Giants Defeat Ports, Extend Win Streak To Four
April 14, 2008 - California League (CalL1) - San Jose Giants News Release
Kevin Pucetas, Steve Edlefsen, and Taylor Wilding combined on a five-hitter Monday night to lead the San Jose Giants to a 4-2 victory over the Stockton Ports in the opener of a three-game series. Pucetas fired six effective innings to earn the win while Edlefsen and Wilding kept the Ports off the scoreboard over the final three frames as San Jose won their fourth consecutive games. With the victory, the Giants improve their record to 8-4.
Pucetas (2-0) allowed two earned runs on four hits during his stint on the mound. The right-hander struck out four, didn't walk a batter and retired the final eight Stockton hitters he faced.
Trailing 2-1, San Jose went ahead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ryan Rohlinger started the rally by getting hit by a pitch before stealing second base. Rohlinger moved to third on Pablo Sandoval's ground out to second and then Brett Pill reached on a fielding error committed by first baseman Sean Doolittle allowing Rohlinger to score the tying run.
Consecutive wild pitches from Stockton starting pitcher Henry Rodriguez advanced Pill to third base. Then Andy D'Alessio bounced a single over the head of shortstop Josh Horton to plate Pill for a 3-2 Giants lead.
In the seventh, Tyler Graham led off with a bunt single and advanced all the way to third base when the next hitter, Sharlon Schoop, dropped down a sacrifice bunt. Graham scored two batters later on Matt Downs' ground out to the pitcher.
Graham (2-for-3, 2 SB) was the lone San Jose starter to finish with a multiple-hit game.
Sandoval put the Giants ahead initially with a solo home run to deep right center field in the bottom of the second inning. The home run was Sandoval's team-leading third of the season.
Stockton plated two runs against Pucetas in the third inning on back-to-back two-out singles to take the lead. With a runner at second and two outs, Archie Gilbert lined an RBI single into left field. Gilbert advanced to second when left fielder Bobby Felmy's throw bounced all the way to home plate. Michael Affronti followed with a single into center field to score Gilbert for a 2-1 Ports advantage.
Edlefsen (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base safely in the seventh and eighth innings, but both times retired the next three batters to work out of trouble. Taylor Wilding (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) fired a perfect top of the ninth inning for his first save of the year. Wilding finished the contest with consecutive strikeouts of Doolittle and Horton.
Notes: With Pucetas' victory, Giants starting pitchers remained perfect this season (7-0) ... Both clubs finished with five hits ... Wilding led San Jose with 12 saves last year ... Rodriguez, who is on the Oakland Athletics' 40-man roster, suffered the loss after surrendering three runs (two earned) on four hits over six innings ... Rodriguez struck out seven and did not walk a batter ... The Giants started the season with four straight wins, then lost four in a row, and now have won four consecutive games ... San Jose now owns a one-game lead over the Ports (7-5) for first place in the North Division ... Monday's loss snapped Stockton's four-game winning streak.
On Deck: The Giants and Ports continue this three-game series on Tuesday night with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 P.M. Tickets can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com. Ben Snyder (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Brett Anderson (2-0, 0.00 ERA).
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California League Stories from April 14, 2008
- Modesto Jumps on Lancaster Early, Wins 9-5 - Lancaster JetHawks
- Giants Defeat Ports, Extend Win Streak To Four - San Jose Giants
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- Stockton Ports at Giants, April 14-16- Game Notes - San Jose Giants
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