CalL1 San Jose Giants

Ports Shutout Giants in Series Finale

Published on July 8, 2014 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Stockton's Renato Nunez homered twice, including a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning, to lead the Ports to a 7-0 victory over the San Jose Giants on Monday evening at Municipal Stadium. With the shutout loss, the Giants drop three out of four games in the series and fall back to .500 in the second half (9-9).

Nunez (2-for-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI), who also connected for a two-run homer in the first inning, drove home six out of the seven Stockton runs. He's now second in the league with 20 home runs this season. Both clubs finished the game with seven hits while San Jose left 11 runners on base.

The Ports jumped out early against Giants starter Matt Lujan scoring twice in the top of the first before plating another run in the second inning. After the first two batters of the game were retired, Matt Olson drew a nine-pitch walk and then Nunez stepped to the plate and crushed a two-run home run to deep left.

In the second, Bruce Maxwell led off with a single and was standing at third with two outs when Bobby Crocker blooped an RBI single into shallow center to make it 3-0.

Lujan settled down to keep Stockton off the scoreboard over the next four innings, but San Jose could not push across any runs against Ports starter Yeiper Castillo. Singles from Mitch Delfino and Elliott Blair put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the second, but Ben Turner lined into a double play to end the inning. The Giants then threatened in the third as Shawn Payne drew a leadoff walk before Jesus Galindo also walked. Then with one out, Brandon Bednar singled into center, however Payne was thrown out at the plate on the play by the Ports center fielder Crocker for the second out. Blake Miller then struck out swinging to finish the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Delfino led off with a single - the fourth straight inning with the leadoff batter reaching base for San Jose - but again the Giants were unable to score. Castillo then worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth before departing the game with a runner at first and two outs in the sixth inning. Omar Duran entered from the Stockton bullpen and after allowing a single to Brian Ragira to put runners on the corners, struck out Elliott Blair to end the inning.

Jorge Bucardo (2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) relieved Lujan to begin the top of the seventh and immediately ran into trouble as Jaycob Brugman led off by reaching on an infield single. With one out, Aaron Shipman hit a grounder back to the mound, but Bucardo's throw to second, in an attempt to force out Brugman, was late. Then with two outs, Olson drew a walk before Nunez smacked a grand slam to left. The round-tripper pushed the Ports lead to 7-0.

San Jose threatened in the bottom of the seventh as Payne drew a one-out walk before Galindo singled. Then with two outs, Bednar singled to load the bases, but Miller flied out to left for the final out. The Giants were held hitless over the last two innings.

Castillo (1-2) picked-up his first win with Stockton after tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings. The right-hander allowed four hits, walked four and struck out two.

Lujan (2-1) was saddled with his first California League loss. He surrendered three runs (all earned) on five hits in six innings of work. Lujan, who retired 12 out of the last 13 batters he faced, walked two and struck out three.

Notes: The Giants were shutout for the sixth time this season - tied for the most in the California League (Modesto) ... San Jose has been shutout twice by Stockton ... With the loss, Lujan's career record fell to 19-4 ... Delfino (2-for-4) and Bednar (2-for-4) had two hits each to lead the Giants offensively ... All seven of San Jose's hits were singles while the Giants were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position ... The Ports have won eight out of the last ten meetings between the two teams ... Castillo entered Monday with a 15.26 ERA in three games (two starts) for Stockton.

On Deck: The Giants continue their homestand on Tuesday evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Bakersfield Blaze. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Joe Biagini (5-5, 4.14 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Daniel Wright (5-1, 3.89 ERA). Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 8, 2014


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