Giants Conclude Homestand With 6-3 Victory
April 18, 2010 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
Ryan Lormand and Wendell Fairley each collected three hits and Kyle Nicholson limited Bakersfield to one run over five innings to lead the San Jose Giants to a 6-3 win over the Blaze on Sunday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. The Giants scored all six of their runs during the three middle innings to take three out of four games in the series and conclude the homestand with a 5-2 mark. The victory also improves San Jose's overall record to 7-3.
Nicholson (1-1) bounced back from a rough start in his season debut last Monday to limit the Blaze to three hits during his stint on the mound. The right-hander struck out five and walked none.
Lormand (3-for-4, RBI) and Fairley (3-for-4, RBI) led the 12-hit Giants offensive attack while Francisco Peguero (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) and Drew Biery (2-for-3) also produced multi-hit games at the plate.
With San Jose trailing by a 1-0 margin, Brandon Belt began the fourth-inning run-scoring rally with a one-out single. After Biery followed with a single, Johnny Monell bounced into a fielder's choice to put runners on first and third with two outs. James Simmons then hit a slow ground ball to third base that was fielded by Tommy Mendonca, but his throw to first sailed wide for an error as Belt came home with the tying run. Fairley then delivered an RBI single to left giving the Giants their first lead of the contest.
San Jose moved ahead by a 3-1 score in the bottom of the fifth when Lormand led off with a single before Belt's sacrifice fly three batters later.
In the bottom of the sixth, Fairley started the rally with a one-out single before Aaron Lowenstein was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Lormand followed with a single into center field to plate Fairley while Lowenstein scored when the next batter, Charlie Culberson, reached on an error. Peguero capped the Giants scoring for the day when he smacked an RBI double down the left field line.
David Quinowski (2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) relieved Nicholson to begin the top of the sixth and worked two innings of relief. The left-hander surrendered a single run in the seventh, but stranded two runners in scoring position when he struck out Jacob Kaase to end the inning.
Scott Nestor (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) yielded an unearned run in the eighth as the Blaze climbed to within 6-3, but then struck out the side in a hitless ninth inning to finish the game.
Bakersfield's only run against Nicholson came in the top of the third inning as Eric Fry led off with a double and scored with two outs when Davis Stoneburner reached first base safely on a strike three pitch that bounced away from the catcher Lowenstein. Nicholson did recover to set down the last seven batters of his outing.
Notes: The Giants have opened the season with three consecutive series wins ... Nicholson allowed eight runs over two-plus innings in his first start of the year on April 12 against Visalia ... Sunday's outing lowered his season ERA from 36.00 to 11.57 ... Belt (1-for-1, RBI) extended his hitting streak to seven games with his fourth-inning single ... He's batting .571 (12-for-21) during the streak ... Bakersfield starting pitcher Jacob Brigham (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing two unearned runs and seven hits over four innings of work ... The Giants out-hit the Blaze by a 12-7 margin.
On Deck: The Giants embark on a seven-game road trip with the first of three contests against the Visalia Rawhide on Monday evening. First pitch at Recreation Park is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Aaron King (1-0, 3.60 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Trevor Harden (0-2, 8.00 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
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California League Stories from April 18, 2010
- JetHawks Top Quakes In Series Finale - Lancaster JetHawks
- Giants Conclude Homestand With 6-3 Victory - San Jose Giants
- Ports Drop Close Game to Rawhide, 2-1 - Stockton Ports
- Rawhide Powers Over Ports, 5-3 - Stockton Ports
- JetHawks Drop Third Straight To Quakes - Lancaster JetHawks
- Quakes Rally for Third Straight "W" - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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