minor lines, 5/6/10

Thursday highlights from the Giants' farm: Buster Posey had four hits, including a HR and two doubles; Clayton Tanner allowed 1 ER in 6.0 IP; Justin Fitzgerald had 6.0 scoreless IP; and Drew Biery had his 1st HR while reaching base three times.  There were also quite a few Giants farmhands with three-hit performances: Brock Bond, Brett Pill, Nick Noonan, Tyler LaTorre, James Simmons, and Sharlon Schoop.

AAA: Fresno lost to Colorado Springs 8-7
(with each scoring a run in the 9th inning)

Fresno: 2B Brock Bond: 3 for 5, 2 2B, SO
Fresno: C Buster Posey: 4 for 5, HR, 2 2B
Fresno: 1B Brett Pill: 3 for 5, 3 2B
Colorado Springs: C Chris Iannetta: 3 for 4, HR, 2B

Fresno: SP Kevin Pucetas: 4.2 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K--2 HR

Posey had a huge four-hit game, including his 3rd HR and 6th and 7th doubles.  He improved his line to .343/.436/.525 through 99 AB.  Bond and Pill had six more of the Grizzlies' fourteen hits, including five doubles.  Bond now has 6 doubles, and Pill 7 doubles this year.  Playing in his sixth game since the Rockies optioned him to the minors, Iannetta had three hits, including his 2nd HR and 3rd double in that timespan.

Pucetas allowed season-highs with 11 H, 6 R, and 5 ER.  His ERA rose to 4.65.  Officially the wind was blowing at 14 mph from right to left.

AA: Richmond defeated Altoona 2-1 (11 innings)

Richmond: C Tyler LaTorre: 3 for 5
Richmond: 2B Nick Noonan: 3 for 5

Richmond: SP Clayton Tanner: 6.0 IP, 3 H,1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K--1 WP
Richmond: RP Felix Romero: 2.0 IP, 1 K

With three hits each, LaTorre and Noonan accounted for half of the Flying Squirrels' dozen hits, raising their respective AVGs to .455 and .247.  Noonan has had three multi-hit games in the last week.

Tanner pitched six full innings for the first time this year.  He has allowed more than 1 ER in just two of his six starts, so his ERA is a healthy 2.03 despite his fairly poor strikeout and walk ratios (16 K and 14 BB in 31.0 IP).  He did have an 11/5 GO/FO ratio, which is a bit above his season 1.81 GO/AO ratio.  In his second Eastern League appearance, Romero pitched two perfect innings.

A+: San Jose defeated Stockton 7-5
(with all five runs allowed coming in the 9th inning)

San Jose: CF James Simmons: 3 for 5, 3B, SB, GiDP
San Jose: DH Drew Biery: 2 for 4, HR, BB, 2 SO
Stockton: SS Grant Green: 5 for 5, 2B, 2 E

San Jose: SP Justin Fitzgerald: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
San Jose: RP Scott Nestor: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K--1 HR

Biery had his 1st HR while reaching base three times.  He had 6 HRs in the NWL last summer, but his SLG so far this year remains below .400.  Simmons, a reserve outfielder, had three hits from the leadoff position, raising his AVG to .250.  The toolsy player already has three triples this year in just 52 AB.  Green, whom the Athletics drafted 13th overall last summer, had a huge game offensively, as five hits raised his AVG to nearly .300, but defensively he also commited his 8th and 9th errors.

For the second time in four starts, Fitzgerald had a start with 6.0 shutout IP, although the 7 H were a season high.  His ERA is just 0.78.  An 11th round pick two years ago who was used exclusively as a reliever last year, his transition to a starting role seems to be going very well.  Nestor's 10th relief appearance was his least effective of the season, nearly doubling his ERA.  He retired just two of the eight batters he faced.

A-: Augusta lost to Greenville 7-6 (11 innings)

Augusta: CF Evan Crawford: 2 for 6, 2B, 2 SO, SB
Augusta: SS Sharlon Schoop: 3 for 5, SO

Augusta: SP Kyle Vazquez: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Augusta: RP Chris Gloor: 1.2 IP, 2 K

Crawford and Schoop had the GreenJackets' only multi-hit lines, raising their respective AVGs to .234 and .333.  Crawford has hit .368 in his last nine games after a slow start.  This was Schoop's tenth game with the GreenJackets after appearing in six games (with just 11 AB) with Richmond to start the year.

In his fifth start, Vazquez allowed a season-high 3 ER, raising his ERA just above a still very good 2.50.  The 6 H were also a season-high, but the no walks were also an improvement over the three walks he had averaged in his previous three starts.  After the first batter Gloor faced reached on an error, Gloor had 2 K in 1.2 perfect IP.  He has 20 K in 14.2 IP this year.