SF Giants Minor Lines, April 28

Three World Championships in five years have, no doubt, made me a little soft and satisfied as a fan, but after last night's SJ game I now have a dream... a burning desire. I must see a World Series end on a play exactly like this, the play of the year in the system thus far:

HIGHLIGHTS: Tyler Beede struck out 6 in 6 innings. Ryder Jones had 3 hits including a double.

Sacramento defeated Tacoma (Mariners), 3-1

RiverCats take the series 3-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	CS
SS	Ronny Cedeno	4	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
1b	Adam Duvall	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
RF	Jarrett Parker	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
3b	Carlos Truinfel	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Austin Fleet, W, 1-1	6.0	6	1	1	1	4	0	2	0	5.14
Erik Cordier	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4.50
Juan Gutierrez, S, 1	2.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4.63

Sacramento hitters went up against one time top prospect Mike Montgomery, and while they didn't have a lot of success they did just enough. They had only 6 baserunners on the night, but that included three XBH all of which figured in their scoring rallies. And of course, one of those was a one swing rally that we haven't seen for a little while, as Adam Duvall had just one hit in his previous 14 ABs when this happened:

Ryan Lollis joined the team for this game as Brett Jackson went on the DL. Also, Jarrett Parker continued his strong campaign:

Since taking a Golden Sombrero in series opener on Saturday, Sacramento's Jarrett Parker is 8-for-10 with 2 HR and 7 RBI.

— Mike Curto (@CurtoWorld) April 29, 2015

Sacramento's return to winning ways coincides precisely with their SP not getting knocked out of the game in the early innings with ugly lines, and tonight Austin Fleet had one of the team's better starts of the year allowing only one run over 6 innings, and the bullpen nailed it down with three perfect innings.

After 20 consecutive games to start the year, Sacramento finally gets a well deserved rest tonight before El Paso comes to town.  El Paso swept a four game series vs. the RiverCats at home last week so Sacramento will be hoping for revenge.

Richmond lost to Reading (Phillies), 3-2

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA
2b	Kelby Tomlinson	4	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.323
SS	Rando Moreno	3	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.421

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Chris Stratton, L, 0-3	6.1	5	3	3	5	5	0	0	1	5.31
Stephen Johnson	1.2	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	3.00
Josh Osich	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.35

By almost any measure the 3-13 Squirrels are the worst team in the minors at this point. They're the only team with a win percentage below .200. They're one of only five teams in the minors averaging fewer than three runs per game. In the EL, their 2.88 R/G are nearly a run less per game than the 2nd worst offense in that league (the Erie SeaWolves at 3.78 R/G). And at the same time their pitching staff has surrendered the 4th most runs in the league at 4.75 per game.

In yesterday's game, their 11th consecutive loss, they managed six baserunners on six hits, four of them singles. The two XBH in the game came within three PA in the third inning from the MI combination as Moreno tripled and Tomlinson knocked him in with a double before being stranded. Their second run scored on a WP, after Moreno again singled and worked his way to 3rd on a PH single from Devin Harris and a groundball.  It's gotta be pretty dismal around the batting cage for the Squirrels these days. After a morning game today they'll get another off day to try to regroup.

On the mound, Chris Stratton showed some good movement with his pitches, getting a lot of run on his fastball throughout the game and limiting hard contact for the most part, but his command was shaky all game long. He had only 51 strikes in 93 pitches, walking five and uncorking a WP. Two of the five hits he allowed were triples and both figured in scoring. The box score shows all 3 runs against Stratton as being earned, but this has to be a mistake as the third run scored on a throwing error by Stratton on a Sac Bunt, and no subsequent event would have scored the run (the rest of the inning, from stephen Johnson went K, HB, K).

San Jose lost to Visalia (Diamondbacks), 4-3 in 12 innings

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	CS	Other
DH	Hunter Cole	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2b	Austin Slater	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	HBP
RF	Tyler Horan	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	Assist
3b	Ryder Jones	5	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	E (7)

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Tyler Beede	6.0	4	3	1	2	6	1	0	0	2.53
Jason Forjet	2.0	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0.00
Jake Smith	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1.29
Daniel Slania	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0.00
Ian Gardeck, L	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	4.26

The San Jose offense put 16 runners on base on this night, but only managed to score three runs, mostly because Casey McGehee was temporarily reassigned to SJ and batted in every inning.

#SJGiants hit into seven double plays tonight in a 4-3, 12-inning loss to Visalia. 7 DP's tied a Cal League record.

— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) April 29, 2015

Among their 9 hits they managed only 1 XBH, a double from Ryder Jones who had another good night at the plate.

EDIT: BONUS HIGHLIGHT!

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As fine a start to the year as Ryder has had with the bat however, he's struggled with the glove. He made his 7th error of the year last night and it cost Tyler Beede runs in the 2nd inning, coming with runners at 1st and 2nd. Beede nearly limited the damage, getting a double play grounder on the next batter, but a double then brought in a second runner. Beede's other run allowed came on an opposite field HR from Daniel Palka. As you can hear from the play by play on the following, Beede fought some control issues in the early going (49 strikes of 79 pitches on the night) but was very solid overall and had his highest strikeout total of his career. Here he is getting the second of back to back Ks, taking down Domingo Leyba (#9 prospect in the Arizona system).

Augusta lost to Lakewood (Phillies), 3-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	CS
RF	Johneshwy Fargas	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
CF	Seth Harrison	4	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
C	Aramis Garcia	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
3b	Jonah Arenado	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Jose Reyes	5.0	6	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0.00
Dusten Knight, BS	1.2	3	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	7.36

The Greenjackets offense was completely stifled on this night by Lakewood starter Ricardo Pinto (#14 prospect in the Phillies system) as they managed only three baserunners on the night. Two of the three were XBH hits, including Arenado's triple which set up the only run of the game. Seth Harrison, the 7th round pick from last year's draft, made his 2015 debut and as happened in SK last year, Harrison's appearance moved Fargas out of CF and to a corner OF spot. Le sigh. However, Harrison did make an immediate impression:

Seth Harrison runs like his hair is on fire. Turned an in-between gap single into a stand-up double. Quick bat, gapper type.

— David Lee (@David11Lee) April 29, 2015

In a corresponding move, Randy Ortiz was placed on the DL.

Jose Reyes continued to have a perfect 0.00 ERA for the year and had a fine night, dancing through the occasional trouble.

Jose Reyes left the bases loaded twice, stranded 9 in 5 innings. 91-95, t96, good run. CB looked better. More depth, tighter.

— David Lee (@David11Lee) April 29, 2015

For David Lee's full scouting notes from the game:

Scouting notes from Tuesday's Lakewood-Augusta: Pinto, Tocci, Reyes, Harrison. http://t.co/RHXQ11C3m0

— David Lee (@David11Lee) April 29, 2015

Three games on tap tonight as Sacramento gets the night off. Scheduled starters are Jack Snodgrass, Chase Johnson, and Matthew Gage.