minor lines, 5/29/10

Saturday highlights from the Giants' farm: Chris Dominguez homered twice, Conor Gillaspie had two XBH, both Brett Pill and Steve Holm homered as part of multi-hit lines, and David Mixon allowed just 1 ER in 6.2 IP.

AAA: Fresno lost to Salt Lake City 8-7
(with each team scoring three runs over the last two innings, making the lead see-saw)

Fresno: 3B Matt Downs: 2 for 4, 2B, SB
Fresno: 1B Brett Pill: 2 for 4, HR, 2B, SO
Fresno: DH Jesus Guzman: 2 for 3, 2B, BB
Fresno: C Steve Holm: 2 for 4, HR, SO

Fresno: SP Eric Hacker: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K--1 HR, 1 HB
Fresno: RP Osiris Matos: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K--1 HB, 1 IBB

Four Grizzlies had two hits each, accounting for eight of the team's ten hits.  In the 8th inning Pill had his 5th HR, and in the 9th inning Holm had his 3rd HR.  With two hits in each of the past two games, Holm has gotten his AVG above the Mendoza line.  Reaching base three times, Guzman got his OPS above .700, still well below the .885 standard he set a year ago.  Of the four Grizzlies with two hits, Downs has the highest AVG at .295, although that is in limited playing time (44 AB) given the amount of time he has spent in the majors (73 AB).

Hacker had his second straight sub-par start, including a season-high 4 BB.  While he has a 3.83 ERA through ten starts, the Bees have contributed disproportionately to that with 7 ER in 9.1 IP in two starts against them.  In the 9th inning, Matos suffered his first blown save and first loss this year as his ERA rose above 3.00.

AA: Richmond defeated Bowie 7-3

Richmond: CF Darren Ford: 3 for 5, SO
Richmond: 3B Conor Gillaspie: 2 for 4, 3B, 2B
Richmond: 2B Ryan Lormand: 2 for 4, 2B, SO

Richmond: SP David Mixon: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K--1 HR, 1 HB

With three of the Flying Squirrels' eleven hits, Ford raised his AVG to .247.  Gillaspie had his 2nd triple and 9th double.  His XBH/H ratio remains below 40%, and his XBH/AB ratio below 10%.  Playing for his third different affiliate this year, Lormand had two two hits in his second game as a Squirrel.

Mixon had one of his better starts of the year.  Through ten starts, his peripheral stats include a WHIP below 1.00 as he now has 44 H, 14 BB, and 52 K in 59.0 IP.

A+: San Jose defeated Stockton 4-2
(rallying for three runs in top of 9th inning)

San Jose: DH Charlie Culberson: 0 for 3, 3 SO
San Jose: CF Juan Perez: 1 for 5, HR, 2 SO
San Jose: 1B Brandon Belt: 1 for 3, 3B, 2 BB, SB
Stockton: SS Grant Green: 2 for 4, 2B

San Jose: SP Craig Westcott: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K--1 HB, 1 WP

While no one had a multi-hit line for the Giants, Belt did have his 2nd triple while reaching base three times.  His season line is now .376/.473/.558 through 165 AB.  Perez's solo HR in the 3rd inning, his 5th HR this year, accounted for the Giants' only run through the first eight innings.  After striking out in all three of his plate appearances for the hat trick, Culberson was ejected in the 6th inning.  Green, whom the Athletics selected thirteenth overall a year ago, had another solid game, lifting his AVG to .280.

Westcott had his third straight start allowing two runs, but his ERA remains a quite impressive 1.40 through nine starts.  With a season-high 4 BB, this was the first start in which he has had more walks than strikeouts.

A-: Augusta defeated Asheville 2-0 (13 innings)

Augusta: 3B Chris Dominguez: 4 for 7, 2 HR, 2B, 2 SO, CS
Augusta: C Hector Sanchez: 2 for 4, BB, SO
Augusta: CF Evan Crawford: 0 for 6, 4 SO

Augusta: SP Kyle Vazquez: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K--1 HR, 1 BK
Augusta: RP Mitch Lively: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 5 K--1 BK
Augusta: RP Ryan Verdugo: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Asheville: SP Tyler Matzek: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K--1 HR

Dominguez had perhaps his best game as a pro, homering twice, including a walk-off HR in the 13th inning.  His season line is now .271/.305/.457 through 210 AB.  That seems remarkably similar to the .263/.311/.456 line he had in 217 AB last year at two different levels of short-season ball.  Sanchez was one of six other GreenJackets to reach base three times.  After the oh-fer with the sombrero, Crawford's SO/AB ratio is nearly 25%.

In his ninth start, Vazquez yielded more than three earned runs for the first time this year, raising his ERA to 3.19.  With 5 K each, Lively and Verdugo struck out half of the twenty batters they faced.  Matzek, the Rockies' top prospect, was touched up for 3 ER in his second pro start.  He had 5.0 scoreless IP in his pro debut.

DSL: Giants lost to Cubs2 4-3
(their season opener)

Dominican: 3B Cristian Paulino: 1 for 3, HR, BB, SB, E
Dominican: SP Joan Gregorio: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Paulino (18.8 y.o.) homered in his pro debut.  Also in his pro debut, Gregorio (18.4 y.o.) had a solid start, allowing just one run despite allowing nearly two baserunners per inning.