SF Giants Minor Lines, 5/22

I had a whole bit worked up about my mock outrage that Brute got to cover Richmond finally breaking their losing streak and then I came back to yet another loss, and then all of a sudden the Squirrels scored 4 runs in their final at bat to win! Take THAT, rough draft!

Discussion topic: does the development of Austin Slater and/or CJ Hinojosa affect how you might feel about the use of Christian Arroyo as a trade chip come July?

HIGHLIGHTS: Chris Shaw hit 2 HRs; Jalen Miller had 4 hits and SB

Sacramento won at Nashville Sounds (A's), 3-2
losing their four game series, 1-3

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
SS	Ramiro Pena	3	2	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	.333	.392	.473
RF	Jarrett Parker	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.278	.356	.617
LF	Mac Williamson	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.295	.333	.524

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Chris Stratton W 5-4	6.0	5	2	1	3	4	0	0	1	6.02
Mike Broadway, S 1	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.15

It's beautiful 66 degrees in Nashville ☀️ Photo creds to @JDoskow pic.twitter.com/d2wMWz8jSi

— River Cats (@RiverCats) May 22, 2016

Sacramento salvaged the final game of their four-game set thanks to a strong outing from Chris Stratton and three relievers. The RiverCats managed just 8 baserunners on the day, six of which were provided by the trio of Pena, Parker, and Williamson who accounted for all the runs between them.

Ramiro Pena opened the scoring in the top of the 1st with his 3rd HR of the year. Stratton pitched through traffic most of the game but he held that lead until the bottom of the 4th, when he loaded the bases with one out. An RBI groundout tied the score and then an errant George Kottaras throw back to the mound allowed the lead run to come in. But in the 6th, Sacramento got great At Bats from the middle of their order. Parker singled in Pena to tie the score, and then Williamson engaged in a terrific 8-pitch at bat against Sean Doolittle's brother that ended with this

The group of Vin Mazzaro, Braulio Lara, and Mike Broadway then managed to pitch 3 shutout innings to avoid the four-game sweep. Sacramento returns home tonight four an eight-game homestand and joining them should be Catcher Andrew Susac.

By the way, following on Brute's Roundup discussion yesterday, it's worth mentioning that the Nashville Sounds have quite possibly the most perfect name in all the minor leagues.

* * *

Richmond beat the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers), 6-5
winning their three game series, 2-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
CF	Austin Slater	4	2	3	1	0	1	0	0	1	.313	.403	.461
RF	Hunter Cole	3	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	.252	.319	.364
3b	Ryder Jones	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.248	.278	.393

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Tyler Beede	7.0	8	4	3	1	3	0	0	0	3.68
Jake Smith	1.0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	5.93
Tyler Rogers, S 1	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

The offense! It's alive! The Squirrels scored 2 or fewer runs in 10 of their previous 14 games; but they've now scored six or more runs in three of their last four. A day after a 9-0 smackdown of the SeaWolves, Richmond looked as though they'd gone back to sleep for the first 7 innings of yesterday's game. But down 4-0 in the bottom of the 7th, Hunter Cole struck a blow to get them back into things.

Cole had finally hit his 1st HR of the year on Saturday night and he liked it so much he hit his second yesterday. Cole has been ice cold for the first 5-6 weeks of the season but maybe his bat is starting to wake up.

Then in the 8th came a shocking 4-run rally, keyed by Rando Moreno's two-run double and then the Austin Slater triple seen at the top. Jake Smith had troubles nailing down the save, but Tyler Rogers, who still has a perfect ERA 20 innings into his season, bailed him out.

Tyler Beede started the game and looked, in the early going, like he might have been having some trouble getting a grip on the ball in the chilly, damp morning (which seems to be the only kind we're having out here this month). He walked the opening batter of the day and in the early innings he gave up several hits on breaking balls that he didn't get to break. But after working out of a difficult bases-loaded situation in the 3rd (in which his error on a play at 1b played a major role), he sailed through his final four innings of work allowing only one more base runner. He ended up retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced, mostly on pop ups and lazy fly balls.

Another guy who's waking up a bit in the lineup is Ryder Jones. He went 0 for 3 in this game, but in his first AB following the previous-day's two homer explosion, he crushed a ball halfway over the parking lot and way way over the top of the foul pole that was ruled to have gone just foul. An impressive monumental blast nonetheless, following on the two balls that he absolutely obliterated Saturday night. That raw power is starting to show up in games, which is nice to see.

Let's end things by watching the 2nd of his two home runs from Saturday, both of which were mighty impressive:

Richmond heads out on the road now with an 8 game trip through Binghamton and these same Erie SeaWolves. Those are two of the worst teams in the league, so it's a good opportunity to try to keep things rolling in a positive direction.

* * *

San Jose won at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers), 6-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
RF	Steven Duggar	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.296	.409	.528
DH-C	Andrew Susac	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.364	.417	.455
1b	Chris Shaw	4	2	2	4	0	0	2	0	0	.309	.374	.592
SS	CJ Hinojosa	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.348	.434	.482

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Jason Forjet W 5-2	6.0	4	1	1	2	3	0	0	0	3.96
Reyes Moronta	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2.84

Chris Shaw, no doubt excited by Boston College's improbable charge into the ACC Tournament, hit two HRs in his first two PA of the day to lead SJ over Rancho Cucamonga. Both of the HRs came off the Dodgers' $30mm man Yaisel Sierra.

Shaw's first HR was actually unusual for the big slugger, as he raced around the bases for an inside-the-park-HR. I'm going to guess the big guy doesn't collect too many of those in his career. The 2nd was more Shaw-like as he blasted a 3-run HR over the batter's eye in straight away CF. Shaw is now tied for 3rd in the Cal League in HRs, and is also 3rd in SLG and 5th in ISO (.247).

Here's a couple Chris Shaw at-bats from the weekend. The power's legit and he can get to a bunch of it https://t.co/f9BZVGH8Tr #Giants

— Wilson Karaman (@vocaljavelins) May 23, 2016

In other news, CJ Hinojosa reached base twice in four PA. Ho hum. Steven Duggar also continued to get on base, as he now has an OBP over .400 as well and an OPS over .900. Duggar's had a blistering May, hitting .324/.437/.535 this month.

Both Duggar and Shaw have extremely positive write ups in today's BP Monday Ten Pack (subscribers only) which also features an appearance from old friend Keury Mella. Duggar's is tremendously enthusiastic, beginning with: "This kid can play."

San Jose, which has now won 5 of it's last 6 games and is 5-3 on the road trip, finishes up with the Quakes today and then makes a return journey into the Heart of Darkness: Visalia's Recreation Park.

You can hear Ronnie Jebavy's thoughts on the state of the offense and team's recent winning ways as he joined Joe Ritzo on the pregame show this weekend:

* * *

Augusta won at Rome Braves, 7-4
winning their four game series, 3-1

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
2b	Jalen Miller	5	3	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	.278	.301	.396
CF	Seth Harrison	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	.250	.333	.364
DH	Dylan Davis	5	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	.295	.392	.507
LF	Gustavo Cabrera	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222	.300	.289
RF	Jean Angomas	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.197	.258	.262

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA
Michael Santos W 3-2	7.0	10	4	4	0	3	0	0	0	3.33
Connor Kaden S 2	2.0	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	5.22

Facing rehabbing major leaguer Manny Banuelos, Jalen Miller grounded a double down the line to lead off the game. And then Miller just kept on hitting, ending up with the first four-hit day of his young career. Miller's another player having a hot May, as his recent streak has him up to .343/.365/.522 for the month. Just because he was feeling chippy, Jalen also stole his 2nd base of the year.

The efforts of Miller, Harrison, and Davis at the top of the order helped Augusta jump out to a 5-0 lead by the top of the 2nd, and they cruised to the victory. Davis has cooled off some in May, but he had four hits over the last two games, including his 5th HR of the year on Saturday night, an opposite field blast that showed off his true strength.

For the third straight game, Michael Santos worked into the 8th inning. The peripherals aren't particularly impressive for the tall young right-hander, but he's showing an ability to absorb innings, and aptitude for pitching, and scouts still love his projectibility and fluid arm action. This year's been a nice step forward for him so far.

* * *

So, if you're reading carefully you'll have noticed that that was a perfect 4-0 day for the system, 5-0 for the org counting the Giants win. All wins and some impressive hitting performances?

Now Slater triples and Moreno scores! Squirrels take the lead. 5-4. pic.twitter.com/y66SAkK6zr

— Squirrels Baseball (@GoSquirrels) May 22, 2016

(I know, cheesy.. but fun!)

Lastly, and not at all related to Minor Lines, one of the real heroes of my childhood was the sometimes overlooked slugger on the great 60s Giants, Jim Ray Hart. Hart didn't have a long peak (beset by injuries), but while he was in it he was a wonder to see at the plate, unleashing ferocious line drives. I have an abiding memory of a game when Hart lined a double off the old fence at Candlestick so hard, that LF wall was still undulating well into the next at bat. And if you'd like to see a pretty good day at the plate, have a look at this boxscore from 1970.  Not only did Hart hit for the cycle that day in Atlanta, he had a 6-RBI inning in that game as well, with a three-run triple and a three-run HR. Good night Mr. Ray, Rest in Peace.