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SF Giants Minor Lines, 8/5

We have reached Maximum Suarez! And Steven Duggar just keeps knocking out hits.

By Roger

The Free Ishi! movement heads to Albuquerque, where Travis continues his recent power tear.

HIGHLIGHTS: Steven Duggar extended his hitting streak to 17 games with his 4th consecutive multi-hit game; Andrew Suarez struck out 7 over 7 IP; Matt Winn hit two more HRs.

Sacramento won at Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies), 12-3 in Gm 1. 7 inn

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

SS

Kelby Tomlinson

3

1

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

.316

1b

Travis Ishikawa

5

1

1

4

0

0

1

0

0

.277

CF

Jarrett Parker

3

2

2

0

1

0

0

1

0

.280

3b

Grant Green

4

2

3

3

1

0

0

0

0

.296

2b

Ali Castillo

4

1

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

.312

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Ty Blach W 12-6

6.0

5

3

3

3

2

0

0

1

3.58

Cory Gearrin

1.0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0.00

Sacramento won at Albuquerque Isotopes, 3-2 in Gm 2. 7 inn

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

2b

Ali Castillo

4

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.320

LF

Austin Slater

3

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

.237

SS

Ruben Tejada

3

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.234

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Albert Suarez W 2-2

5.0

4

1

1

1

3

0

0

0

2.70

Matt Reynolds

1.0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.00

Jean Machi S 8

1.0

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

3.86

The RiverCats prevailed in starkly different manners to sweep this often rainy double header. They broke open the first game with a pair of big innings late, and in the second they played small ball to win a pitchers' duel.

Ty Blach wasn't as sharp as normal, walking three batters including back to back to open the 2nd inning, but he was good enough to win his 6th game in his past 7 starts, giving him the league lead in wins with 12. Blach's been on quite a roll lately, posting a 1.65 ERA since his June 27th start and even managing 36 Ks against just 5 BBs in 49 IP over that time. Let's enjoy watching him make Alex Castellanos take a silly swing.

After Austin Slater threw out a potential go ahead run at the plate to end the 4th inning, the RiverCats offense went on the attack. They put together a four-run rally in the 5th and then broke it completely open in the top of the 7th with a 5-run inning, most of which came on the 8th pitch of this Travis Ishikawa at bat:

Just to repeat what the Albuquerque announcer said there at the end, that's 5 HRs and 17 RBIs for Travis over five games. Have a week, Travis!

The second game featured Albert Suarez' return to the PCL (one of two Suarezes starting on the night!) and he was strong through five. Matt Reynolds and Jean Machi completed the win. For Reynolds, the game continued a great stretch of pitching. Reynolds, the former Rockie and D-back who the Giants picked up out of Indy ball, has yet to surrender a run in the Giants system at any of the three levels he's pitched in. That stretch covers just 11.1 IP and 14 games, but he made Bryce Harper look silly, which gets my attention. There could be a place for him in the Giants' future yet.

As noted, the second game was played through a fairly steady rainfall, and the offense was of the small ball variety for the most part. Here's Austin Slater contributing to the win, by grounding a single through the infield.

Final note: there's a great article here on long-time Giants' system member and first year manager of Sacramento, Jose Alguacil. Jose's been a part of the organization since the early 90s. I remember the first time I really heard mention of him (after his playing days were over) was in an interview with Brandon Crawford, crediting Alguacil for helping him grow defensively while in the minors. Now Alguacil is a rising managerial star for the organization. Defeinitely well worth reading:

* * *

Richmond won at Bowie BaySox (Orioles), 6-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Steven Duggar

5

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

2

.333

.392

.439

3b

Christian Arroyo

3

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

2

.280

.320

.383

SS

CJ Hinojosa

4

1

2

1

1

0

0

0

0

.283

.352

.398

RF

Hunter Cole

3

1

1

4

0

0

1

0

0

.268

.322

.431

1b

Ryder Jones

4

1

1

1

0

0

1

0

0

.239

.280

.379

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Andrew Suarez W 5-6

7.0

4

2

2

2

7

2

0

0

4.39

Ray Black

0.2

1

0

0

2

1

0

0

0

4.88

Chase Johnson S, 5

0.1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3.33

Suarez number 2! The 2nd round pick from last year's draft continued his strong second half with another 7 inning effort. Suarez has gone 7 or more innings in four of his last six starts (and 6 IP in the other two). Since the beginning of July,  Suarez has knocked more than 2 runs off his ERA. He's allowed two or fewer runs in each of his past five starts, for a total of just 7 Runs over 33.2 IP in those games. And at the same time, he's kicked his peripherals back up in a positive direction with 38 Ks, 7 BBs over his last 40.2 IP. He has been a bit susceptible to the long ball, as this game was the second time in his last three starts in which he's allowed two HRs, but both times, fortunately, they were solo shots and accounted for the only runs scored against him. He's allowed 9 HRs overall since his promotion to the EL, and indication perhaps, that he has to be fine with his command and sequencing to have success at this level.

If Suarez is on a nice run, Steven Duggar is out of his gourd, hair-on-fire hot. For the fourth consecutive day, and 9th time in his last 12 games, Duggar had two hits.  His hitting streak is now up to 17 games. Not quite on a par with Francisco Mejia, the Indians Catching prospect who has put together one of the greatest hitting streak of the post-WWII era (now up to 47 games), still Duggar's transition to AA has been impressive. If you wanted to make a complaint about his recent stretch, you might note that his power has gone almost completely missing as he's had just 7 XBH over those 17 games and none at all in the last 5. Still, that's picking knits in what's been a remarkable first full season for 2015 6th rounder out of Clemson. I say 17 games, actually that's inaccurate. He has a 17 game hitting streak, but that streak stretches back over 18 games.  He had one game in this stretch where he appeared as a PH and walked in his only PA, by rule preserving the streak for the next day. That's one of 8 walks he's had during his streak pushing his EL OBP up near .400. Across his two levels this year he's hitting .301/.388/.455.

* * *

San Jose beat the Stockton Ports (A's), 6-3

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

SS

Rando Moreno

5

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

.251*

.287*

.439*

LF

Robbie Garvey

4

2

2

1

0

0

0

0

1

.261

.327

.353

1b

Jonah Arenado

3

1

2

3

2

0

0

0

0

.266

.301

.433

* over three levels

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Dan Slania W 1-0

7.0

6

2

2

4

5

1

0

0

2.57

The fallout from Monday's trades landed on Dan Slania yesterday, as his rise through the system took a left turn back to SJ. With Albert Suarez returning to the Sacramento RiverCats rotation, they had enough starters to cover their immediate needs, while SJ was left with an immediate hole that needed to be filled and nobody to fill it with. Slania was sent back down to cover Bickford's start and it remains to be seen where he ends up for the final month of the season. San Jose is also receiving Cory Taylor, promoted up from Augusta for the end of the year (which leaves the Greenjackets short an important starter for their stretch run).

Slania was going up against another pitcher on the move due to trades, the A's newest ace prospect Grant Holmes who was acquired from the Dodgers in the deal for JJ Reddick and Rich Hill. Holmes, the Dodgers 1st round pick out of HS in 2014, was worked over pretty well by the Giants bat, particularly by Jonah Arenado who continues to pile up doubles. Arenado is now second in the Cal League with 32 doubles and he's also 7th in the league in Total bases. I would guess that most of his doubles this year have been more impressive than the one MiLBTV chose to clip out for today's highlight, but, hey, I'm not passing up a free highlight!

Arenado's been hot pretty much ever since his teammates' got the push up to AA, and his tear has finally gotten his OBP up over .300 as well as giving a push to his SLG.

San Jose's been an extremely streaky team this year but they're still in a position to make the playoffs (which, to be frank, takes a healthy proportion of the league's teams so most everybody should be in a position to make them) with a good month of August.

And finally, for those who wonder where Miguel Gomez has been in the Minor Lines lately,

* * *

Augusta lost at Asheville Tourists (Rockies), 7-6

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

2b

Jalen Miller

4

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

2

.222

.260

.302

DH

Skyler Ewing

3

2

2

1

0

0

0

2

1

.242

.319

.389

C

Matt Winn

5

2

3

5

0

0

2

0

1

.236

.329

.430

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Grant Watson L 3-6

5.0

7

5

5

1

5

0

0

1

4.61

Connor Kaden

2.0

0

0

0

1

2

0

0

0

3.97

Cesar Yanez

1.0

1

2

0

0

1

0

0

0

5.40

Matt gave himself his own present for his 24th birthday: more HRs! Winn homered for the third consecutive game with a 3-run shot in the 3rd, and just to make it extra special he added a 2-run job in the 9th, that put the Greenjackets just barely shy of a stirring comeback in a game they once trailed 5-0.

For a team that just lost it's best remaining starter --

Augusta can't have been pleased to see Grant Watson's effort last night. Watson was tremendous early on in 2016, but he went on a lengthy DL stint in late May and hasn't been particularly effective since returning. He was blown up early in this one, surrendering a five-run inning in the 2nd, though he did stabilize and give the team three scoreless innings after that, allowing a comeback. Still, with yet another hole to fill in the rotation now, Augusta's going to need solid efforts from the starters they have remaining, including Watson, if they're to hang on to 1st place (currently 3 games up).

In the end, two fielding errors in the bottom of the 8th inning (from Junior Arias and Richard Amion, both playing out of position on this short-handed team) let in what proved to be the winning runs in the game.

* * *

Salem-Keizer lost to Spokane Indians (Rangers), 13-6

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

SS

Manuel Geraldo

3

0

1

1

1

0

0

1

1

.268

.304

.339

CF

Bryan Reynolds

4

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

0

.318

.392

.533

SS

Ryan Howard

3

2

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

.261

.299

.336

2b

Kevin Rivera

4

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

2

.299

.350

.401

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Garrett Williams

3.0

2

0

0

4

2

0

0

0

3.18

Rayan Hernandez L 0-2

2.0

1

2

0

1

0

0

1

0

1.38

Kendra Melo

0.1

3

3

3

1

0

0

0

0

4.63

Nolan Riggs

1.2

2

3

0

0

1

1

1

0

9.00

Matt Pope

1.0

6

5

4

0

1

0

0

0

8.35

Hard throwing lefty Garrett Williams was #EffectivelyWild through three innings, walking four more batters but avoiding ill-timed hits or runs. The walks aren't surprising, but it is a little perplexing as to why his stuff isn't missing more bats early on. Williams has 8 Ks and 9 BBs in his young career over 12.2 IP.

If Williams went to the locker room following his stint and then returned later on, he might have been surprised to see what became of this game, which was a tidy little 1-0 pitchers duel going into the 5th. Even as late as the 7th, it was a reasonable enough game for the Volcanoes social media team to post this:

They made stuff happen alright. The combination of three errors (from Geraldo and Rivera) and a billionty hits given up by five relievers turned this game into a mess in the late innings.

But some good things took place amongst the nonsense. Bryan Reynolds hit his 4th HR of the year -- two LHH and 2 RHH if you're counting. Heath Quinn had a hit (a triple) to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. And in the 9th inning, a landmark occasion: 2b Kevin Rivera hit the first HR of his pro career in his 452nd PA. The 20 year old out of Puerto Rico is having the best season of his career and potentially a breakout year.

* * *

AZL Giants beat the AZL Mariners, 4-3

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

RF

Sandro Fabian

4

1

2

0

0

1

0

0

1

.318

.354

.523

DH

Nick Hill

4

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.298

.378

.385

1b

Robinson Medrano

2

1

1

0

1

0

0

2

0

.222

.320

.365

SS

Hector Santiago

3

1

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

.176

.194

.176

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Stephen Woods

4.2

3

1

0

1

5

0

0

0

2.01

Reagan Bazar W 1-1

1.0

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

6.10

Jake Greenwald

0.2

1

1

0

2

2

0

0

0

4.50

Sandro Cabrera S 1

1.1

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

2.73

Sandro Fabian doesn't have many tools that catch the scouts eyes (except his arm) but he was putting them all on display yesterday. Fabian picked up two more hits, including his 5th triple of the year (though one of them isn't in the stat line), he picked up another OFA, doubling a runner off of 1b on a lineout. And he even stole his 1st base of the year. The only thing he did wrong in the game was get thrown out at home trying to score on Nick Hill's fly ball out. Fabian's 20 K to 4 BB (in 93 PAs) suggests an approach that can be improved on, but he's producing a lot of hard contact when he puts the barrel on the ball. That .200+ Iso from an 18 year old isn't at all shabby. My impression seeing him take BP in Spring Training was that he should pick up more power as he matures physically, as he's still far from his adult strength at this point.

Stephen Woods, another hard throwing wild man the Giants drafted this year (out of SUNY-Albany) had a career best 5 Ks in yesterday's start and matched them with just 1 BB in what was also his longest outing of the year. The 21 year old has produced 21 Ks, 16 BBs, and a .193 batting average against in 22.1 IP.

* * *

DSL Giants lost to DSL Cubs2, 6-1

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

LF

Ismael Munguia

4

1

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

.282

.360

.385

RF

Diego Rincones

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

.270

.356

.388

C

Ricardo Genoves

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.280

.362

.354

CF

Jose Patino

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

.298

.355

.345

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Orleny Quiroz L 2-3

4.0

6

3

2

0

4

0

0

2

2.45

Weill Yan

2.0

2

3

3

3

2

0

0

0

1.65

The DSL team picked up just three hits in this lifeless loss (reminds me of something I've seen elsewhere somewhere, oh like, I don't know NATS STADIUM LAST NIGHT MAYBE). Oops, sorry about that. Not sure how that slipped out. Here, let's just watch Ismael Munguia hit again.

* * *

Another big slate of games tonight, as all seven teams are back in action and Richmond's playing two. And yet, forgive me for saying, this is as uninspiring a schedule of pitchers as we've had all year, with Jake McCasland and Melvin Adon highlighting the list.

Today's Matchups:
Sacramento: TBD vs. Christian Bergman
Richmond: Matthew Gage vs. Jayson Aquino, Christian Jones vs. Jason Garcia
San Jose: Jose Morel vs. TBD
Augusta: Jake McCasland vs. Jesus Tinoco
SK: Melvin Adon vs. CD Pelham

Have fun at the ballyard everyone. I'm going to go watch Matt Cain pick up a win, just like I did back in Hagerstown in 2003. So let it be written, so let it be done!

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