CalL1 San Jose Giants

Kurrasch, Balanced Offense Lead Giants to 8-4 Win

Published on July 6, 2014 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Joe Kurrasch took a shutout into the eighth inning and San Jose knocked out 14 hits in an 8-4 victory over the Stockton Ports on Sunday evening at Municipal Stadium. All nine Giants starters recorded at least one hit in the contest as San Jose won for the seventh time in their last nine games.

Kurrasch (7-2) earned his team-leading seventh win of the season after another stellar effort on the mound. The left-hander allowed just four singles over the first seven innings as San Jose built a 7-0 lead. Kurrasch finished his night with four runs (all earned) and seven hits surrendered with four walks and two strikeouts.

Brian Ragira (2-for-4, HR, RBI) hit his eighth home run of the season while Ydwin Villegas (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Mitch Delfino (1-for-4, 2 RBI) each collected a pair of RBI's to lead the Giants offensively. Chuckie Jones (2-for-5, 2 2B, RBI), Brandon Bednar (2-for-5) and Elliott Blair (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) also finished with two hits apiece.

San Jose took an early 1-0 lead when Ragira belted a solo home run to straightaway center field in the bottom of the second inning. It marked the Giants' only baserunner over the first four innings against Ports starter Chris Lamb.

Meanwhile, Kurrasch pitched out of trouble early inducing double plays to end each of the first three innings. Stockton had runners on first and second with none out in the top of the first, but failed to score. The Ports then put two more runners on base with one out in the second, but again Kurrasch used a double play to keep the Ports off the board. The San Jose starter than worked around a leadoff walk in the third before pitching a 1-2-3 fourth inning. In the fifth, the Ports notched a leadoff single and a one-out single, but again didn't score as the Giants maintained their 1-0 lead.

After the first two batters of the bottom of the fifth were retired, San Jose rallied against Lamb. Blair lined a single into center before Trevor Brown blooped a single down the right field line to put runners on the corners. Villegas then stepped to the plate and lined a 3-2 pitch into left center for a single plating Blair with the second Giants run of the night.

Kurrasch breezed through a seven-pitch top of the sixth and then San Jose erupted in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Bednar singled before Blake Miller's grounder to third bounced off the glove of Renato Nunez for an error. The misplay allowed Bednar to advance into third while Miller took second. Delfino was up next and he greeted new pitcher Andres Avila with a bouncer over Nunez's head and into left for a single as both runners scored to make it 4-0. After Ragira singled, Blair ripped an RBI double for a 5-0 advantage. Then two batters later, Villegas delivered a sacrifice fly to deep left center extending the lead to 6-0.

The Giants added a run in the bottom of the seventh for a 7-0 cushion as Jones led off with a double into deep left center and scored on Miller's one-out double down the right field line.

Stockton finally got to Kurrasch in the top of the eighth scoring four times while bringing the potential tying run to the plate with two outs. A single from Wade Kirkland started the frame before Bobby Crocker was hit by a pitch. After Aaron Shipman grounded into a fielder's choice for the first out, Boog Powell bounced an RBI single into right for the first Ports run of the evening. Daniel Robertson then singled to load the bases before Matt Olson drew a five-pitch walk to make it 7-2. Mason McVay was then summoned from the bullpen to face Nunez, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left for the third run of the inning. Ryon Healy was up next and he lined an RBI single up the middle to trim the lead to 7-4, but McVay settled down retiring Bruce Maxwell, who represented the tying run, on a routine groundout to end the inning.

San Jose got one run back in the bottom of the eighth as Villegas and Shawn Payne produced back-to-back two-out singles before Jones hit an RBI double down the left field line.

Leading 8-4, McVay returned to the mound in the top of the ninth and worked around a one-out walk, inducing Shipman to ground into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

McVay (1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) was credited with his first save of the season.

Lamb (3-1) suffered the loss after yielding four runs (three earned) on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out a career-high 10 and walked none.

Notes: The Giants are batting .321 as a team and averaging 6.6 runs per contest over their last nine games (7-2 record) ... San Jose out-hit Stockton 14-8 on Sunday ... The Giants won for just the second time in their last nine games versus the Ports ... Bednar (.381 AVG) has hit safely in all five games he's played with San Jose ... Kurrasch had thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings until the four-run top of the eighth ... The Giants were 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position ... Stockton hit into four double plays ... Over his last five games, Blair is 11-for-19 (.579) with seven RBI's ... San Jose improved to 9-8 in the second half ... Before the game, relief pitcher Jorge Bucardo was added to the Giants roster from Fresno (AAA) ... Pitcher Ryan Bradley was placed on the disabled list.

On Deck: The Giants will look for a series split against Stockton when the teams conclude their four-game set on Monday evening. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Matt Lujan (2-0, 4.63 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Ports are expected to counter with Yeiper Castillo (0-1, 15.26 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com. The game will also be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104.

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California League Stories from July 6, 2014


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