Giants Roll To Third Straight Win

MODESTO, CA - The San Jose Giants knocked out 15 hits and received a solid six-inning start from Mark Reyes in an 8-3 win over the Modesto Nuts on Tuesday evening at John Thurman Field. The victory was San Jose's (29-36) second straight to begin the series and their season-high tying third consecutive win overall.
Jonah Arenado (3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI) and Aramis Garcia (3-for-5, 2B, RBI) had three hits apiece to lead the Giants offensive attack. Ronnie Jebavy (2-for-4), Ryan Howard (2-for-5) and Gio Brusa (2-for-4, 2B) also contributed two hits each.
Reyes (3-8) earned the win after surrendering just two runs (both earned) over his six-inning outing. The left-hander allowed six hits, walked two and matched a career-high with six strikeouts.
San Jose never trailed in the contest scoring three runs over the first two innings to take an early 3-0 lead. Jebavy started the game with a single before taking second on a wild pitch. Then with two down, Garcia lined a single into left to plate Jebavy with the first run of the night.
The Giants then pushed across two more runs in the top of the second. The inning began with a single from Brusa before Arenado doubled off the left field fence to put runners on second and third. Two batters later, Jalen Miller grounded a single up the middle to bring home both Brusa and Arenado for a 3-0 cushion.
In the fourth, San Jose benefitted from a Nuts miscue to extend their lead. With two outs, Jebavy and Howard delivered back-to-back singles. Following the Howard hit, Modesto pitcher Nick Neidert, assuming the umpires had ended the play, tossed the baseball into the dugout. Instead, with the play still live, the umpires awarded Jebavy home plate to make the score 4-0.
Meanwhile, Reyes began his start with three scoreless innings. The Giants hurler allowed just one hit over the first three frames while facing just one batter over the minimum. The Nuts though would breakthrough with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the San Jose lead in half. Chris Mariscal drew a leadoff walk before Logan Taylor doubled. Gianfranco Wawoe then hit a sacrifice fly bringing home Mariscal with the first Modesto run. Joey Curletta followed with a ringing double to deep right center as Taylor scored to make it 4-2. Reyes though prevented further damage as he retired Willie Argo on a fly out and after Joe DeCarlo singled, set down Jordan Cowan on a fly out to end the inning.
Reyes then kept the Nuts off the scoreboard in the fifth and sixth innings to maintain the two-run lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Rayder Ascanio led off with a double, but was stranded after Reyes set down the next three hitters on two strikeouts and a groundout. In the sixth, Argo singled with two outs to again bring the tying run to the plate, however Reyes struck out the next batter, DeCarlo, to retire the side.
The Giants then used a clutch two-out hit in the top of the seventh to stretch their lead to 6-2. Back-to-back singles from Bryan Reynolds and Garcia before a two-out walk to Brusa loaded the bases for San Jose. Arenado then stepped to the plate and bounced a single up the middle to score two runs for a 6-2 advantage.
Caleb Simpson (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) relieved Reyes to begin the bottom of the seventh and surrendered an unearned run as the Nuts pulled back to within 6-3. With one out, Ascanio hit a pop up to third that was dropped by Arenado for an error. The Giants third baseman then threw the ball wildly to first for another error as Ascanio took second. A Braden Bishop infield single then moved Ascanio to third before Mariscal's sacrifice fly scored the run. Simpson followed by setting down Taylor on a fly out to end the inning.
Simpson then tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth pitching around a one-out hit batter to keep the score at 6-3.
In the ninth, San Jose scored their final two runs of the night. A double from Garcia started the inning before a two-out single from Arenado pushed the lead to 7-3. Daniel Carbonell was up next and he blasted an RBI double to the fence in left for an 8-3 margin.
David Owen (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) closed out the Giants victory with a scoreless bottom of the ninth.
Neidert (5-3) suffered the loss after yielding nine hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings. The right-hander, who entered the game among the top 10 in the league in ERA and strikeouts, walked none and struck out two.
Notes
* The Giants have won three games in a row for the first time since the opening week of the season (April 7-9).
* San Jose improved to 4-2 on their current road trip and 10-4 in their last 14 road games overall.
* Reyes matched his longest start of the season. He was making his first start since May 26.
* The Giants out-hit the Nuts 15-7. Eight of the nine San Jose starters recorded at least one hit.
* The Giants had 15 hits for the third time in the last seven games.
* Garcia's double was his team-leading 16th of the season. Arenado hit his 15th double of the year.
* San Jose has allowed four runs or fewer in nine consecutive games.
* Tuesday's loss dropped Modesto (35-30) into a first-place tie with Stockton (35-30) in the North Division with five games remaining in the first half.
* Carbonell (knee) was activated off the disabled list before the game on Tuesday. Catcher Matt Pare was placed on the 7-day DL.
On Deck
The Giants will look to sweep a series for the first time this season when they conclude their three-game set with Modesto on Wednesday night. First pitch at John Thurman Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Matt Krook (2-6, 6.64 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose. Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is expected to make a rehab start for the Nuts. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.