SF Giants Minor Lines 5/13

Friday the 13th edition! Which means I can still use this video clip that I missed from Thursday night.

HIGHLIGHTS: Chase Johnson threw 7 one-run innings; Jonah Arenado doubled and HRd.

Sacramento beat the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks), 7-3
losing their four game series, 1-3

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OPS
CF	Gorkys Hernandez	4	1	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	.265	.700
LF	Mac Williamson	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	.307	.904
3b	Grant Green	4	1	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	.298	.815
PH	Mitch Delfino	1	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	.271	.735
P	Steven Okert	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000	3.000

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Matt Lujan	4.0	3	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	4.19
Steven Okert W 2-0	1.0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4.35
George Kotos	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.45
Mike Broadway	1.0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	4.35

Reliever Steven Okert got himself a Pitcher Win the old fashioned way: he eaaaaaaaarned it! (that's a 70s cultural reference that only the old timers will get bee tee dubs). And how did he earn it, you ask? With this amazing, 2-out, 7-pitch at bat!

Do we love relief pitchers hitting? Yes we do! It looked to me like the Catcher had to tell Okert where he was supposed to stand. Like, dude, the pitcher's over there, look that way. Regardless, Okert is now sitting on a cool 3.000 OPS for his career. Sustainable!

Okert's double was followed by Gorkys Hernandez' 2nd HR of the year to break open a scoreless game. And in the very next inning, the RiverCats got even more production out of the 9-hole, when PH Mitch Delfino turned it into a rout. Here, enjoy this video highlight of the moment that almost literally includes none of the pertinent visual information.

With Clayton Blackburn called up (yay Clayton!), Matt Lujan was brought off the DL to make the start. Lujan had missed two weeks with a torn patella tendon, but he came back to throw a highly efficient 4 innings and then hand things over to the bullpen. George Kontos made his fourth appearance with Sacramento and should be coming back to SF soon.

Alright, Sacramento wins on Orange Friday, breaking their six game losing streak. Let's celebrate!

I'll miss this view from @CapYards when I move across town next month. #westsacbestsac @RiverCats #ClawsUp pic.twitter.com/679jKcnWvU

— Alex Hirsch (@Alex_Hirsch) May 14, 2016

* * *

Richmond lost to Altoona Curve (Pirates), 5-2

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OPS
SS	Christian Arroyo	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.254	.643
CF	Austin Slater	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.271	.791
3b	Ryder Jones	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	.248	.616
RF	Hunter Cole	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.246	.613

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Chase Johnson	7.0	8	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	4.50
Dan Slania	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3.93
Ray Black BS 1 L 0-3	0.2	2	4	4	3	0	0	0	0	6.57
Tyler Mizenko	0.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.38

Squirrels nightmare continues on Friday the 13th as they lose to Altoona. We're back tomorrow for a 6:05 start! pic.twitter.com/8fApDuChJc

— Squirrels Baseball (@GoSquirrels) May 14, 2016

Excellent Friday the 13th/nightmare reference, Richmond social media folks! At least the interns are performing well.

Oh, Ray Black, what did you do? Richmond, too, had an opportunity to break a long losing streak -- 7 games in their case. They took a 2-1 lead to the 9th and placed it in the hands of Black, and he did not treat it with all the care and tenderness a tender blossoming flower needs. Instead, Black was maybe as hittable as he's ever been as a pro. He gave up two doubles almost immediately, including this game-tying shot from Reese McGuire (SOME pertinent visual information included here)

When Black picked McGuire off 2nd, he seemed on the verge of escaping the situation with at least the tie intact. But then with two outs and none on, he proceeded to walk the bases loaded. Tyler Mizenko came on to try to get the final out and instead he allowed all of his inherited runners to score, allowing hits to the first two batters he faced.

The disastrous 9th wiped out a terrific start from Chase Johnson, who went a strong 7 innings. It was his best start of the year from a runs prevention point of view, though it was also the lowest strikeout game of his career since June of 2014 in Augusta.  Chase has just 3 Ks in has last two starts, covering 12 innings, and just 18 Ks for the year in 30 IP, by far a career low K%. I wonder if the Giants have him working on something to improve his command? For such a hard thrower, the 18/10 K/BB ratio is confusing and slightly disconcerting.

So, we are 13 days into the month of May.  Richmond has lost 9 games this month and been rained out 4 times. You could say things are going badly for them.

* * *

San Jose lost to Modesto Nuts (Rockies), 5-2

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OPS
SS	CJ Hinojosa	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.360	.949
1b	Chris Shaw	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.319	.951
DH	Jonah Arenado	4	2	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	.250	.682

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
DJ Snelten L 1-3	7.0	9	3	3	3	4	0	0	0	3.63
Jose Morel	1.0	3	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	4.22

Packed house at Muni tonight. #sjgiants pic.twitter.com/VOrWrWpFbL

— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) May 14, 2016

The Giants are currently working on a 7 game winning streak on the road, but have now lost two straight games at home. After tomorrow they won't be at home again until the 29th, so if they want to just keep that road streak up and figure things out at home later that's probably just fine.

LHP Sam Howard, the #25 prospect in the Rockies system, completely throttled the Giants hitters, striking out 10 over 7 two-run innings.  The Giants managed just four hits in the game, with two of them coming from the suddenly hot bat of Jonah Arenado, who doubled and homered and scored both the team's runs.

CJ Hinojosa suffered just his second game of the year in which he failed to reach base (though second of the week as well). It was just the fifth game this year in which he's failed to record a hit and he also suffered a fairly abnormal multi-K night! What's with that CJ? His K/BB rate for the year is still a lovely 18/19 though. Turn the page, CJ, and get back at it tomorrow.

Chris Shaw's hitting has cooled down a bit this week, but it's worth noting the Giants have been working a lot with the former OF on the defensive side of his game as well this year. And Shane Turner recently noted that they had a talk with him last fall about conditioning and was very happy to see the shape he came to camp with this spring. You have to figure they must be happy to see defensive efforts like this one out of him then:

* * *

Augusta lost to Greenville Drive (Red Sox), 7-2

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OPS
SS	Lucius Fox	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.220	.621
2b	Jalen Miller	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.237	.602
RF	Dylan Davis	4	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.298	.926
3b	Kelvin Beltre	4	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.213	.637

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Grant Watson L 2-2	6.0	6	3	3	2	6	0	0	0	2.45
Tyler Cyr	2.0	3	2	2	1	4	0	0	0	3.33
Caleb Smith	0.1	2	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	5.59

Great night to be at the ballpark! @GreenvilleDrive at @GreenJackets pic.twitter.com/mv8pvCsZVr

— Andrew Festa (@AndrewRFesta) May 13, 2016

The Greenjackets have really struggled to figure out the Greenville Drive this year, losing their first 5 games of the year against the Drive. Bring back the Rome Braves! We were doing great against them. This was a taut 3-2 game until the 8th inning, but Drive 1b Josh Ockimey, who has just killed Augusta this year (Red Sox #23 prospect with a bullet), keyed 2-run rallies in both the 8th and 9th innings against Tyler Cyr and Caleb Smith. His double was in the middle of the rally against Cyr, who otherwise had another solid outing, and his run-scoring single ended the night for Caleb Smith, who was much less solid.

The Greenjackets offense scattered just six hits through the game, along with two walks. Kelvin Beltre's double was their only XBH (Beltre also committed his 6th error, part of the rally against Cyr). Their only runs came on back to back bunt singles from Ashford Fullmer and Lucius Fox, a sac bunt from Jalen Miller and a two-out single from Dylan Davis.

All of which ruined another nice effort from Grant Watson, who is handling the Sally well, as one would have imagined he would. His ability to command his curveball is a huge weapon in this league and it shows up in his excellent 27/6 K/BB rate in 29.1 IP.

Possibly it's a good thing there's no video in Augusta, because tonight... oh good lord! Vom Himmels willen? What in the world is that? Brute, this is all yours:

Tonight's the night, Pink in the Park!Special pink jersey auction and drawstring bag giveaway to the first 1,500! pic.twitter.com/IYSwleYhbM

— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) May 14, 2016

* * *

Enjoy your weekend everybody. It should be a beautiful night at the park. Jordan Johnson and Cory Taylor try to keep building on their excellent seasons and Chris Heston hopes to pick up where he left off in his last start.

Pitching Matchups:
Sacramento: Chris Heston vs. Arturo Reyes (Cards #22 prospect)
Richmond: Matt Gage vs. David Whitehead
San Jose: Jordan Johnson vs. Carlos Polanco
Augusta: Cory Taylor vs. Daniel Gonzalez