Saturday highlight from the Giants' farm: Justin Fitzgerald had 5.0 scoreless IP in his upper minors debut.
AAA: Fresno lost to Las Vegas 14-4
(allowing ten runs in the 4th through 6th innings)
Fresno: CF Darren Ford: 2 for 4, HBP, SO, SB
Fresno: 3B Conor Gillaspie: 0 for 4, 3 SO, E
Fresno: SP Matt Yourkin: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K--1 WP, 1 PO
Fresno: RP Marc Kroon: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB< 1 K
Ford was one of two Grizzlies with two hits each. He also had his first swipe of the year and threw out a runner at third base. With the oh-fer that included the hat trick, Gillaspie's AVG dropped to .091. He also made his 2nd error.
Yourkin, one of the Grizzlies' top starting pitchers a year ago with a 4.24 ERA, was not so effective in his 2011 season debut. Kroon was the only one of four Grizzlies pitchers not to allow an earned run, but even he retired just three of his six batters.
AA: Richmond defeated New Britain 6-2
(after leading 1-0 through six innings)
Richmond: 2B Charlie Culberson: 2 for 4, 2B, SO
Richmond: 1B Joe Koshansky: 2 for 3, BB
New Britain: CF Joe Benson: 3 for 4
Richmond: SP Justin Fitzgerald: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Culberson and Koshansky both continued their strong offensive starts to the season. The Twins' Benson, who is arguably among the top 100 prospects in baseball, had three more hits, lifting his AVG to .462 through three games.
Fitzgerald, who had a 3.45 ERA a year ago, faced just two batters over the minimum through 5.0 IP in his upper minors debut. He threw 48 of 81 pitches for strikes.
A+: San Jose defeated Lake Elsinore 10-3
(after scoring two runs in each of the first three innings)
San Jose: DH Tommy Joseph: 2 for 5, 3B
San Jose: C Hector Sanchez: 2 for 5, 2B, SO
San Jose: 1B Luke Anders: 3 for 5, 2B, SO
San Jose: SP Craig Westcott: 4.2 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K--1 HR
San Jose: RP Chris Gloor 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Anders' three hits paced the Giants' 14-hit attack. Joseph and Sanchez were among four others with multi-hit evenings.
Westcott, who earned a mid-season promotion to Richmond last year, is back in San Jose for the start of the 2011 season. He allowed hits to half of the 22 batters he faced in his season debut. By contrast, Gloor struck out five of his eight batters. He also stranded both runners inherited from Westcott.
A-: Augusta lost to Greenville 7-0
(with the final four runs scoring in the 5th inning)
Augusta: SS Ydwin Villegas: 1 for 3, 2B
Augusta: SP Austin Fleet: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K--1 HR, 2 E
Greenville: SP Anthony Ranaudo: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K--1 HB
Villegas, whom Baseball America ranked among the Giants' top 30 prospects, had his 2nd double of the season, one of just four hits for the GreenJackets.
Fleet, who had a 2.65 ER in 51.0 IP last summer in the AZL, gave up a bunch of runs in his full-season debut. The Red Sox' Ranaudo, who is considered among the top 100 prospects in baseball, pitched five shutout innings, although he was not overly dominant considering he allowed five baserunners over five innings.