CalL1 San Jose Giants

Early Outburst Lifts Giants in Road Trip Opener

Published on August 1, 2011 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN BERNARDINO - The San Jose Giants started the game with five straight hits en route to a four-run top of the first inning before holding off the Inland Empire 66ers for a 6-3 victory on Sunday evening at Arrowhead Credit Union Park. In the opener of a seven-game road trip, starting pitcher Kelvin Marte limited the 66ers to a single run over seven innings of work to pick-up the win. The victory improved San Jose's overall record to 71-35.

Ryan Cavan (3-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI) had three hits and drove home a pair of runs to lead the Giants offensively. Gary Brown (2-for-4, 2B, 2 SB), Jarrett Parker (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Juan Ciriaco (2-for-5, 2 2B, RBI) also finished with two hits apiece.

Marte (9-6) struck out a season-high six batters while issuing three walks and allowing five hits during his stint on the mound. Jose Valdez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth to preserve the lead before Jake Dunning (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) tossed a scoreless ninth inning for his third save of the year.

The game began with a flurry of hits for San Jose against Inland Empire starting pitcher Ariel Pena. Brown started the contest with a bloop double into shallow center field before Ehire Adrianza singled to right putting runners on first and third. Cavan was up next and he lined a single into center plating Brown with the first run of the evening. Parker then singled into shallow left to score another run before Jose Flores singled home Cavan to make it 3-0. Pena finally recorded the first out of the game with a strikeout of Alex Burg, but Ciriaco followed with an RBI double off the fence in right for a 4-0 advantage. All nine hitters came to the plate in the top of the first inning with the Giants knocking out six hits.

Marte started his night with a pair of strikeouts in a perfect bottom of the first before the 66ers plated a run in the second inning. Eric Oliver was hit by a pitch to start the run-scoring rally before Casey Haerther singled. After Carlos Ramirez bounced into a fielder's choice, David Harris drew a walk to load the bases. Steven Irvine then hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring Oliver to make it 4-1. Marte followed by inducing Brian Hernandez to ground into a fielder's choice to limit the damage to a single run.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the third, Marte pitched around two singles and an error in the fourth. The bottom of the fourth inning ended when Ramirez was thrown out at the plate by Parker in right field on an Irvine single. Marte allowed one single in both the fifth and sixth frames, but used an inning-ending double play in each frame to keep the 66ers off the scoreboard. He then issued a leadoff walk and a one-out walk in the seventh, but struck out Hernandez and set down Matt Long on a fly out to center to end his outing.

San Jose extended their lead in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs against reliever Kevin Nabors. After Nabors struck out the first two batters of the inning, Brown singled and stole second base. Adrianza then walked before back-to-back RBI singles from Cavan and Parker made it 6-1.

Tom Vessella (0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) relieved Marte to begin the bottom of the eighth, but did retire any of the three batters he faced. Dwayne Bailey led off by drawing a walk before Kole Calhoun singled and Oliver walked to load the bases. Valdez was then brought into pitch as pinch-hitter Dillon Baird hit a sacrifice fly to center bringing home one run. Ramirez followed with an RBI single to cut the Giants lead to 6-3, but with the potential tying run at the plate, Valdez induced Harris to bounce into a fielder's choice before Irvine struck out on three pitches to halt the rally.

Dunning entered the game in the ninth and yielded a one-out single to Long, but bounced back with consecutive strikeouts of Bailey and Calhoun to seal the victory.

Pena (9-4) suffered the loss for the 66ers after he was charged with four runs (all earned) on six hits over five innings of work. He walked four and struck out nine. Pena, who did not allow a hit after the first inning, leads the California League with 142 strikeouts.

Notes: San Jose finished July with a 19-10 record ... The Giants were playing their first road game against a South Division opponent since April 13 ... San Jose out-hit Inland Empire by an 11-8 margin ... The Giants had 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position (7-for-20), including eight straight plate appearances in the top of the first inning (5-for-8) ... Brown is second in the California League with 42 stolen bases ... He also extended his hitting streak to 12 games ... Dunning has picked-up all three of his saves this season over the last nine games ... The game was delayed for 30 minutes prior to the start of the bottom of the first inning due to wet field conditions.

On Deck: The Giants and 66ers continue their three-game series on Monday evening with first pitch at Arrowhead Credit Union Park scheduled for 7:05 PM. Craig Westcott (11-3, 3.36 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Max Russell (0-0, 0.00 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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