MODESTO, CA -Melvin Adon, Orleny Quiroz and Rodolfo Martinez combined on a four-hitter and the Giants scored all four of their runs in the top of the second en route to a 4-1 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Wednesday evening at John Thurman Field. With the win, San Jose
MODESTO, CA -Melvin Adon, Orleny Quiroz and Rodolfo Martinez combined on a four-hitter and the Giants scored all four of their runs in the top of the second en route to a 4-1 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Wednesday evening at John Thurman Field. With the win, San Jose (26-20) bounced back from their worst loss of the season in the series opener and moved to within one game of first place in the first half North Division race.
Adon (1-3) earned his first win of the year after limiting the Nuts to one run over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed just three hits, walked two and struck out five during his 87-pitch outing. Quiroz (2 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then retired all seven batters he faced out of the bullpen before Martinez (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) notched a four-out save.
Kevin Rivera (2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI) and Jalen Miller (2-for-5, RBI) had two hits apiece to lead the Giants offensively.
San Jose's key second-inning rally began with a leadoff single from Jacob Heyward. With one out, Tanner Murphy then singled before a balk on Modesto starting pitcher Randy Bell advanced the runners to second and third. Rivera then lofted a double into the left field corner to easily score both Heyward and Murphy for a 2-0 Giants lead. Consecutive walks to Brandon Van Horn and Bryce Johnson followed to load the bases. Johneshwy Fargas was up next and his sharp grounder to third was fielded by Joe Rizzo, who recorded the force out at third on Van Horn. However, Rizzo's throw to force in an attempt to complete an inning-ending double play sailed high and bounced into foul territory. Fargas was credited with an RBI as Rivera scored to make it 3-0 while Johnson advanced all the way to third base on the throwing error. Miller then delivered an RBI single as Johnson scored for a 4-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Adon didn't allow a hit until Evan White's one-out infield single in the bottom of the fourth. Kyle Lewis followed with another single to put runners on the corners before an Adon wild pitch brought home White to trim the San Jose lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Rizzo worked a two-out walk to bring the potential tying run to the plate, but Adon struck out Gareth Morgan to retire the side.
In the bottom of the fifth, Kevin Santa tripled with one out, but Adon escaped as he induced Bryson Brigman to pop out before Luis Liberato grounded out to keep the score at 4-1. Adon was removed from the game after Lewis reached on an error with one out in the bottom of the sixth, however Quiroz entered from the bullpen and quickly retired the next two hitters to end the inning. Quiroz then needed just five pitches to work a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh as the Giants maintained their three-run cushion.
In the bottom of the eighth, Quiroz registered a strikeout of Brigman before Liberato grounded out. Martinez was then summoned and he allowed an infield single to White, but came back to strikeout Lewis to end the inning. In the ninth, Martinez issued a one-out walk to Rizzo, but with the tying run in the on-deck circle, recorded a strikeout of Morgan and then set down Tyler Baker on a groundout to seal the victory.
Martinez was credited with his third save of the season.
Bell (2-3) suffered the loss for the Nuts after surrendering four runs (all earned) on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked three and struck out two.
Notes
* The Giants improved to 3-2 on their road trip.
* Adon has faced Modesto in his last two starts and thrown a combined 11 1/3 innings with two runs allowed and 12 strikeouts.
* Miller extended his hitting streak to nine games.
* San Jose out-hit the Nuts 9-4.
* Rivera was making his first start with the Giants after joining the team from Extended Spring Training on Tuesday. Rivera hit a combined .250 in 65 games with Augusta (A) and Salem-Keizer (Short-Season) last year.
* Quiroz has thrown 4 1/3 scoreless innings over two relief appearances with San Jose since joining the club last weekend from Extended Spring Training.
* The Giants pulled back to within one game of first-place Stockton (27-19) after the Ports lost in Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday. 24 games remain in the first half.
On Deck
The Giants and Nuts play the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday evening with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 7:05 PM. Logan Webb (1-2, 2.08 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Ljay Newsome (3-2, 4.05 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.
