CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Hold Off Quakes To Win Fourth Consecutive Game

Published on July 31, 2008 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants held off a ninth-inning Rancho Cucamonga Quakes rally to post a 6-4 victory on Wednesday night in front of 3,609 fans at Municipal Stadium. Andy D'Alessio collected three hits and two RBI's while Tyler LaTorre smacked a home run before Taylor Wilding escaped a jam in the final frame as San Jose earned their fourth straight win. With the victory, the Giants improve their overall record to 65-44.

D'Alessio (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Brad Boyer (2-for-4, RBI, SB) both finished with multiple-hit games at the plate for San Jose. Bobby Felmy also added a pair of RBI's.

Jesse English (11-4) was credited with the victory on the mound after limiting Rancho Cucamonga to one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. English, who is now tied for second in the California League in victories, walked three and struck out two.

With the Giants ahead by a 6-1 score, Wilding began the ninth inning with consecutive strikeouts of Drew Toussaint and Larry Infante. P.J. Phillips then, with Rancho Cucamonga down to their final strike, hit a soft ground ball to third base for a single. Ryan Mount followed with a double to deep center field scoring Phillips to bring the Quakes within 6-2. After a walk to C.J. Bressoud, Efren Navarro lined a double into the right field corner to plate two more runs and make the score 6-4. Peter Bourjos was up next representing the potential tying run, but he grounded out to shortstop on the first pitch of his at-bat to finish the contest.

Wilding notched his 10th save of the year after working 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. Wilding was charged with three runs, but struck out seven and walked only one. The right-hander entered the game with two outs in the top of the sixth inning and promptly retired nine Rancho Cucamonga hitters in a row, seven via the strikeout, until Phillips' infield hit in the top of the ninth.

The Quakes initially jumped in front with a single run in the top of the fourth inning against English. Abel Nieves led off by drawing a walk before stealing second base. English retired the next two hitters, but then surrendered a double to deep center field off the bat of Infante to bring home the first run of the evening.

San Jose though immediately answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth. A walk to Brock Bond started the frame before Boyer grounded a single into left field. Both runners advanced a base on a Matt Downs sacrifice bunt and then each scored when Felmy lined a two-out single into left center field.

In the bottom of the fifth, LaTorre led off with a home run to left center field. The homer, LaTorre's second of the season, extended the Giants lead to 3-1. Then with one out, back-to-back walks of Darren Ford and Bond put runners on first and second. Boyer followed with a line drive single into right field to plate Ford with the second run of the inning. Two batters later, D'Alessio hammered a two-out double into the right field corner scoring both Bond and Boyer for a 6-1 advantage.

English allowed a pair of hits in the first inning, but pitched out of trouble when Toussaint flied out to right field before Nieves was thrown out at the plate by Tyler Graham as he attempted to tag up and score. English retired seven Quakes hitters in a row until issuing the fourth-inning walk to Nieves.

Notes: The Giants have won the first three games of this four-game series ... San Jose is 5-1 this season against Rancho Cucamonga ... English, along with teammate Tim Alderson and Lake Elsinore's Nathan Culp, are tied for second in the league in victories ... The Giants out-hit the Quakes by a 9-8 margin ... San Jose has also won six out of their last seven games ... Ford stole his 52nd base of the season - second-best in minor league baseball ... The Giants improved their second half record to 22-17 and moved to within a 1/2 game of Modesto (22-16) for the top spot in the North Division.

On Deck: The Giants look for a four-game sweep of the Quakes when this series concludes on Thursday afternoon. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 12:35 P.M. Clayton Tanner (5-7, 4.45 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Michael Anton (3-3, 4.96 ERA). It's a KRTY Country Thursday at the ballpark and tickets can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 31, 2008


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