CalL1 San Jose Giants

Neal's Bat, Tanner's Arm Propel Giants To 4-2 Win

Published on August 27, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Thomas Neal homered and collected three RBI's while Clayton Tanner held the Visalia Rawhide to one run on three hits over seven innings as the San Jose Giants posted a 4-2 win in the series rubber game on Wednesday night in front of 4,687 fans at Municipal Stadium. The win guaranteed San Jose (83-46) will finish with the best overall record in the North Division thereby securing homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. The Giants also improved their second half record to 41-18 - nine games ahead of the Stockton Ports (32-27) and Bakersfield Blaze (32-27) for the top spot in the North Division. Only 11 games remain in the regular season.

Tanner (11-6) matched a season-high for his longest outing of the year as the left-hander retired 21 out of the 26 hitters that he faced. Tanner at one point set down 12 consecutive Visalia batters and didn't allow his first hit until Greg Thomson's two-out single in the top of the fifth inning. Overall, Tanner struck out six and walked two during his 96-pitch performance.

Neal (3-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) connected for a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and later added an RBI single to lead the Giants at the plate. Darren Ford (2-for-4, SB) also produced a multi-hit game.

San Jose immediately jumped ahead scoring three runs off of Rawhide starting pitcher Bryan Henry before an out was even recorded in the bottom of the first. Ford led off with a bunt single and advanced all the way to third on the play when Henry threw the ball down the right field line for an error. Nick Noonan followed with a line drive single into center field plating Ford before Neal crushed a pitch over the fence in deep left center for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Giants lead.

Tanner pitched around a pair of walks in the top of the first inning striking out Ed Easley to end the frame. The San Jose starter then set down the Rawhide 1-2-3 in the second, third and fourth innings before retiring the first two batters in the fifth. Thomson's two-out single gave Visalia their first hit of the evening before Eli Rumler drove an RBI double into the left field corner to get the Rawhide on the scoreboard.

The Giants though answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth as Ford singled with one out, stole second and then scored on Neal's two-out single into right field.

Tanner bounced back with a perfect top of the sixth before working around a two-out walk to throw a scoreless top of the seventh ending his night. Trey Webb (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) entered to begin the top of the eighth and allowed one run when Konrad Schmidt delivered a two-out single into left plating David Cooper, who had earlier drawn a walk. Webb though recovered to strikeout Kyle Greene, the potential tying run, on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

Rafael Cova (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) threw all 10 of his pitches for strikes in a perfect top of the ninth to record the save.

Henry (4-4) suffered the loss on the mound for the Rawhide after yielding four runs (all earned) on seven hits over six innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out three.

Notes: The Giants won two out of three games in the series ... San Jose has not lost a series at home since dropping two of three to the Inland Empire 66ers from May 19-21 ... Tanner (21-14) earned his 21st victory with the Giants dating back to last season to move into a tie for second in team history (Garrett Broshuis - 22) ... Tanner lowered his ERA to 3.10 - third in the California League ... He has worked at least six innings in 10 consecutive starts ... San Jose out-hit Visalia by a 7-4 margin ... Conor Gillaspie (1-for-3, 2B) and Noonan (1-for-3, RBI) extended their hitting streaks to 11 and 10 games respectively ... The Giants finished their season-series against the Rawhide with an 18-8 advantage ... Wednesday marked their final regular season game against a team from the North Division ... Neal's home run was his 21st of the season - two behind Roger Kieschnick (23) for the team lead ... Shortstop Brian Bocock was honored as San Jose's 2009 Defensive Player of the Year before the game.

On Deck: The Giants continue their final homestand of the regular season on Thursday evening with the opener of a four-game series against the Lancaster JetHawks. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. The Giants are expected to welcome their 200,000th fan this season during the game with the lucky person receiving a special San Jose Giants prize package. San Jose has never reached the 200,000 mark in single-season attendance during their franchise history. It's also a KRTY Country Thursday, State Farm Night and College Night at the ballpark. Fans that wear their college gear will receive two FREE future game San Jose Giants tickets. Tickets for Thursday are available and can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from August 27, 2009


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