Rawhide Shutout Giants, 6-0

SAN JOSE, CA - Visalia pitchers Emilio Vargas and Tyler Keele combined to shutout the Giants on Friday evening in a 6-0 Rawhide victory at Municipal Stadium. In the opener of a three-game series, San Jose knocked out 11 hits, but left 12 runners on base, including seven in the first three innings. It marked the second time in the last three games that the Giants (33-35) had been shutout.
Vargas (6-1), who lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.04, pitched the first five innings to pick-up the win. The right-hander scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out seven during his stint on the mound. Keele then worked the final four innings with three hits surrendered and four strikeouts to collect his first save of the year.
Wander Franco (2-for-5), Sandro Fabian (2-for-4) and Kelvin Beltre (2-for-4) had two hits apiece for San Jose in defeat. Heath Quinn (1-for-2) also extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Visalia jumped out early scoring an unearned run against Giants starter Sandro Cabrera in the top of the first. After Cabrera retired the first two batters of the game, Camden Duzenack's high pop up was dropped by the shortstop Franco for an error. Dominic Mirogilo then stepped to the plate and laced a double to deep left center field to score Duzenack from first for a 1-0 Rawhide lead.
Meanwhile, San Jose had several opportunities in the early-innings with runners in scoring position, but were unable to breakthrough against Vargas. The Giants put a runner at third base with two outs in both the bottom of the first and second innings, but failed to score in each frame. In the third, still down 1-0, Franco and Quinn produced back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and second. Gio Brusa then grounded a single through the hole on the right side, but Visalia right fielder Stephen Smith threw out Franco at home on the play for the second out of the inning. Fabian then reached on an error to load the bases, however Vargas came back to set down Jacob Heyward on a groundout to end the inning.
The Rawhide then extended their lead with two runs in the top of the fourth, one run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth. A two-out, two-RBI double into the left center field gap from Smith in the top of the fourth made the score 3-0. An inning later, Mirogilo doubled with one out before Drew Ellis delivered an RBI single for a 4-0 cushion. Then with reliever Doug Still on the mound, three straight singles to begin the top of the sixth loaded the bases before a walk to Marcus Wilson forced home a run. Two batters later, Mirogilo's third hit of the game - an RBI single - stretched the Visalia lead to 6-0.
San Jose had a pair of singles from Fabian and Heyward in the bottom of the sixth, but again came away empty-handed. In the seventh, Bryce Johnson led off with a single before a two-out walk to Quinn, but Brusa struck out to end the threat. The bottom of the eighth marked the only inning in which the Giants were set down 1-2-3. Then in the ninth, Johnson walked with one out, but was stranded as the Rawhide secured the shutout.
Cabrera (6-2) took the loss after yielding four runs (three earned) on seven hits over five innings. The left-hander walked one and struck out two during his 89-pitch outing.
Notes
* The Giants have been shutout three times this season. Two of the the three shutouts have come against Visalia with Vargas starting both contests for the Rawhide.
* Visalia out-hit San Jose 14-11.
* The Rawhide were 5-for-18 with runners in scoring position compared to 1-for-8 for the Giants.
* Jalen Miller (1-for-5, 2B) and Franco also each extended their hitting streaks to 10 games.
* San Jose lost their sixth consecutive home game.
On Deck
The Giants and Rawhide continue their three-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 5:00 PM. Mac Marshall (0-0, 1.45 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose. Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Shelby Miller is expected to make the start for Visalia on a rehabilitation assignment. The San Jose Giants are rebranding for the evening as the San Jose Churros! Enjoy Churro-themed jerseys that will be up for auction during the game while the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a Paul the Churro Man Bobblehead giveaway. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.