Inside The Shell -- A fine sendoff

Modesto 4, San Jose 1. Game 136 of 140.

GAME IN A GRAF – Aneury Rodriguez allowed four baserunners over eight innings on three singles and a hit batsman as the Nuts lowered their magic number to clinch a playoff berth over Visalia to 2 with four games remaining. Rodriguez fanned eight and completed a three-game streak of starts against the Giants (beginning with Jhoulys Chacin and continuing through Esmil Rogers) that saw San Jose collect three runs on 15 hits (12 singles and three doubles) with 20 strikeouts over 20 innings. The Nuts broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the sixth on a single by Mike Paulk, doubles by Lino Garcia and Michael McKenry and a two-out RBI single by Jason Van Kooten.

SO CLINCH ALREADY -- One of the drawbacks of the Nuts not having yet clinched the playoffs is being unable to sell playoff packages to fans.

In years past, the Nuts have clinched postseason berths early enough to allow the team to market ticket packages during the game. But entering Friday’s final home game with a magic number of 3 to clinch a spot over Visalia made it difficult to push tickets to games that might not be played.

Modesto’s front office has contracted with local businesses in recent seasons to underwrite playoff tickets. The sponsor would set up different points for fans to pick up ticket vouchers redeemable for free general admission to all playoff games. The vouchers then could be upgraded to higher-level seating at the box office.

In 2004, when the Modesto A’s won the Cal League title, the sponsorship worked very well. Because the A’s won the first half, they knew in June the date and time of their potential home playoff games. The front office not only got a sponsor for those playoffs, but because the first home game was to be played on a Friday night, they got an additional sponsor for post-game fireworks.

That first playoff game of 2004, played on Sept. 11, drew 3,513 fans _ an all-time record for a Modesto playoff game and almost three times the normal turnout for postseason games.

Playoffs can be a difficult sell for minor league teams for several reasons. The games are not usually included in season ticket packages, they are played when sports fans are gearing up for the start of football season, and kids are back in school.

TONIGHT: Modesto at Bakersfield, 7:45 p.m. Righty Simon Ferrer (7-11, 5.84) ill got for the Nuts against a Blaze starter yet to be named.