Saturday 9/11 - San Jose 7, Modesto 3
Josh Sullivan put his team in a five-run hole after 4.1 innings, as he allowed six hits and four walks. Mike Zuanich hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to get the Nuts on the board, and Tim Wheeler followed with a two-run shot in the eighth that put his team within two runs of the Giants. However, after retiring the first five batters he faced, Isaiah Froneberger allowed a couple of runs in the bottom half of the eighth as he gave up a single, two walks, and a double, putting the game out of reach.
Wheeler led the offense with two hits, while Zuanich, James Cesario, Ryan Peisel, and Chandler Laurent each had one. Alan DeRatt and Rhett Ballard combined for 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Sunday 9/12 - San Jose 6, Modesto 5
The Nuts found themselves down 4-1 heading into the fifth inning, but came back to tie the game in the sixth inning and again in the seventh. However, Casey Weathers had one heck of a tough-luck ninth inning, and the end result was Modesto finding themselves in an 0-2 hole in the series. Weathers was victimized for an infield single to the first batter he faced. Then, when attempting a pickoff, he threw the ball away which allowed the runner to advance to second base. After a productive groundout that moved the runner to third, Weathers uncorked a wild pitch that scored the winning run for San Jose.
Ethan Hollingsworth started the game and went six innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits while striking out five and walking nobody. Stephen Dodson and Paul Bargas combined for two innings of shutdown relief.
The offense had a better showing in last night's game, as Ben Paulsen (3-for-5, two doubles), James Cesario (3-for-4, double, walk) and David Christensen (2-for-4, double) each had a multi-hit game. Mike Zuanich homered again, this time a two-run shot, and Joseph Sanders went deep as well. But alas, it wasn't enough for the Nuts to steal home-field advantage for the series.