San Jose Giants on Deck: Surging Giants Play Three-Game Series at Rancho Cucamonga
August 28, 2015 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
At LoanMart Field (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)
* Friday, August 28, 7:05 PM
* Saturday, August 29, 7:05 PM
* Sunday, August 30, 5:05 PM
Records
San Jose: 67-63 (37-23 Second Half)
Rancho Cucamonga: 71-59 (30-30 Second Half)
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday
San Jose - Martin Agosta (4-8, 4.84)
Rancho Cucamonga - Rob Rogers (5-4, 3.31)
Saturday
San Jose - Christian Jones (6-1, 3.43)
Rancho Cucamonga - Chase De Jong (3-3, 3.60)
Sunday
San Jose - Jordan Johnson (2-1, 2.28)
Rancho Cucamonga - TBA
Broadcast Information
The entire series can be heard live on sjgiants.com 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.
Giants Continue Road Trip At Rancho Cucamonga
The San Jose Giants continue their Southern California road trip this evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at LoanMart Field. Martin Agosta is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose tonight. The Giants are 4-0 versus the Quakes this season having swept Rancho Cucamonga in a four-game series at Municipal Stadium from May 22-25.
Four-Game Road Sweep
The Giants opened their road trip with a four-game sweep of the host Inland Empire 66ers in a series that concluded last night. San Jose earned victories over the Sixers of 6-4 (11 innings), 1-0, 8-1 and 7-3. During the series, the Giants allowed a total of just eight runs while San Jose starting pitchers posted a 0.70 ERA (2 ER/25.2 IP). It marked the Giants' first four-game road series sweep since the 2013 season (August 23-26 at Bakersfield).
Winning Ways
The Giants enter tonight's contest riding a five-game winning streak. San Jose has also won a season-high six straight road games. The Giants are 11-4 in their last 15 games overall. San Jose's longest win streak this season is eight games (May 19-27).
In The Standings
The Giants (67-63) are two games ahead of Modesto (65-65) for the second Wild Card spot in the North Division. San Jose is tied with Stockton (67-63) for the first Wild Card. Including tonight, 10 games remain in the regular season. The Giants (37-23) are also tied with Visalia (37-23) for first place in the second half race. San Jose has not held sole possession of first place at any point this year. The Giants have qualified for the playoffs in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
League-Leading Pitching Staff
San Jose boasts the lowest team ERA in the California League at 3.48. Tuesday's win over Inland Empire was the Giants' league-high tying 13th shutout of the season. San Jose also leads all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts (1,248, 9.6 per game). The SJ Giants team record for strikeouts in a season is 1,282 (2013). The Giants own a 2.86 team ERA since the beginning of July (35-20 record).
Angel Villalona Home Run Tracker
With two homers on Wednesday, first baseman Angel Villalona moved into fifth place on the San Jose Giants career home run list. Villalona has hit 35 home runs with San Jose spanning three seasons (9 HR in 2009, 14 HR in 2013, 12 HR in 2015 - 206 total gms.). Travis Ishikawa (2004-05, 2007) ranks fourth with 36 career homers.
Four Games Above .500
Last night's victory moved the Giants to a season-high four games above .500. San Jose has posted a league-record 11 consecutive winning seasons (2004-14). At 67-63 currently, the Giants need to go at least 4-6 over their final 10 games to extend the streak. San Jose was a season-high 14 games under .500 on May 18 (12-26).
Christian Arroyo
Shortstop Christian Arroyo ranks fourth in the California League with a .316 batting average. Arroyo returned from a six-week DL stint during the final week of May and hit .314 in June, .324 in July and is batting .299 in August. Arroyo was one of two SJ Giants named to the postseason California League All-Star team (Chase Johnson).
Dominant Bullpen
Since July 1, the Giants bullpen has fashioned a stellar 2.27 ERA. Jake Smith (8th, 113 SO) and Ian Gardeck (T16th, 95 SO) are the only two relievers in the California League to rank among the top 20 in strikeouts. Dan Slania (T4th, 16 SV) and Smith (7th, 14 SV) are both among the top seven in the league in saves. San Jose is the lone team in the league to have not lost a game this season when leading after eight innings (57-0).
Opponent Notes: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, are playoff-bound after winning the first half South Division title. The Quakes are sixth in the league in batting average (.261) and sixth in ERA (4.08). Rancho Cucamonga possesses an overall record of 71-59 and a second half mark of 30-30. Quakes first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger is second in the league in home runs (29) and third in RBI's (93).
California League Stories from August 28, 2015
- San Jose Giants on Deck: Surging Giants Play Three-Game Series at Rancho Cucamonga - San Jose Giants
- Five-Run Fourth Sparks Ports to 8-2 Win - Stockton Ports
- Giants Complete Four-Game Sweep of 66ers - San Jose Giants
- Early Offense Sustains Nuts in 7-5 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Blaze Drop Suddenly Rare Pitchers' Duel, 4-1 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Dominant Paulino Cracks Quakes - Lancaster JetHawks
- Shaky Defense Sends Quakes to Loss in Lancaster - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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