CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Held To Season-Low Two Hits In 6-2 Loss

Published on July 4, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Stockton's Ben Hornbeck and a pair of relievers held San Jose to a pair of hits in a 6-2 victory over the Giants on Friday night in front of a capacity crowd at Banner Island Ballpark. Hornbeck tossed the first five innings on the mound and limited San Jose to two hits and two runs before Justin Friend (3 IP) and Mickey Storey (1 IP) combined for four hitless innings out of the bullpen to seal the Stockton win. The defeat, only San Jose's second in their last 12 games, drops the Giants' overall record to 49-30.

Oliver Odle (4-7) suffered the loss after yielding five runs (all earned) on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. The San Jose starter surrendered two home runs, walked one and struck out five.

The Giants initially took a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning without the benefit of a hit. Tyler Graham started the game by drawing a walk before consecutive one-out walks to Thomas Neal and Buster Posey loaded the bases. After Nick Noonan struck out, Hornbeck uncorked a wild pitch with Angel Villalona at the plate to bring home Graham. Then later in Villalona's at-bat, a passed ball charged to Ports catcher Yusuf Carter scored Neal to make it a 2-0 contest.

Stockton though quickly answered in the bottom of the first inning with four runs against Odle. Back-to-back singles from Michael Richard and Jemile Weeks to start the frame put runners on first and third before Danny Putnam scored a run with a fielder's choice ground out. Steve Kleen followed with a line drive single off of the fence in right field to again put runners on the corners. Grant Desme was up next and he blasted a pitch from Odle over the wall in deep right center field for a three-run homer giving the Ports a 4-2 lead.

Odle recovered after his first-inning struggles to allow just one more run during the remainder of his stint on the mound. In the bottom of the fourth, Stockton's Frank Martinez smacked a one-out, solo homer to right center field. The home run, Martinez's first of the season, extended the Ports lead to 5-2.

Craig Whitaker was the only Giants reliever to appear in the game as the right-hander tossed 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief, but did allow one run. Whitaker walked five batters and allowed a run to score in the bottom of the eighth inning on a wild pitch.

Hornbeck settled down after his rocky first inning and retired 14 out of the last 16 batters that he faced. San Jose's only two hits of the night were Trent Kline's single with one out in the top of the second inning and a single off the bat of Graham with two outs in the fifth.

Friend allowed just one baserunner during his three innings of relief - a sixth-inning walk to Noonan - while Storey pitched around a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth to finish the game.

Notes: The Giants still won two out of three games in the series while they finished 4-2 on their six-game road trip ... Stockton out-hit San Jose by a 10-2 margin ... Odle was making his first start since June 20 - a span of 13 days ... Tyler Graham stole his team-leading 19th base of the season ... Brian Bocock (0-for-4) saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end ... The Giants are 7-2 in the second half.

On Deck: The Giants return home on Saturday evening to begin a three-game series against the Modesto Nuts at Municipal Stadium. First pitch for the Fourth of July game is scheduled for 6:30 PM. Clayton Tanner (6-2, 3.16 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Joey Williamson (8-0, 3.00 ERA). The game is sold out, but it will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104 throughout most Northern California regions. Tickets for future San Jose Giants games can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 4, 2009


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