Inside The Shell -- The heat is on

San Jose 5, Modesto 2. Game 134 of 140.

GAME IN A GRAF – I’m going to refer you to the game story (www.modbee.com/nuts)  for the analysis of all the mental mistakes made by the Nuts, who for a team in control of their playoff destiny don’t look prepared to handle the challenge. Jhoulys Chacin allowed a run on five hits and fanned five in his five inning allotment and was not involved in the decision. Chris Malone took the loss, allowing an unearned run when Daniel Mayora was late covering second base on a steal attempt. Jonathan George gave up a game-clinching three-run homer on a 0-2 pitch. Those weren’t the only follies as the Nuts’ lead over Visalia for the final wild card berth shrunk to three games with six remaining.

CLINCH BEFORE VISALIA - It seemed like an afterthought on July 24 when the Nuts’ game at Visalia was postponed because of police activity in the area of Recreation Park.

The announcement at the time was that the game would be made up at a later date only if it had a bearing on one or both teams reaching the playoffs. Yeah, sure. Visalia was battling for last place with Bakersfield at the time, the Nuts were 21-12 in the second half and were in first place in the North Division with a four-game lead over San Jose.

Since then, the Nuts have won only 12 of 31, and the games left on the schedule seem to be disappearing faster than the Nuts’ magic number is shrinking.

Prior to Wednesday’s game against San Jose, Modesto got a bit of unsettling news from the California League regarding the playoff picture.

The Nuts thought their head-to-head season series victory over the Oaks would give Modesto the playoff berth should the teams finish the regular season in a tie. But the California League ruled on Wednesday that a tie would have to be played off.

As a result, should the Nuts finish Monday’s play with a magic number of 1, it would have to stop in Visalia on its way back from Bakersfield to battle the Oaks in that makeup game.

And, should the Oaks prevail in that contest, which would mean the teams finished deadlocked, a second game would follow immediately. Because of the possibility of a doubleheader, the makeup game would be seven innings.

The Nuts, at that point, would not have had a day off since August 4, and should they prevail in the second game in Visalia they would have to open the playoffs having just played 31 games in 30 days.

Of course, all of the above is moot should the Nuts win only two and the Oaks lose only two over the next six days.

TONIGHT: San Jose at Modesto, 7:05 p.m. Righty Esmil Rogers (8-7, 4.08) will go for the Nuts against Giants’ lefty Clayton Tanner (10-7, 3.78.)