On Deck: Rancho Cucamonga at San Jose

At Municipal Stadium
· Sunday, May 30, 5:00 PM
· Monday, May 31, 2:00 PM
· Tuesday, June 1, 7:00 PM

Pitching Match Ups
· Sunday - Orangel Arenas (0-0, 0.00) at Justin Fitzgerald (4-0, 2.00)
· Monday - Tyler Chatwood (5-2, 1.95) at Oliver Odle (5-0, 3.98)
· Tuesday - Ryan Chaffee (3-2, 7.58) at Kyle Nicholson (3-3, 7.07)

THE SAN JOSE GIANTS... return home this evening to open a three-game series against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Municipal Stadium. San Jose posted a 6-3 record on their season-long nine-game road trip that ended last night. In yesterday's game, the Giants scored three times in the top of the ninth inning to earn a 4-2 victory over the host Stockton Ports. Brandon Belt drove home the tying run with a one-out triple before scoring the go-ahead tally on a wild pitch. Edwin Quirarte was credited with the win out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings while David Quinowski stranded the potential tying runs on base in the bottom of the ninth to pick-up his first save of the year. Offensively, the Giants mustered only six hits with Juan Perez connecting for a solo homer in the third inning. San Jose won four out of five games at Modesto to open the road trip before splitting a four-game series against the Ports.

Media Coverage... Tuesday's game will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104 with Joe Ritzo and Dan Dibley handling the play-by-play and color commentary duties respectively. The entire series can also be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

Home Winning Streak... The Giants bring a season-high seven-game home winning streak into this evening's contest. Tonight marks San Jose's first home game since May 20. The Giants had lost a season-high six straight games at Municipal Stadium before the current win streak.

San Jose Leads North Division By Three Games... The Giants enter tonight's action with a three-game lead over Modesto for the top spot in the first half North Division race. San Jose is attempting to win their sixth consecutive first half division title. Their five straight first half division crowns is a California League record. Including tonight, there are 20 games remaining in the half.

Comeback Kids... With last night's come-from-behind victory, San Jose has won seven games this season when trailing after seven innings - tops in the California League. The Giants are also tied with Stockton for most wins when trailing after eight innings (three). By contrast, San Jose has lost only one game this season when leading after seven innings - the fewest defeats in the California League.

Peguero, Ronick To DL... Outfielder Francisco Peguero (sprained finger) and pitcher Ari Ronick (elbow) were placed on the disabled list today. Peguero suffered the injury diving into first base during the May 28 game at Stockton. He will miss at least one week. Peguero, third in the California League with 19 stolen bases, is batting .264 with three homers and 25 RBI's in 48 games this season. Ronick, 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in three starts this year, spent five weeks on the DL earlier this season. Catcher/infielder Joel Weeks (.190, 0 HR, 4 RBI) has been activated from the disabled list and outfielder Jose Medina has joined the club from Extended Spring Training.

Winning Ways... The Giants have won 15 out of their last 18 dating back to the second game of the May 12 doubleheader at Visalia.

Scoring First... The Giants are a league-best 19-4 (.826) this season when scoring first.

Giants Boast Four Of Top Seven In ERA... Four Giants pitchers are currently among the top seven in the California League in ERA. Craig Westcott owns the lowest earned run average in the league (1.40) while Justin Fitzgerald is third (2.00), Eric Surkamp is fifth (2.62) and Eric Stolp is seventh (3.02).

Culberson Enjoys May Turnaround... Second baseman Charlie Culberson is 12-for-30 (.400) over his last eight games to raise his season batting average to .282. Culberson is currently hitting .324 with five home runs and 15 RBI's in 28 games this month after batting .212 with one homer and five RBI's over 18 games in April. Culberson's six home runs overall leads the team. The former supplemental first round draft pick hit only two home runs in 132 games with the Augusta GreenJackets (Low-A) last season.

Giants In The Cal League Rankings... Entering tonight, San Jose is second in the California League in batting average (.282), fifth in runs scored (4.9), tied for fifth in home runs (28) and second in stolen bases (85). On the mound, their 3.75 team ERA is second in the league while their 152 walks issued is third-fewest. Defensively, the Giants are third in fielding percentage (.975), first in double plays (54) and third in caught stealing efficiency (35.0%).

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes... The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, enter tonight's action in third place in the South Division with a 28-22 record - six games out of the top spot. The Quakes are tied for fourth in the league in hitting (.275), first in stolen bases (87) and sixth in ERA (4.32). Orangel Arenas is slated to make the start on the mound tonight in his California League debut.