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Ah, look how happy these guys are:
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Somewhere in this group is the Giants' World Series MVP of 2024.
This team was among the tops in the league in Runs, HRs, SB, ERA, and Strikeouts all season long in what was essentially a pole to pole season. And they got big performances from some of their best (and youngest) prospects when they needed them. Congrats, kids. You earned it!
HIGHLIGHTS: Clayton Blackburn threw 7.1 shutout innings and knocked in game's only run. Sam Coonrod K'd 8 in 6 two-hit innings.
* * *
Sacramento beat Reno Aces (Diamondbacks), 1-0
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
CF |
Angel Pagan |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
LF |
Mac Williamson |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
.261 |
|
P |
Clayton Blackburn |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.240 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Pitches |
Strikes |
|
Clayton Blackburn W 9-4 |
7.1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.03 |
99 |
68 |
|
Baulio Lara S, 1 |
1.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8.31 |
22 |
18 |
In what was likely his penultimate start of the year, Clayton Blackburn provided his best MadBum imitation. He was dominant on the mound and he provided his own offensive support. As always here on Minor Lines, if a pitcher does something good with the bat, he gets a highlight!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wwH6txH96dw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ok, so perhaps not quite the majesty of a Bumgarner swing of the bat, still Blackburn's single was the end of an epic 10 pitch battle which started with him going down 0-2. He worked the count to 3-2 and then fouled off four straight pitches before getting his perfectly placed single. The hit knocked in Mac Williamson who had been hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a SB, and then walked to 3b.
Of course, what really needs to be praised is Clayton's night on the mound. He threw more than 7 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, walking none and striking out 9 in his finest start of the year. He took a perfect game into the 6th inning before allowing his first baserunner at 5.1 innings. The 9 Ks matched his, and the Sacramento team's, high for the season, as he really had his curveball working.
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And, before leaving this game, I should spare a moment for last night's roster casualty Ryan Lollis, who gave Blackburn a little help as well:
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Not quite apropos of nothing, but not quite on topic either. I suspect this game will provoke some louder cries for Blackburn to join the Giants listing rotation, and perhaps that's the right call. But last night's Giants game reminded me, that Mike Broadway has appeared in 40 games this year for Sacramento (48.1 IP) and he's given up a single run in five of them. Since May 15, he's allowed just two runs in AAA. One on June 9, and one on August 4, a period covering 30.2 innings. At the major league level, Broadway has appeared in 11 games and allowed runs in 5 of them. This isn't a knock of Broadway, who has the stuff to make adjustments and succeed. Just to note that it's not the same thing. There's more than just 80 miles separating Raley Field and AT&T.
* * *
Richmond lost to Harrisburg Senators (Nationals), 6-5
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
SS |
Rando Moreno |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.283 |
|
3b |
Myles Schroder |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.249 |
|
RF |
Hunter Cole |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.296 |
|
LF |
Devin Harris |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.233 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
Pitches |
Strikes |
|
Kelvin Marte, L 10-6 |
7.0 |
10 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2.69 |
101 |
61 |
|
Jose Casilla |
1.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.47 |
14 |
10 |
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Final road series of the year. This is the view from Harrisburg <a href="http://t.co/9Ctdgk3jDS">pic.twitter.com/9Ctdgk3jDS</a></p>— Squirrels Baseball (@GoSquirrels) <a href="https://twitter.com/GoSquirrels/status/638445247912132608">August 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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From Blackburn's finest game of the year to perhaps Kelvin Marte's worst of the past two. It was the second time this month that Marte has surrendered a season high 6 runs in a start, and this couldn't have come at a worse time as the Squirrels squandered an opportunity to pick up games on both of their competitors. And even worse, Altoona's loss came to Bowie who clinched the division last night and will quite likely throw out the traditional post-clinching scrub team today as the precious time ticks away from Richmond.
Marte put Richmond in a hole right away, surrendering three runs int he bottom of the 2nd inning. In the 4th, Devin Harris got those runs back with his 12th HR of the season.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CPDiK8hDxzM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Somewhat like Oropesa, Harris has suffered through an abysmal slump the second half of the year, but perhaps he's heating up in the final week as he now has back to back multi-hit games with a HR.
Richmond's new-found lead didn't last long however. Kruk would have been highly disappointed as Marte went out for the shutdown inning and instead gave up his own 2-run HR, to Harrisburg CF Brian Goodwin (Nats Supplemental 1st rounder in 2011) that put Harrisburg back in the lead for good. A Myles Schroder solo HR in the 5th brought the Squirrels back to within a run, but they could get no closer.
Losing the day hurts worse than losing the game, as they remain three games back but now have just seven games remaining to make up the difference.
* * *
San Jose had their final scheduled off day of the season
They begin a big home series vs. Modesto tonight
San Jose suffered a loss on an off day, as they learned that Luis Ysla would be heading to Boston. Ysla came into the year as one of the system's most promising LHP starters, but he just couldnt get any consistency going and ended with one of the more disappointing years in the org, as he struggled for some time to get his ERA below 10 and into respectable range. Still, he's capable of bringing some premium stuff from the left hand side. Good luck to you Luis!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is Luis Ysla for those who have never seen him. Super great guy and he will be missed in SJ <a href="https://twitter.com/SFGiants">@sfgiants</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RedSox">@redsox</a> <a href="http://t.co/AasBDL7RNP">pic.twitter.com/AasBDL7RNP</a></p>— Julie (@phibear35) <a href="https://twitter.com/phibear35/status/638600550230065152">September 1, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Big series against Modesto starts tonight.
Show coupon at our box office & get 4 complimentary GA tix to #SJGiants final homestand Sept. 1-3! #SeptemberTogether pic.twitter.com/zlMxK23rMe
— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) August 27, 2015
* * *
Augusta lost to Savannah (Mets), 2-1 in 11 inn. in Gm 1
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
2b |
Richard Rodriguez |
5 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.338 |
|
RF |
Dylan Davis |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
.264 |
|
3b |
Jonah Arenado |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.266 |
|
C |
Matt Winn |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.263 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Samuel Coonrod |
6.0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.21 |
|
Carlos Diaz |
2.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.71 |
|
Eury Sanchez L 1-1 |
2.2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3.06 |
Augusta lost to Savannah, 2-0 in Gm 2 (7 inn)
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
2b |
Richard Rodriguez |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.338 |
|
3b |
Jonah Arenado |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.264 |
|
C |
Jared Deacon |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.218 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Pat Young L 8-5 |
6.0 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.66 |
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/GreenJackets">@GreenJackets</a>' <a href="https://twitter.com/SamCoonrod">@SamCoonrod</a> w/ 6 strong frames: 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K. #5 on <a href="https://twitter.com/SFGiants">@SFGiants</a> Top 30: <a href="http://t.co/GeigIii2eL">http://t.co/GeigIii2eL</a> <a href="http://t.co/mSScJWQFC9">pic.twitter.com/mSScJWQFC9</a></p>— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/638498030057050115">August 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Sam Coonrod's been scuffling a good bit as he appears to be leaking oil down the dregs of the year, so it was good to see him come up with his best outing since July. His 8 Ks were his most since striking out 10 back on June 9th, and his 2 hits allowed equalled a season low (also accomplished in that June 9th performance). It was the third time this year he'd allowed as few as 3 base runners. Very nice start. Coonrod likely has one more start to make this year, so hopefully he goes out on a strong note.
Starting out on the first game of back to back nights of double headers, the last thing a team wants to do is go into an extra-inning marathon. But that's what they got in game 1, as a game that was intended to go 7 innings lasted 11, finally ending when Eury Sanchez surrendered a walk off HR. Sanchez didn't really deserve such a fate. He came into the game with great stuff, striking out the first four batters he faced. But worried about conserving the bullpen for this long week of games, Sanchez was stretched out to 3 innings and he couldn't quite get that 9th out (he has pitched 3 inning stints before this year). In the end Augusta came out of the DH pretty lightly, using just 3 pitchers in the 1st game and getting a complete game out of Pat Young in the second.
The bats have definitely gone dark in Augusta at this point. Richard Rodriguez had half the team's hits in the first game and one of three in the second. Rodriguez has spent the last four seasons in the DSL and spent this spring in XST before showing up on Salem-Keizer's opening roster. He was then assigned up to Augusta when Jeremy Sy retired and has lately taken over the leadoff spot in Johneshwy Fargas' absence and done a good deal of hitting in the role. The pattern recognition center of my brain is telling me that this is somewhat similar to Rando Moreno's 2013 season.
The second game of the DH didn't get started until 10:00 pm, and they made short work of it, with the two teams combining for just 8 baserunners. Augusta had three singles, no walks, and 9 Ks. One of the hits came from backup Catcher Jared Deacon, but his biggest contribution to the night came on defense where he had two PB both of which set up Savannah runs.
Now sitting 5.5 games back with just 8 to go, Elimination is sitting in the wings, waiting for its cue to enter the stage. Augusta has fallen to a season worst seven games below .500. Wasn't it just a week ago that I celebrated the entire system being at .500 or above? That lasted just a single day.
* * *
Salem-Keizer had their final scheduled off day of the season
They begin a huge home series vs. Eugene tonight
You can read a Homestand Preview here: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150831&content_id=146494758&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t578&sid=t578
* * *
AZL season has ended
* * *
DSL Giants beat the DSL Rangers1, 6-5
sweeping the Championship Series, 3-0
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
CF |
Juan Rodriguez |
4 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.385 |
|
SS |
Manuel Geraldo |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.320 |
|
RF |
Sandro Fabian |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.292 |
|
LF |
Beicker Mendoza |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.304 |
|
C |
Andres Angulo |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.133 |
|
2b |
Robert Antunez |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
.200 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Melvin Adon |
5.0 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.59 |
|
Raffi Vizcaino S, 1 |
4.0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3.00 |
The DSL Giants swept their way to victory, a convincing three games to none triumph in which they never even had to use their two best starting pitchers, Sandro Cabrera and Victor Concepcion who were ready to go in potential games 4 and 5.
The bats really had their contact shoes on in the finale. The Giants had just two PA in this game that didn't end with a ball in play, as the team had just 1 K and 1 HBP. Everything else was in the field and with DSL defenses that's often a good key to success! Every member of the Giants starting lineup had at least 1 hit. They tallied 13 in all, including 5 extra base hits.
The Giants had 7 HRs during their playoff run, and impressively, all seven of them were hit by 17 year olds, so the youngest contingent on the team really helped drive the victory (even though some of the bonus babies like Patino, Rivero, De Pena, and Francisco Medina were entirely MIA in the post-season). Sandro Fabian tied Beicker Medina in this game with his 3rd HR of the post-season, and once again it was an important hit, tying the game up at 3-3. When Juan Rodriguez got one of his four hits in the following inning, it would be Fabian who would bring him in with the go ahead run with a Sac Fly.
In the 8th Catcher Andres Angulo went deep for an insurance run and they added another when Rodriguez collected his fourth hit of the day, stole second, and came home on a Manuel Geraldo single. Both of those runs would prove necessary when Raffi Vizcaino, on his fourth inning of work and likely running on fumes by this point in the year, gave up a single and a HR to the first two batters he faced in the 9th. They left Raffi in to finish it though, and he made it to the finish line. Now Beicker and his fellow Venezuelans can all go back and see their homes again (Beicker mentioned in an article yesterday that he missed his home) before starting to get ready for 2016.
A lot of these guys I would think will be in the AZL complex next March and there are a few of them (Fabian, Mendoza, and Geraldo) who I could see being brought over for Instrux in the fall. We'll see what we hear on that front.
More proof that nice guys CAN & do finish 1st- congrats DSL Giants! Clean sweep championship! @giantsprospects pic.twitter.com/488QV9XEkF
— Carol Gaab (@CarolGaab) August 31, 2015
* * *
Fairly uninspiring slate of starting pitchers tonight: Tommy Hanson, Matt Lujan, Jason Forjet, Chris Johnson, Mark Reyes, and Michael Connolly. You see how I was being understated when I said "fairly uninspiring." That said, going up against an NL affiliate, Matt Lujan gets to hit and that's always exciting!
The next couple of days will go a long way towards determining whether we get to follow 3, 2, or 1 team in their league playoffs. Odds say 1 seems the most likely outcome, but we shall see what we see.
Congrats once again to the DSL championship Giants, who join the 2010 San Jose Giants, the 2013 AZL Giants, and of course the 2010, 2012, 2014 SF Giants with championships in this decade. (San Jose and Salem-Keizer both won 5 championships between 1998 and 2009).