Giants Overcome Five Errors To Defeat Blaze
Published on July 10, 2011 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE - The San Jose Giants matched a season-high with five errors, but managed to hold off the Bakersfield Blaze for a 2-1 victory on Saturday evening at Municipal Stadium. Ryan Cavan's RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning put the Giants in the lead en route to their fifth consecutive win. The victory improved San Jose's overall record to 30 games over .500 at 58-28.
Cavan (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) was the only Giants player to finish with a multi-hit game. San Jose out-hit Bakersfield by a 6-4 margin.
Tom Vessella (2-0) earned the win out of the Giants bullpen after holding the Blaze scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings. Mitch Lively stranded the potential tying run at second base in the ninth inning for his third save of the series.
Bakersfield took the lead in the top of the fourth scoring a run without the benefit of a hit against San Jose starter Zack Wheeler. With one out, Chris Richburg reached on a fielding error committed by shortstop Ehire Adrianza. Richburg then stole second and advanced to third when Kevin Coddington grounded out. Dayne Read then drew a walk to put runners at the corners with two outs. Then with Josh Fellhauer at the plate, Read stole second while Richburg easily scored when Adrianza failed to cover the base as catcher Tommy Joseph's throw sailed into center field. Wheeler followed with a walk to Fellhauer before a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, but Jose Gualdron grounded out to end the inning.
The Giants immediately tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as Alex Burg was hit by a pitch with two outs and scored when the next batter, Tyler LaTorre, doubled into the left field corner.
Wheeler returned to the mound in the fifth and issued a pair of walks, but struck out Richburg swinging to leave runners at first and second. Wheeler worked five innings and allowed just one hit and one unearned run. The right-hander matched a career-high with six walks and struck out six. He threw 103 pitches.
Vessella (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) relieved Wheeler to begin the sixth and allowed a leadoff single before another fielding error charged to Adrianza put a second runner on base. A passed ball from Joseph advanced the runners at second and third with one out, but Vessella induced Gualdron to groundout before Didi Gregorius popped out to keep the score tied.
In the bottom of the sixth, Joseph was hit by a pitch to leadoff while pinch-runner Juan Ciriaco scored the go-ahead run on Cavan's double into the left center field gap.
Vessella maintained the lead with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh before Jacob Dunnington (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched around a leadoff single in the eighth. Lively (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) entered the game to begin the ninth and allowed a two-out single to Ryan La Marre. La Marre then stole second, but Lively recovered inducing Brodie Greene to pop out to second base on a 3-1 pitch to seal the Giants victory. Lively was credited with his seventh save of the season.
Blaze starter Curtis Partch (4-10) suffered the loss after surrendering both runs on five hits over seven innings of work. He walked two and struck out five.
Notes: The two teams were a combined 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position (Bakersfield 0-for-8, San Jose 0-for-9) ... The Blaze left 11 runners on base ... San Jose also committed five errors on June 25 versus Stockton - the only other time they've made more than three errors in a game this season ... Adrianza committed four of the five Giants errors ... Joseph (0-for-2, HBP) saw his hitting streak end at 11 games ... Outfielder Gary Brown was placed on the Temporary Inactive List as he is scheduled to participate in Sunday's Futures Game in Arizona ... San Jose has won 11 games in a row against Bakersfield dating back to May 8.
On Deck: The Giants will look for a four-game sweep of the Blaze when the teams conclude their series on Sunday evening. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 5:00 PM. Michael Main (1-1, 3.15 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield has not announced a starter. It's a KBAY's Giant Sunday at the ballpark and tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from July 10, 2011
- Flores Gives JetHawks Walk-Off Win - Lancaster JetHawks
- Quakes Close Road Trip with Loss - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Blaze Blasted 11-1 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Quakes Overwhelm JetHawks 12-3 - Lancaster JetHawks
- Quakes Rout JetHawks to End Skid - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Giants Overcome Five Errors To Defeat Blaze - San Jose Giants
- Blaze drop a tight one - Bakersfield Blaze
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