SJ Giants Championship Series Preview vs. Inland Empire 66ers
CalL San Jose Giants

SJ Giants Championship Series Preview vs. Inland Empire 66ers

Published on September 14, 2025 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


San Jose Giants (81-51, 39-27) vs Inland Empire 66ers (60-72, 42-24)

Game 1 - Sunday, September 14 @ Excite Ballpark (San Jose, CA)

Game 2 - Tuesday, September 16 @ San Manuel Stadium (San Bernardino, CA)

*Game 3 - Wednesday, September 17 @ San Manuel Stadium (San Bernardino, CA)

*if necessary

Video: MiLB.TV/Bally Live

Radio: sjgiants.com

GIANTS, 66ERS MEET IN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: The San Jose Giants play the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels affiliate) in the best-of-three California League Championship Series. The Giants host Game 1 at Excite Ballpark on Sunday evening before the series shifts to San Bernardino for Games 2 and 3 on Tuesday and Wednesday (Game 3 if necessary).

HOW SWEEP IT IS: The Giants swept the Fresno Grizzlies two-games-to-none in the North Division Series to advance to play Inland Empire. San Jose opened the playoffs with a 2-0 shutout in Fresno last Tuesday as Luis De La Torre (5 IP, 0 R, 6 SO) and Hunter Dryden (4 IP, 0 R, 10 SO) combined on a three-hitter with 16 strikeouts.

Cam Maldonado produced the big hit with a two-RBI triple in the top of the fifth inning. The Giants then completed the sweep with a 7-6 victory in Game 2 at Excite Ballpark last Thursday. Maldonado added two more RBI's, Jhonny Level smacked a solo home run (the only HR of the series) while Lorenzo Meola contributed a pair of key hits and an RBI.

Jacob Bresnahan pitched the first four innings with one earned run allowed and Cade Vernon slammed the door in the ninth stranding the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base to secure the victory.

REGULAR SEASON REVIEW: The Giants finished the regular season with a league-best 81-51 record and qualified for the playoffs after winning the first half North Division title. The 81 regular season wins were the most by a Giants team since 2013 (83-57). San Jose was 24 games above .500 at home this season (45-21) and six games above .500 on the road (36-30). The Giants went 42-24 in the first half and won the division by four games over Modesto. After starting the year 21-19, San Jose won 21 of their final 26 games in the first half to claim the division crown and clinch a playoff berth. The Giants' 39-27 second half record put them two games behind Fresno for the top spot in the North Division. San Jose had a remarkable nearly three- month stretch from May 21 through August 17 in which they posted a 54-20 record (.730) and lost just one out of 14 series'.

The Giants, however, did struggle late in the regular season going just 6-12 in their final 18 games.

LEAGUE LEADERS: The Giants led the California League in several key statistical categories during the regular season, including runs scored (6.1 per game), batting average (.261), home runs (101 - tied), ERA (3.50) and fewest home runs allowed (50). San Jose's run differential of +251 also led the league by a significant margin (Rancho Cucamonga next-closest at +89).

The Giants had the best overall record among all 30 Single-A teams this season (California League, Carolina League, Florida State League).

PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Giants are in the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season (2019, 2021-25) - the longest active streak in the California League. Since 2004, the Giants have reached the playoffs an impressive 18 times out of 21 seasons. San Jose last won a league title in 2021 when they swept Fresno in the Championship Series. Since their inception in 1988, the San Jose Giants have won seven league championships (1998, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2021).

STARTING ROTATION: Keyner Martinez has been announced as the Game 1 starting pitcher for the Giants in the Championship Series. Martinez was named the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Pitcher of the Year this season (1.90 ERA, 67 SO in 47 1/3 IP) before joining San Jose in late-July. With the Giants during the regular season, Martinez logged a 2.86 ERA over 22 innings (30 SO).

Luis De La Torre is scheduled to get the ball in Game 2. De La Torre excelled with the Giants this season fashioning a 1.77 ERA in 35 2/3 innings (47 SO, .173 opponents AVG).

Jacob Bresnahan, a Pitcher of the Year candidate in the California League, is the scheduled Game 3 starter for the Giants. Bresnahan spent the entire season with San Jose and posted a 2.61 ERA over 22 starts (124 SO in 93 IP, .201 opponents AVG). He ranked first in the league in wins (9) and third in strikeouts. From June 1 through the end of the regular season, Bresnahan was 9-1 with a 1.62 ERA over 13 starts. Giants starting pitchers owned a league-best 3.03 ERA during the regular season (Rancho Cucamonga next at 3.74).

HITTING NOTES: The Giants set a team record this season by averaging 6.1 runs per game (previous record was 5.9 runs/game held by the 2021 championship team). San Jose though scored only 3.8 runs per contest over their final 18 games of the regular season. Standouts among players who spent the entire season with the Giants included Lisbel Diaz, who led the Cal League in hits (139) and doubles (32) this year while also ranking third in RBI's (72). Diaz hit .304 with seven home runs in the second half (62 games) after batting only .234 with three homers in the first half (60 games).

Walker Martin was fifth in the league in RBI's (70) and sixth in home runs (12) while Robert Hipwell finished third in doubles (28), sixth in RBI's (66) and eighth in home runs (11) to go with the fourth-best OPS among qualifying hitters (.824). Among recent additions to the club, 2025 third round pick Trevor Cohen batted .327 with a .438 on-base percentage in 28 games played for the Giants.

2025 fourth round selection Lorenzo Meola hit .400 over his final seven regular season games with two home runs in 30 at- bats. 18-year old shortstop Jhonny Level was named the top prospect in the Arizona Complex League this season and batted .236 with three home runs in 31 games for the Giants after a promotion on July 31. San Jose also added catcher Diego Cartaya

during the final week of the regular season. Cartaya, who signed with San Francisco as a minor league free agent in July, combined to hit .278 with 19 home runs and 62 RBI's in 64 games with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes over the 2021 and 2022 seasons while a member of the Dodgers organization.

ODDS AND ENDS: The Giants hit .281 as a team and averaged 7.2 runs per game at home this season compared to a .241 AVG and 5.0 runs per contest on the road ...

Cade Vernon finished the regular season with a team-best seven saves and had a 0.52 ERA (2 ER/34.2 IP) over his last 23 appearances dating back to June 5 ...

Ryan Slater also excelled out of the bullpen late in the year tossing 10 straight scoreless innings to finish the regular season (2 H, 14 SO) ... The Giants were 56-17 (.767) when scoring first in a game during the regular season compared to 25-34 (.424) when their opponent scored first ... 66 players saw action for the Giants during the regular season ... 11 players on the current roster have been with the team for the entire season (Bresnahan, Diaz, Dryden, Gray, Hipwell, G. Maldonado, Martin, Mazza, Ju. Perez, Slater, Vernon).

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from September 14, 2025


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