Today's highlights: (A) Reaching base three times, Angel Villalona had the top individual line from a hitting prospect; (B) Craig Clark had the best pitching line; (C) both the Grizzlies and Defenders offenses scored over ten runs, with a fair number of individual performances contained therein.
AAA: Fresno defeated Round Rock 11-7
Fresno: CF Tyler Graham: 3 for 5, HR, 2B
Fresno: 3B Ryan Rohlinger: 2 for 4, HR, 2 SO
Fresno: LF Brian Horwitz: 3 for 4, HR, 2B
Fresno: C Eli Whiteside: 3 for 4, HR, 2B
Fresno: RHP Ray Sadler: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Fresno: RHP Steve Palazzolo: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB
Three different Grizzlies--Grahan, Horwitz, and Whiteside--each had a home run, a double, and a single. For Graham, it was clearly his best game of the season after having entering the night with just eights hits in limited playing time (40 AB over 16 G). Whiteside had his 5th HR in his last five games. Rohlinger, who is hitting better than .450 in May, also had a HR.
Making his seventh start, Sadler had perhaps his best start of the season. It was at least his longest start of the season, and it was just his second start with fewer than 3 BB, although the percentage of his pitches thrown for strikes was not appreciably different than in his past starts as tonight he threw 61 of 96 pitches for strikes. His K/BB ratio is now 1.75. Palazzolo had his least effective appearance of the year, adding nearly three full runs to his ERA (from 2.08 to 5.02).
AA: Connecticut defeated New Britain 15-7
(after trailing 6-0 after two innings)
Connecticut: 2B Brock Bond: 4 for 5, HBP
Connecticut: 1B Brett Pill: 4 for 6, HR, 2B, SO
Connecticut: C Tyler LaTorre: 3 for 4, 3B, 2 BB
New Britain: 3B Danny Valencia: 2 for 4, 2B
Connecticut: RHP Brooks McNiven: 1.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K--1 HR, 1 HB
Connecticut: LHP Jesse English: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 5 K--1 WP
Connecticut: LHP Joe Paterson: 1.0 IP, 2 K
New Britain: RHP Jeff Manship: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K--1 HB
With four hits each, Bond and Pill accounted for nearly half of the Defenders' seventeen hits, raising their respective AVGs to .287 and .263. Pill had his 1st HR and 11th double. Bond and LaTorre each reached base five times. Valencia, the Twins' #5 prospect, has had a double in five of his last six games, helping to improve his season line to .304/.402/.533.
McNiven had a disaster start, retiring just four of thirteen batters and ballooning his ERA above 5.00. In long relief, English had his longest appearance of the year (in terms of IP), despite having made three starts earlier this season. He improved his ERA to 4.43. Paterson struck out two of three batters in a perfect 9th inning to maintain his 0.00 ERA. Manship, the Twins #11 prospect, allowed just one run through the first three innings, but in the fourth inning he retired just one of the seven batters he faced.
A+: San Jose defeated Visalia 2-0
San Jose: 2B Nick Noonan: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, E
San Jose: RF Roger Kieschnick: 1 for 4, HR
San Jose: 1B Angel Villalona: 1 for 2, BB, HBP
San Jose: LHP Craig Clark: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K--1 WP
San Jose: RHP Steven Edlefsen: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K
No one had two hits for the Giants, but Villalona reached base three times, improving his OBP to .369. With today's walk, his BB/AB ratio is now exactly 5.0%. Noonan, who had his 4th double, was the only other Giant to reach base twice. After 3 HRs in April, Kieschnick had his first HR in May.
Clark had his second very good start in May, including a season-high 9 K. In his first and third start this month, he has 6 H, 2 BB, 0 R, and 16 K in 13.0 IP. In the start in between, he allowed 7 ER in 3.0 IP. Edlefsen had three scoreless innings to complete the shutout and receive his first save.
A-: Augusta lost to Greenville 4-3
Augusta: 2B Juan Perez: 1 for 3, HR, BB, SB
Augusta: 2B Josh Mazzola: 2 for 4
Augusta: RHP Chance Corgan: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K--1 HR, 1 HB
Perez had his 3rd HR and 5th SB. Perhaps even more notably, Perez led off the 4th inning with a walk, his first walk of the year after 121 AB. Mazzola was the only GreenJacket with two hits, improving his AVG to .282, which is the highest on the team among the ten hitters with more than 60 AB.
After five pretty effective relief appearances, Corgan got the start in his first appearance in over a week. His ERA rose to 3.93.