SF Giants Minor Lines 4/8

It was 3-2 count with 2 outs in the 5th and Phil Bickford was throwing a perfect game. A really good perfect game! Likely 5 innings was his limit anyway so he was a pitch away from about as great a full-season debut as one could fantasize. A few things happened after that 3-2 count, but the important thing is the "about as great as one could fantasize" part.

HIGHLIGHT: Phil Bickford K'd 10 of the first 14 batters he faced. Christian Arroyo reached base 5x. Adalberto Mejia allowed just 2 hits in 5 IP w 7 Ks.

* * *

Sacramento lost at Salt Lake City Bees (Angels), 6-4

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	OBP	Other
C	Andrew Susac	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	.375
LF	Mac Williamson	4	1	2	2	1	0	1	0	1	.250	OF Assist
3b	Grant Green	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.375	SB  (1)
2b	Ramiro Pena	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	.500	CS
SS	Hak-Ju Lee	4	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	.429	CS

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Clayton Blackburn, L 0-1	5.0	8	5	2	1	5	0	0	0	3.60	80	55
Steven Okert	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	9.00	18	11
Derek Law	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	8	6
Mike Broadway	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0.00	13	9

Clayton Blackburn made throwing errors on back to back bunt attempts in the 5th inning, losing a 3-2 lead in the process and helping send the RiverCats to their second consecutive loss to open the season.  On the whole, Blackburn allowed 9 baserunners over his 5 IP, and was touched for 5 runs, 2 earned. Derek Law got his AAA debut over with fast, as he needed just 8 pitches to get through the 8th inning. And Mike Broadway resumed his domination of AAA hitters, K'ing two of the three he faced.

After a sleepy opening game, the offense came alive in this one, collecting 12 baserunners on 11 hits, including 4 XBH. Most of that damage was done in the first four innings, including the 3 run 4th that temporarily gave them a lead. The leader was Mac Williamson who collected his first two hits of the season, both XBH to the opposite field. The second of those was the team's first HR of the year, which tied the game at 2-2. Mac also chipped in with an OF assist (just a SB shy of the Toolsy Triple!)

The RiverCats will send Chris Stratton to the mound today to try to get their first win of the year.

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Richmond lost "at" Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies), 8-3

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	OBP	Other
SS	Christian Arroyo	4	1	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.667	2 E (2)
1b	Ricky Oropesa	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333
RF	Hunter Cole	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
3b	Ryder Jones	5	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	.444	E (3)
2b	Rando Moreno	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Adalberto Mejia	5.0	2	1	1	1	7	1	0	0	1.80	75	48
Christian Jones	1.0	5	6	6	1	0	0	0	2	45.00	44	24

Adalberto Mejia had a very strong season debut, holding the terrific Hartford offense to just two hits over 5 IP.  His only mistake came to 2012 10th overall pick David Dahl, who touched him up for a solo HR to tie the game 1-1 (you can see that here, if you're so inclined). Mejia came out of the gates strong. Following a game opening walk, he struck out the next four hitters he faced, all swinging.

However, for the second day in a row, the Squirrels wasted an outstanding effort from their starting pitching thanks to poor relief work and some sloppy defense.  A tense 1-1 game after 5 innings quickly turned to a blow out as Christian Jones had a rough introduction to AA, surrendering 6 runs in just 1+ inning of work. Tyler Rogers failed to help Jones any, allowing all three of his inherited runners to score. The Squirrels also made 4 more errors in the game.

On offense, Richmond knocked out 13 hits with 2 walks, although they had no XBH. Christian Arroyo led the attack, reaching base in all 5 PA, including 4 hits. In a statistical oddity, Richmond got mulit-hit efforts from every member of their starting infield, who cumulatively accounted for 10 of the team's 15 baserunners.

This was the fourth 4-hit game for Arroyo in his pro career, and MiLB ran a feature article on him in the game recap

Arroyo collects four hits for Flying Squirrels: Giants top prospect Christian Arroyo collected four hits for t... https://t.co/0cUjd0Z8i2

— Chris Clair (@KingBearSports) April 9, 2016

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San Jose's game vs. Lancaster Jet Hawks (Astros), was suspended after 4 innings
Lancaster leading, 4-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	OBP	Other
DH	Jose Vizcaino, Jr.	2	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.500
C	Aramis Garcia	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.500	SB (1)

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Sam Coonrod	4.0	6	4	2	1	7	0	0	0	4.50	65	44

Rain delay here at Municipal Stadium with the JetHawks leading the Giants 4-1 in the top of the fifth pic.twitter.com/8TUtITbRsq

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) April 9, 2016

Rain suspended SJ's game with Lancaster last night. Play will resume on this game before Sunday's regularly scheduled series ender, with Lancaster leading 4-1 going to the top of the 5th.

Sam Coonrod's start mixed the good with the bad. He surrendered 5 hits and a walk in the first two innings, when all four runs scored. That included back to back XBH in the top of the 1st right out of the shoot. However, he also showed off his swing and miss stuff, K'ing 7 over his 4 innings of work. The two run second featured two elements of sloppy play that have shown up repeatedly in the system in the first two days of the system (and generally speaking in the minors in general): a botched run down, and a pitcher error on a throw to 1b.

On offense, SJ managed just one hit over the first four innings, though it was a big one as Jose Vizcaino, Jr. blasted his 1st HR of the season to put the team on the board.

Here are the deets on the rest of the series:

Rain, rain go away, please come back next Thursday ☔ For up to date ticket info visit https://t.co/tK04GkB7cw pic.twitter.com/q2GQi5HcIQ

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) April 9, 2016

* * *

Augusta lost at Rome Braves, 6-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	OBP	Other
SS	Manuel Geraldo	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.125	E
2b	Jalen Miller	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.375
1b	Dillon Dobson	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.250
LF	Dylan Davis	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	.250
DH	Kelvin Beltre	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	.375

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Phil Bickford, L 0-1	4.2	1	3	3	1	10	0	1	0	5.79	76	50

Phil Bickford was appointment MiLBTV last night, as he stormed out of the gates in his full season debut. Through the first 9 batters he faced, the only contact he allowed came on two infield pop ups. The other seven all struck out, as the explosive movement on Bickford's fastball just overwhelmed the A ball hitters. As I noted in the intro, Bickford was likely a pitch away from a perfect debut, but he hit Lucas Herbert with his 3-2 pitch with two outs in the 5th, and moved to the stretch for the first time in the game, he hiccuped making the adjustment, allowing a walk to the next hitter and, finally, a double to the final batter he faced.

Chris Blessing of Baseball IQ was at the game and noted some fatigue set in in the 5th (Blessing by the way, has a You Tube channel, so we can quite likely look forward to some video footage from Bickford's performance coming soon).

#Giants Phil Bickford out after 4 2/3rds. Tired. Lost 3 to 4 MPHs off of FB in 5th. FB, CRV dominated Rome through 4 2/3rds. 2 earned so far

— Chris Blessing (@C_Blessing) April 9, 2016

But the full effort was a dazzler. This was a full-on Buzz Starter of a debut, and anticipation for Bickford's future efforts will no doubt rachet up after this. Let's take an extended watch, as Bickford strikes out the side in the 2nd inning.

My less than expert analysis says that that was just a whole mess o' blowing high cheese past guys over and over again, until he got bored of that and broke out the dandy breaking ball in the end. Tremendous opening act,  Phil!

The young Greenjackets offense is, perhaps not surprisingly, struggling coming out of the gate. They managed just five hits in this game, with the two biggest of them coming in the 1st inning as Dillon Dobson hit the team's 1st HR of the season, a long high drive to RF (perhaps with some benefit from the wind blowing out that way on the night), and Dylan Davis followed with a triple (his second XBH in two games).  Kelvin Beltre reached base three times in the game with two walks and a single. Beltre was the only Greenjacket to reach base more than once.

Final note, again from Chris Blessing, is some good news concerning Lucius Fox, who did not appear in this game:

#Giants prospect Lucius Fox not in lineup. Termed minor injury from source. Full participant during BP. Worked out with trainer.

— Chris Blessing (@C_Blessing) April 8, 2016

* * *

Five games today as Richmond plays a DH. Mixing in a victory or two wouldn't be a terrible idea, guys! Chris Stratton tries to get Sacramento their first victory. In Richmond, Joan Gregorio goes in the early start, while the nightcap features a fantastic pitching matchup between Chase Johnson and Colorado's Antonio Senzatela. Ironically, Senzatela ended up leading the CAL in ERA last year thanks to Chase Johnson falling just an inning short of qualifying for the title.

DJ Snelten takes the hill for SJ, and in Rome there's another terrific matchup with Logan Webb going up against the Braves' Max Fried (former 7th overall pick for San Diego later traded in the Justin Upton deal).

At least three of today's games are broadcast on MiLBtv, and all of our videos come courtesy of the good folks at MiLBtv as well, a terrific bargain at just about $10 a month. I'd definitely recommend subscribing if you like minor league baseball.