minor lines, 4/11/10

Sunday highlights from the Giants' farm: Buster Posey homered and had his fourth straight multi-hit game; Fred Lewis reached base four times; and Joe Martinez had five dominant innings.  Lowlight: In his pro debut, Zach Wheeler retired just one of six batters.

AAA: Fresno defeated Reno 14-2
(after leading 7-0 through six innings)

Fresno: CF-LF Fred Lewis: 2 for 3, 3B, 2 BB, SB
Fresno: 1B Buster Posey: 2 for 5, HR, BB, 2 SO
Fresno: SS Ryan Rohlinger: 2 for 4, 2 2B, GiDP

Fresno: SP Joe Martinez: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Fresno: RP Horacio Ramirez: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Reno: SP Billy Buckner: 5.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K--1 HR, 3 WP

Through his first 10 ABs this year, Lewis has now hit for the cycle and also drawn five walks.  Starting at first base, Posey had his fourth straight multi-hit game.  He has reached base at least three times in each game.  On a day on which every Grizzly in the starting lineup had at least one hit, even including the starting pitcher, Rohlinger added a couple doubles.

Martinez pitched five shutout innings, while allowing just three baserunners and one fly ball out.  Ramirez added three more shutout innings.  Buckner may have entered spring training favored to win a job in the Diamondbacks' rotation, but this start today would tend to confirm that he is not yet ready for that assignment.

AA: Richmond lost to Bowie 4-1

Richmond: LF Thomas Neal: 2 for 4, 2B, SO
Richmond: C Jackson Williams: 2 for 3, 2B, SO

Richmond: SP David Mixon: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K--2 HR, 1 HB
Bowie: SP Ryohei Tanaka: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Neal and Williams each had two of the Flying Squirrels' seven hits.  Through the first series of the year, Neal hit for a .250 AVG while Williams hit .556, quite different from their respective AVGs of .337 and .226 a year ago.  That said, this is Williams' second year in the Eastern League.

Normally a reliever through his Giants career, Mixon appears to be a starter this year.  The 20th rounder in 2007 started just two (perhaps his last two as I recall) of 39 games for San Jose a year ago when he had 3.29 ERA in 63.0 IP.  The 27-year-old Tanaka made his U.S. debut pitching for the Orioles' double-A affiliate.

A+: San Jose at Modesto was suspended by rain after two innings with San Jose leading 7-2

San Jose: SS Ehire Adrianza: 2 for 2, 2B

San Jose: SP Justin Fitzgerald: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Adrianza had hits in both of his plate appearances, including the Giants' only XBH while scoring seven runs.

Fitzgerald, the 11th rounder in 2008 who made all 39 of his appearances last year in relief, didn't have the opportunity to get stretched out very long in his start of the year with the game suspended by rain.

A-: Augusta lost to Greensboro 6-3

Augusta: LF Daniel Cook: 2 for 5, 3B
Augusta: 1B Luke Anders: 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB, SO

Augusta: SP Zach Wheeler: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Augusta: RP Hector Correa: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K--1 HR

Anders had a big game, including his first two XBH of the year, after singling in each of the first three games.  Cook had another good game, and his .375 AVG leads the GreenJackets after their first series of the year.

Wheeler had a very inauspicious pro debut, returining just one of the six batters he faced while issuing three walks.  Did he reach his single inning pitch limit?  The final batter Wheeler faced reached on a fielder's choice to shortstop.  Correa was the first of four GreenJackets out of the bullpen.  Making his Giants debut after being acquired from the Marlins over a year ago and then missing all of the 2009 season, he fared only slightly better while issuing five walks and yielding a big fly to the fourteen batters he faced.