CalL1 Stockton Ports

San Jose Giants at Stockton Ports, June 18-21

Published on June 18, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
Stockton Ports News Release


San Jose Giants (39-27) at Stockton Ports (24-42)

At Banner Island Ballpark

- Thursday, June 18th at 7:05 PM

- Friday, June 19th at 7:05 PM

- Saturday, June 20th at 7:05 PM

- Sunday, June 21st at 2:05 PM

Pitching Match Ups

- Thursday - Clayton Tanner (5-1, 2.96) at Craig Italiano (4-6, 7.05)

- Friday - Craig Clark (6-2, 3.06) at Mike Madsen (0-0, 0.00)

- Saturday - Oliver Odle (3-6, 5.96) at Scott Mitchinson (0-1, 4.29)

- Sunday - Paul Oseguera (0-2, 5.56) at Mathieu Leblanc Poirier (0-3, 5.79)

THE SAN JOSE GIANTS... begin their final series of the first half Thursday evening with the first of four straight games against the Stockton Ports at Banner Island Ballpark. San Jose won two out of three games against the Visalia Rawhide in a critical three-game series that ended yesterday afternoon. Visalia won the opening contest by a 7-4 score before the Giants rolled to 7-0 and 6-1 victories in the next two games to take the series. Scott Barnes tossed 5 2/3 innings with just one run and two hits allowed to earn the win yesterday. Barnes struck out a season-high nine batters before relievers Daniel Turpen, Dan Runzler and Steve Edlefsen combined to hold the Rawhide scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings. Offensively, Thomas Neal belted his team-leading 13th home run while Brian Bocock, Buster Posey and Roger Kieschnick each contributed three hits.

San Jose Moves Into First Place Tie In North Division Race... Yesterday's win improved San Jose's overall record to 39-27 - tied with the Rawhide (39-27) for the top spot in the first half North Division race. Including tonight, only four games remain in the first half. Visalia finishes the half with a four-game series at Bakersfield that begins this evening. Meanwhile, the third-place Modesto Nuts (38-28) are just one game out of first as they start a four-game set at home against Lancaster tonight. The Giants are enjoying a share of first place in the division for the first time since after the fourth game of the season (April 12, 4-0 record). San Jose has not held sole possession of first place at any point this year. The Giants fell a season-high five games out of first place after a loss to the Stockton Ports on June 2, but have since gone 11-3. The Giants set a California League record last year by winning their fourth consecutive first half title.

Offense Catches Fire... The Giants have enjoyed a tremendous past week at the plate as the club boasts an outstanding .338 team batting average over their last eight games (7-1 record). San Jose is averaging 7.8 runs per game during the stretch.

13-Game Hitting Streak Vaults Neal To Top Of The League In Batting... Left fielder Thomas Neal has hit safely in 13 straight games as the recent hot streak as vaulted the All-Star to first in the California League in batting average (.350). Neal is hitting at a .462 clip (24-for-52) with six home runs and 11 RBI's during the streak. He has homered in three out of his last four contests while the hitting streak is the longest of the year for any Giants player.

Balanced Team Effort... The Giants are currently third in the California League in batting average (.282), second in runs scored (5.5 per game), tied for second in ERA (3.57) and first in fielding percentage (.976). San Jose is also third in home runs (63) while the pitching has issued the fewest walks (170) and is tied for the most shutouts (6).

Three Giants Selected To All-Star Game... Three San Jose Giants players have been named to the California League All-Star Team and will participate in a game versus the Carolina League All-Stars on June 23rd at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore. Catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Thomas Neal have both been selected as starters while outfielder Roger Kieschnick was chosen as a reserve in the all-star contest. Posey is fourth in the league in RBI's (46) and tied for seventh in home runs (10) to go with the fifth-highest batting average (.335). Posey has hit safely in 17 out of his last 18 games and is batting .469 (23-for-49) in June. He's also thrown out 46% of attempted base stealers. Neal leads the league in batting average at .350 while he's also ranked among the top five in slugging percentage (T3rd, .632), home runs (T4th, 13) and on-base percentage (5th, .427). Kieschnick, who leads the team and is tied for fourth in the league with 78 hits, is currently batting .307 with 10 homers, four triples and 41 RBI's. High Desert (4) is the only team that boasts more All-Star starters than the Giants while just the Lake Elsinore Storm (5) and Mavericks (4) feature more players overall.

Tanner Gets The Ball In Series Opener... Left-hander Clayton Tanner is expected to make the start on the mound for the Giants on Thursday. Tanner is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts - all at home - and would rank among the league leaders in ERA (2.96) if he had enough innings to qualify. The southpaw struck out a career-high 13 over seven innings with two runs allowed in his last start on June 12 versus Modesto. Tanner received a no-decision in his only previous appearance against Stockton on May 31 after yielding a season-high six runs (two earned) on five hits, including a grand slam to Shane Keough, in six innings.

Three Players Reach Double Figures In Home Runs... Thomas Neal (13), Buster Posey (10) and Roger Kieschnick (10) have all now reached double figures in home runs before the end of the first half.. Angel Villalona (9 HR's) could give the Giants a fourth double-digit home run hitter before the end of the half. Only High Desert has had more players reach double figures in home runs this season with four.

Media Coverage... The entire series can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com with Joe Ritzo calling all of the action. All 140 games this season will be aired live on the club's official website. Friday's game will also be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network (Channel 104 throughout most Northern California regions).

Stockton Ports... The Stockton Ports, an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, enter Thursday's series opener in last place in the North Division with a 24-42 record - 15 games out of the top spot. Stockton is currently ninth in the California League in batting average (.252) and seventh in ERA (4.63). The Ports have been in last place throughout the entire first half as they began the year with 21 losses in their first 27 games. Former first round draft pick Jemile Weeks leads the Stockton offense with a .403 batting average, six homers and 19 RBIs through just 18 games played. Right-hander Craig Italiano is slated to start on the mound on Thursday. Italiano is 1-2 with a 7.30 ERA in three starts versus the Giants this season.

Check out the Stockton Ports Statistics

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California League Stories from June 18, 2009


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