Apparently, by providing an answer key to yesterday's trivia I discouraged participation. So, we'll try again! No answer today. There have been 8 double digit strikeout performances in the system this year. Name them.
Just to set the bar, I remembered all eight, including exact totals and approximate dates. I did however, accidentally think there was a ninth, which turned out to be erroneous. Here's a hint:
Right-handed Giants prospect Chase Johnson throwing a breaking ball for a strikeout roughly three minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/5bZMaFjaAA
— Carson Cistulli (@cistulli) August 27, 2015
HIGHLIGHTS: Jose Reyes threw 8 innings of one-run ball. Mark Reyes threw 7 innings allowing just one unearned run. Christopher Shaw doubled and homered. Deiyerbert Bolivar K'd 8 in 5 IP.
* * *
Sacramento lost at Iowa Cubs, 3-1
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
Other |
RF |
Ryan Lollis |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.337 |
OF Assist |
C |
Trevor Brown |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.276 |
|
3b |
Carlos Triunfel |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.271 |
|
SS |
Nick Noonan |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.250 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Pitches |
Strikes |
Nik Turley L 6-7 |
6.0 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4.63 |
88 |
61 |
Sacramento fell back below the .500 mark with a pretty desultory effort from the offense vs. crafty left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada. The above includes all of the base runners they managed in the game, and their lone run scored on a Nick Noonan groundout. They went 0 for 5 with RISP on the game. Their best chance to make a game of it came in the 7th inning when three of the first four batters in the inning reached base on two singles and a walk. Unfortunately the fourth batter in that stretch (Brandon Hicks) hit into a DP to diminish the effect. Still they had two runners on and sent Mac Williamson up as a PH for starter Nik Turley to try to do some damage, but Mac flew out harmlessly to RF to end their best threat.
Not quite as crafty lefty Nik Turley turned in his third consecutive quality start. Turley, by the by, is listed on his MiLB player page as being a "distant relative" of Bob Turley, a one-time Cy Young Award winning pitcher for the Yankees dynasty of the 50s.
RECAP: #RiverCats Cannot Claw Past Cubs, Drop Opener 3-1 http://t.co/gQUGJjqgMR pic.twitter.com/6qxlpe3lFa
— River Cats (@RiverCats) August 28, 2015
* * *
Richmond lost at Akron Rubber Ducks (Indians), 6-5
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
SS |
Rando Moreno |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.278 |
3b |
Mitch Delfino |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.256 |
1b |
Ricky Oropesa |
4 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.253 |
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Pitches |
Strikes |
Chase Johnson |
4.2 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7.27 |
85 |
48 |
Jose Casilla |
1.0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.18 |
21 |
8 |
Matt Gage |
1.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4.94 |
15 |
12 |
Tyler Mizenko, BS 5 L 4-3 |
1.0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2.08 |
21 |
10 |
Brutal loss for a Richmond team clinging to its last hopes as they fought back with a 3 run 8th inning to take a lead, only to see Tyler Mizenko give it away on a game tying HR to the first batter he saw and a game losing run later in the inning.
Chase Johnson showed good stuff in this game. He struggled with his command a bit, but mostly just trying to be too fine on the corners and at the knees. He was missing non-competitively with his fastball. Watching the game I thought Williams could have helped him a bit by encouraging to go up in the zone with his fastball as a strikeout pitch, but they kept the sightline for both the fastball and breaking ball down around the knees and lower, and in the 5th inning when he started catching a little more of the middle of the plate the Akron hitters were able to catch up to him, working four consecutive singles that helped drive Johnson out of the game. None of them were smoked, but the Akron hitters showed an excellent approach with two strikes, not trying to do too much, just going up the middle or fighting off fastballs the opposite way. In the end, Johnson left with a tie game and the bases loaded, and everyday Phil McCormick had to bail him out of the jam.
On the plus side though, he was throwing his fastball 96-97 (according to the Akron announcer) and mostly finding corner and knees, and he put several hitters away on a hard breaking ball down in the dirt.
I'm a big fan of Chase. It's a low mileage arm and a good body that can maintain velocity over a big workload. I think he's got a future.
On the offensive side, the star of the game was Ricky Oropesa. Early on he helped get them out to a 2-0 lead with this bomb to RF (his team leading 13th of the year).
And in the 8th, he came up with the two-out hit to put the Squirrels back ahead, if only ever so briefly. Excellent effort, Ricky!
With this loss, Richmond, too, fell a game below .500, and their elimination looks to be eminent at this point.
* * *
San Jose won at Inland Empire (Angels), 7-3
sweeping their four game series, 4-0
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
LF |
Daniel Carbonell |
5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.263 |
C |
Aramis Garcia |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.241 |
RF |
Tyler Horan |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.209 |
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Jose Reyes |
8.0 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6.27 |
Ian Gardeck |
1.0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.83 |
Until Ian Gardeck allowed two garbage time runs in the bottom of the 9th, the SJ staff had muzzled Inland Empire, allowing just 2 runs over the final three games of this series. As it was, this was a mighty impressive collective effort. Jose Reyes had perhaps his best game since his promotion to the Cal league. It was the second time this year he'd gone 8 innings, as well as the second time with SJ that he'd surrendered just 1 run. His pattern in the Cal league has been to run into trouble in the 4-5 innings as he attacks a lineup the second time through, but last night he went through the 66ers lineup 3 times + with no trouble at all.
EDIT: Wilson Karaman of Baseball Prospectus was at the game last night and posted some videos of Reyes (Angel Villalona too):
Video from last night's start by Jose Reyes vs. IE. Solid results, ~95% FB's w/ some run & sink, 92-5 (t96) #Giants https://t.co/DpCfznGnWO
— Wilson Karaman (@vocaljavelins) August 28, 2015
The SJ lineup used 13 hits, including 5 doubles, to score 7 runs. They broke the game open quick, using consecutive two out hits from Ryder Jones, Aramis Garcia, and Brian Ragira to score four runs in the top of the 1st inning. Garcia had two hits for the second consecutive game and the third time in his last five games, raising his average in those five games from .189 to .241.
Couple historical notes:
#SJGiants complete four-game sweep of Inland Empire with a 7-3 victory tonight. SJ has won five in a row overall and 11 of 15.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) August 28, 2015
#SJGiants starting pitchers (J Johnson, Forjet, Suarez, Reyes) during the four-game sweep: 25 2/3 innings, 2 runs allowed.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) August 28, 2015
With the five game winning streak, San Jose has surged into a tie for first (with Visalia) in the second half division, and a tie for the wild card lead (with Stockton), two games in front of Modesto. With just 10 games to play they're in good position to make the playoffs if they take care of business against Modesto at home next week. First, though, the road trip continues to the Rancho Cucumanga Quakes.
You can listen to pitching coach Mike Couchee's thoughts on the pitching staff, and acting manager Lipso Nava's thoughts on the team in the last couple of pre-game shows with Joe Ritzo:
* * *
Augusta beat the West Virginia Power (Pirates), 2-1
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
Other |
RF |
Dylan Davis |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
.276 |
|
3b |
Jonah Arenado |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
.263 |
E (29) |
DH |
Matt Pare |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.222 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Mark Reyes, W 8-6 |
7.0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.15 |
Eury Sanchez |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.00 |
Reyes Moronta, S 10 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5.76 |
Two of the top 3 ERAs in the SAL face off tonight between WV's Yeudy Garcia (2.13) and Augusta's Mark Reyes (2.27).
— David Lee (@David11Lee) August 27, 2015
The game lived up to its "pitchers duel" billing as Mark Reyes threw 6 innings of no-hit ball, helping Augusta break its 8 game losing streak and remain on the far sketchy periphery of the post-season scenario.
West Virginia's Yeudy Garcia also had a no-hitter through four, racking up 10 Ks in his 5.2 innings of work. In the 6th however, both teams scored a run courtesy of Jonah Arenado. In the top of the inning, West Virginia scored its only run when Arenado made a throwing error on a grounder. In the bottom, Arenado redeemed himself by knocking in Dylan Davis, who had doubled.
The duo teamed up again the next inning to help provide the winning run. With two outs, Davis and Arenado walked back to back (just Arenado's 22nd walk on the year). A balk put them in scoring position and a WP brought Davis home.
Mark Reyes pitched 7 innings, 2 hits, & 0 ER to help #AGJ defeat the @wv_power 2-1 Thursday! http://t.co/iL1GUttsS7 pic.twitter.com/GhkPFfIOf2
— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) August 28, 2015
* * *
Salem-Keizer lost at Everett (Mariners), 4-3
losing their five game series, 2-3
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
RF |
Steven Duggar |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.284 |
DH |
Christopher Shaw |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.289 |
SS |
Christian Lichtenthaler |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.244 |
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Logan Webb L 3-5 |
0.2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5.06 |
Nathanael Santiago |
2.1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.41 |
Rayan Hernandez |
3.0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5.59 |
The Volcanoes couldn't survive Logan Webb's poor start which put them in a 3-0 hole in the first inning. It was the third time in 13 starts this year that Webb has failed to make it past the first inning. The strong-armed former HS QB has not gotten his pro career off to the start the Giants had probably hoped for when they made him their 4th round pick last year.
Chris Shaw had a big game, with a 2 run HR and a double. The HR was his 9th of the year. That's just one behind the league leader, despite the fact that Shaw has played in just 38 games, while those around him on the HR leaderboard have all played about 60. That's that plus power we heard about!
The loss now has the Volcanoes four games behind the streaking Eugene Emeralds as their hope, too, fades. They return home for a six game homestand including three games with Eugene with their elimination number down to 6. Perhaps this will help inspire them:
Just TWO days away! #GoSKV #GiantDreams pic.twitter.com/JeeDnn0dPh
— Volcanoes Baseball (@SKVolcanoes) August 27, 2015
* * *
AZL Giants beat the AZL Dodgers, 4-2
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
CF |
Mikey Edie |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.284 |
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Deiyerbert Bolivar W 2-1 |
5.0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2.08 |
Kendry Melo |
2.0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4.15 |
Heath Slatton |
1.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.79 |
In a curious game, the Giants managed to score four runs on just two hits (both courtesy of Edie). They did it in a four-run outburst in a single inning that looked like this:
AZL Giants Bottom of the 4th
- Pitching Change: Caleb Ferguson replaces Dennis Santana.
- Mikey Edie singles on a line drive to center fielder Edwin Drexler.
- With Dillon Dobson batting, wild pitch by Caleb Ferguson, Mikey Edie to 2nd.
- Dillon Dobson walks.
- With Tyler Brown batting, passed ball by Hendrik Clementina, Mikey Edie to 3rd. Dillon Dobson to 2nd.
- Tyler Brown grounds out, second baseman Carlos Aquino to first baseman Ibandel Isabel. Mikey Edie scores. Dillon Dobson to 3rd.
- Jean Angomas walks.
- Byron Murray hits a sacrifice fly. Fielding error by right fielder Federico Giordani. Dillon Dobson scores. Jean Angomas to 3rd. Byron Murray to 2nd.
- Mark Weist out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Edwin Drexler. Jean Angomas scores. Byron Murray to 3rd.
- With Kleiber Rivas batting, wild pitch by Caleb Ferguson, Byron Murray scores.
- Kleiber Rivas walks.
- Pitching Change: Gavin Pittore replaces Caleb Ferguson.
- Zachary Bowers walks. Kleiber Rivas to 2nd.
Jalen Miller grounds out, pitcher Gavin Pittore to first baseman Ibandel Isabel.
That would be rookie ball!
Deiyerbert Bolivar had a tremendous outing in what could well be his final game of the year. In his final two starts, the young lefty struck out 14 against 2 walks in 10 IP, while allowing just 1 earned run.
I'm hoping that Brute will show up later today with lots more pictures and reports on this game. In the meantime, the AZL Cubs were once again rained out. As a result of this, the Giants and Cubs are nominally tied for 1st, with the Cubs percentage points ahead, as the Cubs have now played three fewer games. The Giants final game is tonight, while the Cubs have two games left on the schedule, tonight and Saturday. Because it's the AZL, I doubt they will make up any of the Cubs cancelled games, and I have no idea what they would do if the standings remain tied at the top. It would certainly behoove the Giants to win their final game for sure.
* * *
DSL Giants lost to DSL Yankees1, 9-1
Their Best of 3 semi-final series is tied 1-1
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BA |
Other |
RF |
Sandro Fabian |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.125 |
2 Es |
DH |
Mecky Coronado |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
CS, PO |
DH |
Francisco Medina |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
|
LF |
Beicker Mendoza |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
.286 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Sandro Cabrera, L 0-1 |
4.1 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2.08 |
Luis Amaya |
1.0 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27.00 |
The Giants and Yankees trade blow outs in the first two games of this series, and now it's down to a single elimination game. The winner of this morning's contest heads on to the DSL Finals.
Sandro Cabrera got no help from his team yesterday. After walking the game opening batter, 1b Robinson Medrano committed a two-base error when he missed a pick off throw (a new variation on the two base pickoff throw that the system has featured this year). From there Cabrera WP'd in the first run without courtesy of a ball put in play.
There the game sat until the 5th, when things got really strange. The first two batters singled, putting runners at 1st and 2nd. Then Sandro Fabian, who led the team in OF assists during the year went a little bit crazy trying to show off his gun. Fabian committed throwing errors on consecutive fly ball outs trying to get nail runners on the bases, letting in two more runs that never should have scored. That got Cabrera out of the game and hung with a hard luck loss when the bullpen imploded.
Luis Amaya finally turned 17 on Wednesday, and from this we may determine that 17 year old Luis Amaya is nowhere near as good as 16 year old Luis Amaya is, because he turned in his worst outing of the year, turning the game into a rout.
The offense, meanwhile, was completely shut down, managing just 5 singles and 3 walks for the day. Their lone run came in the 9th after they were already down 9-0. Beicker Mendoza, with a single and a walk, was the only Giant to reach base twice in the game.
So now it's down to one game. Does Victor Concepcion show up? Do the bats? We shall see (YES!!)
* * *
Excellent slate of starters today: Ty Blach, Tyler Beede, Martin Agosta, and DJ Snelten are all scheduled to go. Also, Victor Concepcion is trying to pitch the DSL Giants to the finals as we speak.