Lots of highlights tonight. The Giants top prospect (a) Madison Bumgarner won another start, although not as impressively as his past two starts. Each of the other three affiliates all received an impressive start, with (b) Pat Misch having five shutout innings, (c) Scott Barnes being rather unhittable, and (d) Eric Surkamp pitching into the 8th inning. Four Giants farmhands had a homer and a double among three hits: (e) Angel Villalona, (f) Nick Noonan, (g) Jesus Guzman, and (h) Mike McBryde. Finally, (i) Wendell Fairley and (j) Bobby Felmy both reached base four times.
AAA: Fresno defeated Portland 5-0
Fresno: 1B Jesus Guzman: 3 for 4, HR, 2B
Fresno: 3B Ryan Rohlinger: 1 for 3, HR, BB
Fresno: LHP Pat Misch: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K--1 HB
Fresno: RHP Ronnie Ray: 1.0 IP, 1 K
Fresno: RHP Osiris Matos: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Back in the minors, Guzman had a big game. With three of the Grizzlies' eight hits, including his 7th HR and 13th double, he improved his AVG to .373. Rohlinger added his 5th HR.
Making his first start of the year after fifteen relief apperances, including four in the majors, Misch was very efficient, throwing just 58 pitches (43 strikes) in five innings and facing just three batters over the minimum. He improved his PCL ERA to an even 2.00. With a perfect 6th inning, Ray improved his ERA to 2.66. Matos issued just his fourth walk of the season.
AA: Connecticut defeated Portland 10-3
Connecticut: SS Brandon Crawford: 0 for 5, 4 SO
Connecticut: LF Bobby Felmy: 2 for 3, 2 BB, CS
Connecticut: CF Mike McBryde: 3 for 5, HR, 2B
Portland: 1B Lars Anderson: 0 for 5, 3 SO, E
Connecticut: LHP Madison Bumgarner: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Connecticut: RHP Brooks McNiven: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 K--2 HB
Connecticut: RHP Waldis Joaquin: 1.0 IP, 2 K
Portland: RHP T.J. Large: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
McBryde had his best game of the season. After just 2 XBH in his first 23 games this year, he his 1st HR and 2nd double of the season. In 33 AB since joining the Defenders, he now has a .303/.395/.424 line. Felmy reached base four times, but his OBP is still just .310. Crawford had his second sombrero against the Seas Dogs in the past week. He now has more strikeouts than hits since his promotion to the upper minors (21 H and 22 SO in 74 AB, .284 AVG). It was his second straight 0-for-5 game. The Red Sox' Anderson, whom a scout told BP's Kevin Goldstein earlier this week might be the most overrated prospect in baseball, suffered the oh-fer with the hat trick. He also has more strikeouts than hits (37 H and 41 SO in 159 AB, .233 AVG).
Bumgarner now has a 4-0 W-L record after four starts in the upper minors. Not so much tonight, but he has been hard to hit with 15 H and 24 K in 23.0 IP since joining the Defenders. McNiven made his first relief appearance after seven starts to begin the season. Joaquin had his second straight appearance with 2 K and no baserunners. T.J. Large, whom the Giants drafted in 2001 but did not sign, allowed three baserunners but is otherwise having a fine season with a 0.78 ERA through his first 23.0 IP over 20 appearances.
A+: San Jose defeated Visalia 10-2
(adding five insurance runs in the last two innings)
San Jose: SS Brian Bocock: 0 for 6, SO
San Jose: C Buster Posey: 0 for 5
San Jose: 1B Angel Villalona: 3 for 5, HR, 2B
San Jose: LF Thomas Neal: 3 for 5
San Jose: 2B Nick Noonan: 3 for 5, HR, 2B
San Jose: LHP Scott Barnes: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K--1 WP
San Jose: LHP Wilmin Rodriguez: 1.2 IP, 1 K--1 WP
Villalona and Noonan, who was dropped to the seventh spot in the batting order, had the big nights, each with a homer and a double among their three hits. Villalona had his 7th HR and 8th double; Noonan had his 3rd HR and 7th double. The three hits raised Villalona's AVG back above .300. Neal also had three hits, as the bottom five hitters in the San Jose lineup went a combined 13 for 25. Batting leadoff and cleanup, Bocock and Posey went a combined 0 for 11. Bocock's AVG dropped to .211, but Posey's AVG remains above .300.
Barnes had perhaps his most effective start of the year. At least he had a season-high 6 K and a season-low 2 H as he got his ERA back under 4.00. He pitched six full innings for just the second time this year in nine starts. Rodriguez had 1.2 perfect IP to lower his own ERA to 3.43, but he did allow one of three inherited runners to score on his wild pitch.
A-: Augusta defeated Lexington 8-5
Augusta: CF Dom Duggan: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, SF, SO, E
Augusta: 3B Charlie Culberson: 1 for 5, 2 SO, E
Augusta: PH-1B Josh Mazzola: 1 for 2, 3B
Augusta: DH Andy D'Alessio: 0 for 5, 2 SO
Augusta: RF James Simmons: 2 for 5, 2B
Augusta: LF Wendell Fairley: 2 for 3, 2 BB, SO
Augusta: SS Ehire Adrianza: 1 for 4, BB, SO, E
Augusta: LHP Eric Surkamp: 7.0+ IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K--1 HB
Augusta: RHP Shane Kaufmann: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB
Augusta: LHP Dan Runzler: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K--1 HB, 1 WP
A few more lines than normal since I was at the game. Fairley smashed a couple hard-hit, line drive singles in his first two at bats, then drew a couple walks before striking out looking. He looked good, although his AVG remains below .250 in May. Simmons, the other GreenJacket with two hits, had perhaps his most impressive play defensively, chasing down a hard hit, deep fly ball in the right center field gap. This was the first time I had seen Adrianza, and he did nothing to impress me in this game. The error, his 12th error this year, was a throw into right-center field when trying to start a double play. Culberson's error, his 17th error, was charging a ground ball near the third base bag and then letting it go under his glove as he ran over the bag. The was the first time I had seen Culberson in person too, and he seemed bigger than I had imagined. He's listed at 185 lbs. Pinch hitting in the 6th inning, Mazzola provided the big offensive blow with a bases-loaded triple. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Duggan faced a couple pitches that were way inside. His 3rd double was one of four XBH for the GreenJackets.
Surkamp pitched very effectively, better than his final line score would indicate. watching him warm up before the game, I thought he was struggling to locate his pitches. In the 1st inning, he allowed a couple singles, with a hit batter in between, to score a run with one out. After that, he settled in, retiring nineteen of the next 20 batters, allowing only a two-out double in the 5th inning before a two-out walk in the 7th inning. In the 8th inning, he was no longer able to locate his pitches and gave up three singles to the three batters he faced in the frame. Kaufman then entered and got a GiDP from the first batter he faced. He should then have gotten out of the inning, but the next batter reached on Culberson's error. After two more batters reached, Runzler was brought in. Another run scored on Runzler's wild pitch, before he struck out the final batter of the inning. In the 9th inning, Runzler put two runners on base to bring the tying run to the plate, but he struck out the final batter of the game to record his 9th save. Surkamp has the tall frame (6'4") that makes him look like a power pitcher, but his fastball topped out 85 mph from what I saw on the stadium scoreboard. In his final inning, it was closer to 82 mph. Based on previous experience and other information, I would surmise that the scoreboard gun was about 2-3 mph slow. The opposing starting pitcher hit 90 mph at least once on the scoreboard gun. Surkamp got a lot of swinging strikes in breaking pitches in the dirt that required the catcher to throw to first base for the out. On the season, Surkamp now has a very impressive K/BB ratio over 6.00 with 57 K and 9 BB in 44.2 IP. Kaufman showed a bit better fastball velocity, hitting around 88 mph on the stadium scoreboard. In the 8th inning, Runzler had his fastball around 87 mph but ramped it up to 92 mph, sitting more at 91 mph, in the 9th inning. If this turns out to be Runzler's final appearance in May, he had an impressive month with 2 H, 6 BB, 0 R, and 24 K in 12.1 IP over nine appearances.