CalL1 San Jose Giants

Modesto Shocks Giants With Ninth-Inning Rally

Published on May 17, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Modesto's Charlie Blackmon hit a single to drive home the winning run capping a dramatic two-out, two-run bottom of the ninth inning for the Nuts in a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Giants on a hot Sunday afternoon at John Thurman Field. The Nuts trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning until Michael Mitchell delivered a two-out RBI single into left field to tie the game. Then after stealing second base, Mitchell scored when Blackmon grounded a single into right field. The loss drops San Jose's overall record to 22-15.

Edwin Quirarte (0-3) suffered the loss and his first blown save of the season after surrendering both runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Radames Nazario led off the decisive rally by driving the first pitch of the inning into the right center field gap for a double. Lars Davis then moved Nazario to third base with a sacrifice bunt before Jeff Cunningham grounded out weakly to first for the second out of the inning. Mitchell was up next and he lined a 1-1 pitch into left field for a single to score Nazario.

During Blackmon's at-bat, Mitchell stole second base to put the potential winning run into scoring position. Then on a 2-2 offering from Quirarte, Blackmon singled into right field to easily score Mitchell setting off the Modesto celebration.

T.J. Brewer started on the mound for the Giants and tossed five scoreless innings with four hits allowed. Brewer struck out four and walked none during his 61-pitch outing.

San Jose threatened in the top of the second inning against Nuts starting pitcher Kenny Durst when Buster Posey led off by reaching on an error before Roger Kieschnick doubled to put runners on second and third with none out. Durst though was able to pitch out of trouble inducing Angel Villalona to fly out to shallow right before Nick Noonan struck out looking and then Conor Gillaspie grounded out.

In the fourth, Thomas Neal led off with a double and attempted to score on Villalona's two-out single into left field. However, Mitchell fired a perfect throw to the plate to retire Neal and keep the game scoreless.

The Giants finally broke through in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out rally against Durst. After two quick outs to begin the frame, Neal drew a walk before Posey lined a single into left. Kieschnick then delivered a line drive single into right center field to plate Neal with the first run of the contest.

Durst received a no-decision for Modesto after yielding one run on five hits over six innings. The left-hander walked one and struck out three.

The Nuts threatened in the seventh and eighth innings against the Giants bullpen, but failed to score in both frames. After Mitch Lively retired the first four batters of his outing, the San Jose reliever surrendered a one-out single in the seventh to Jay Cox before Nazario doubled putting runners on second and third. Steve Edlefsen was then summoned from the bullpen and he promptly struck out Davis swinging before issuing a walk to Cunningham to load the bases. Edlefsen though induced Mitchell to ground out back to the mound ending the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, Maikol Gonzalez doubled with one out against Edlefsen to again put the potential tying run into scoring position. After Hector Gomez struck out on three pitches, the Giants elected to intentionally walk Brian Rike to put runners on first and second. Cox followed with a softly hit ground ball on the right side of the infield that was gloved by a diving Noonan. On the play, Gonzalez attempted to score, but was thrown out by Noonan at the plate to keep the Giants ahead by a 1-0 margin.

Modesto's Matt Reynolds (2-1) was credited with the victory after tossing two perfect innings over the eighth and ninth frames. San Jose did not pick up a hit after Kieschnick's RBI single in the top of the sixth.

Kieschnick (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) was the lone Giants player to finish with a multiple-hit game. Modesto out-hit San Jose by a 10-5 margin.

Notes: The Nuts have won two out of the first three games in the series ... Brewer was making his second start of the season after eight relief appearances ... Kieschnick has four straight multiple-hit games ... Lively (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO), Edlefsen (1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO) and Quirarte (2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) all worked out of the San Jose bullpen ... The Giants suffered their first loss this season when taking a lead into the ninth inning ... It was their third walk-off defeat in the last six games ... The game-time temperature was 99 degrees ... The temperature at John Thurman Field reached a sizzling 110 by the end of the game ... Andres Torres (0-for-4) and Ben Copeland (0-for-4) both played the third games of their respective rehabilitation assignments ... San Jose and Modesto are tied for second place in the North Division - three games behind the Visalia Rawhide (25-12) ... The Giants are 7-5 on their 13-game road trip.

On Deck: The Giants conclude their road trip on Monday evening with the finale of their four-game series against the Modesto Nuts. First pitch at John Thurman Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Clayton Tanner (2-0, 2.28 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Bruce Billings (2-3, 3.26 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from May 17, 2009


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