Three Homers Propel Giants To 12-3 Win Over Rawhide
July 11, 2009 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
Conor Gillaspie, C.J. Ziegler and Buster Posey each hit home runs leading the San Jose Giants to a 12-3 win over the Visalia Rawhide on Friday night at Recreation Park. Gillaspie gave the Giants the lead for good with a three-run blast in the top of the fourth inning before Ziegler's two-run homer in the eighth and Posey's three-run shot in the ninth. The win, San Jose's sixth in a row, improves the Giants' overall record to 55-31.
Gillaspie (3-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Posey (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) both produced three hits and three RBI's to lead the Giants at the plate. Ziegler (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), who was just added to the roster from Salem-Keizer earlier in the day, and Thomas Neal (2-for-3, RBI) added two hits apiece. San Jose finished the contest with 13 hits.
Paul Oseguera (2-3) was credited with the victory on the mound after tossing six innings with three runs (all earned) and five hits allowed. The left-hander, who has won his last two starts, walked two and struck out two. Trey Webb (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and Wilmin Rodriguez (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) were each perfect during their relief stints as Giants pitchers combined to set down the last 11 Visalia hitters that came to the plate.
San Jose initially trailed by a 2-0 score until Darren Ford's sacrifice fly in the top of the third inning cut the Rawhide lead in half. The Giants then broke through with four runs on four hits in the top of the fourth against Visalia starting pitcher Christian Beltre to move out in front. Consecutive singles from Neal and Posey put runners on first and third to start the frame before Roger Kieschnick delivered a sacrifice fly to bring home the tying run. After Ziegler singled to again put runners on the corners, Gillaspie stepped to the plate and crushed a 1-0 pitch from Beltre well over the fence in straightaway right field for a three-run homer. The home run, Gillaspie's second of the season, gave San Jose a 5-2 lead.
Oseguera struggled early in his outing as the Rawhide rallied with two outs in the bottom of the first inning to score twice. After quickly setting down the first two batters of the frame, James Skelton singled, Konrad Schmidt drew a walk and Kyle Greene was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Andrew Fie then ripped a single into left field plating two runs propelling Visalia to the early advantage.
The Giants starter though faced the minimum three hitters in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings. Oseguera picked-off a runner in each of the second and third innings before recording his only two strikeouts of the game in a perfect bottom of the fourth. In the fifth, David Cooper singled with one out, but Ollie Linton followed by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play.
Skelton did bring Visalia to within 5-3 when he connected for a solo home run to deep right field with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Oseguera would recover to get out of the inning without further damage and then Webb, who was promoted from Augusta earlier in the day, fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh in his California League debut.
San Jose took firm control of the game in the top of the eighth as Posey led off with a single before Ziegler hit a towering two-run homer into the Rawhide bullpen down the left field line. In the ninth, back-to-back walks to Ford and Nick Noonan preceded Neal's RBI single. Posey then launched an opposite field, three-run home run to deep right extending the Giants lead to 11-3. The final run of the night scored four batters later on Trent Kline's sacrifice fly.
Rodriguez retired all six batters that he faced over the last two innings to seal the San Jose victory. The Giants have won 13 out of their first 16 games of the second half.
Beltre (2-6) suffered the loss after yielding five runs (four earned) on four hits over six innings of work. He walked two and struck out three.
Notes: San Jose is 26-6 in their last 32 games dating back to June 5 ... Visalia is only 5-16 since June 16 ... Posey is 12-for-28 (.429) in his last seven games ... The Giants out-hit the Rawhide by a 13-5 margin ... Pitcher Steve Edlefsen (1-1, 0.96 ERA, 7 SV) was promoted to Fresno (AAA) before the game ... Ziegler, Webb and relief pitcher Mike Musgrave (Connecticut) have been added to the San Jose roster ... The Giants bullpen owns a remarkable 0.29 ERA (1 ER/30.2 IP) in 10 games this month ... San Jose is one victory shy from matching their longest winning streak of the season (seven games, June 19-28).
On Deck: The Giants and Rawhide continue their four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Recreation Park scheduled for 7:05 PM. Craig Clark (8-2, 3.12 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Bryan Shaw (3-5, 4.12 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from July 11, 2009
- Ports Hang On For 5-4 Win over Blaze - Stockton Ports
- Three Homers Propel Giants To 12-3 Win Over Rawhide - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Hang On To Beat Storm 6-5 - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- JetHawks Continue Roll, Shut Out 66ers - Lancaster JetHawks
- Ports Blank Blaze, 5-0 - Stockton Ports
- Former JetHawk Aaron Bates Makes Major League Debut - Lancaster JetHawks
- 66ers Whitewashed in Lancaster - Inland Empire 66ers
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.
