Nuts Cruise Past Giants to Take Series
Published on August 1, 2016 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
MODESTO, CA - Nuts starting pitcher Yency Almonte struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings and Modesto catcher Troy Stein homered twice in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Giants on Sunday evening at John Thurman Field. San Jose (55-52), which dropped three out of four games in the series, was held to just one run for the second straight night.
Almonte (8-8), who entered the game leading the California League in strikeouts, worked around five singles and one walk during his dominant start to pick-up the win. Stein (3-for-4, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI) blasted a pair of solo home runs while Wes Rogers (2-for-3, HR, RBI) also went deep to lead the Nuts at the plate.
Daniel Carbonell (3-for-4, RBI, SB) had three singles and drove home the only Giants run of the contest. San Jose left 10 runners on base.
With the game scoreless, San Jose had an opportunity to take an early lead in the top of the second. With one out, Carbonell singled to start the rally. T.J. Bennett then lined a single to right and when right fielder Drew Weeks bobbled the ball for an error, Carbonell raced into third. Almonte though prevented any runs from scoring when he struck out Ty Ross and retired Richard Rodriguez on a groundout.
Stein then gave Modesto a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when he connected for a one-out solo home run to straightaway center off of Giants starter Mark Reyes.
Still down by a run, San Jose threatened in the fourth. Carbonell singled with two outs before stealing second to put the tying run into scoring position. Bennett then struck out, but reached base safely when the strike three pitch skipped to the backstop. Carbonell took third on the play, but was stranded there when Ross struck out to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Robbie Garvey singled with two outs before stealing second as the Giants again had the potential tying run in scoring position. However, Almonte struck out the next hitter, Dylan Davis, to retire the side.
Reyes allowed just one run over the first four innings for San Jose before running into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Rogers lined a solo home run down the left field line to make it 2-0. The home run was Rogers' fourth of the season. Two batters later, Weeks singled with two outs before a Josh Fuentes single put runners on the corners. Then with Shane Hoelscher at the plate, Reyes uncorked a wild pitch allowing Weeks to score for a 3-0 lead.
Stein's second home run of the night and eighth this season was a solo blast in the bottom of the sixth pushing the Nuts advantage to 4-0.
Reyes (8-5) took the loss after yielding four runs (all earned) on seven hits over six innings. He walked four, struck out a career-high tying six and gave up three homers.
Almonte finished his night with a scoreless top of the seventh registering two more strikeouts in the frame. The Giants then finally broke through in the top of the eighth facing Modesto reliever Craig Schlitter. With two outs, Jonah Arenado lined a single into center before Miguel Gomez doubled into the left center field gap to put runners on second and third. Carbonell followed with a hard grounder into the hole on the left side that was stopped by a sliding Luis Jean from his shortstop position. Jean though had no play anywhere as Carbonell reached safely at first with a single and Arenado scored to bring San Jose to within 4-1. Bennett was up next as the potential tying run, but grounded out against new pitcher Logan Cozart to end the inning.
Nuts closer Luis Niebla then threw a scoreless top of the ninth to pick-up his eighth save of the year. Ronnie Jebavy was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Niebla retired the next hitter, Garvey, on a groundout to end the game.
Notes - * The Giants finish July with a 14-16 record (April 10-11, May 21-9, June 10-16). * Both teams had eight hits. * San Jose was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. * Reyes had not allowed more than one home run in any start in his career prior to Sunday (43 starts). * The Giants were a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts (Bennett, Carbonell, Garvey). San Jose's 92 steals this season ranks third in the California League. * The Giants finish the regular season with a 12-12 record against Modesto (8-4 at Municipal Stadium, 4-8 at John Thurman Field). * San Jose pitchers combined for 23 walks and 10 wild pitches (five of which scored runs) during the four-game series versus the Nuts.
On Deck: The Giants continue their road trip on Monday evening in Bakersfield with the opener of a three-game series against the Blaze. First pitch at Sam Lynn Ballpark is scheduled for 7:30 PM. Jason Forjet (10-7, 4.57 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Zack Littell (4-0, 0.84 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 7:00 PM.
* Box Score attached
Joe Ritzo Director of Broadcasting San Jose Giants 588 East Alma Ave. San Jose, CA 95112 Phone: (408) 297-1435 ext. 4507 Direct Phone Number: (408) 380-4507 Email: joeritzo@sjgiants.com
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