CalL1 San Jose Giants

San Jose Giants on Deck: Giants Continue Homestand against Bakersfield

Published on July 8, 2014 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Bakersfield Blaze (56-32) at San Jose Giants (43-45)

At Municipal Stadium

- Tuesday, July 8, 7:00 PM

- Wednesday, July 9, 7:00 PM

- Thursday, July 10, 12:35 PM

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups

Tuesday

Bakersfield - Daniel Wright (5-1, 3.89)

San Jose - Joe Biagini (5-5, 4.14)

Wednesday

Bakersfield - Ismael Guillon (0-1, 12.41)

San Jose - Pat Young (6-3, 5.80)

Thursday

Bakersfield - Drew Cisco (4-2, 5.51)

San Jose - Chris Stratton (5-8, 5.31)

Broadcast Information

The entire series can be heard live on sjgiants.com and inside Municipal Stadium on 92.9 FM with Joe Ritzo calling all of the action. Radio broadcasts begin 30 minutes prior to first pitch with The Giants Pregame Show. All 140 games this season will be aired on the club's official website and the San Jose Giants Mobile App. Additionally, every home game is streamed live and available on demand through MiLB.TV.

Giants Continue Homestand Against Bakersfield

The San Jose Giants continue their homestand with the opener of a three-game series against the Bakersfield Blaze this evening at Municipal Stadium. Joe Biagini (5-5, 4.14) is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose tonight.

Last Series

San Jose dropped three out of four games to the visiting Stockton Ports in a series that concluded last night. Stockton won the first two games by the scores of 17-6 and 4-3 on Friday and Saturday respectively before the Giants earned an 8-4 win on Sunday. The Ports then took the series with a 7-0 shutout of San Jose last night. The 17 runs and 18 hits allowed by the Giants in Friday's opener were both season-high totals while last night's whitewash marked the sixth time San Jose had been shutout this year - tied for the league-lead. The Giants have now dropped eight out of their last ten games to Stockton.

Streaky Second Half

The Giants have been a streaky team throughout the first three weeks of the second half. After enduring a stretch of six losses in seven games, San Jose rattled off a season-high six consecutive victories from June 27-July 3. The Giants have now followed the win streak by dropping three out of their last four games. San Jose is 9-9 in the second half overall.

Recent Offensive Surge

Despite getting shutout last night, the Giants are batting .311 as a team and scoring 5.9 runs per game over their last 10 contests (7-3 record). San Jose has had four games of 14 or more hits during the stretch.

Miller Among League's Best

Second baseman Blake Miller is up to 65 RBI's for the season to rank sixth in the California League. Miller is tops on the Giants in batting average (.309), doubles (22), RBI's and slugging percentage (.465) while he's tied for third on the team in home runs (7). After batting .312 in April, Miller hit .304 in May and .330 in June. Through seven games in July, Miller is batting at a .250 clip (7-for-28).

Versus The Blaze

The Giants are 4-6 against Bakersfield this season, including a 2-5 mark at Municipal Stadium. This series marks the first meeting between the two clubs since the Blaze took two out of three from April 25-27 in San Jose. The Giants will play only six games against Bakersfield in the second half.

Home Run Drought

After hitting a league-low nine home runs during the month of June, the Giants have hit just two homers through their first seven games in July. San Jose's 54 home runs overall this season are eighth in the California League.

Bednar's Fast Start

In six games since joining the club from Augusta (A), infielder Brandon Bednar is 10-for-25 (.400) with a double and an RBI. He's hit safely in all six games. Bednar has made starts at first base (three games), third base (two games) and shortstop (one game) with San Jose. Bednar, a former seventh round draft pick, was leading the GreenJackets with a .275 batting average at the time of his promotion on July 1.

At Muni

The Giants (22-24) are one of only three teams in the league (Inland Empire 20-26, Modesto 16-26) with a sub-.500 record at home this season. Since sweeping a three-game series against visiting High Desert from June 3-5, San Jose is just 6-9 at Municipal Stadium. The Giants are batting .254 as a team at home compared to .273 on the road.

Blair Heats Up

Over his last six games, outfielder Elliott Blair is 12-for-23 (.522) with two doubles and seven RBI's. Previously, Blair had collected just four hits in 31 at-bats (.129) spanning 10 games.

Bullpen Standouts

Recent bullpen standouts for the Giants include: Mason McVay (1.02 ERA - 4 ER/35.1 IP - in 22 appearances since the beginning of May), Tyler Mizenko (13 straight scoreless outings - 14 IP), Stephen Johnson (0.81 ERA - 2 ER/22.1 IP - in his last 16 games) and Bryce Bandilla (1.29 ERA - 2 ER/14.0 IP - in 15 games since joining team).

Home Cooking

The start of this homestand marked the beginning of a stretch for the Giants playing 14 out of 18 games at Municipal Stadium. After this series, San Jose travels to Stockton for a four-game set beginning on Friday. The Giants then return to the South Bay for a seven-game homestand against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Lake Elsinore Storm.

Opponent Notes: Bakersfield Blaze

The Bakersfield Blaze, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, own the best overall record in the league at 56-32. Bakersfield has already qualified for the playoffs after winning the first half North Division title. The Blaze lead the league in batting average (.297) and runs scored (6.4 per game) while they're sixth in ERA (4.57).

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from July 8, 2014


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