San Jose Giants on Deck: Giants Host Lancaster to Begin Seven-Game Homestand
May 10, 2011 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
On Deck for the San Jose Giants
Lancaster JetHawks (15-16) @ San Jose Giants (19-12)
At Municipal Stadium
Tuesday, May 10, 7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 11, 7:00 PM
Thursday, May 12, 7:00 PM
Friday, May 13, 7:00 PM
Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
Tuesday - Luis Cruz (0-1, 23.62) vs. Craig Westcott (4-0, 2.43)
Wednesday - Robby Donovan (2-1, 5.23) vs. Zack Wheeler (2-1, 4.00)
Thursday - Jake Buchanan (3-1, 1.70) vs. Jake Dunning (3-0, 5.63)
Friday - Bobby Doran (1-1, 7.89) vs. Andy Reichard (1-0, 1.96)
Giants Begin Four-Game Series Against Lancaster Tonight...
The two-time defending California League champion San Jose Giants begin a seven-game homestand this evening with the first of four straight contests against the Lancaster JetHawks at Municipal Stadium.
The Giants won two out of three from the host Bakersfield Blaze in their most recent series, including a 7-3 victory in the rubber game last Sunday afternoon.
Hector Sanchez hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning before a three-run double in the seventh as part of a five-RBI game to lead the offensive attack.
Chris Heston tossed a season-high seven innings with three runs allowed, one walk and six strikeouts to earn the win.
Heston took a no-hitter into the sixth while Heath Hembree picked up the save after striking out two over 1 1/3 scoreless innings to finish the game.
The Giants concluded their seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record.
Media Coverage...
The games on Wednesday and Friday will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104 with Joe Ritzo and Dan Dibley handling the play-by-play and color commentary duties respectively.
The entire series can also be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
Home Cooking...
The Giants have won seven out of their last eight games at Municipal Stadium and a re a league-best 10-4 at home this season.
San Jose is hitting .290 as a team at home (.273 on the road) while the pitching staff has compiled a 2.07 ERA (3.88 on the road).
The Giants are currently in the midst of a stretch (May 2-28) where they're playing 18 out of 25 games on the road.
Brown Named Cal League Offensive Player Of The Week...
Center fielder Gary Brown has been named the California League Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending last Sunday (May 2-8).
In seven games last week, Brown hit .433 (13-for-30) with five doubles, one home run, 12 RBI's and two stolen bases.
Brown tied a Giants single-game team record with five hits in last Friday's win at Bakersfield.
He is the first San Jose player to earn a weekly award this season.
Overall, Brown is second in the California League in stolen bases (19), tied for third in RBI's (27), tied for fourth in hits (45) and tenth in batting average (.357).
He leads the Giants in runs scored (24 - tied), hits, triples (2 - tied), RBI's and stolen bases.
Giants-JetHawks Series Notes...
This series marks Lancaster's first visit to Municipal Stadium this year.
San Jose dropped two out of three games to the JetHawks at Clear Channel Stadium during the opening week of the season (April 11-13).
The Giants posted a 14-8 win in the series opener before Lancaster bounced back with 8-5 and 4-3 (12 innings) victories the next two days.
Tommy Joseph collected eight RBI's and hit a grand slam during the series while Luke Anders posted a .364 batting average (4-for-11) with two homers.
The JetHawks will return to San Jose for a four-game series from July 27-30.
Balanced Team...
The Giants enter tonight's game ranked first in the California League in ERA (3.06) and third in runs scored (6.4 per game).
On the mound, San Jose has thrown a league-best five shutouts while the other nine teams in the league have combined for only eight shutouts.
Offensively, the Giants are third in batting average (.280) and tied for second in home runs (31).
Three Pitchers Among Top 10 In ERA...
The Giants currently boast three starting pitchers among the top 10 in the league in ERA: Kelvin Marte (1st, 1.51), Craig Westcott (3rd, 2.43) and Chris Heston (10th, 3.31).
Westcott is tied for the league lead with four wins while Marte, Heston and Jake Dunning are tied for fifth with three victories each.
Zack Wheeler has the second-lowest opponents batting average (.184) of any starting pitcher in the league.
Hembree Slams The Door...
Relief pitcher Heath Hembree is tied for second in the California League with eight saves this season to go with a 0.82 ERA.
The 2010 fifth round draft pick has struck out 20 batters in just 11 innings this season with only one run allowed.
In his last eight appearances totaling 8 scoreless innings, Hembree has struck out 17.
Big Wins And Close Losses...
The Giants are a league-worst 3-8 in one-run games this season, but are 11-1 in games decided by four runs or more.
Top Prospects...
Eight players on San Jose's roster are among the top 20 prospects in the organization according to Baseball America
: Pitcher Zack Wheeler (#2), center fielder Gary Brown (#3), catcher Tommy Joseph (#10), right fielder Jarrett Parker (#12), pitcher Jose Casilla (#13), third baseman Chris Dominguez (#15), pitcher Heath Hembree (#19) and pitcher Jake Dunning (#20).
Opponent Notes: Lancaster JetHawks...
The Lancaster JetHawks, an affiliate of the Houston Astros, enter tonight's game in second place in the South Division with a 15-16 record - four games behind the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (19-12) for the top spot.
Lancaster swept three games from the Inland Empire 66ers in their most recent series.
The JetHawks are fifth in the league in batting average (.269), fifth in runs scored (5.2 per game), first in stolen bases (58) and ninth in ERA (5.43).
First baseman Kody Hinze is first in the league in home runs (10) and second in RBI's (29).
Left-hander Luis Cruz is slated to make the start on the mound tonight.
Cruz allowed seven runs over 2 2/3 innings in his first start of the season last Wednesday.
California League Stories from May 10, 2011
- Cal League Notes - CalL1
- San Jose Giants Gary Brown Named Cal League Offensive Player of the Week - San Jose Giants
- San Jose Giants on Deck: Giants Host Lancaster to Begin Seven-Game Homestand - San Jose Giants
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