Giants Win Fourth Straight With 10-0 Rout
MODESTO - Devin Harris homered and drove in four runs while Adalberto Mejia took a perfect game into the sixth inning to lead the San Jose Giants to a 10-0 shutout victory over the Modesto Nuts on Saturday evening at John Thurman Field. San Jose knocked out a season-high 18 hits en route to claiming their fourth straight win.
Harris' (2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI) hot hitting continued as the Giants left fielder homered in his fourth consecutive game. Shawn Payne (4-for-5) added four singles for San Jose while Ryan Cavan (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) had three hits and drove home a pair of runs.
Mejia (2-0) picked-up the win after tossing six scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. The left-hander, who retired the first 15 batters that he faced, struck out five and walked one during his stint on the mound.
The Giants took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Cavan doubled off the wall in left center with two outs and immediately scored when the next batter, Harris, grounded a single up the middle.
San Jose then erupted for nine runs over the third and fourth frames to open up a commanding 10-0 advantage. In the top of the third, Payne led off by drawing a walk before stealing second. After Kelby Tomlinson grounded out, Cavan ripped an RBI single to right for a 2-0 lead. Harris then stepped to the plate and launched a two-run homer to left. The home run was Harris' team-leading seventh of the season.
The third-inning rally continued when Mac Williamson walked before Chris Lofton delivered a two-out RBI triple off the fence in right center to make it 5-0.
The Giants then sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the fourth scoring five runs on seven hits - all singles. Three straight singles from Bobby Haney, Payne and Tomlinson loaded the bases with none out before Cavan produced an RBI single. After Harris' sacrifice fly extended the lead to 7-0, Williamson grounded a single to left to again load the bases. However on the play, Nuts left fielder Tyler Massey mishandled the ball for an error allowing Tomlinson to race home with the third run of the frame. Angel Villalona then singled to load the bases again before a Lofton RBI single and an Eliezer Zambrano sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 10-0.
Meanwhile, Mejia cruised the first five innings as the San Jose starter set down Modesto 1-2-3 in each frame. Mejia struck out two batters in the first before one punchout in each of the next three innings. The Nuts finally had a hitter reach base when Harold Riggins led off the bottom of the sixth and a single through the hole on the right side of the infield. Riggins though was promptly erased on a double play and after Niko Gallego walked, Massey flied out to end the inning.
Kelvin Marte (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) kept Modesto off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings to keep the shutout intact. The Nuts threatened in the bottom of the eighth putting runners on second and third with one out, but Marte struck out Juan Crousset and retired Gallego on fly out to center.
Hunter Strickland (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) then worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth to seal the convincing Giants victory.
Modesto starter Ben Alsup (1-2), who entered the game with the second-lowest ERA in the California League at 1.35, suffered the loss. Alsup was tagged for seven runs (all earned) on eight hits over three-plus innings of work.
Villalona (3-for-5) and Lofton (2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI) also finished with multi-hit games for San Jose.
Notes: San Jose out-hit Modesto by an 18-4 margin … Eight Giants starters recorded at least one hit … Over his last four games, Harris is 8-for-17 (.471) with five home runs and 13 RBI's … San Jose's four consecutive wins have all come against the Nuts … Saturday's victory guaranteed the Giants a seventh straight series win to open the season … San Jose has now won the first two games of the current three-game series … Cavan (eight games), Villalona (seven games) and Harris (seven games) each extended hitting streaks … Marte, who spent all of 2011 with the Giants and also finished last year in San Jose, was making his season debut after he was added to the active roster before the game … To make room for Marte, relief pitcher Carlos Teller was transferred to Extended Spring Training … Giants manager Andy Skeels served a one-game suspension on Saturday after his ejection in Friday's 12-inning San Jose win.
On Deck: The Giants will look for a three-game sweep of the Nuts when the teams conclude their series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch at John Thurman Field is scheduled for 1:05 PM. Austin Fleet (2-0, 2.53 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Dan Winkler (2-0, 1.93 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 12:35 PM.