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| Giants Complete Sweep Of JetHawks In Home Finale |
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8/30/2009
San Jose Finishes 51-19 At Municipal Stadium, Clinch Best Overall Record In League
David Maroul (2-for-4, HR, RBI) hit his
fifth home run of the season in
Sunday's 4-1 victory over Lancaster
(photo by Tommy LaPorte) |
David Maroul hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the bottom of the sixth and Oliver Odle tossed six effective innings on the mound with just one run allowed leading the San Jose Giants to a 4-1 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on Sunday evening at Municipal Stadium. Roger Kieschnick added a key two-out, two-run double in the seventh as the Giants, who were playing their final home contest of the regular season, completed a sweep of the four-game series. The victory, San Jose’s fifth in a row, guarantees the Giants (87-46) will finish with the best overall record in the California League.
Odle (8-11) earned the win after scattering seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Trey Webb (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and Wilmin Rodriguez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings respectively before Rafael Cova (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) worked the top of the ninth to earn the save.
Maroul (2-for-4, HR, RBI) was the lone San Jose player to finish with a multi-hit game. Lancaster out-hit the Giants by a 9-6 margin, but the JetHawks committed four errors leading to three unearned runs.
With the score tied 1-1, Maroul led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run to straightaway center field to put San Jose ahead for good. The Giants then took advantage of two errors and a misplay in left field to score twice in the bottom of the seventh. Tyler Graham led off the frame by reaching first when third baseman Ebert Rosario mishandled a ground ball for an error. After Graham stole second, Darren Ford dropped down a sacrifice bunt and reached base safely when the pitcher Chris Salamida bobbled the ball for another error.
Brian Bocock followed with a fly out to shallow center field before Thomas Neal grounded into a fielder’s choice to third base as Graham was tagged out at home. Kieschnick was up next and he lofted a fly ball down the left field line that looked as if it was going to end the inning. However on the play, Lancaster left fielder Koby Clemens slipped and fell to the ground just as he was about to make the catch and the ball dropped. Both runners scored on the hit to make it 4-1 as Kieschnick raced into second with a double.
San Jose received stellar work from the bullpen as Webb fired a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to protect a one-run lead. In the eighth, Rodriguez allowed a leadoff infield single to J.B. Shuck, but then quickly set down the next three hitters. Cova entered to begin the ninth and after a strikeout and a pop out of the first two batters, Marcos Cabral lined a double to deep left center field to keep the JetHawks alive. However, Cova bounced back to retire Jordan Comadena on a ground out to second ending the game as the potential tying run was stranded in the on-deck circle.
Salamida (4-2) suffered the loss after yielding four runs (one earned) on five hits over 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander walked three and struck out three.
The Giants initially took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the second against Salamida. Maroul led off with an infield single before stealing second base when Conor Gillaspie struck out. After Ryan Lormand grounded out advancing Maroul to third, Trent Kline hit a bouncing ball to shortstop that rolled through the legs of Cabral and into shallow left center. The error plated Maroul with the first run of the evening.
Odle began his outing with four scoreless innings stranding two runners in scoring position in the first before working around a pair of one-out singles in the top of the third. The JetHawks tied the game in the fifth as Comadena led off with a double, moved to third on Andy Simunic’s sacrifice bunt and then after Shuck drew a walk, Rosario grounded an RBI single into right field. Odle though did recover as the right-hander induced the next hitter, Jon Gaston, to ground into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.
Notes: San Jose has finished with the best regular season overall record the past two seasons and four times in the last five years ... The Giants also finished the regular season with a 51-19 mark at Municipal Stadium – a team record for most wins at home … San Jose posted a remarkable 36-8 record in their last 44 home games dating back to June 5 … They went 6-1 during the final homestand … Kieschnick’s two RBI’s increased his season total to 106 – tied for third-most in team history (Sean McGowan, 2000) … Mark Leonard holds the record with 118 RBI’s during the 1988 campaign … The Giants now have six win streaks of five games or more this season … Cova is perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities with San Jose and has not allowed an earned run in 10 relief appearances totaling nine innings … The Giants honored Neal as their Most Valuable Player in a ceremony before the game … San Jose improved their second half record to 45-18.
On Deck: The Giants will enjoy a day off on Monday before beginning a seven-game road trip on Tuesday evening with the first of three straight contests against the Inland Empire 66ers. First pitch at Arrowhead Credit Union Park is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Clayton Tanner (11-6, 3.10 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Tim Sexton (8-13, 3.50 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
Click here to view Box Score
Click here to view Game Log
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