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CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Rally To Ninth Consecutive Victory

September 5, 2009 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


All-Stars Thomas Neal and Roger Kieschnick delivered RBI hits in a three-run top of the eighth inning leading the San Jose Giants to a come-from-behind 3-1 win over the Lake Elsinore Storm on Friday evening at The Diamond. Neal put the Giants ahead with a two-run double as San Jose matched a season-high with their ninth consecutive victory while they also set a team record for most wins in a half. The victory improved the Giants' second half record to 49-18 with three games remaining in the regular season.

Neal (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI) and Kieschnick (2-for-3, RBI) each produced multi-hit games at the plate to lead San Jose offensively. The Giants took advantage of two Lake Elsinore errors during their eighth-inning rally before reliever Daniel Turpen escaped trouble in the eighth and ninth frames to secure the win.

Trey Webb (1-1) was credited with the victory out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Turpen held the Storm off the scoreboard over the last 1 1/3 innings pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth before working around a pair of singles in the bottom of the ninth.

The Giants trailed 1-0 heading into the top of the eighth as Darren Ford led off with a sharp ground ball to shortstop Chris Tremblay that was mishandled for an error. After Ford stole second, Nick Noonan dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but reached base safely when relief pitcher Colt Hynes dropped the ball for another error. Neal then stepped to the plate and lined a double into the left field corner easily scoring both Ford and Noonan for a 2-1 San Jose lead. Kieschnick followed with a ground ball single through the hole on the right side plating Neal with the third run of the frame.

Webb returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth after a perfect seventh inning and quickly set down the first two batters. Webb though issued a two-out walk to Matt Clark before Angel Mercado singled and Danny Payne drew a full-count walk to load the bases. Turpen was then summoned from the bullpen and he quickly got out of the jam as Felix Carrasco lined out to Neal in left on the first pitch of the at-bat ending the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Brian Joynt singled with one out against Turpen before Brad Chalk bounced a single into right field to put runners on the corners. However with Andy Parrino at the plate, Chalk was thrown out at second by catcher Trent Kline on a stolen base attempt. Turpen then struck out Parrino looking on a 3-2 pitch to finish the game.

Kyle Nicholson started on the mound for the Giants and tossed six effective innings with one run and six hits allowed. Nicholson struck out five and walked two during his 93-pitch performance.

Lake Elsinore's only run of the evening came in the bottom of the first when James Darnell doubled off the wall in left center with two outs before Clark came through with an RBI single. Nicholson settled down after the first to not allow another run for the remainder of his outing, including pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the third when he struck out Mercado to end the threat.

Storm starting pitcher Wynn Pelzer fired seven scoreless innings yielding six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The Giants loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first, but Pelzer induced C.J. Ziegler to ground into an inning-ending double play. In the fifth, Ryan Lormand led off with a double and advanced to third on a balk, however San Jose was unable to score as Kline struck out, Graham flied out to shallow right and then Lormand was thrown out at the plate as he tagged up and attempted to score. The Giants also stranded the potential tying run in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings against Pelzer.

Notes: The previous San Jose Giants record for wins in a half was 48 held by the 1988 team (48-24 in the second half) ... The nine-game win streak is tied for the fifth-longest in team history ... The Giants also won nine in a row this season from July 5-13 ... Nicholson is unbeaten in his last 10 starts between San Jose and Augusta dating back to July 14 (7-0 record) ... The Giants played their ninth consecutive errorless game ... Kieschnick moved into a tie for second on the Giants single-season RBI list with his run-scoring single in the eighth inning ... His 108 RBI's is tied with Rich Aldrete (1988) while Mark Leonard (118 RBI's, 1988) holds the team record ... Ford (0-for-4, SB) saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end ... Lake Elsinore out-hit San Jose by a 9-8 margin ... Neal's eighth-inning double was his 40th of the season becoming the third player in Giants history to accomplish the feat ... San Jose (91-46) moved to within one victory of tying their team record for most overall wins in team history.

On Deck: The Giants and Storm continue their four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at The Diamond scheduled for 7:05 PM. Oliver Odle (8-11, 5.42 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lake Elsinore is expected to counter with Jeremy Hefner (13-9, 4.23 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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