minor lines, 5/30/07

AAA: Fresno defeated Round Rock 8-1

Fresno: CF Justin Leone: 4 for 4, HBP
Fresno: 3B Tomas De La Rosa: 3 for 4, 2B, BB
Round Rock: SS-3B Cody Ransom: 0 for 2, 2 SO

Fresno: LHP Travis Blackley: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 HR
Fresno: RHP Scott Munter: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HR
Fresno: RHP Billy Sadler: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Round Rock: RHP Juan Gutierrez: 5.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 0 HR

Leone remains red-hot with the bat.  He raised his AVG to .317 as he reached base five times yesterday.  We also found out that he is now the backup centerfielder for the Grizzlies (when Timpner is out of the lineup).  De La Rosa continues to have a strong season, raising his AVG to .310.  Former Grizzly Ransom was one of a couple Express hitters to reach base twice.  The 31-year-old is hitting .261/.337/.442 in 165 AB so far this year.

A fine start for Blackley, perhaps his best of the year.  In his last ten starts, it is just his third with 1 ER or fewer, but he has allowed more than 3 ER just once.  He threw 57 of 95 pitches for strikes.  I.e., he has consistently allowed 2 or 3 ER in most starts.  His 3.45 ERA compares very favorably with the ERAs of the two relievers who finished yesterday's game.  Munter's ERA rose to 3.24, and Sadler lowered his ERA to 3.60.  Gutierrez, who entered the year considered the Astros' #5 prospect, had his least effective start of the year.  On the season, he has 56 H, 22 BB and 39 K in 65.2 IP with a 3.43 ERA.

AA: Connecticut defeated Portland 5-2

Connecticut: 3B Mark Minicozzi: 2 for 3, BB
Connecticut: LF Carlos Sosa: 2 for 4, E
Connecticut: 1B Travis Ishikawa: 2 for 4, SO
Connecticut: SS Jake Wald: 0 for 4, 3 SO
Connecticut: 2B Trey Webb: 2 for 4, HR, SO, SB

Connecticut: LHP Alexander Hinshaw: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR--1 HB
Connecticut: RHP Ryan Sadowski: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Connecticut: RHP Brian Anderson: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 0 HR

Minicozzi raised his AVG to .227, far behind Sosa's team-leading .320 AVG.  Ishikawa now has a .223 AVG, as his line includes 31 H and 41 SO among 139 AB.  For the second day in a row, Webb had the best game of his Giants tenure, raising his AVG to .131.  Wald, who had been playing fairly well this year, may have had his worst game of the year offensively with the hat trick yesterday.

Hinshaw had perhaps his best start of the year, despite the blemish of giving up a HR (in Dodd Stadium).  He lowered his ERA to 1.72, although that is not as low as Sadowski's 1.25 ERA.  After three perfect innings, Sadowski has 15 H, 7 BB and 17 K in 21.2 IP this year.  Anderson collected his 9th save, although his WHIP took a hit as two of five batters reached base against him.

A+: San Jose had a scheduled off-day
(last scheduled off-day before all-star break June 18-20)

Giants among Cal League leaders:
Hitters:
OBP: Richardson 10th
2B: Mooney 7th
BB: Richardson 3rd
SB: Richardson 3rd, Burriss 4th
CS: Richardson 3rd
Pitchers:
ERA: McKae 4th, Oseguera 9th
WHIP: McKae 3rd, Oseguera 9th
K: McKae 2nd, JoMartinez 4th
IP: McKae 4th, JoMartinez 10th

A-: Augusta defeated Greensboro 12-6

Augusta: SS Emmanuel Burriss: 4 for 5
Augusta: 3B Ryan Rohlinger: 3 for 4, 2 HR, 2B, BB
Augusta: DH Dayton Buller: 3 for 5, 2B, 2 SO
Augusta: CF James Simmons: 2 for 4, HR, 2 SO

Augusta: LHP Benjamin Snyder: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Augusta: RHP Daniel Griffin: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Augusta: RHP Juan Trinidad: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR

Burriss raised his Sally League AVG to .283.  Rohlinger had his second 3 XBH game in the last few days.  He now has 5 HRs this year.  Perhaps his bat is starting to heat up.  In his last ten games, he has a .353 AVG with 34 AB, 12 H, 8 XBH, 3 HR and 9 BB.  He has shown a lot of secondary average this month hitting .235/.358/.439.  After scuffling for most of the month, Buller is finishing with a bang, raising his season AVG to .338.  Simmons connected for his 2nd HR and raised his AVG to .195.

Snyder appears to be backsliding, with his last two starts being his worst two starts of the year.  Still, his ERA is just 2.25.  Griffin was not as sharp in relief as he was in his previous appearance, when he also relieved Snyder.  He did nudge his ERA lower to 3.24.  Trinidad, the closer, worked a perfect 9th in a non-save situation, getting three fly ball outs.  With a GO/AO ratio below 1.00, he has allowed more fly balls than one presumably expects from the typical sidearmer.