minor lines, 6/21/13

Friday highlights from the Giants' farm: Andrew Susac homered and singled, and Kyle Crick had 10 K in 4.0 scoreless IP.

AAA: Fresno lost to Reno 12-7

Fresno: CF Gary Brown: 1 for 4, HR, BB, SO, SB
Fresno: 1B Brett Pill: 1 for 5, HR, SO
Fresno: LF Todd Linden: 2 for 3, BB, SO
Reno: SS Chris Owings: 2 for 4, HR, BB, SO, CS

Fresno: SP Boof Bonser: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K--1 HR, 1 HB
Fresno: RP Heath Hembree: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 K--1 HR, 1 WP
Reno: SP J.J. Putz: 1.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 K

Brown and Pill connected for their 9th and 11th HRs--both solo HRs in the 3rd inning. Linden, one of five Grizzlies with two hits, reached base three times. The Diamondbacks' Owings had another nice game, connecting for his 7th HR while reaching base three times.

Bonser's third straight start with 5 ER raised his ERA to 5.87. Is Hembree just going through a rough stretch, or is he no longer among the Giants' top fifteen prospects given his ERA now above 5.50? Like Matt Cain, he has been susceptible to the long ball this year yielding 6 HR in 30.2 IP. Making his second rehab appearance, Putz walked Gary Brown and then struck out his next three batters swinging. I'll mention this statistical oddity--in a game with 19 runs scored, the game did not have a single inning with a team scoring just one run, either goose eggs or crooked numbers.

AA: Richmond lost to Reading 5-3

Richmond: 3B Adam Duvall: 2 for 4, 2B
Richmond: C Andrew Susac: 2 for 4, HR

Richmond: SP Craig Westcott: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K--3 HR, 1 WP

Susac and Duvall combined for four of the Flying Squirrels' six hits, including Susac's 8th HR and Duvall's 11th double. Over the last three weeks, Susac has hit for average, but his so-called secondary average has declined. Through seventeen games in June, he has hit .264/.298/.396 in 53 AB.

Westcott had yielded just 3 HR in his first thirteen starts but was tagged for 3 HR more last night. He allowed 4 ER for the first time in five starts.

A+: San Jose defeated Stockton 3-2

San Jose: DH Brock Bond: 2 for 4, HBP
San Jose: 3B Pablo Sandoval: 1 for 3, HR, E
San Jose: RF Mac Williamons: 2 for 5, SB

San Jose: SP Kyle Crick: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K--1 WP
San Jose: RP Cody Hall: 1.2 IP, 2 K--1 WP

Sandoval homered in his first rehab game. Last night was my first game in Stockton in a couple years. My immediate in-person reaction without the benefit of any instant replay was that Panda did not actually seem to hit the ball that hard as it lacked that normal, loud home run sound. On the error, I wondered if he was giving his full major league effort in a minor league rehab assignment--not to suggest the batted ball was struck softly. Bond reached base three times, raising his OBP to nearly .330 after 132 AB. Williamson joined Bond with two hits each. My first in-person impression of Williamson was that he seemed appreciably more athletic than I expected.

Making his first start in over two months, Crick was limited to 4.0 IP, although that actually matched his season-high (in four starts). The 10 K were a new season high as he struck out over half of his seventeen batters. My first in-person impression of Crick generally reinforced what I had read about him, i.e., really good stuff but control is still a work in progress. The stadium gun had his fastball velocity in the 92-95 mph range from what I observed. Hall, pitching for the second straight day, had 2 K in 1.2 perfect IP.

A-: Augusta lost to Kannapolis 12-2

Augusta: 2B Trevor Brown: 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SO
Augusta: SS Matthew Duffy: 2 for 4, 2B, CS, E

Augusta: SP Joan Gregorio: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 7 K--3 WP

Duffy, playing his second game since returning three weeks on the DL, and Brown had all four of the GreenJackets' hits. Duffy hit his 10th double but also committed his 10th error.

After allowing just 7 R and 6 ER (1.74 ERA) in six first-half starts, Gregorio was tagged for 7 R and 6 ER more to kick off the second half, nearly doubling his ERA to 3.00. After just 3 BB in the first half, he issued 3 BB more.

ssA: Salem-Keizer lost to Vancouver 5-4

Salem-Keizer: CF Tyler Hollick: 2 for 4, BB, 3 SB
Salem-Kiezer: LF Shilo McCall: 2 for 4, 2B

Salem-Keizer: SP Jose Reyes: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K--1 HB

Batting leadoff, Hollick reached base three times and stole three bases. McCall was one of two Volcanoes with two hits.

Reyes allowed over a third (7 of 18) of his batters to reach base but kept the damage to a couple runs.

R: Giants lost to Athletics 8-5

Scottsdale: CF Julio Pena: 1 for 4, HR
Scottsdale: C Drew Stiner: 1 for 3, HR, SF, SO

Scottsdale: SP Justin Fitzgerald: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K--1 HR

In the 2nd inning, Pena and Stiner both connected for their 1st HRs this year. Pena hit 9 HR last summer in the DSL.

Fitzgerald, who went on the DL after six Eastern League starts and one PCL start, made a solid rehab start, striking out more than a third (6 of 17) of his batters.

DSL: Gigantes defeated Diamondbacks 6-5

Dominican: CF Gustavo Cabrera: 2 for 5, 2B, SB
Dominican: SP Eber Guzman: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K--1 HB, 1 WP

Cabrera (17.5 y.o.) was one of three Gigantes with two hits, breaking out of a 1 for 18 stretch in his last six games. Guzman (20.2 y.o.) in his fourth start had a season-low 1 ER in a season-high 6.0 IP.