Giants Set For Three Game Series Against Bakersfield
Published on June 9, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
THE SAN JOSE GIANTS... begin a three-game series against the host Bakersfield Blaze on Tuesday evening at Sam Lynn Ballpark. San Jose won three out of four games against the Blaze in their most recent series. After Bakersfield claimed a 4-0 victory at Municipal Stadium last Thursday, the Giants posted three wins over the next three days to earn the series victory. Buster Posey blasted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 13th inning in San Jose's 4-3 win on Friday before Clayton Tanner took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of the Giants' 5-2 triumph on Saturday. San Jose then continued their winning ways on Sunday afternoon connecting for a season-high four home runs in a 9-3 victory. Tyler Graham homered twice while Thomas Neal and Roger Kieschnick also went deep as the Giants concluded their season-long eight-game homestand with a 5-3 record.
San Jose Trying To Make A Move In The First Half Race... The Giants have won three consecutive games and four out of their last five as they attempt to make a late push toward the first half North Division title. San Jose enters Tuesday's contest with a 32-25 overall record - 2 1/2 games behind the Visalia Rawhide (35-23) for the top spot in the division. The Giants also trail the Modesto Nuts (33-24) by one game for second place. San Jose's next homestand that begins on Friday will feature six straight games against the Nuts and the Rawhide. The Giants set a California League record last year by winning their fourth consecutive first half title. Only 13 games remain in the first half for San Jose.
Seven In A Row Versus The Blaze... Last Thursday marked the beginning of a stretch where the Giants will play seven consecutive games against the Bakersfield Blaze. San Jose won three out of four games in the series played at Municipal Stadium before both clubs enjoyed an off day on Monday. The Giants own a 6-4 advantage over the Blaze in the season series. San Jose claimed two out of three games in their only previous visit to Sam Lynn Ballpark this year.
Graham's Power Surge... Outfielder Tyler Graham has supplied the Giants with a jolt of power at the top of the lineup over the last two games. Graham hit an inside-the-park home run on Saturday versus the Blaze before connecting for a pair of conventional round-trippers during Sunday's contest. Graham, who has homered three times in his last six at-bats, hit just two home runs in 84 games with San Jose last season. In six games with the Giants this year, Graham is batting .321 (9-for-28) with three homers, five RBI's and six stolen bases.
Posey And Neal Form Dynamic Duo... Catcher Buster Posey and left fielder Thomas Neal are both swinging hot bats in the middle of the Giants lineup. Posey brings a nine-game hitting streak into Tuesday's series opener and boasts a season batting average of .307. The former first round draft pick is sixth in the California League with 41 RBI's while he's tied with Neal for the team lead in home runs with nine. Neal, fifth in the league with a .333 batting average, is 8-for-15 with five doubles, two homers and four RBI's in his last four games.
Balanced Team Effort... The Giants are currently third in the California League in batting average (.275), third in ERA (3.69) and first in fielding percentage (.977).
Oseguera, Maroul Return; Runzler Joins Bullpen... Left-handed pitcher Paul Oseguera and infielder David Maroul - two key performers on San Jose's 2007 championship team - rejoined the Giants today. Oseguera, who will start Tuesday's series opener on the mound, had made three starts in Augusta (Low-A) this season and was 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA. The southpaw was San Jose's Pitcher of the Year in 2007 after compiling a 10-6 record with the fifth-lowest ERA in the league (3.54). Oseguera spent all of last season with Double-A Connecticut. Maroul, who will play first and third base for the Giants, was hitting .218 with one homer and six RBI's in 55 at-bats with Connecticut this year. Maroul hit .221 with a team-leading 20 home runs for San Jose two seasons ago before batting .230 with 10 homers and 35 RBI's in 108 games last year for the Defenders. Dan Runzler has also joined the Giants and is expected to play a key role out of the San Jose bullpen. Runzler was a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities with Augusta this season to go with a 1-1 record and 0.68 ERA in 19 relief appearances. The left-hander struck out 45 in 26 1/3 innings and had allowed just eight hits for a paltry .093 opponents batting average. Relief pitchers Edwin Quirarte (0-3, 4.57 ERA, 4 SV) and Mitch Lively (0-0, 5.23 ERA) were transferred to Augusta while first baseman C.J. Ziegler (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI) was sent to Extended Spring Training.
Media Coverage... The entire series from Bakersfield can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com with Joe Ritzo calling all of the action.
Bakersfield Blaze... The Bakersfield Blaze, an affiliate of the Texas Rangers, enter Tuesday's match-up in fourth place in the North Division with a 26-31 record - nine games behind Visalia. Bakersfield is seventh in the league in hitting (.265), third in home runs (53) and fifth in ERA (4.19). First baseman/DH Ian Gac homered four times in the recently completed series in San Jose. The Blaze have struggled of late with a .207 team batting average in their last 10 games. Blake Beavan is slated to make the start on the mound Tuesday night. Beavan tossed a complete-game in his only previous start against the Giants on May 7 (9 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO). The 20-year old right-hander is 4-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 11 starts overall this season.
California League Stories from June 9, 2009
- Light Outage Suspends 66ers - JetHawks Game - Inland Empire 66ers
- Storm Top All-Stars with Five - Lake Elsinore Storm
- Rawhide Salute the Girls of Summer - Visalia Rawhide
- Giants Set For Three Game Series Against Bakersfield - San Jose Giants
- Hefner Foils 66ers, Forsythe Homers Again as Storm Takes Series - Inland Empire 66ers
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