Giants Fall Flat In Road Trip Finale

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MODESTO, CA - Three Modesto pitchers combined on a three-hitter Sunday night in a 3-1 Nuts victory over the San Jose Giants at John Thurman Field. Modesto starter Tyler Jackson fired six scoreless innings with just two hits allowed before the Nuts bullpen held off the Giants late to secure the win. With the loss, San Jose (24-26) dropped two out of three in the series and fell one game behind Modesto (25-25) for first place in the second half North Division race.
Jackson (1-2) struck out seven and issued just one walk during his dominant six-inning start to pick-up the win. The right-hander retired 18 out of the 22 batters he faced.
The Nuts built a 3-0 lead in the contest with single runs in the second, fifth and seventh innings. In the bottom of the second, Giants starter Mark Reyes issued back-to-back walks to Joey Curletta and Joe DeCarlo to put runners on first and second with none out. Gianfranco Wawoe was up next and he grounded a single up the middle to plate Curletta with the first run of the night. Reyes did recover to set down the next three hitters preventing further damage in the inning.
Modesto then scratched across another run in the fifth against Reyes. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Reyes plunked Jordan Cowan before Eric Filia singled. Kyle Lewis followed with a double into the right field corner to score Cowan for a 2-0 advantage.
The Nuts scored their final run in the bottom of the seventh as reliever Caleb Simpson also hit Cowan with a pitch to start a rally. Cowan then stole second and scored on a Lewis two-out single to make it 3-0.
San Jose's only hit through the first five innings against Jackson was a leadoff single from Heath Quinn in the top of the third. Trailing by two runs, the Giants threatened against Jackson in the sixth as Ryan Howard singled with one out before Bryan Reynolds drew a two-out walk. However, Jackson settled down inducing Jonah Arenado to pop out ending the inning.
With the score 3-0, the Giants mounted a rally in the top of the eighth facing reliever Joe Pistorese. John Polonius led off by reaching second on a throwing error committed by Cowan at third base. Polonius eventually made it to third base with two outs when Reynolds laced an RBI double into the left center field gap. The hit brought San Jose to within 3-1, but Art Warren entered from the bullpen and set down Arenado on another pop out to retire the side.
Still down 3-1, the Giants brought the potential tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth before falling short. Warren hit Matt Pare with a pitch with one out, but came back to strikeout Quinn and retire Ronnie Jebavy on a groundout to shortstop ending the game.
Warren, who did not allow a hit over the final 1 1/3 innings, earned his fifth save of the season.
Reyes (4-13) suffered the loss after yielding two runs (both earned) on five hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out two during his 93-pitch outing.
Notes
* San Jose suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since July 28-29.
* The Giants finished their six-game road trip with a 2-4 record.
* Sunday was the 28th and final meeting of the season between San Jose and Modesto. Both teams won 14 games.
* The Nuts out-hit the Giants 7-3.
* San Jose was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
* Arenado (nine games) and Dillon Dobson (eight games) saw their hitting streaks snapped after each went 0-for-4 at the plate.
* Reynolds' double was his 22nd of the season.
* 20 games remain in the regular season.
On Deck
The Giants return to Municipal Stadium on Monday evening to begin a four-game series against the Lancaster JetHawks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Grant Watson (4-2, 4.12 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Trey Killian (10-7, 6.32 ERA). For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.