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CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Overcome Early Deficit, Cruise To 11-5 Win

July 9, 2010 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants overcame an early four-run deficit before rolling to an 11-5 victory over the Stockton Ports on Thursday evening at Banner Island Ballpark. Johnny Monell homered and finished with four RBI's to lead a 15-hit Giants offensive attack as San Jose won consecutive games for the first time in the second half. The victory improves the Giants' overall record to 50-35.

Monell (3-for-4, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI) connected for his second home run of the series while Michael Sandoval (3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) recorded his first three hits with the Giants. Juan Perez (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), Wendell Fairley (2-for-5, 2B) and Joel Weeks (2-for-5, RBI) added two hits apiece.

San Jose trailed 4-0 after three innings before rallying in the middle frames. In the top of the fourth, Monell belted a two-out, solo homer to deep right field giving the Giants their first run of the evening. San Jose then sent all nine hitters to the plate in the fifth inning scoring five times to take the lead for good.

Jose Flores began the inning with a single before Weeks singled to put runners on first and second. Flores advanced to third when center fielder David Thomas mishandled Weeks' hit for an error and then scored on Perez's fielder's choice groundout to shortstop. Fairley followed with a single before Francisco Peguero reached on an infield single to third base plating Perez with the second run of the frame. After Michael Ambort grounded out, Charlie Culberson drew a walk to load the bases prompting a pitching change as Scott Deal relieved starter Michael Madsen. Monell was up next and on the first pitch of the at-bat, he hammered a double off the fence in straightaway center field to score all three runners and give San Jose a 6-4 lead.

Stockton got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth as Grant Green doubled to lead off before scoring on Mike Spina's one-out single. Giants starter Justin Fitzgerald though retired Jeremy Barfield on a groundout before striking out Tyler Ladendorf to finish the inning.

Fitzgerald (6-2) was credited with the victory despite allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits over five innings of work. The right-hander walked one and struck out three.

Ryan Verdugo relieved Fitzgerald to begin the bottom of the sixth and maintained San Jose's one-run lead. With one out, Kent Walton reached on an infield single before stealing second and then advancing to third when the throw from Monell bounced into center. Verdugo though recovered to strikeout Ramon Soto before Thomas bounced out to third.

Verdugo (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) then struck out the side in a perfect bottom of the seventh before working a 1-2-3 eighth. Verdugo finished his outing by retiring eight straight Stockton hitters.

The Giants broke the game open late with three runs in the eighth inning and two runs in the ninth. Consecutive doubles from Monell and Sandoval to begin the eighth produced one run. Two batters later, Weeks delivered a single into left plating Sandoval with the final tally of the frame coming on an error.

In the top of the ninth, Culberson singled with one out, stole second, advanced to third when the throw sailed into center field and scored on Sandoval's double into the left field corner. An RBI groundout from Flores brought home San Jose's 11th and final run of the contest.

Craig Whitaker (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) fired a perfect bottom of the ninth for the Giants to finish the game.

The Giants out-hit Stockton by a 15-8 margin. Eight San Jose starters recorded at least one hit.

Madsen (1-4) suffered the loss for the Ports after yielding six runs (all earned) on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Stockton scored two runs against Fitzgerald in the first and third innings to take the early lead. Parker delivered an RBI double in the bottom of the first to score the first run before Barfield's two-out, RBI single. In the third, the Ports loaded the bases with none out with a Fitzgerald wild pitch scoring one run and a Ladendorf sacrifice fly making it 4-0.

Notes: The four-run deficit matched San Jose's largest comeback in a win this season ... The Giants last won consecutive games when they took seven straight from June 11-17 ... San Jose also has secured their first series win of the second half ... Monell has hit three home runs in his last five games ... Fairley extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games ... Whitaker joined the club from Augusta (Low-A) earlier on Thursday ... San Jose is the first North Division team to win 50 games this season.

On Deck: The Giants look for a three-game sweep of the Ports when the teams conclude their series on Friday evening. First pitch at Banner Island Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Oliver Odle (9-2, 3.90 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Ben Hornbeck (1-2, 4.79 ERA). The game will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104.

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