Giants Blanked In Road Trip Finale

MODESTO, CA - San Jose's 14-game road trip came to a close on Saturday night with an 8-0 shutout loss to the Modesto Nuts at John Thurman Field. Modesto starting pitcher Sam Howard struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings while the Nuts broke open a close game with a four-run bottom of the sixth. With the defeat, the Giants finish their road trip with an 8-6 record.

Howard (3-3) allowed just two hits and retired the final 13 batters of his outing to pick-up the win. San Jose and Modesto have split the first two games of their four-game home-and-home series. The series now shifts to Municipal Stadium for games on Sunday and Monday.

Modesto jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a single run in the bottom of the first against Giants starter Jason Forjet. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Shane Hoelscher ripped a double to deep left. Drew Weeks then lined a single into right plating Hoelscher with the first run of the contest.

Forjet settled in after the first and quickly set down the Nuts 1-2-3 in the second and third innings. He had retired seven consecutive Modesto hitters until Hoelscher led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run down the left field line. The homer, Hoelscher's sixth of the year, pushed the Nuts lead to 2-0.

Meanwhile, San Jose threatened in the both the third and fourth innings against Howard, but failed to score in each frame. In the top of the third, Ronnie Jebavy clubbed a two-out triple off the fence in left before Steven Duggar drew a walk. Howard though retired C.J Hinojosa on a fly out to left to end the inning.

In the fourth, Jose Vizcaino, Jr. doubled with two outs, but Daniel Carbonell followed with a fly out to center. The Vizcaino double was the Giants' final hit of the game.

Forjet worked a scoreless bottom of the fifth and had set down 13 out of the last 15 Modesto hitters before running into trouble in the bottom of the sixth. A walk to Wes Rogers started the inning. After Hoelscher popped out, Rogers stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. A walk to Weeks followed putting runners on the corners before Dom Nunez blooped an RBI single into shallow center. The hit extended the Nuts lead to 3-0. Forjet came back to retire Collin Ferguson on a fly out before a Max White infield single loaded the bases. Forrest Wall was up next and he hit a shallow fly ball to right that saw the right fielder Duggar slip to the ground as he ran in to try and make a catch. Duggar's last-effort diving attempt fell short and as the ball skipped away, all three runners came home to score. Wall was credited with a double on the play as Modesto pushed their advantage to 6-0.

Forjet (5-3) was saddled with the loss after yielding six runs (all earned) on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Dusten Knight (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and Jeff Soptic (1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) both pitched out of the Giants bullpen on Saturday. The Nuts scored their final two runs of the night in the bottom of the eighth against Soptic on a White RBI double and a bases loaded walk to Omar Carrizales.

Howard retired San Jose 1-2-3 in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings to end his start. Yoely Bello then pitched a scoreless top of the ninth out of the bullpen working around a walk and an error to complete the shutout.

Notes:
* Modesto out-hit San Jose 10-2. The Giants' two hits matched a season-low for a single game.
* San Jose was shutout for the second time in the last three games.
* Hinojosa's (0-for-3, BB) hitting streak was snapped at six games.
* The Giants (28-19) fell two games behind Visalia (31-18) in the first half North Division race.

On Deck: The Giants begin a season-high 11-game homestand on Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 PM contest against the Modesto Nuts. Martin Agosta (2-0, 2.11 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Carlos Polanco (1-2, 4.46 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a Brandon Crawford Gold Glove Bobblehead.