Giants Pitching Continues To Shine In 4-0 Shutout

LANCASTER, CA -Raffi Vizcaino, Carlos Diaz and Nolan Riggs combined on a two-hit shutout Monday evening as the San Jose Giants blanked the Lancaster JetHawks by a 4-0 score in the opener of a three-game series at The Hangar. The victory was the Giants' (3-2) third in a row and their second shutout in the last three games.
Vizcaino (1-0) twirled a gem on the mound in his California League debut as the right-hander surrendered just one hit over five scoreless innings to pick-up the win. Vizcaino walked two, struck out five and retired 13 of the 16 batters he faced. Diaz (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and Riggs (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then combined on four shutout innings of relief to seal the victory.
Jalen Miller (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) delivered a key two-run double as part of a three-hit night while Heath Quinn (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) smacked a two-run home run to lead San Jose offensively.
Vizcaino began his night with three perfect innings on a total of just 34 pitches. The Giants starter fanned two batters in the second before registering another punchout in the third. The bottom of the fourth began with a walk to Forrest Wall, but Vizcaino came back to retire the next hitter, Willie Abreu, on a fly out. Colton Welker then struck out swinging with Wall thrown out at second on the play attempting to steal to quickly end the inning.
San Jose collected four hits over the first four innings against Lancaster starter Logan Longwith, but were unable to breakthrough. Finally in the fifth, the Giants rallied for four runs to take control of the game. Back-to-back one-out singles from Brandon Van Horn and Bryce Johnson put runners on first and second for San Jose. A passed ball then advanced each runner 90 feet before Miller laced a two-RBI double down the left field line for a 2-0 San Jose lead. Following a Frandy De La Rosa pop out, Quinn then stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run down the left field line. The homer, Quinn's first of the season, pushed the Giants advantage to 4-0.
Vizcaino closed out his night with a scoreless bottom of the fifth pitching around a leadoff walk and a single to keep the lead at four runs. With two runners on and none out, Vizcaino induced Max George to ground into a 4-6-3 double play before Manuel Melendez struck out swinging to end the threat.
Diaz relieved Vizcaino to begin the bottom of the sixth and breezed through the next three innings to maintain the 4-0 lead. Diaz, who set down nine of the 10 batters he faced, tossed perfect sixth and eighth innings while also pitching around a Roberto Ramos two-out single in the seventh. Riggs then finished the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.
Longwith (0-1) suffered the loss after yielding four runs (all earned) on eight hits over six innings.
Notes
* Lancaster was shutout at home for the first time since April 10, 2015 (also by the Giants).
* The JetHawks entered Monday with a .377 team batting average (9.3 runs/gm) through four games this season.
* San Jose has allowed a total of just one run over the last three games. The Giants lead the California League with a 1.26 team ERA through the first five games.
* Miller has five hits over his last two games.
* San Jose out-hit Lancaster by a 9-2 margin.
On Deck
The Giants and JetHawks continue their three-game series on Tuesday evening with first pitch at The Hangar scheduled for 6:35 PM. Melvin Adon (0-1, 6.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Rico Garcia (0-0, 9.00 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:15 PM.