| Giants Complete Sweep Of Nuts With 9-7 Victory |
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By Joe Ritzo 4/19/2007
San Jose Improves Record To 11-3 With Win
The San Jose Giants completed a three-game sweep of the Modesto Nuts with a 9-7 victory Thursday night at Municipal Stadium. The Giants scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 9-3 lead and then held off a late Nuts rally to record the win. Ronnie Ray notched the victory on the mound with five solid innings of work while Kelvin Pichardo struck out four batters over the final 1 1/3 innings to pick-up the save. With the win, San Jose improves to 11-3 on the season – the top record in the California League.
The Giants took the lead for good Thursday evening with two runs in the bottom of the third inning against Modesto starting pitcher Brandon Durden. With the score tied at 2-2, Mike Mooney started the rally with a two-out single. Pablo Sandoval then hammered a triple into the right field corner plating Mooney with the go-ahead tally. Sandoval then scored on a Durden wild pitch to give San Jose a 4-2 advantage.
Modesto scored a single run against Ray in the top of the fourth inning before the Giants erupted in the bottom of the fifth. Emmanuel Burriss led off by reaching on an error before Antoan Richardson singled on a bunt. Ben Copeland followed by reaching on another error allowing Burriss to score with San Jose’s fifth run of the evening.
After Mooney struck out, Sandoval was intentionally walked to load the bases. Durden then struck out David Maroul before Anthony Contreras stepped to the plate and drove a double into right-center field scoring two runs. Then Adam Witter singled sharply into center field scoring two more runs for a 9-3 lead. All total, the Giants sent all nine hitters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth with five coming home to score.
Ray allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits during his stint on the mound. The right-hander did not walk anyone while notching six strikeouts.
David Quinowski relieved Ray to start the top of the sixth inning and fired two perfect frames to keep the San Jose lead at six runs. But in the eighth, Modesto rallied to score four times against relief pitcher Jerry Oakes to cut the Giants advantage down to 9-7. Oakes hit a batter and then walked three to force home one run. Pichardo was then summoned from the bullpen with the bases loaded and two outs and promptly gave up a bases-clearing triple to Jeff Kindel making it a two-run contest.
Pichardo responded by striking out Daniel Carte to end the inning before fanning three more Modesto hitters in the ninth to seal the victory.
The Giants out-hit the Nuts by a 10-6 margin with Richardson (2-for-4), Mooney (2-for-4, 2B), and Sandoval (2-for-3, 3B, 2 RBI) leading the offensive attack.
Notes: San Jose improves to 5-1 this season against Modesto … All the wins have been by two runs or less … Sandoval extended his hitting streak to seven games … Pichardo has now struck out 16 batters in 9 2/3 innings out of the bullpen this year (0.93 ERA) … Contreras’ fifth-inning double was the Giants’ first hit of the season with the bases loaded (1-for-12) … Witter broke out of an 0-for-16 slide at the plate with his fifth-inning single … San Jose finished with a 5-2 record on the homestand … The Giants maintained their three-game lead over the second-place Visalia Oaks in the North Division.
On Deck: The Giants open a four-game series at Rancho Cucamonga on Friday evening in a match-up of division leaders. First pitch at The Epicenter is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. Yosandy Ibanez (0-1, 6.52 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Quakes are expected to counter with Robert Mosebach (2-0, 3.38 ERA). The game will be broadcast live on www.sjgiants.com.
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