SF Giants Minor Lines, 8/8

From Baseball's Rules of Cruelty (excerpt):

Live by the glove

Die by the glove:

HIGHLIGHTS: Michael Connolly threw 7 more shutout innings with 1 hit, 7 Ks

Sacramento lost at Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 4-0

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
Chris Denorfia	RF	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.274	.333	.389

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Joan Gregorio (L, 3-7)	5.2	4	2	2	2	5	0	5.70
Steven Okert	1.0	2	2	2	1	0	0	4.54
Jake Dunning	1.1	2	0	0	0	1	0	4.53

With just four singles and a walk the Sacramento offense could hardly have made any less noise going down than this (fewer hits than Brandon Crawford!). Chris Denorfia was the clear offensive star of the game. Not only did he have two singles, he once made it as far as 2b (one of two RiverCats to do so in the game)!

For most of the night, starter Joan Gregorio matched Tacoma starter Sam Gaviglio (who ended up with the CG shutout) inning for inning. But he opened the 5th inning with a walk and with two outs in the inning the game of inches worked it's magic:

Given that allowing the ball to roll to the CF wall was just about the only way a run was going to score from 1b, that was a particularly poor decision from Schroder, but you can't say the man doesn't give his all. Anyway, let's remember Joan from nicer moments in the game, like blowing a high hard one past recently acquired Dan Vogelbach on this 3-2 pitch (that's former 1st round pick and Golden Eagle Tony Sanchez showing off the strong arm behind the plate):

Steven Okert's had a rough go of it this weekend, giving up 6 runs in his last two games (2 IP) on 7 Hits, 1 BB and just 1 K. He had had one scoreless inning after coming back from the DL prior to the outburst. In addition to his own runs, Okert also allowed Gregorio's second run to score after relieving Joan with one out and a man (again Vogelbach!) on 1b. Okert's one of the few arms on the 40 man available for providing the major league guys some relief come September, but he needs to get it together a bit over the next three weeks.

* * *

Richmond lost to the Trenton Thunder (Yankees), 12-5

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
Steven Duggar	CF	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.319	.375	.417
C.J Hinojosa	SS	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.273	.340	.375
Hunter Cole	RF	4	1	2	0	0	1	2	1	1	.271	.327	.437

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cory Taylor	5.0	6	4	1	3	2	0	1.80
Jose Casilla (L, 1-2)	2.0	3	3	3	1	3	1	3.34
Rodolfo Martinez	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6.28
Tyler Horan	1.0	4	5	5	2	2	1	45.00

So, one thing we can probably ascertain from this game, is that Tyler Horan wouldn't appear to have a fallback career option as a pitcher. And another note to draw from this game is that Steven Duggar won't be challenging Francisco Mejia in batting streaks this year. Duggar's 19 game hitting streak ended with a whiff, three of them in fact! But I'm sure he'll be hard at work starting a new one tonight.  Mejia (for those single-mindedly focussed on the Giants' system) is a catcher in the Indians system who is currently at work on a 47-game hitting streak, the longest since the minors reformulated themselves (into the AAA/AA/A format we know today) in 1963.

Horan's entry into the game was, in fact, a very curious one, as the game stood 7-6 going into the 9th and the Squirrels had at that point, used just three pitchers. And its not like the staff had been overextended recently. Only four pitchers appeared in Sunday's game, and one of them was Rodolfo Martinez who worked back to back last night. They did, of course, have a double header on Saturday, but again the reliever who went the longest that day (other than spot starter Christian Jones who threw 3.1 IP) was Jose Casilla who threw three innings Saturday and came back with two (not so pristine ones) yesterday. Anyway, for whatever reason, the Squirrels were apparently out of pitchers going into the 9th and sent Horan to the mound for the first time in his career in what proved to be something of a sacrificial lamb inning. Josh Osich was on hand to watch, but unfortunately he wasn't scheduled to start his rehab until today or tomorrow. Tough way to go down. It did however, provide one of the great "Position" lines in recent box score memory

1- Tyler Horan

PR-DH-P

2

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

.243

Horan tripled and scored, leading off the 8th putting the Squirrels in the game prior to his pitching performance.

Long prior to any of that, Hunter Cole had given the Squirrels most of their good news for the game, with a two-run HR in the first that staked Richmond to a 3-0 lead out of the gates.

Cory Taylor, making his AA debut, couldn't hang on to that stake however, as he learned the same lesson many others have encountered over the years: AA is Hard! An inning opening error from 3b Ryder Jones led to Taylor's downfall. He had retired six in a row up to that point, but put in the stretch he proceeded to allow four hits and a walk, and three runs, before he could work himself out of the inning.

* * *

San Jose had a scheduled off day

* * *

Augusta won at Hickory Crawdads (Rangers), 5-0

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
Johneshwy Fargas	CF	4	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.279	.349	.386
Jean Angomas	LF	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.234	.280	.322
Seth Harrison	RF	5	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	1	.268	.341	.389

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Michael Connolly (W, 10-4)	7.0	1	0	0	0	7	0	2.35
Charles Owen	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Caleb Smith	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	2.48

Michael Connolly named SAL Pitcher of the Week! https://t.co/Bu0KhfmTrQ pic.twitter.com/h6DMY9Bqfv

— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) August 8, 2016

Before the game, Michael Connolly was honored with a Pitcher of the Week citation for his 6 inning one-hitter last Tuesday. To celebrate, Connolly went out and threw 7 more shutout innings allowing again, just one hit, with 7 Ks. That's 12 Ks, 1 BB, 2 Hits and 0 Runs in his last two games (13 IP). Or going back a little further, 19 Ks, 1 BB, 6 Hits, and 1 run in his last three games (21 IP). In all that's now 18 consecutive scoreless innings. Quite a run for the 24-year old. Connolly was the Giants 27th round pick out of the University of Maine in 2013. (No doubt, Tyler Beede would like to have the Bridgewater, MA native in Richmond so he could have more support when fighting with his teammates about Tom Brady).

Johneshwy Fargas and Seth Harrison provided most of his support. Fargas led off the game with a double and scored on a WP. Two innings later he led off the 3rd inning with a HBP, and moved around the diamond on a bunt, an infield hit and a Sac Fly. Seth Harrison put up a run up the quicker way when he hit his 6th HR in the 4th and later he brought in two more runs (directly and indirectly) when his infield hit was thrown away down the line. Harrison's been an important bat in the Greenjackets order lately. Since July 20 he's reached base in 15 of 16 games, going 20 for 59 with 3 HRs and 3 doubles.

* * *

Salem-Keizer lost to the Spokane Indians (Rangers), 5-4 in 11 inn
losing their five game series, 2-3

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
Manuel Geraldo	3B	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.283	.315	.364
Gio Brusa	LF	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	.272	.317	.472
Heath Quinn	RF	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.323	.409	.511
Ryan Kirby	1B	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.276	.369	.447
a- Bryan Reynolds	PH-DH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.310	.382	.517

Raffi Vizcaino	6.0	6	4	3	1	6	0	4.97
Nolan Riggs	2.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4.71
CJ Gettman	2.0	1	0	0	0	3	0	3.77
Rayan Hernandez (L, 0-3)	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1.67

Tonight's starting lineup in Game 5 against the @spokaneindians #GoSKV pic.twitter.com/kcs8uNnesT

— Volcanoes Baseball (@SKVolcanoes) August 9, 2016

The Volcanoes staged a dramatic two-run rally with two outs in the 8th to tie the game and send it to extras, but in the end they just postponed the inevitable, as Rayan Hernandez served up a tie-breaking HR in the 11th to send them to defeat.

Gio Brusa gave the team a very short-lived lead with his 5th HR in the bottom of the first, giving him the team lead in HRs over Heath Quinn, Bryan Reynolds, and Gustavo Cabrera. But Raffi Vizcaino, who had a solid start overall, was touched up for solo runs in both the 2nd and 3rd innings.

SK tied it in the 5th with a double from All Star 2b Kevin Rivera and an RBI single from Manuel Geraldo, but Vizcaino would allow two more runs in his final inning, with the last coming on a two-out PB. Again Salem fought back. Heath Quinn walked and came around to score on Ryan Kirby's double. And Sunday's hero Leo Rojas singled in Kirby with the tying run.  Ultimately the see-saw game tilted the other way, and Spokane had the rubber match in hand.

Quinn's 8th inning walk kept alive his notable streak, as the RF has reached base in 22 straight games. Quinn came to the Giants with a reputation for power, and he's lived up to that as he's now 2nd on the team in HRs and leads in doubles (he trails Reynolds by percentage points for team lead in SLG with .511). But his overall offensive game has been impressive as well. He's second on the team with a .409 OBP (behind Ashford Fulmer) and for a slugging COF, his 15 BB to 27 K ratio is outstanding. Really an excellent debut for the prospect from Samford-not-Stanford.

Manuel Geraldo kept up his recent hot stretch as he's now 19 for his last 56 since July 24. Geraldo's shown a lot of rawness in his game and tons of contact issues, but he's also shown the athleticism that prompted the Giants to challenge him with their assignments this year.

Similar things can be said about Raffi Vizcaino, who matched a season high with 6 Ks in this game (the third time he's hit that number). The 20 year old RHP has shown good raw stuff with 35 Ks in 38 IP and a 20% K rate that's not far reduced from the 25% that he showed in the far inferior competition of the DSL. With the game, Vizcaino leaped over several of his teammates (Medina, Melo, and Marshall) to momentarily take the team lead in Ks.

* * *

AZL Giants beat the AZL Dodgers, 7-3

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG*	OBP	SLG
Mikey Edie	CF	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.213	.274	.278
Nick Hill	3B	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.310	.386	.405
Beicker Mendoza	1B	4	2	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.287	.315	.345

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
D.J. Myers (W, 1-2)	5.0	4	2	1	0	3	0	2.68
Luis Amaya (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Reagan Bazar (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	5.56
Sandro Cabrera	2.0	1	1	1	0	2	1	2.86

LHP Luis Amaya, who was the youngest player in affiliated ball last year and is still a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday, finally made his domestic debut in this game with a scoreless inning. Amaya's been out all year rehabbing an unknown arm injury, but his appearance here suggest that at least it wasn't TJ or probably any other surgical procedure, which is good news!

Amaya was joined by his fellow lefty DSL teammate, Sandro Cabrera who had another nice appearance despite allowing a solo HR in the 9th. He picked up 2 Ks in his first inning of work, including ringing up the Dodgers 2016 1st round pick Gavin Lux. Cabrera's been used in a wide variety of roles this year: starter, long relief, late relief, but he's been overall solid in all of them.  He's had 26 Ks and 10 BBs in 28 IP with a 1.09 WHIP. He's held batters to a .193 BAA.

DJ Myers, meanwhile, the 15th rounder out of UNLV, continued a terrific debut season. The big (6'5", 260 lb) right-hander combines some power stuff with control resulting in an excellent 37: 3 K to BB ratio in 37 IP.

After a slow stretch, Beicker Mendoza has been picking it up a little lately. He's 12 for 31 over his last nine games with three doubles. Mendoza's shown very little power in the desert though, with just five XBH on the year (all doubles).

26th rounder Nick Hill now has hits in his last eight games and 12 of his last 13. This was the third time in his last four games that he's had two hits. Hill, who's played both OF and 3b for the AZL team, also leads the team in SB with 13 (1 CS).

* * *

DSL Giants lost to DSL Mariners, 5-4 in 13 inn

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
Angeddy Almanzar	1B-3B	5	2	2	0	0	1	1	1	2	.313	.389	.467
Franklin Labour	DH	6	1	3	1	0	0	1	0	2	.247	.335	.315
Francisco Medina	3B-SS	6	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.260	.365	.304
Jose Patino	CF	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.301	.356	.347

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jerson Severin	5.0	4	1	0	1	1	0	3.80
Kervin Castro (BS, 2)	1.1	2	2	2	1	1	0	5.52
Alejandro De La Rosa	2.2	2	1	0	0	3	0	1.01
Weilly Yan	3.0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1.40
Jose Maita (L, 0-1)	1.0	1	1	1	2	2	0	3.66

For the second time in four games, the DSL team blew a 9th inning lead, leading to defeat. And this one, coming against the 1st place team in their division, could well be a fatal blow, as it drops them to 4.5 games back of 1st with an elimination number of just 14. They had managed to climb to within 1.5 games less than a week ago on the heels of their long winning streak, but now having lost 3 of 4 they're falling into a position of difficulty, if not desperation.

The Giants actually blew two late inning leads in this game. They held a 3-1 lead going into the 7th but the Mariners tied it up 3-3 with a back to back double/triple combination. The Giants regained the lead in the bottom of the 8th when Franklin Labour, who already had three hits in the game, reached on a dropped third strike and came around to score on two singles.  But an error and a WP allowed the tying run to come in in the 9th. A two out rally that included a double, two walks and yet another WP ultimately brought in the winning score in the 13th. Just a killer loss.

That said, the postives! Angeddy Almanzar continues to have a one of the best debut seasons the DSL team has seen in years.  The RHH, who just turned 18 on June 30, leads the team in most offensive categories. His K/BB has slipped a bit as the season's progressed, but it's still reasonable at 19BB, 37 K. He hit his 5th HR of the season here, which puts him in a big lump of players tied for 10th in the league and his OPS and SLG are both in the top 20 for the league. Almanzar was signed as a C, but had played strictly 1b this year for the DSL team until yesterday's late game move over to 3b.  Just an excellent debut. For comparison's sake, I'll note that Sandro Fabian is just four months older than Almanzar. So we'll see if Angeddy can make a successful transition to the states next year.

* * *

It's been "Get to Know Your Rangers" week as the Volcanoes just wrapped up five games with the Texas short-season affiliate as both San Jose and Augusta wrangle with their A ball teams. Down in Salem, Victor Concepcion returns to the rotation following a few outings in relief.

Today's Matchups:
Sacramento: TBD vs. Forrest Snow
Richmond: Sam Coonrod vs. TBD
SJ: Jordan Johnson vs. Collin Wiles (disappointing former 1Supp rd pick for Rangers)
Augusta: Dom Mazza vs. Emerson Martinez
SK: Victor Concepcion vs. Erling Moreno
AZL: off,
DSL:TBD