Giants Host Inland Empire to Begin Homestand
July 21, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
At Municipal Stadium (San Jose, CA) * Thursday, July 21, 7:00 PM * Friday, July 22, 7:00 PM * Saturday, July 23, 6:00 PM * Sunday, July 24, 5:00 PM
Records Inland Empire: 32-64 (9-17 Second Half) San Jose: 49-47 (10-16 Second Half)
Probable Starting Pitchers Thursday Inland Empire - Jake Jewell (1-8, 5.58) San Jose - Phil Bickford (2-1, 2.35)
Friday Inland Empire - Alex Klonowski (5-10, 5.68) San Jose - Jordan Johnson (6-7, 5.65)
Saturday Inland Empire - Justin Anderson (4-9, 6.17) San Jose - Jose Reyes (2-3, 4.58)
Sunday Inland Empire - Jeremy Rhoades (3-9, 5.85) San Jose - Jose Morel (2-4, 4.38)
Broadcast Information All four games will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network (Channel 104 SD/819 HD). Joe Ritzo handles the play-by-play while color commentary duties will be provided by Joe Castellano. The entire series can also be heard live on sjgiants.com and inside Municipal Stadium on 92.9 FM with Justin Allegri calling the action. Radio broadcasts begin 30 minutes prior to first pitch with The Giants Pregame Show. All 140 games this season will be aired on the club's official website and the San Jose Giants Mobile App. Additionally, every home game is streamed live and available on demand through MiLB.TV.
Giants Begin Four-Game Series Against Inland Empire Tonight The San Jose Giants begin a seven-game homestand this evening with the first of four straight contests against the Inland Empire 66ers at Municipal Stadium. Phil Bickford is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose tonight. Bickford owns a 2.35 ERA in four starts with the Giants and has struck out 28 batters over 23 innings. The former first round draft pick has 97 strikeouts between Augusta and San Jose this season to lead the entire SF Giants farm system. Following the series versus Inland Empire, the Giants will host the Bakersfield Blaze in a three-game set.
Losing Streak Snapped The Giants saw their season-high eight-game losing streak snapped with a victory on Tuesday afternoon at High Desert. The streak began with a loss to Stockton on July 11 to conclude the last homestand before getting swept in a four-game series by Lancaster and then dropping three straight to High Desert. The eight-game slide tied the fifth-longest losing streak in the 29-year history of the San Jose Giants (record: 12 straight losses). It was the longest losing streak for the Giants since dropping 10 straight games from May 27-June 5, 2012.
Pitching Struggles During the eight-game road trip at Lancaster and High Desert, the Giants had 9.43 team ERA (66 ER/63.0 IP) and gave up 17 home runs. San Jose allowed seven or more runs in six out of the eight games (three games of 10+ runs). The Giants' season ERA jumped from 3.81 (fourth in the league) at the start of the trip to 4.23 (seventh in the league) at the end of the trip.
Power Surge The Giants have hit 23 home runs in July - tied for second in the California League (Rancho Cucamonga 31). San Jose's top home run hitters this month: Ronnie Jebavy (5), Dylan Davis (5), Ehire Adrianza (4), Jose Vizcaino, Jr. (3) and Jonah Arenado (2). The Giants' 79 home runs this season are tied for third in the California League.
Seeking Series Wins The Giants have won just one series in the second half (won three of four games versus Modesto from July 4-7). San Jose hasn't won a series on the road since May 20-23 in Rancho Cucamonga.
Miguel Gomez Joins Giants Infielder Miguel Gomez was added to the Giants roster last Saturday from Augusta (A). He's 2-for-13 (.154 AVG) in three games with San Jose. With the GreenJackets, Gomez was batting a South Atlantic League-leading .371. He had 99 hits in 66 games to go with 17 doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 43 RBI's. Gomez is in his fifth professional season after signing with San Francisco as an international free agent in 2011 out of the Dominican Republic. His .361 combined batting average between Augusta and San Jose this season leads all of Minor League Baseball (full-season leagues only).
Inside The Record San Jose has gone 16-26 (.381) since they moved to a season-high 12 games above .500 on June 3 (33-21). The Giants are now just two games above .500 overall this year (49-47). San Jose was last at the .500 mark on May 3 (12-12).
Arenado Steps Up Since the promotions of Chris Shaw, C.J Hinojosa and Steven Duggar to Double-A on June 30, Jonah Arenado is batting .306 (22-for-72) with eight doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI's (17 games played). Arenado has multi-hits in nine out of those 17 games. Arenado is tied for third in the California League with 25 doubles. He leads all current Giants in hits (93), doubles, home runs (10) and RBI's (44).
Adrianza Rehab San Francisco Giants infielder Ehire Adrianza played in all eight games of San Jose's road trip and was 10-for-28 (.357 AVG) with three doubles, four home runs and eight RBI's. Adrianza is coming back from a broken left foot sustained on April 14. He played 180 games for San Jose during the 2010 and 2011 seasons (.271 AVG).
Opponent Notes: Inland Empire 66ers The Inland Empire 66ers, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, are 9-16 in the second half and have the worst overall record in the league at 32-64. Inland Empire has lost six games in a row. The 66ers are last in the league in batting average (.238) and runs scored (3.9 per game) and ninth in ERA (4.72). The Giants are 4-3 against Inland Empire this season (2-1 at Municipal Stadium).
* Game Notes attached
California League Stories from July 21, 2016
- Carrizales' Three Hits Support Almonte in 3-0 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Blaze Waste Opportunities in Loss - Bakersfield Blaze
- Giants Host Inland Empire to Begin Homestand - San Jose Giants
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
