San Jose Giants at Visalia Rawhide, July 22-24
July 22, 2009 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
San Jose Giants (63-33) at Visalia Rawhide (45-51)
At Recreation Park
- Wednesday, July 22nd at 7:05 PM
- Thursday, July 23rd at 7:05 PM
- Friday, July 24th at 7:05 PM
Pitching Match Ups
- Wednesday - Craig Clark (10-2, 3.20) at Josh Collmenter (7-5, 3.44)
- Thursday - Scott Barnes (11-3, 2.81) at Pat McAnaney (7-5, 4.55)
- Friday - Oliver Odle (6-7, 5.58) at Trevor Harden (1-7, 4.21)
THE SAN JOSE GIANTS... winners of five in a row and 14 out of their last 16, travel to Visalia to begin a three-game series against the Rawhide on Wednesday evening at Recreation Park. San Jose swept a three-game set from the visiting Bakersfield Blaze in their most recent series earning 14-5, 7-1 and 8-4 victories. Last night, Thomas Neal hit a three-run go-ahead homer in the bottom of the seventh inning while David Maroul also drove home three runs and Brian Bocock contributed three hits. Wilmin Rodriguez was credited with the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief and striking out three.
Clark Looks To Tie Team Record In Series Opener... Craig Clark, who will start Wednesday's series opener on the mound, has won his last nine decisions - one off the team record for consecutive victories (Dan Rambo - 1990, Jeff Urban - 1998-99, Kevin Pucetas 2008). Clark has not suffered a defeat and the Giants have not lost a game that he's started since May 7 (12 outings). The left-hander is 9-0 with a 2.64 ERA in his last 12 appearances. Clark is currently tied for second in the California League in wins (10), tied for fourth in strikeouts (102) and sixth in ERA (3.20).
Third-Best Record In Minor League Baseball... San Jose (63-33, .656) currently owns the third-best overall record among full-season teams in all of minor league baseball. The Giants trail only the Low-A Fort Wayne TinCaps (65-29, .691) and the Double-A Birmingham Barons (63-32, .663).
Offensive Firepower... The Giants are enjoying a tremendous July at the plate as the club owns a .297 batting average while scoring 7.6 runs per game during the month (16-4 record). San Jose has reached double figures in runs eight times in the last 21 games while they're now second overall in the California League in hitting (.281) and runs scored (566).
San Jose's Series Unbeaten Streak At 14... The Giants extended their series unbeaten streak to 14 with the sweep of Bakersfield. San Jose is 12-0-2 in their past 14 series' dating back to the first week of June. The Giants' last series loss occurred when they dropped three out of four games at Visalia from May 27-30. Despite their overall success, San Jose is just 7-7 in series openers during the hot streak.
Dynamic Duo... Outfielders Thomas Neal and Roger Kieschnick have formed a potent 1-2 punch in the middle of the Giants lineup with the duo both ranking among the league leaders in several offensive categories. Neal, who has homered in the last two games, is second in the California League in batting average (.345), third in runs scored (74) and slugging percentage (.621), tied for third in doubles (31) and fourth in on-base percentage (.430). Kieschnick, who has seven RBI's in his last three games and is hitting .300 overall, ranks fourth in the league with 19 home runs. He's also second in RBI's (77) - just one behind High Desert's Alex Liddi (78) for the league-lead. Kieschnick is within three homers of cracking the San Jose Giants single-season Top 5 home run list. Travis Ishikawa (2005) and Giuseppe Chiaramonte (1998) are tied for fourth in Giants history with 22 home runs.
Winning Ways... San Jose is 34-8 (.810) in their last 42 games since June 5. The Giants currently own an 11-game lead over the Modesto Nuts (52-44) for the top overall record in the North Division.
League-Leading Pitching Staff... The Giants enter tonight's game first in the California League in team ERA (3.17). San Jose is attempting to lead the league in pitching for the sixth consecutive season while they currently boast three out of the top six hurlers individually in ERA: Scott Barnes (2nd - 2.81), Clayton Tanner (3rd - 3.10) and Craig Clark (6th - 3.20). The Giants have shown improvement in their team ERA every month (April - 3,81, May - 3.51, June - 2.83, July - 2.46). San Jose leads the California League with eight shutouts.
Second Half Surge... The Giants are off to an outstanding 21-5 start in the second half and currently own a six-game lead over the Stockton Ports (15-11) for the top spot in the North Division. Four regulars are batting over .300 since the All-Star break: Thomas Neal (.352), Brian Bocock (.326), Darren Ford (.308) and Conor Gillaspie (.305) while Roger Kieschnick has seven homers and 28 RBI's to go with a .289 average in 24 games.
Bullpen Excellence... The Giants bullpen has been spectacular in July compiling a 0.90 ERA (6 ER/60.0 IP) in 20 games this month. Individually, Dan Runzler still boasts a perfect 0.00 ERA (15.2 IP) since joining the club on June 8 from Augusta. Wilmin Rodriguez has gone 17 straight appearances without allowing a run (20 IP) while David Mixon owns a 0.86 ERA (2 ER/21.0 IP) in his last 13 outings since June 4. T.J. Brewer has fanned 23 over 16 1/3 innings spanning his last eight games (2 ER, 1.10 ERA) and Daniel Turpen has been impressive all season with a 1.30 ERA in 32 appearances. San Jose relievers own a sparkling 0.95 ERA (14 ER/133.1 IP) in the last 44 games (35-9 record) beginning with their contest on June 3.
Media Coverage... The entire series from Visalia can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com with Joe Ritzo calling all of the action. All 140 games this season will be aired on the club's official website.
Visalia Rawhide... The Visalia Rawhide, an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, enter tonight's match-up with a 45-51 overall record and a 6-20 mark in the second half. Visalia, off to a dismal 2-18 start to July, is last in the California League in batting average (.241) and home runs (47) while they're third in ERA (4.09). The Giants and Rawhide split 10 meetings during the first half before San Jose swept a four-game series at Recreation Park from July 10-13.
California League Stories from July 22, 2009
- Ports History on Display at Haggin Museum - Stockton Ports
- JetHawks Amend Tonight's Promotions - Lancaster JetHawks
- JetHawks to Show Appreciation for Area Umpires - Lancaster JetHawks
- Astros Legend Jeff Bagwell on Wednesday's Clubhouse Show - Lancaster JetHawks
- Weenie Wednesday!!! - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Synder on Rehab Duty with Rawhide - Visalia Rawhide
- San Jose Giants at Visalia Rawhide, July 22-24 - San Jose Giants
- Neal's Home Run Powers Giants To Sweep Of Blaze - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Lose to Mavs 7-2 - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Storm Triple Past 66ers To Take Series - Inland Empire 66ers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
