MODESTO, CA -Kevin Santa's two-out infield single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning brought home the winning run on Saturday night as the Modesto Nuts posted a 4-3 victory over the Giants at John Thurman Field. Down to their last out, San Jose had tied
MODESTO, CA -Kevin Santa's two-out infield single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning brought home the winning run on Saturday night as the Modesto Nuts posted a 4-3 victory over the Giants at John Thurman Field. Down to their last out, San Jose had tied the game in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch only to see Modesto rally in the bottom of the frame to secure the walk-off win and even the series at a game apiece. With the defeat, the Giants (31-31) have now dropped six out of their last seven games.
Jalen Miller (1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) smacked a two-run home run while Wander Franco (2-for-4), John Riley (2-for-4) and Matt Winn (2-for-3) had two hits apiece to lead San Jose offensively in the loss.
Trailing 3-2, the Giants' ninth-inning rally began with a leadoff single into center from Riley. Winn followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance Riley to second before pinch-hitter Frandy De La Rosa struck out for the second out of the inning. Bryce Johnson then hit a sharp one-hopper to shortstop that deflected off the glove of the Nuts' Donnie Walton for an error. The miscue allowed Johnson to reach base safely with Riley moving to third. Then with Miller at the plate, Modesto reliever Wyatt Mills uncorked a wild pitch allowing Riley to score the tying run. Johnson, the potential go-ahead run, also advanced to second on the play, but was stranded there when Miller eventually struck out.
Peter Lannoo entered from the San Jose bullpen to begin the bottom of the ninth and quickly retired the first two hitters to bring the Giants to within one out of extra innings. However, back-to-back singles from Nick Zammarelli and Joe Rizzo put runners on the corners. With Bryson Brigman batting, Rizzo then took second on defensive indifference. An intentional walk to Brigman followed to load the bases bringing Santa to the plate. Lannoo jumped ahead in the count, but on the 0-2 pitch, Santa hit a grounder up the middle. San Jose shortstop C.J Hinojosa ranged far to his left and gloved the ball behind second base, but his quick flip to Miller at second, in an effort to force out Brigman, sailed away. Santa was credited with an infield single as Zammarelli scored on the play to give the Nuts the walk-off win.
Mills (5-0) was credited with the win for Modesto despite his blown save in the top of the ninth.
Lannoo (1-2) took the loss for the Giants.
San Jose jumped out early in the contest with two runs in the top of the first. Johnson led off the game by drawing a walk before Miller stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run to left. The Giants though wouldn't score again until the wild pitch in the ninth.
The Nuts immediately responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first against San Jose starter Logan Webb to tie the game. Luis Liberato led off with a double before Walton walked. Kyle Lewis then belted an RBI double off the center field wall before Zammarelli delivered an RBI single to make it 2-2. Webb though settled down to retire the next three batters on a pair of strikeouts and a pop out to prevent further damage.
Meanwhile, the Giants put a runner at third base with one out in the second, third and fourth innings against Modesto starting pitcher LJay Newsome, but failed to score in each frame.
Webb pitched three innings in his start yielding two runs (both earned) on three hits. He walked one and struck out four.
Carlos Sano (4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO) relieved Webb to begin the bottom of the fourth and began his outing with back-to-back scoreless innings. The Nuts though would push across a run in the bottom of the sixth against Sano to take their first lead of the night. With one out, Tyler Baker walked before Liberato blasted a two-out RBI double off the left field fence to put Modesto in front by a 3-2 margin.
Sano recovered to throw a scoreless bottom of the seventh to end his evening. Orleny Quiroz (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then kept the Nuts off the board in the eighth before San Jose rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth.
Notes
* The Giants suffered their third walk-off loss this season.
* Webb saw his scoreless inning streak snapped at 17 - the longest streak by a San Jose pitcher this season. He allowed his first run since May 8.
* Both teams finished with 10 hits.
* The Giants went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
* Miller's seven home runs are tied for the team lead (Gio Brusa).
* Riley singled twice in his 2018 San Jose debut. He joined the Giants from Augusta (A) on Friday.
* Saturday was the sixth Logan Webb versus Ljay Newsome pitching match-up of the season. The Nuts have won five out of the six games.
* San Jose played their 24th one-run game of the season (11-13 record) - second-most in the league.
On Deck
The Giants and Nuts play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 2:05 PM. Sandro Cabrera (6-1, 3.05 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Reggie McClain (2-3, 5.24 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 1:45 PM.
