Giants Travel To Modesto For Three-Game Weekend Series

At John Thurman Field
Friday, April 26, 7:05 PM
Saturday, April 27, 7:05 PM
Sunday, April 28, 1:05 PM

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
Friday
San Jose - Chris Marlowe (1-0, 1.80)
Modesto - Chris Jensen (0-3, 4.76)

Saturday
San Jose - Adalberto Mejia (1-0, 6.08)
Modesto - Ben Alsup (1-1, 1.35)

Sunday
San Jose - Austin Fleet (2-0, 2.53)
Modesto - Dan Winkler (2-0, 1.93)

Broadcast Information
The entire series can be heard live on sjgiants.com with Joe Ritzo calling all of the action. 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 streamed through the San Jose Giants Mobile App. 

Giants Begin Three-Game Series At Modesto Tonight
The San Jose Giants travel to Modesto this evening to begin the second half of a six-game home-and-home series with the Nuts. Tonight is the opener of a three-game series at John Thurman Field after the Giants claimed two out of three from Modesto at Municipal Stadium. The Nuts earned a 6-5, 13-inning win on Tuesday before San Jose bounced back with 10-5 and 6-2 victories on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. In last night's contest, Giants starting pitcher Ty Blach tossed 6 1/3 innings with just one run allowed to pick-up the win. Jeff Arnold (3-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, SB) and Kelby Tomlinson (3-for-4, 2B, RBI, SB) had three hits apiece to lead San Jose offensively while Devin Harris hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Giants ahead for good. 

League-Leading Pitching Staff
The Giants pitching staff has posted a stellar 3.14 ERA this season to lead the California League. San Jose hurlers have also limited the opposition to a .224 batting average. Giants starting pitchers have surrendered just 25 earned runs over the first 21 games and own a combined 2.19 ERA. Five of San Jose's six starters boast season ERA's under two (Kyle Crick 0.93, Ty Blach 1.54, Clayton Blackburn 1.64, Chris Marlowe 1.80 and Edwin Escobar 1.89).

Perfect Series Record
San Jose has started the year with six straight series wins en route to a league-best record of 15-6. The Giants have also yet to lose consecutive games this season.

Cavan Carries Offense
Ryan Cavan enters tonight's contest ranked first in the California League in hits (30) and tied for first in doubles (8) while he's sixth with a .341 batting average. Cavan has multi-hits in 11 of San Jose's first 21 games this season. He leads the Giants in batting average, hits and doubles while he's third in RBI's (14) and fourth in runs scored (12). Last year, Cavan played for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels and hit just .228 in 129 games, but won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the top fielding second baseman in Minor League Baseball. Cavan played for San Jose in 2011 (.270, 12 HR, 90 RBI).

Top Prospects
Nine players on San Jose's roster are among the top 30 prospects in the organization according to Baseball America, including five out of the six pitchers in the Giants starting rotation. San Jose players among the top 30 prospects include: pitcher Kyle Crick (#1), pitcher Clayton Blackburn (#6), pitcher Adalberto Mejia (#10), pitcher Edwin Escobar (#14), outfielder Mac Williamson (#16), pitcher Chris Marlowe (#19), pitcher Josh Osich (#20), pitcher Cody Hall (#26) and outfielder Shawn Payne (#29).

Villalona Breaks Out Of Early-Season Slump
Since beginning the season in a 2-for-41 slump, first baseman Angel Villalona has batted .333 (14-for-42) in 11 games with four home runs and 15 RBI's. Villalona's four home runs overall are tied for fifth in the California League. A member of San Francisco's 40-man roster, Villalona hit .267 with nine home runs and 42 RBI's in 74 games with the Giants during the 2009 season.

Home Cooking Awaits
After the current series in Modesto, the Giants will play 11 out of their next 14 games at home. San Jose is 7-3 at Municipal Stadium this season.

Hot Hitters
Eliezer Zambrano (seven games) and Ryan Cavan (six games) bring hitting streaks into tonight's contest … Kelby Tomlinson has 12 hits in his last five games (12-for-22, .545) … Devin Harris has homered in his last two games to increase his season home run total to four.

Bullpen Standout
Left-hander Bryce Bandilla has excelled out of the Giants bullpen early this season. In eight appearances, Bandilla has worked 13 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed (1.32 ERA) and a remarkable 29 strikeouts. The former fourth round draft pick has struck out 29 out of the 56 batters that he's faced this year. Bandilla is tied for fourth in the California League in strikeouts.

Opponent Notes: Modesto Nuts
The Modesto Nuts, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, own a 9-12 record this season and are in fourth place in the North Division - six games behind the Giants for the top spot. The Nuts are last in the league in batting average (.232), last in runs scored (3.5 per game) and fourth in ERA (4.08). Modesto eliminated San Jose from the playoffs last year with a two-games-to-one victory in the North Mini-Series.