Kevin Pucetas tied a San Jose Giants team record with his 10th consecutive win in a 3-1 victory over the Visalia Oaks on Tuesday night at Municipal Stadium. Pucetas improved his record to 10-0 after limiting Visalia to one run on two hits over six dominant innings of work. Offensively, Brad Boyer belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give the Giants an early lead as San Jose improved their overall record to 74-47.Pucetas, who lowered his ERA to a California League-best 2.47, walked only one and struck out seven during his outing. The right-hander tied Dan Rambo (1990) and Jeff Urban (1998-99) for most consecutive wins in the 21-year history of the San Jose Giants.
Boyer (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, SB) supplied his second consecutive three-hit game to lead the Giants offensive attack. Matt Downs (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Bobby Felmy (2-for-3, 2B) also contributed multiple-hit performances.
San Jose quickly jumped in front 2-0 thanks to Boyer's first-inning home run. Darren Ford began the frame with a line drive single into center field before stealing second base. After a sacrifice bunt from Brock Bond, Boyer crushed the first pitch of his at-bat over the fence in right field for a two-run homer. The home run was Boyer's fourth of the season and second in his last four games.
Visalia recorded their first hit against Pucetas in the top of the third inning when Greg Thomson led off with a line drive home run to right field. Pucetas struck out five batters in the first two frames before Thomson's blast cut the Giants lead to 2-1.
Pucetas plunked two batters in the top of the fourth, but a double play ground out off the bat of Ed Easley kept San Jose in front. Pucetas then worked perfect fifth and sixth innings to end his evening.
The Giants added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bond led off by drawing a walk, stole second base and scored on Downs' one-out double into left center field.
Daniel Turpen (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO), in his San Jose debut, entered the contest to begin the top of the seventh inning. Turpen worked a perfect top of the seventh before running into trouble in the eighth. With one out, Konrad Schmidt singled before Evan Frey reached base safely on Boyer's fielding error at second. The miscue put runners at first and second, but Turpen recovered inducing Mark Hallberg to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Dan Otero (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) quickly set down the Oaks 1-2-3 in the final inning for his 10th California League save of the year. Otero struck out Easley on three pitches to end the game and seal the Giants victory.
At one point in the game, San Jose pitchers retired 11 consecutive Visalia hitters from the fourth through the eighth innings.
Notes: The Giants have won four consecutive games ... The San Jose pitching staff has allowed only four runs and 15 hits during the winning streak ... Pucetas owns a remarkable 0.56 ERA (2 ER/32.0 IP) in five starts this season against Visalia (2-0) ... Turpen was added to the roster from Augusta (Low-A) last Sunday ... With the Greenjackets, the right-hander compiled a 5-4 record, 3.45 ERA and five saves in 40 relief appearances ... Otero has recorded a save in four straight appearances with no runs allowed ... Downs extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning single ... Boyer had collected hits in five straight at-bats (two singles, one double, one triple and one home run) going back to last night before a sixth-inning strikeout ... Boyer raised his California League batting average to .346 ... The Giants held the Oaks to three hits for a second consecutive game ... San Jose finished with eight hits ... The Giants are a season-high 27 games over .500.
On Deck: The Giants look for a three-game sweep of Visalia when the teams conclude this series on Wednesday evening. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. Tim Alderson (11-3, 2.99 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Oaks are expected to counter with Chad Beck (4-4, 4.37 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.
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