Giants Close Season With 2-0 Win

SAN JOSE, CA -Carlos Sano tossed six scoreless innings while Brandon Van Horn and Johneshwy Fargas each homered in a 2-0 Giants victory over the Modesto Nuts on Monday afternoon at Municipal Stadium that closed out the 2018 season. San Jose finished the year with a 59-81 overall record.
Sano (5-5) worked around six hits, walked none and struck out six during his six-inning performance to pick-up the win. Joey Marciano (1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and Peter Lannoo (1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then combined for three scoreless innings of relief to seal the Giants victory. Lannoo earned his second save of the season.
San Jose's only two runs in the contest came via solo homers. In the bottom of the third, Van Horn blasted a one-out solo home run to left for a 1-0 Giants lead. The home run was Van Horn's 10th of the season. Fargas then connected for a solo home run - his eighth round-tripper of the year - in the bottom of the eighth to make it 2-0.
Meanwhile, Sano pitched around an Anthony Jimenez leadoff double in the top of the second and a pair of two-out singles from Kevin Santa and Jordan Cowan in the third. In the fifth, Louis Boyd led off with a single, but Sano came back to retire the next three batters to end the inning. With San Jose still ahead by just a run, Modesto threatened in the top of the sixth when Jack Larsen tripled with two outs, however Sano struck out the next batter, Jimenez, to retire the side.
Marciano took over out of the bullpen to begin the top of the seventh and surrendered a leadoff single to Nick Zammarelli, but promptly induced the following batter, Boyd, to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.
With the score at 1-0, the Nuts put the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the top of the eighth, but came away empty-handed. Consecutive singles from Beau Branton and Santa off Marciano started the inning. Cowan followed with a ground out to advance the runners to second and third. Lannoo was then summoned and he struck out Joe Rizzo and set down Larsen on a fly out to center keeping the Giants in front by a run.
After Fargas' solo shot in the bottom of the eighth made it 2-0, Lannoo returned to the mound in the ninth and quickly retired Modesto in order on two pop outs and a fly out to end the game.
Nuts starter Austin Hutchison (3-4) suffered the loss after yielding one run over five innings. Hutchison surrendered four hits, walked none and struck out four.
Notes
* The Giants split their season-ending four-game series with Modesto and finished their final homestand with a 2-5 record.
* Van Horn became the sixth San Jose player to record a double-digit home run total this season (Gio Brusa 19, Heath Quinn 14, Jalen Miller 14, Jacob Heyward 12, Sandro Fabian 10, Van Horn 10).
* The Giants posted their ninth shutout of the year.
* San Jose finished the second half with a 25-45 record (34-36 in first half).
* The Giants' 81 overall losses are third-most in the 31-year history of the team (53-87 in 2000, 58-82 in 2003).
* Jalen Miller (.276 AVG, 35 2B, 14 HR, 62 RBI, 11 SB) was honored as San Jose's 2018 team MVP in a ceremony before the game. Miller was named to the midseason and postseason California League All-Star teams this year.
On Deck
The Giants open the 2019 season on Thursday, April 4 in Visalia. San Jose's home opener next year is Thursday, April 11. The Giants will be announcing their full schedule in the coming weeks. Call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com for more information on ticket packages for the 2019 season.