CalL San Jose Giants

Nuts Rally Past Giants, Win Streak Ends At Four

Published on May 4, 2023 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


San Jose's bid for a fifth straight win came up short on Wednesday night with a 12-7 loss to the Modesto Nuts at Excite Ballpark. The Giants built a 7-0 lead after five innings before Modesto erupted for 12 unanswered runs over the final four frames to earn the come-from-behind victory. The setback snapped San Jose's (14-9) season-high tying four-game win streak as the Giants and Nuts have now split the first two contests in their series this week.

Onil Perez (2-for-4, RBI) and Tanner O'Tremba (2-for-5) had two hits apiece for San Jose in the loss while Diego Velasquez (1-for-5, 2 RBI) extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Giants starting pitcher Will Kempner fired four scoreless innings with only two hits allowed. Kempner walked one and struck out four during his outing.

San Jose appeared poised to cruise to the victory when they scored single runs in the first and second innings before four more runs in the fourth and another tally in the fifth. In the bottom of the first, Carter Howell led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Velasquez, stole third and eventually scored on Thomas Gavello's groundout. An inning later, Matt Higgins led off with his first triple of the season and later came home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

The Giants then rallied for four runs in the fourth to extend their lead to 6-0. Dilan Rosario drew a leadoff walk before Alexander Suarez was hit by a pitch. Howell followed by bouncing into a fielder's choice with Suarez forced at second base for the first out of the inning. Then with Velasquez at the plate, San Jose perfectly executed a double steal with Howell swiping second and Rosario stealing home to score the first run of the inning. Moments later, Velasquez knocked in Howell with a single to center to make it a 4-0 game. After Vaun Brown struck out, Gavello stepped to the plate and grounded a triple down the right field line plating Velasquez for a 5-0 advantage. Perez then capped the rally off with an RBI single as Gavello scored to push the lead to 6-0.

The Giants then made it 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth as O'Tremba and Rosario produced back-to-back singles to start the inning with Velasquez later picking-up the RBI on a fielder's choice groundout.

Modesto's stunning comeback effort would begin in the top of the sixth while facing the San Jose bullpen. Esmerlin Vinicio tossed a scoreless fifth inning for the Giants in relief, but would run into trouble an inning later. A passed ball on a strikeout started the inning for the Nuts before an error two batters later allowed the first Modesto run of the game to score. After a walk loaded the bases, Vinicio hit Cole Young with a pitch to force home another run. Gabriel Gonzalez then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play with another run coming home as the Nuts pulled within 7-3.

Miguel Mora was then summoned from the San Jose bullpen to begin the top of the seventh and the right-hander was roughed up for seven runs over the next two innings as Modesto took the lead. Mora was greeted by a booming home run off the bat of Josh Hood to start the seventh inning to make it a 7-4 game. Two straight walks followed before Tatem Levins stepped to the plate and crushed a game-tying three-run home run to right as the Nuts pulled even at 7-7. The rally then restarted as Brett Rodriguez singled, stole second, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a Mora wild pitch giving Modesto a fifth run in the inning and an 8-7 lead.

After the Giants went down quietly in the bottom of the seventh, the Nuts kept the pressure on with two more runs in the eighth. With Mora still on the mound, Milkar Perez singled with two outs and then Levins connected for his second homer in as many innings as he laced a round-tripper to right for a 10-7 Nuts advantage.

Modesto then completed the scoring for the night on Hood's two-run double in the top of the ninth off of Hayden Wynja to make it a 12-7 margin.

San Jose relievers allowed 12 runs (nine earned) over the final four innings. Conversely, the Nuts bullpen combined to pitch 5 1/3 innings with only one unearned run surrendered.

Levins finished 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI's to lead Modesto offensively. The two longballs were Levins' first two home runs of the season. The Nuts won despite going 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The Giants left 13 runners on base.

The Giants and Nuts continue their series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Gerelmi Maldonado is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



California League Stories from May 4, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central