Rawhide's Sinnery hurls four-hit shutout

Battling for a postseason berth, Visalia needed a big effort from Brandon Sinnery on Friday night. That's exactly what he delivered.

The D-backs prospect pitched a four-hitter for his California League-leading 13th win and third complete game as the Rawhide blanked San Jose, 7-0, at Municipal Stadium.

Sinnery (13-7) allowed leadoff hits to Brian Ragira and Brandon Bednar in the second and third innings, respectively, but twice recorded three straight outs to get out of trouble.

In the fourth, the 24-year-old right-hander got two quick outs before allowing singles to Brian Ragira and Tyler Horan. Five pitches later, the threat was over as Sinnery struck out Chuckie Jones.

"I made some good pitches and gave up the hits, so I wasn't worried too much about the hits. And then [Ragira] stole second, so I had a base open and I knew I didn't have to give Chuckie anything too good to hit," Sinnery said. "And then he swung at a pitch away.

"Before the game, my catcher, Ronnie Freeman, and I come up with a game plan for each hitter. Ronnie called some good pitches."

The University of Michigan product was perfect the rest of the way, finishing with four strikeouts and needing only 96 pitches to register his second nine-inning shutout of the season.

"I felt pretty good, I was hitting my spots," he said. "I was attacking the zone with fastballs in the zone, and San Jose was very aggressive tonight."

Going the distance is nothing new for Sinnery, who's tied for third in the Minor Leagues with three complete games after throwing a pair last year for Class A South Bend.

"That's a great feeling to have a couple times. Anything you can do to give the a bullpen a night off is great," he said. "[A shutout is] every pitcher's goal every time."

The 2013 Midwest League All-Star has allowed four runs in winning his last three starts. Friday's win gave Visalia a two-game lead in the race for a Cal League Wild Card playoff berth.

"I knew it was a big game for us with playoff implications," Sinnery said. "This is a big three-game series. And to come into their stadium and take Game 1 is great."

Rudy Flores gave Sinnery a lead when he led off the second inning with his 25th homer. Steve McQuail padded it with two-run blasts in the fourth and eighth.