CalL1 San Jose Giants

Nuts Edge Giants With Run In Bottom Of Ninth

Published on May 24, 2008 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Modesto's Nelson Robledo singled home Geoff Strickland with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Nuts a walk-off 3-2 victory over the San Jose Giants on Friday night at John Thurman Field. With runners on the corners, Robledo stepped to the plate and singled sharply through the hole on the right side of the infield to break the tie and send Modesto to a win. San Jose's record drops to 30-18 while they remain in a tie for first place in the North Division with the Stockton Ports.

Dan Griffin (1-3) suffered the loss on the mound for the Giants after surrendering the go-ahead run in the bottom of the ninth. With the game deadlocked at 2-2, Victor Ferrante started the frame with a clean single into right field. Strickland was then summoned to pinch-run and he moved to second base when the next hitter, Michael McKenry, dropped down a sacrifice bunt.

Griffin struck out Matt Repec, but on the strike three pitch, Strickland successfully stole third base. San Jose then elected to intentionally walk Jay Cox bringing Robledo to the plate. And on a 1-2 pitch, Robledo singled sharply into right field to easily score Strickland for the Nuts victory.

San Jose mustered only five hits in the contest as Modesto pitchers combined to retire 12 straight Giants hitters to conclude the game. Bobby Felmy (3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI, SB) collected three of San Jose's five hits.

Giants starting pitcher Ben Snyder took a no-decision after six effective innings of work. The left-hander, who leads the California League with a 1.87 ERA, surrendered two runs (both earned) on six hits during his stint on the mound. Snyder walked two and struck out two.

San Jose initially jumped in front 1-0 with a single run off Modesto's Aneury Rodriguez in the top of the first inning. Felmy started the contest with a line drive single to left field before advancing to second on Dom Duggan's sacrifice bunt. Pablo Sandoval then grounded a double down the left field line plating Felmy with the first run of the evening.

Modesto answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning to take their first lead of the game. Ferrante led off with a walk and a one-out double from Repec put runners on second and third. Jay Cox then stepped to the plate and smacked a double to the fence in right center field to score both Ferrante and Repec for a 2-1 Nuts advantage.

The Giants tied the score in the top of the fifth inning when Schoop doubled with one out and Felmy delivered a two-out RBI double into the right field corner. Felmy's double though would turn out to be San Jose's final hit of the night.

The Giants threatened to take the lead in the top of the sixth inning when Sandoval led off with a walk before Rohlinger was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. But Rodriguez recovered with consecutive strikeouts of Andy D'Alessio and Brett Pill while Mike Mooney popped out to end the inning.

Andy Graham (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) and Will Harris (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) were both perfect out of the Nuts bullpen over the last three frames.

Snyder managed to work out of trouble in the bottom of the third thanks to an inning-ending double play. The southpaw would then retire nine Modesto hitters in a row until Ferrante singled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. McKenry followed with a double to the fence in deep left center field, but Ferrante was thrown out at the plate to end the rally and keep the game tied.

Notes: Modesto has won two-of-three games to begin the series ... San Jose fell to 3-8 in one-run games ... The Giants are only 1-5 at John Thurman Field this year while the clubs have split five overall meetings in the season-series ... The Nuts out-hit San Jose by an 8-5 margin ... Griffin (2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) was the only Giants reliever to appear in the game ... Griffin had retired six hitters in a row until Ferrante's leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth ... The #4 through #7 hitters in the San Jose lineup were a combined 0-for-15 ... The Giants remained in a tie for first place in the North Division after Stockton lost a 6-2 decision at Lancaster on Friday.

On Deck: The Giants and Nuts conclude this four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 7:05 P.M. Tim Alderson (6-1, 3.14 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Keith Weiser (2-6, 3.98 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from May 24, 2008


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