Giants Remain Unbeaten Against Stockton With 3-1 Victory
Published on April 17, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
Madison Bumgarner and three Giants relievers combined on a five-hitter Thursday night leading San Jose to a 3-1 victory over the Stockton Ports in the opener of a four-game series at Banner Island Ballpark. Bumgarner improved his record to 2-0 after surrendering one unearned run on four hits over five innings before Garrett Broshuis, Craig Whitaker and Edwin Quirarte combined to hold the Ports scoreless over the final four frames. Offensively, Angel Villalona smacked a solo home run as the Giants remained perfect in five games against Stockton this season while improving their overall record to 6-2.
Villalona (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) was the only San Jose starter to produce a multiple-hit game at the plate. The Giants finished the contest with a season-low four hits.
San Jose opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with a pair of runs against Stockton starting pitcher Craig Italiano. Buster Posey led off the frame with a double off the fence in deep right center field before Michael Ambort drew a walk and Roger Kieschnick was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With Villalona at the plate, Italiano uncorked a wild pitch allowing Posey to score the first run of the evening. Villalona then delivered a sacrifice fly to center field plating Ambort for a 2-0 Giants lead.
Bumgarner worked through a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the first inning retiring Todd Johnson on a pop out to shortstop after yielded a two-out single to Matt Spencer followed by back-to-back walks to Greg Dowling and Matt Smith. In the bottom of the second, Bumgarner surrendered a leadoff infield single to Jermaine Mitchell before a passed ball with one out advanced the runner to second. Bumgarner set down Mike Affronti on a ground out to shortstop as Mitchell took third base, but Shane Keough followed with an RBI infield single to cut the Giants lead in half.
Bumgarner settled down after allowing the run to retire 10 of the last 12 batters he faced. The left-hander needed just five pitches in a 1-2-3 bottom of the third before working through a two-out error in the fourth. Keough led off the fifth inning with a single, but was ultimately stranded at second base after Bumgarner set down the next three hitters.
Bumgarner, who struck out four and walked two, threw 67 pitches during his outing.
Broshuis relieved the Giants starter to begin the bottom of the sixth and allowed a one-out double to Johnson to put the potential tying run into scoring position. However, the Ports would not have another hitter reach base safely for the remainder of the night. Broshuis induced Mitchell to fly out to left field before Frank Martinez popped out to shortstop.
Whitaker entered the game in the seventh and promptly retired all six batters he faced on just 24 pitches, including two via the strikeout.
Villalona gave the Giants an insurance run in the top of the ninth with a solo shot to deep left field. The homer, Villalona's second of the year, extended the San Jose lead to 3-1.
Quirarte was credited with his first save of the year after setting down all three Ports batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth. Quirarte finished the night with consecutive strikeouts of Mitchell and Martinez.
Notes: The Giants have allowed just two runs in five games against Stockton this season ... Through two starts this year, Bumgarner has worked 11 innings with one unearned run allowed, two walks and nine strikeouts ... Villalona, who has three straight multiple-hit games, is 11-for-23 (.478) overall this season ... Both of his home runs have been against Ports reliever Chad Kerfoot ... Crawford (0-for-3, HBP) saw his seven-game hitting streak come to an end while Posey (1-for-3, 2B) has now hit safely in seven consecutive games ... Quirarte earned a save in his first opportunity of the season ... Stockton's record fell to 0-8 ... The Ports have scored only eight runs through eight games ... Italiano (0-2) suffered the loss on the mound despite allowing only two hits and two runs over five innings with six strikeouts.
On Deck: The Giants and Ports continue this four-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark scheduled for 7:05 PM. Scott Barnes (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Scott Hodsdon (0-1, 12.00 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
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