Westcott pitches seven no-hit innings

After Chris Heston pitched eight three-hit innings on Saturday, San Jose Giants teammate Craig Westcott asked him how he could top that the next night.

"Go nine," Heston said.

Westcott wasn't able to go the distance Sunday, but he tossed seven hitless innings as Class A Advanced San Jose posted its second straight shutout of the Stockton Ports, 5-0.

Westcott (5-0) struck out five, walked three and generated 13 ground-ball outs, compared to only two in the air.

"I was very happy," he said. "I just went out there and tried throwing strikes, throwing my fastball and let my sinker do its job and get a lot of ground-ball outs."

The 2009 30th-round Draft pick realized he was working on a no-hitter in the fourth inning. That's when nerves came into play.

"The fifth and sixth, I was getting kind of nervous," he admitted. "We scored a run in the sixth, so I just went out there and was trying to throw the ball down the middle of the plate and let my stuff work, try to [let them] get themselves out."

Westcott exited after throwing 102 pitches. He said Giants manager Andy Skeels and pitching coach Brian Cooper wanted to send him out for the eighth but couldn't because the organization has a strict pitch-count policy.

"We have a pitch count of 100. And the Giants do a good job of keeping all their pitchers healthy, so you've got to respect that," Westcott explained. Maybe next time I'll do it with less pitches."

Hector Correa took over and pitched around a walk in the eighth before Ari Ronick surrendered a leadoff single to Myrio Richard in the ninth.

"That happens in baseball," Westcott said. "After that hit, [Ronick] settled down and did a great job for us. You know, everybody hopes for a no-hitter, but [the hit was] not really disappointing. It was disappointing for me to not go all nine innings."

Ronick finished off San Jose's Minor League-leading eighth shutout. The Giants have yielded just one run over the last 33 innings and boast a 3.21 ERA that is nearly one run lower than any other team in the hitter-friendly California League.

"We go out there and throw strikes," said Westcott, a 25-year-old right-hander. "I think we throw a lot of fastballs, maybe 60 percent fastballs. When we go out there and locate our fastballs, it's tough on those hitters. If you locate the fastball and throw your breaking stuff for strikes, you'll get people out all the time."

Westcott credited Cooper for instilling an aggressive philosophy.

"I think Coop emphasizes [fastball command] on us, big-time," he said. "He says get ahead with your fastball and get 0-2, 1-2, [then] the hitter's on their heels. You got them 0-2, 1-2, you got them backed up. Throw a slider, throw a changeup, whatever, see what happens."

This was not Westcott's first flirtation with a no-hitter. On Aug. 22, 2009, he pitched the first five innings as short-season Salem-Keizer tossed a no-no against Everett in the Northwest League. Sunday's game was comparable, in terms of his most memorable moments in baseball.

"This was up there, one or two," he said. "It's lots of fun throwing strikes. I think I had 14 ground-ball outs. Our defense played a great job, making plays for me. Unfortunately, we didn't [get the no-hitter] this game, but you know, it happens. It's baseball. You just gotta come back and try to do it again."