AAA: Fresno lost to Las Vegas 4-3

Fresno: RF Nate Schierholtz: 2 for 3, 2B, BB
Fresno: CF Justin Leone: 0 for 2, 2 BB, SO, SB
Fresno: C Justin Knoedler: 2 for 3, 2B, SF, SO, SB, PB
Las Vegas: RF James Loney: 2 for 4, 2 2B
Las Vegas: 3B Andy LaRoche: 2 for 3, HBP, GiDP

Fresno: RHP Matt Palmer: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR--1 HB
Fresno: RHP Scott Munter: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 0 HR--1 WP
Fresno: RHP Carlos Hines: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR

Schierholtz raised his team-leading AVG to .341.  He also showed good secondary average, but the long ball drought continues with just one homer in the last two months.  Schierholtz drew just his 8th BB among 217 AB.  He also continues to show improvement in his strikeout rate with a SO/AB ratio of 12%.  With 13 SB, Leone is closing in on the team lead.  Knoedler further raised his line, now at .299/.354/.504, leaving more questions in my mind why he was not called up yesterday.  The Dodgers' Loney continues to heat up.  His SLG was around .370 through the end of May is .483  through seven games in June.  LaRoche had just two hits in his first five games since his demotion.  He doubled that total last night.

Palmer was a ground ball machine yesterday, with his 13/3 GO/FO line.  He lowered his ERA to 3.91.  On the season he has a GO/AO ratio of 1.40.  With a K/IP of 0.65, there is question how well his stats translate to the majors, even though he has allowed just 1 ER in each of his last three starts.  Throwing just 9 of 18 pitches for strikes, Munter suffered his third blown save.  Hines fared barely better at finding the strike zone with 10 of 18 pitches for strikes, but he did keep any runs from scoring.

AA: Connecticut lost to Binghamton 5-3

Connecticut: RF Trey Webb: 2 for 4, 2B, 2 SO
Connecticut: 1B Pat Dobson: 2 for 4, 2B, 2 SO
Connecticut: 3B Simon Klink: 1 for 3, BB, IBB, 2 SO

Connecticut: RHP Dave McKae: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER,
Connecticut: RHP Brian Anderson: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 HR

After a miserably slow start to the season, including an 0 for 29 line in April, Webb has heated up.  Hitting .314 over his last ten games has helped to raise his season AVG to nearly the Mendoza line, now at .198.  Dobson raised his AVG to .216.  He also had 13 doubles among his 148 AB.  Klink reached base twice in his first start since May 22.

McKae's second start in the upper minors was nearly as outstanding as his first.  Over his two starts, he has 9 H, 0 BB, 1 R and 15 K in 15.0 IP, plus a 1.64 GO/AO ratio.  Anderson suffered his third blown save, as he surrendered yesterday the only 2 HRs he has allowed this year.  With a WHIP over 1.50, there seem to be increasing questions whether he is nearly as good a prospect as many people thought a year ago when he dominated the Cal League.

A+: San Jose at Lake Elsinore suspended tied 9-9 after 10 innings

San Jose: CF Antoan Richardson: 3 for 6, 3B
San Jose: 1B Pablo Sandoval: 3 for 4, HR, 2B, BB, IBB
San Jose: C Adam Witter: 2 for 5, HR, 2B, SO
Lake Elsinore: 2B Matt Antonelli: 3 for 6, HR, 2B, E

San Jose: RHP Darren Sack: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
San Jose: LHP David Quinowski: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR
San Jose: RHP Kelvin Pichardo: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
San Jose: RHP Taylor Wilding: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR
San Jose: RHP Sergio Romo: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Richardson raised his AVG to .285 and hit his 4th triple.  Sandoval broke out of his recent slump which included just two hits in his previous nine games.  He connected for his 5th HR in the 7th inning while Witter connected for his 3rd HR in the 9th inning.  The Padres' Antonelli was the 17th overall pick in last year's draft.  Hitting .305/.396/.480 this year, he has become perhaps the Padres' top prospect.  BA rated him #3 in the Padres' system at the start of the year.

I'm not sure what to say about Sack at this point.  Has he had a good start this year?  I can't recall one.  He had an 8.39 ERA in 9 starts with Connecticut and now has a 5.59 ERA in 2 starts with San Jose.  It's quite the contrast from his 1.94 ERA in 83.1 IP a year ago with San Jose.  In middle relief, Quinowski lowered his ERA to 3.27, while Pichardo's ERA inched up to 3.18.  In short relief, Wilding and Romo had been very effective this year, previously allowing just 5 ER combined.  They more than doubled the total by allowing 6 ER last night.

A-: Augusta defeated Savannah 16-2
(including a 9-run 1st inning)

Augusta: SS Emmanuel Burriss: 2 for 5, 2B, BB, SO
Augsuta: 3B Ryan Rohlinger: 2 for 4, HR, 2 BB
Augusta: 1B Brett Pill: 2 for 5, 2B, BB, SO
Augusta: LF Tyler Graham: 4 for 5, 2B, SO, E

Augusta: RHP Adam Cowart: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Augusta: LHP Steven Calicutt: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Augusta: RHP David Newton: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR

The GreenJackets offense got off to a strong start when the opposing starting pitcher walked all six batters he faced.  The next two batters followed with singles, and the rout was on.  Burriss had his fifth straight multi-hit game, maintaining his .392 AVG.  What Rohlinger lacks in AVG (just .224), he makes up for with secondary average.  He tied Felmy for the team lead in HR with his 7th.  With 30 walks, he also easily leads the team in that category.  Pill hit yet another double, increasing his organization-leading total to 21.  Graham was the only hitter in the lineup without a walk, but four hits raised his AVG to .312, which is third best on the team behind Burriss and Buller.

Another solid start for Cowart, improving his W-L record to 9-3.  On the other hand, when he has walked multiple batters two starts in a row, it almost seems like a cause for concern with him.  Still, he has just 13 BB in 79.1 IP this year.  The greater concern might be his very low strikeout rate, as his K/IP is now just barely above 0.50.  FWIW, his strikeout rate is even lower against left-handed batters, although they also have a bit lower batting average against him than right-handers do.  Calicutt lowered his ERA to an unimpressive 5.08; Newton lowered his ERA to an impressive 0.79.

And a little extra today.  Given 100+ AB with an affiliate, here are the organization rankings in terms of BB/AB and SO/AB.

BB/AB    AB     Team    Player
21.7%    207    SJo    Antoan Richardson
21.1%    166    Fre    Justin Leone
18.8%    101    Aug    Dayton Buller
18.3%    126    Aug    Marcus Sanders
16.2%    111    SJo    Benj Copeland
15.5%    103    Fre    Chad Santos
14.4%    181    Fre    Scott McClain
14.3%    140    SJo    Adam Witter
13.6%    154    SJo    William Thompson
13.5%    223    Aug    Ryan Rohlinger
13.2%    114    Fre    Fred Lewis
13.1%    107    Aug    James Simmons
10.7%    103    Fre    Guillermo Rodriguez
10.1%    169    Con    Travis Ishikawa
9.9%    161    Aug    Brian Bocock
9.9%    162    Con    Carlos Sosa
9.8%    112    Fre    Dan Ortmeier
9.7%    134    Con    Simon Klink
9.6%    177    Fre    Tomas De La Rosa
9.6%    136    Con    Brian Horwitz
9.5%    148    Con    Pat Dobson
9.1%    231    Aug    Brett Pill
9.0%    134    Con    Eddy Martinez-Esteve
8.7%    126    Aug    Henry Gutierrez
8.7%    173    Fre    Clay Timpner
8.6%    139    SJo    Emmanuel Burriss
7.7%    117    Fre    Justin Knoedler
7.3%    219    SJo    Michael Mooney
7.1%    155    SJo    Bradley Boyer
7.0%    128    Con    Todd Jennings
7.0%    200    Aug    Matthew Weston
6.7%    194    Fre    Luis Figueroa
6.5%    108    Fre    Ivan Ochoa
5.9%    119    Fre    William Bergolla
5.7%    192    Aug    Robert Felmy
5.6%    124    Aug    Sharlon Schoop
5.4%    223    Con    John Bowker
5.3%    169    Con    Jake Wald
5.3%    151    Con    Mark Minicozzi
5.0%    199    SJo    David Maroul
3.7%    217    Fre    Nate Schierholtz
3.4%    179    Aug    Michael McBryde
3.2%    219    SJo    Anthony Contreras
2.0%    153    SJo    Pablo Sandoval

SO/AB    AB     Team    Player
 6.7%    194    Fre    Luis Figueroa
 7.4%    136    Con    Brian Horwitz
 7.8%    103    Fre    Guillermo Rodriguez
10.9%    119    Fre    William Bergolla
11.8%    161    Aug    Brian Bocock
11.9%    126    Aug    Henry Gutierrez
12.0%    217    Fre    Nate Schierholtz
13.9%    151    Con    Mark Minicozzi
14.4%    139    SJo    Emmanuel Burriss
15.1%    219    SJo    Anthony Contreras
15.2%    231    Aug    Brett Pill
15.3%    177    Fre    Tomas De La Rosa
15.6%    192    Aug    Robert Felmy
15.7%    153    SJo    Pablo Sandoval
16.8%    155    SJo    Bradley Boyer
17.0%    200    Aug    Matthew Weston
17.1%    111    SJo    Benj Copeland
17.3%    173    Fre    Clay Timpner
17.5%    223    Aug    Ryan Rohlinger
17.6%    108    Fre    Ivan Ochoa
18.3%    126    Aug    Marcus Sanders
18.4%    207    SJo    Antoan Richardson
18.4%    223    Con    John Bowker
19.3%    114    Fre    Fred Lewis
20.5%    112    Fre    Dan Ortmeier
21.0%    219    SJo    Michael Mooney
21.8%    124    Aug    Sharlon Schoop
22.1%    154    SJo    William Thompson
22.1%    181    Fre    Scott McClain
22.9%    140    SJo    Adam Witter
23.5%    162    Con    Carlos Sosa
23.5%    179    Aug    Michael McBryde
24.1%    166    Fre    Justin Leone
24.2%    128    Con    Todd Jennings
24.6%    199    SJo    David Maroul
24.6%    134    Con    Eddy Martinez-Esteve
25.4%    134    Con    Simon Klink
25.4%    169    Con    Jake Wald
26.4%    148    Con    Pat Dobson
27.4%    117    Fre    Justin Knoedler
27.7%    101    Aug    Dayton Buller
28.4%    169    Con    Travis Ishikawa
29.1%    103    Fre    Chad Santos
37.4%    107    Aug    James Simmons