Giants Travel To Bakersfield For Three-Game Series

At Sam Lynn Ballpark
Monday, August 4, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, August 5, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, August 6, 7:30 PM

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
Monday
San Jose - Pat Young (9-3, 5.18)
Bakersfield - Daniel Wright (6-4, 4.80)

Tuesday
San Jose - Martin Agosta (1-2, 10.17)
Bakersfield - Ismael Guillon (0-4, 6.59)

Wednesday
San Jose - Kendry Flores (4-6, 4.12)
Bakersfield - Drew Cisco (5-5, 5.84)

Broadcast Information
The entire series can be heard live on sjgiants.com with Joe Ritzo calling all of the action. Radio broadcasts begin 30 minutes prior to first pitch with The Giants Pregame Show. All 140 games this season will be aired on the club's official website and the San Jose Giants Mobile App.

Giants Travel To Bakersfield For Three-Game Set
The San Jose Giants begin a three-game series against the Bakersfield Blaze this evening at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Pat Young (9-3, 5.18) is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose tonight. The Giants are 7-6 against Bakersfield this season, including a 2-1 mark at Sam Lynn Ballpark. The teams last met from July 8-10 at Municipal Stadium with San Jose sweeping a three-game series.

Last Series
The Giants dropped three out of four games to the visiting Stockton Ports in their most recent series. Stockton plated three runs in the top of the eighth inning to rally for a 5-3 victory over San Jose in the series opener last Thursday before the Giants bounced back with their own 5-3 win on Friday. The Ports scored seven runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 13-7 triumph on Saturday and then claimed the series with a 7-2 victory over San Jose last night. The Giants lost all four series' to Stockton this season at Municipal Stadium (4-11 overall record).

Recent Struggles
San Jose has lost seven out of their last 11 games after an 18-6 stretch (June 27-July 22).

Playoff Race
San Jose's 24-19 second half record is four games behind the Stockton Ports (28-15) for the top spot in the North Division standings. Including tonight, there are 27 games remaining in the regular season. The Giants have reached the playoffs in a California League record 10 consecutive years (2004-2013). San Jose's 58-55 overall record is three games behind Visalia (61-52) for the North Division wild card lead. The Giants have four games remaining against Stockton this season and three games left versus the Rawhide.

Trouble With The Ports, Rawhide
The Giants have struggled of late against Stockton and Visalia. Since the beginning of July, San Jose is a combined 4-12 versus the Ports and Rawhide (4-8 vs. Stockton, 0-4 vs. Visalia) and a sizzling 15-1 against the rest of the league.

Horan's Immediate Impact
Outfielder Tyler Horan has made an immediate impact since joining the Giants from Augusta (A) last Friday. In his first three games with San Jose, Horan is 4-for-9 (.444) with a home run, an RBI and two stolen bases. He reached base in all four of his plate appearances on Friday (2-for-2, two singles, two walks) before hitting a home run in Saturday's game. An eighth round pick in the 2013 draft, Horan was leading Augusta in batting average (.273), doubles (22), triples (5), home runs (15), RBI's (54) and slugging percentage (.481) in his 102 games.

On The Road
The Giants are 26-27 on the road this season. San Jose's last two road series' have ended in sweeps. The Giants dropped four straight games in Visalia from July 24-27 - the first time San Jose had been swept in a series since the opening week of the season (April 7-9 at Lancaster). The Giants then bounced back to sweep a three-game series against Modesto from July 28-30. It marked San Jose's second road series sweep this year (both versus the Nuts). The Giants are hitting .272 as a team on the road this season compared to .259 at home.

Bednar Extends Hitting Streak To 13 Games
Infielder Brandon Bednar brings a 13-game hitting streak into tonight's action. Bednar is batting .304 (17-for-56) with one double, two home runs and six RBI's during the streak. The 13-game streak is the second-longest by a Giants player this season. Blake Miller had a 15-game hitting streak from April 16-May 3. Bednar has collected one hit in each of his last nine games.

One-Run Success
The Giants are 16-10 in one-run games this season. Their .615 winning percentage in one-run games is second-best in the California League (Bakersfield 17-9, .654). San Jose is 5-1 in their last six one-run games.

Delfino Delivers
Third baseman Mitch Delfino has multi-hits in 10 out of his last 14 games. During the 14-game stretch, Delfino is batting at a .390 clip (23-for-59) with a home run and nine RBI's. Delfino leads all current Giants players in hits (123), doubles (22) and RBI's (62) while he's tied for second in home runs (10).

Power Outage
The Giants have hit a league-low 69 home runs this season. After hitting 43 homers during April and May, San Jose has connected for just 26 home runs since the beginning of June (56 games). Conversely, the Giants pitching staff has allowed a league-low 85 home runs this season.

Opponent Notes: Bakersfield Blaze
The Bakersfield Blaze, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, have already clinched a playoff berth after winning the first half North Division title. Bakersfield's overall record stands at 64-49. The Blaze are second in the league in batting average (.287) and seventh in ERA (4.70). Bakersfield is 34-22 at home this season (30-27 on the road).