Raw deal: Modesto Nuts honor injured officer in home debut, but Rawhide spoil the party.

The boy hanging over the railing wore a Modesto Nuts sweater and cap, but cheered the Visalia Rawhide to victory on Thursday.

So much for home-field advantage.

The defending California League champions hoped to find their form in their return to John Thurman Field, but the Rawhide played the role of spoiler, sending all but one of the 3,801 fans home cold and disappointed following a 8-2 victory.

"I like a lot of teams," the boy said with a toothless grin.

The crowd cheered wildly for the Nuts before the start of the game.

Modesto Nuts Executive Vice President Mike Gorrasi awarded championship rings to manager Mitch Canham, pitching coach Pete Woodworth and hitting coach Joe Thurston, and a ceremonial flag was raised in left field.

Modesto police officer Juan Arroyo threw out the first pitch. Arroyo, a former Nuts employee, suffered severe injuries after his patrol car was struck by a suspected drunk driver in January.

Gorrasi announced that the club had created an award in Arroyo's honor: The Juan Arroyo Perseverance Award, which will be given annually to a Modesto Nuts player that best exemplifies grit, determination, leadership and a sense of community.

"Officer Arroyo was a teenager when he worked for the Modesto Nuts and he quickly emerged as a respected leader," Gorrasi said. "He gained the trust and respect of his peers and supervisors, and we were all excited to see him reach his goal of becoming a police officer five years ago."

Abandoning his cane, Arroyo, donning the Nuts' home white jersey, steadied himself on the mound and covered the distance with a floater into the mitt of a family member.

After that, it was Visalia's turn to dazzle and impress.

The loss is Modesto's sixth in eight games, and Canham doesn't have to look long or hard for a culprit. The Nuts' early-game woes followed them home.

The Rawhide, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, were aggressive from the start.

Leadoff hitter Camden Duzenack fouled off the first two pitches from starter John Richy and then sent the third back up the middle for a single.

Moments later, Visalia strung together back-to-back-to-back hits, including two doubles, to jump to an early 4-0 advantage. Drew Ellis and Anfernee Grier laced two-baggers into the gap in left-center field for the Rawhide, now 5-3.

In eight games, the Nuts have given up 22 runs in the first two innings.

Coming off surgeries to his hip and labrum, Richy showed glimpses of the pitcher who ascended to Triple-A with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander settled into a groove after laboring through the first inning. He needed 35 pitches to escape the jam, but allowed just two baserunners over the next three.

Richy was lifted after four. He struck out four, and at one point, retired six straight.

And so it went for the Nuts: Every bit of good news was packaged with a cringe-worthy moment. Or two.

Modesto generated some offense, but the fireworks were reserved for after the game. The Nuts had eight hits and were led by Logan Taylor, who was 2 for 3 with a double and run scored.

Taylor has hit safely in all eight games.

Joe Rizzo, the broad-shouldered Championship Series MVP and a top prospect in the Seattle Mariners' farm system, had an RBI double.

However, nearly every attempt at a rally died on the base paths.

Modesto had runners on base in the third, fifth, sixth and eighth innings, but each time a runner was either thrown out at second or home, or there was a double play.

The Nuts loaded the bases with two outs in the second, but Visalia starter Emilio Vargas induced an inning-ending pop fly. Entering the game, Modesto had been productive with two outs, scoring 17 times in those pressure at-bats.

On Thursday, it left six on the bases.

Jhombeyker Morales was 2 for 4, and Tyler Barker and Bryson Brigman reached base twice for the Nuts (2-6), who send right-hander Riley Smith (0-0, 3.60 ERA) to the mound on Friday.

Visalia will counter with Danny Garcia (0-1, 11.57).

First pitch is 7:05 p.m.

This story was originally published April 13, 2018 at 12:13 AM with the headline "Raw deal: Modesto Nuts honor injured officer in home debut, but Rawhide spoil the party.."