Snyder Spectacular In 3-0 Whitewash Of Bakersfield
June 10, 2008 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
Ben Snyder fired eight scoreless innings on Monday night in San Jose's 3-0 shutout victory over the Bakersfield Blaze at Municipal Stadium. In the finale of a four-game series, Snyder limited the Blaze to four hits during his stint on the mound before Dan Griffin worked out of a jam in the top of the ninth inning for the save. With the victory, the Giants improve their record to 41-23 and maintain a four-game lead over the Stockton Ports (37-27) for first place in the North Division with just six games remaining in the first half. San Jose's magic number (combination of Giants wins and Ports losses) to clinch the first half North Division title has been trimmed to three.
Snyder (7-2) dazzled on the hill to lower his California League-best ERA to 2.06. The left-hander, who threw 96 pitches, walked only two and struck out seven. The eight innings pitched was longest for a Giants starter this year.
In the top of the ninth, Griffin began the frame by inducing Jose Vallejo to ground out to second base. Chad Tracy then reached on an infield single before J.T. Restko lined a single to right field bringing the potential tying run to the plate. But Griffin recovered to strikeout John Whittleman looking before Mauro Gomez was called out on strikes to end the contest. The shutout was San Jose's league-leading 10th of the season.
Offensively, the Giants scored one run in the bottom of the first and two runs in the seventh against Blaze starter Kasey Kiker. In the first, Tyler Graham led off with a sharp single into left field. The speedy leadoff hitter then stole both second and third base before scoring on Bobby Felmy's one-out ground ball single into right field.
The game remained at 1-0 until San Jose rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Consecutive singles from Brett Pill and Andy D'Alessio started the frame to put runners on first and second. Sharlon Schoop was up next and the Giants shortstop swung and missed at a pitch as Pill and D'Alessio both took off on a hit-and-run attempt. However, both of the runners reached their respective bases safely for a double steal as the Giants then had men at second and third.
Kiker responded with back-to-back strikeouts of Schoop and Elio Sarmiento before Mike McBryde stepped to the plate and lined a double into left field plating both runners. The hit extended San Jose's lead to 3-0.
Felmy (2-for-4, RBI), D'Alessio (2-for-3, SB) and Matt Downs (2-for-4) each finished with more than one hit for the Giants. San Jose out-hit Bakersfield by a 9-6 margin.
The Blaze's best chance to score against Snyder came in the top of the fourth inning. Vallejo led off with a double to the fence in center field to put a runner in scoring position. Snyder though bounced back to strikeout Tracy before Restko grounded out. Then after a walk to Whittleman, Gomez bounced out to second base ending the threat.
Snyder had retired seven consecutive Bakersfield hitters until Restko singled to leadoff the top of the seventh inning. However, Restko was quickly erased when the next batter, Whittleman, grounded into a 1-6-3 double play. Snyder worked a perfect top of the eighth inning to end his outing.
Kiker (3-2) suffered the loss on the mound for the Blaze after yielding three runs (all earned) on nine hits over seven innings. The former first round draft pick allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in six of his seven innings, however the Giants grounded into three double plays.
Notes: The Giants won three-of-four games in the series ... San Jose owns a 10-2 record this season against Bakersfield ... Snyder is also tied for third in the California League in victories ... Snyder has not allowed a run in 20 innings this year spanning three starts versus the Blaze ... The southpaw is 6-0 with a 0.82 ERA (4 ER/44.0 IP) in seven appearances at home ... Griffin's (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) save was his fourth of the year ... San Jose was 5-for-6 in stolen base attempts on Monday ... The Giants' 87 total steals this year is second in the league ... Graham (1-for-4, 2 SB) extended his hitting streak to 10 games ... Graham has stolen a base (five total) in all four games since returning from injury ... D'Alessio finished 11-for-16 (.688 AVG) with nine RBI's in the four-game series.
On Deck: The Giants continue their homestand on Tuesday with the opener of a three-game series against the Lancaster JetHawks. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. Tim Alderson (6-2, 3.27 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Adam Mills (6-4, 4.76 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.
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