Highlights from the Giants' farm: (a) Brock Bond had hits in all five plate appearances; (b) Buster Posey had his 11th HR and 20th double; and (c,d) both Steve Holm and Wendell Fairley reached base four times. Also notable was Madison Bumgarner having his shortest start of the year, although he did not allowed an earned run.
AAA: Fresno lost to Colorado Springs 9-8 (11 innings)
(after allowing three runs in both the 7th and 9th innings)
Fresno: 1B-LF John Bowker: 2 for 6, HR, 3 SO
Fresno: 3B Ryan Rohlinger: 3 for 6, 2 2B, SO
Fresno: C Steve Holm: 3 for 4, BB, IBB
Colorado Springs: RF Matt Murton: 3 for 5, 2 HR, SO
Fresno: RHP Kevin Pucetas: 6.0+ IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Fresno: RHP Osiris Matos: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K--1 HR
Fresno: LHP Geno Espineli: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 K--1 HR
Rohlinger and Holm each had three of the Grizzlies' seventeen hits, raising their AVGs to .294 and .284. Rohlinger now has 23 doubles this year, and his XBH/H ratio is 39%. Bowker had his 11th HR. The Rockies' Murton, who has played in 22 games in the majors this year, had a big night batting cleanup, with three-run HRs in both the 7th and 9th innings. In the PCL, the 27-year-old is hitting .408/.465/.664 through 125 AB.
Pucetas allowed just 2 ER in through six innings, but then he, Matos and Espineli combined to allow seven runs over the rest of the game. Pucetas has now allowed 4+ ER in two of his last three starts, pushing his ERA above 3.50. Espineli's ERA rose to 4.50 as both he and Matos had their 2nd blown saves.
AA: Connecticut defeated Altoona 9-5
Connecticut: 2B Brock Bond: 5 for 5, 3B
Connecticut: CF Mike McBryde: 2 for 4, 3B, HBP, SB
Connecticut: RF Eddy Martinez-Esteve: 2 for 4, 2B
Altoona: RF Jose Tabata: 1 for 4, HR
Connecticut: LHP Madison Bumgarner: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Connecticut: RHP Danny Otero: 1.0 IP, 2 K
Bond had a huge night with hits in all five plate appearances, including his 3rd triple. With sixteen hits in his last seven games, he has improved his season line to .323/.426/.394 through 198 AB. McBryde and EME also had multi-hit lines, raising their AVGs to .277 and .299. Tabata, the Pirates' #3 prospect who was acquired from the Yankees last summer, finally had his 1st HR. He missed a month and a half this season, and his SLG is just .329 through 79 AB this year.
Bumgarner had his shortest start of the year with just 4.0 IP. He faced 16 batters, striking out just one. Even with the 1 K, he still has more strikeouts than hits since his promotion to the upper minors. Bumgarner did get more groundball outs than usual with a 6/5 GO/FO line. Otero had 2 K in a perfect 9th inning, but his K/IP remains below 0.70 this year. He does have a 2.24 GO/AO ratio this year after a 1.58 ratio last year.
A+: San Jose defeated Stockton 6-4
San Jose: C Buster Posey: 2 for 4, HR, 2B
San Jose: RF Roger Kieschnick: 1 for 3, HR, SF, SO
San Jose: 1B Angel Villalona: 0 for 4, SO
San Jose: 3B Conor Gillsapie: 1 for 2, 2 BB, E
San Jose: 2B Nick Noonan: 0 for 0, BB
San Jose: LHP Craig Clark: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
San Jose: RHP David Mixon: 2.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 K--1 HB
San Jose: LHP Wilmin Rodrigruez: 2.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
San Jose: LHP Dan Runzler: 1.0 IP, 2 H
Posey had a big night. Early in the game he had a well-hit, deep fly ball. In the 6th inning, he came to the plate with two outs and his team still needing their first hit. He fell behind in the count 0-2. After working the count full to 3-2, he connected for a home run deep into the bullpen behind the left field fence. Gillspie also had a good night offensively, reaching base three times. However, for the second straight night, he committed a throwing error, pulling Noonan off the big with an errant throw. Gillaspie's error total is now 16 E. Noonan has argued both calls, and last night he was ejected at the conclusion of the inning. For the second straight night, Kieschnick homered to deep right-center, sending a ball comfortably over the 389 foot sign. He had his 12th HR, to stay one ahead of Posey, who has 11 HRs. Villalona had the oh-fer. He's either slow or does not run hard on his ground ball outs.
Clark had one of his least effective starts, but he scattered the hits and allowed just four runs, two earned. The 7 H matched his season-high, and the 1 K was a new low. In his previous nine starts, he had had at least 5 K in each start. Mixon worked quickly throught two perfect innings before allowing the first two batters to reach in the 7th inning. Rodriguez relieved him; and after walking the first batter, he retired the next six batters without allowing a run to score. Runzler, who has been so hard to hit this year (.103 BAA), allowed hits to two of the four batters he faced, but recorded his first save since being promoted to San Jose. His fastball was consistently at 91 mph.
A-: Augusta lost to Rome 11-8
Augusta: 2B Juan Perez: 1 for 5, HR, 2 SO, E
Augusta: 1B Mike Loberg: 2 for 3, BB, E
Augusta: LF Wendell Fairley: 3 for 3, BB. E
Augusta: LHP Aaron King: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Batting in the final two spots in the lineup, Loberg and Fairley combined for five of the GreenJackets' eleven hits and two of their four walks. But both still have AVGs below .225. Perez had his 6th HR of the season and his 1st HR of the month. He has a sub-.400 OPS through 55 AB this month.
King matached a season-high with 6 H (three times previously, including his previous start) and had a new season low with 0 K. His ERA is now close to 5.00.
DSL: Giants lost to Pirates 7-6
Dominican: SS Cesar Soto: 1 for 2, 2 BB, SB
Dominican: LHP Keurin Feliz: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K--1 HB, 3 WP
Soto (18.2 y.o.) was one of three Gigantes with a hit and two walks. He has a .125 AVG through his first nine pro games. Feliz (18.10 y.o.) allowed 7 ER in his fourth pro start, raising his ERA to 7.50 as a starter.