CalL1 San Jose Giants

San Jose Giants on Deck: Giants Host Bakersfield in Four-Game Series

Published on August 20, 2015 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


--Apple-Mail=_F9C8C05F-1D1E-4C55-A9E5-220B096D1A4D Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252

AUGUST 20, 2015

Giants Host Bakersfield In Four-Game Series

At Municipal Stadium (San Jose, CA)

* Thursday, August 20, 7:00 PM

* Friday, August 21, 7:00 PM

* Saturday, August 22, 5:00 PM

* Sunday, August 23. 1:00 PM

Records

Bakersfield: 50-72 (24-28 Second Half)

San Jose: 61-61 (31-21 Second Half)

Probable Starting Pitchers

Thursday

Bakersfield - Ryan Yarbrough (2-6, 4.10)

San Jose - Andrew Suarez (0-0, ---)

Friday

Bakersfield - Brett Ash (5-8, 4.25)

San Jose - Jose Reyes (3-5, 6.75)

Saturday

Bakersfield - Scott DeCecco (1-2, 3.93)

San Jose - Martin Agosta (4-7, 4.50)

Sunday

Bakersfield - Dan Altavilla (6-10, 4.03)

San Jose - Christian Jones (5-1, 3.20)

Broadcast Information

All four games will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104. Joe Ritzo handles the play-by-play while color commentary duties will be provided by Joe Castellano. The entire series can also be heard live on sjgiants.com and inside Municipal Stadium on 92.9 FM with Justin Allegri (Thursday-Friday) and Ben Taylor (Saturday-Sunday) calling 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 Begin Four-Game Series Against Bakersfield Tonight

The San Jose Giants return home this evening to begin a four-game series against the Bakersfield Blaze at Municipal Stadium. Andrew Suarez is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose tonight. Suarez was added to the Giants roster last Tuesday from Salem-Keizer (Short-Season level) and will be making his San Jose debut. With the Volcanoes, Suarez had a 1.40 ERA over five starts. The 22-year old left-hander was a second round pick of the San Francisco Giants in the 2015 draft out of the University of Miami. He replaces Chase Johnson in the starting rotation. Johnson was promoted to Double-A Richmond earlier this week.

Two Of Three In Stockton

The Giants picked-up a key road series win in Stockton earlier this week. After the Ports posted a 13-2 blowout victory over San Jose in the opener last Monday, the Giants earned wins of 3-0 and 3-1 on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively to take the series. It was only San Jose's third road series win of the season - all in the second half (July 11-13 at Modesto, August 3-5 at Modesto).

League-Leading Pitching Staff

San Jose currently boasts the lowest team ERA in the California League at 3.52. The Giants also lead all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts (1176, 9.6 per game). San Jose owns a 2.85 team ERA since the beginning of July (28-18 record).

In The Standings

The Giants (61-61) are now tied with Stockton (61-61) for the second Wild Card spot in the North Division. Including tonight, 18 games remain in the regular season. San Jose is also just one game behind Modesto (62-60) for the first Wild Card. Additionally, the Giants (31-21) are two games behind Visalia (33-19) in the second half North Division race. San Jose has no games remaining in the regular season against Stockton and Visalia. The Giants will play a three-game series against Modesto from September 1-3 at Municipal Stadium. San Jose has qualified for the playoffs in 10 out of the last 11 seasons.

Overall Record

A victory tonight would move the Giants above .500 for the first time since August 5 (55-54). San Jose's high-water mark this season was on August 4 when the club was two games over .500 at 55-53.

Offensive Woes

The Giants are batting only .221 as a team in August (9-9 record) - ninth in the California League (Lake Elsinore). San Jose is averaging only 3.3 runs per game this month.

Christian Arroyo

Shortstop Christian Arroyo ranks fourth in the California League with a .319 batting average. Despite a six-week DL stint in the first half, Arroyo is second on the team in doubles (24), fourth in RBI's (35) and fourth in home runs (8). He hit .300 in the first half (27 games) and is batting at a .332 clip since the All-Star break (47 games).

Dominant Bullpen

Since July 1, the Giants bullpen has fashioned a stellar 2.22 ERA. Jake Smith (T8th, 111 SO) and Ian Gardeck (17th, 93 SO) are the only two relievers in the California League to rank among the top 25 in strikeouts. San Jose is the lone team in the league to have not lost a game this season when leading after eight innings (51-0).

Angel Villalona Home Run Tracker

First baseman Angel Villalona hit his 32nd career home run with the San Jose Giants in last Friday's game versus Lancaster. Villalona needs two more home runs to move into the top five in team history (Giuseppe Chiaramonte ranks fifth with 34 HR). Villalona slugged nine homers with San Jose in 2009, 14 home runs during the 2013 All-Star season and has nine homers this year (51 games).

Extra, Extra

San Jose's 20 extra-inning games this season (9-11 record, lost last five) are second-most in all of Minor League Baseball. The Fort Myers Miracle of the Florida State League (Class-A Advanced) lead with 21 extra-inning games.

Opponent Notes: Bakersfield Blaze

The Bakersfield Blaze, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, own the worst overall record in the North Division at 50-72. Bakersfield has gone 13-5 in August - the best mark in the league this month. The Blaze are last in the league in batting average (.232) and runs scored (3.9 per game) while they're fifth in ERA (3.87). San Jose is 9-10 against Bakersfield this season, but have won seven out of the last nine meetings between the clubs.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



California League Stories from August 20, 2015


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.

OurSports Central