Giants Top Inland Empire For Fifth Win In A Row
June 25, 2007 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
Tyler Von Schell and Pablo Sandoval homered to lead the San Jose Giants to a 6-2 win over the Inland Empire 66ers Sunday night at Arrowhead Credit Union Park for their fifth consecutive victory. Darren Sack fired five scoreless innings on the mound for his first win with San Jose this season. The Giants remained perfect in the Second Half (4-0) while improving their overall record to 43-31.
San Jose overcame 20 strikeouts - including 13 from 66ers starting pitcher James McDonald (5 1/3 IP) - to win the opener of the four-game series.
Sack, who was making his fourth start with the Giants since a demotion from Connecticut (AA), allowed four hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He lowered his earned run average to 4.32.
San Jose took a 6-0 lead in the contest with two runs each in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings. In the fourth, facing McDonald, Ben Copeland led off with a sharp single into right field. Von Schell followed with a deep fly ball that carried over the left field fence for a two-run homer.
In the sixth, Von Schell led off with a single before Sandoval connected for a one-out home run to make the score 4-0. The blast, a towering shot to deep right center field, was Sandoval's eighth round-tripper of the season.
The Giants extended their lead in the seventh taking advantage of a pair of miscues from relief pitcher Francisco Felix. Kyle Haines and Antoan Richardson started the rally with consecutive singles to put runners on first and third. A Felix balk then scored Haines pushing the lead to 5-0.
After Richardson stole third base, the speedy center fielder came across when Felix uncorked a wild pitch.
Sandoval led the offensive attack with a 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI performance at the plate. Richardson (2-for-5, 2 SB) and Von Schell (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) also finished with more than one hit.
Gregorio Martinez worked two innings of relief for the Giants - his first appearance out of the bullpen since April 25. The right-hander fired a perfect bottom of the sixth before allowing a solo home run to Drew Locke in the seventh.
Tyler Walker continued his rehabilitation assignment with San Jose in the bottom of the eighth surrendering one run on three hits. Jamie Hoffmann brought home the 66ers run with a two-out single into center field making the score 6-2. The damage for the Giants could have been worse if not for right fielder Mike Mooney throwing out Bridger Hunt at the plate on Luke May's single earlier in the frame. The outfield assist was Mooney's league-leading tenth of the season.
In the ninth, Jason Waddell allowed a leadoff single to Ivan De Jesus before a walk to Shane Justis put runners on first and second. But the southpaw recovered to strikeout pinch-hitter Russell Mitchell before Hunt grounded into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Notes: San Jose's current five-game winning streak is one shy of their season-high ... The Giants have won six in a row twice - April 5-10 and April 17-22 ... Sandoval had recorded a hit in eight consecutive at-bats dating back to Friday until striking out in the eighth inning ... Richardson's two stolen bases give him 33 this season - tied for the league lead (Modesto's Eric Young, Jr.) ... Sack lasted just two innings yielding two runs on five hits in his last start (June 14 vs. Visalia) ... San Jose is a season-high tying 12 games over .500 ... Walker surrendered his first run in four relief appearances with the Giants (five innings) since joining the club from Extended Spring Training on June 15 ... Von Schell's home run was his tenth of the season ... McDonald, who leads the California League in strikeouts (97), allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings to suffer the loss ... Inland Empire's 20 strikeouts is a season-high for a pitching staff during a single game in the California League ... Sunday marked the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.
On Deck: The Giants and 66ers continue this four-game series Monday evening with first pitch at Arrowhead Credit Union Park scheduled for 7:05 P.M. Paul Oseguera (5-2, 3.05 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Mario Alvarez (1-4, 5.75 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
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