesto Nuts at Excite Ballpark. Cal League Pitcher of the Year candidate Ian McKinney pitched seven strong innings with just one run earned run allowed for Modesto as the Nuts evened the series at a game apiece.

San Jose was playing catch-up throughout the contest as Modesto built an early 4-0 lead against Giants starter Jose Marte with a single tally in the top of the second before a three-run third inning. In the second, Jack Larsen started the run-scoring rally with a one-out single before taking second on a passed ball. David Sheaffer then smacked a double down the left field line to bring home Larsen with the first run of the night.

An inning later, #9 hitter Johnny Adams drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a Joe Rizzo two-out RBI double to right. Cleanup batter Jake Scheiner then stepped to the plate and belted a two-run home run to left for a 4-0 Nuts advantage.

San Jose answered with a two-run bottom of the third to cut the Modesto lead in half despite not recording a hit during the frame. Brandon Van Horn worked a leadoff walk for the Giants. Manuel Geraldo then hit a potential double play grounder to shortstop, but the Nuts' Jose Caballero threw wildly to second for an error. As the ball rolled into foul territory down the right field line, Van Horn raced home to score while Geraldo made it safely into third. Heath Quinn then hit a grounder to shortstop that was also thrown away by Caballero to first. Quinn was credited with an RBI on the play as Geraldo scored to make it 4-2. McKinney, however, responded by setting down the next three hitters to prevent further damage.

Both teams then scored a single run in the fourth. Connor Kopach connected for a solo homer to left center off of Marte in the top half to stretch the Nuts lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the inning, Sandro Fabian struck out to leadoff, but reached first when the pitch bounced away from the catcher Sheaffer. A one-out double to right center from Kyle McPherson then advanced Fabian to third before Van Horn came through with an RBI groundout to bring San Jose within 5-3.

Unfortunately, the Giants would not score again for the remainder of the night. In the bottom of the fifth, Dalton Combs smacked a one-out double off the fence in right center to bring the tying run to the plate. David Villar though followed by lining out to second with Combs doubled off on the play to abruptly end the inning. Modesto then came right back with a two-run top of the sixth against John Gavin to take back all the momentum. Three singles loaded the bases for the Nuts with one out before Ariel Sandoval grounded into an RBI force out to plate the first run. Adams followed with a clutch two-out RBI single for a 7-3 advantage.

Modesto would blow the game open with three runs in the top of the eighth. Facing San Jose reliever Rodolfo Martinez, Sheaffer led off with a single before a Sandoval one-out double put runners on second and third. Martinez then uncorked a wild pitch on a ball four offering to Keegan McGovern to bring home a run. Caballero followed with an RBI double before a Joseph Rosa sacrifice fly plated the 10th and final Nuts run of the night.

Meanwhile, McKinney cruised through the final few innings of his start. The left-hander, who leads the California League in wins (11) and ERA (2.88), set down 10 of the last 12 batters he faced. Nick Duron then struck out four over two hitless innings of relief to close out the Giants.

GIANTS NOTES

Versus The Nuts

The Giants had a four-game win streak against Modesto snapped on Saturday. San Jose had outscored the Nuts by an impressive 42-14 margin during the streak. The Giants still own a 15-12 advantage in the season series against Modesto.

Hitting Streaks

Dalton Combs (1-for-3, 2B) extended his hitting streak to eight games with a fifth-inning double. Courtney Hawkins (0-for-4) saw his hit streak snapped at seven games.

McKinney Rolls

Over his last three starts against the Giants (all in the second half), Ian McKinney has pitched 20 innings and allowed only one earned run. He struck out seven in his seven innings pitched on Saturday.

Inside The Box Score

The Nuts out-hit the Giants by a 13-3 margin. Modesto was 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position compared to 0-for-8 for San Jose.

Marte's Start

Jose Marte was saddled with the loss after yielding a season-high tying five runs (four earned) in five innings. Marte gave up five hits (two homers), walked one and struck out five.

On Deck

The Giants and Nuts play the rubber game of their three-game set on Sunday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 5:00 PM. Tristan Beck is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from August 11, 2019


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