Giants at Visalia Oaks July 17-19
July 17, 2007 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
THE SAN JOSE GIANTS...open a road trip on Tuesday night with the first of three straight games against the Visalia Oaks. San Jose posted a 4-2 record on their recently completed homestand notching series wins over Modesto and Inland Empire. The Giants have moved back over the .500 mark in the Second Half at 13-12 - two games behind the Nuts for first place. San Jose's overall record of 52-43 is tops in the North Division. The Giants will play their next six games on the road - three at Visalia and three at Stockton.
The Last Time...These two clubs met last week in Visalia with the Oaks claiming a three-game series sweep, 2-1, 4-3, and 8-3. It was the third time this season that San Jose had been swept (all on the road). The clubs have now split the first 10 games against each other this year with this upcoming series marking the Giants' final regular season visit to Visalia.
Starting Pitchers... Henry Sosa gets the ball in the series opener for the Giants. Sosa earned his first California League win of the season in his last start - July 12 vs. Modesto (5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO). The right-hander, who pitched in the Futures Game earlier this month, was 6-0 with a 0.73 ERA in Augusta (Low-A) before a promotion to San Jose in June. Sosa has racked up 24 strikeouts in 22 innings with the Giants. On Wednesday, Joe Martinez is scheduled to start on the hill. Martinez is coming off one of his best starts of the season after fanning 11 Modesto hitters over 8 1/3 innings (2 runs) on July 13. He's now second in the California League in strikeouts with 96. Ronnie Ray is expected to start in the series finale on Thursday. The right-hander is tied with Martinez for the team-lead in victories (7).
Travis Ishikawa...First baseman Travis Ishikawa continues his stint with the San Jose Giants this season. Ishikawa, who suffered a knee injury on June 10 while playing for Connecticut (AA), missed nearly three weeks before joining the Giants. In 18 California League games this year, Ishikawa is batting .333 with eight doubles, two home runs, and 11 RBI. He drove home the winning run on Monday against Inland Empire with a single in the bottom of the 12th inning. Ishikawa, who was batting just .214 with the Defenders before his injury, enjoyed a pair of brief successful stints in the major leagues with San Francisco last season (12 games, 7-for-24, .292 AVG).
Visalia Oaks...The Oaks, an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, enter the series with a 14-10 record in the Second Half - ½ game behind the first-place Modesto Nuts. Visalia dropped two-of-three games at Bakersfield in their most recent series. The Oaks have won seven straight home games and 11 of their last 12. Outfielder Aaron Cunningham leads the Visalia offensive attack with a .372 batting average, two home runs, and 13 RBI in 18 games. The Oaks' .286 team average is second-best in the California League. On the mound, closer Dan Stange leads the league with 16 saves.
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