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CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Cruise To 11-3 Victory Over Lake Elsinore

September 7, 2009 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Conor Gillaspie and Nick Noonan each collected four hits and the San Jose Giants batted around in two separate innings en route to an 11-3 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm on Sunday evening at The Diamond. San Jose pounded out 19 hits in the contest with Craig Clark winning his 15th consecutive decision after a solid five-inning stint on the mound. The Giants (92-47) won their 92nd game of the season to tie a team record while they also reached the 50-win plateau (50-19) in a half for the first time in club history.

Clark (16-2), the California League Pitcher of the Year, allowed five hits and no runs in his final start of the regular season. The left-hander struck out two and walked one while lowering his ERA to 2.86 - second in the league. Clark has not suffered a defeat since May 7 and is a perfect 15-0 in his last 21 appearances (20 starts).

Gillaspie (4-for-6, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI) hit his fourth home run of the season and finished a triple shy of the cycle to lead the Giants offensively. Noonan (4-for-6, 2B, RBI, SB) and Shane Jordan (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) also were standouts at the plate as San Jose won for the 18th time in their last 22 games.

The Giants took an early with five runs in the top of the second inning against Lake Elsinore starting pitcher Jon Berger. Gillaspie began the frame with a home run to straightaway right field before Brian Bocock smacked a double off the wall on the next pitch thrown by Berger. Bocock eventually stood at third base with two outs when Jordan stepped to the plate and lined an RBI single into right. Tyler Graham followed with a single and then Noonan delivered a single of his own to score the third run of the frame. After Thomas Neal drew a walk to load the bases, Roger Kieschnick grounded a single up the middle to bring home Graham and Noonan for a 5-0 advantage.

San Jose added to their lead in the top of the fourth with four more runs off of Storm reliever Matt Teague. Noonan started the inning with a single before Neal walked and both runners scored when Gillaspie drilled a double to deep left center field. Bocock followed with a sharp ground ball down the left field line for an RBI triple and two batters later, C.J. Ziegler came through with a run-scoring single to make it 9-0.

The Giants kept the pressure on in the fifth as doubles from Neal and Gillaspie produced their 10th run. Then in the eighth, three singles from Ziegler, Graham and Noonan preceded a bases loaded walk to Neal for an 11-0 lead.

In his final tune-up before the playoffs, Clark worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the third inning to keep Lake Elsinore off the scoreboard. Three singles off the bats of Beemer Weems, Brad Chalk and Keoni Ruth put three runners on base with one out, but Clark settled down inducing James Darnell to pop out before Brian Joynt struck out on a 2-2 pitch ending the threat.

Clark then needed a total of only 15 pitches to work scoreless fourth and fifth innings. The left-hander retired eight out of the last nine batters that he faced.

Clayton Tanner (3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) relieved Clark to begin the bottom of the sixth and promptly fired three scoreless innings. Tanner stranded a pair of baserunners in the sixth before facing the minimum three batters in the seventh and eighth innings. Lake Elsinore though finally broke through in the bottom of the ninth as the first three batters of the frame each picked-up hits against Tanner with all three eventually scoring runs. Daniel Turpen (1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) entered from the bullpen with two outs and a runner on first base and quickly ended the game when Ruth grounded into a fielder's choice.

Berger (0-2) suffered the loss for the Storm after yielding five runs (all earned) on six hits over two innings.

Graham (2-for-5), Bocock (2-for-5, 2B, 3B, RBI) and Ziegler (2-for-5, RBI) also finished with multi-hit games while Neal (1-for-2, 2B, RBI, 4 BB) reached base in five out of his six plate appearances.

Notes: The Giants have won two out of the first three games in the series ... San Jose is 5-1 on their current road trip ... Kieschnick moved into sole possession of second place on the San Jose Giants single-season RBI list after his two-run single in the second inning ... He has 110 RBI's this season - trailing only Mark Leonard (118 - 1988) ... The Giants out-hit the Storm by a 19-11 margin ... Eight out of the nine San Jose starters recorded at least one hit ... Clark is second in the California League in wins, second in ERA and fifth in strikeouts (135) ... Tanner's ERA finishes at 3.17 - third in the league ... San Jose played their 11th consecutive errorless game ... The Giants tied the 1991 club (92-44) for most wins in a single-season ... San Jose remained one game behind the Low-A Fort Wayne Tin Caps (93-46) for the best record among full-season teams in all of Minor League Baseball.

On Deck: The Giants conclude the regular season on Monday afternoon when they wrap-up their four game series against the Lake Elsinore Storm at The Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM. Paul Oseguera (6-7, 4.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lake Elsinore is expected to counter with Aaron Breit (2-5, 3.13 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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