SF Giants Minor Lines, 5/26/17

The unlikely home run leader in Sacramento continued his reign. Meanwhile, some bullpen problems reigned.

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Sacramento was defeated by Memphis (Cardinals), 13-3

Well, for three pitchers who had been talked about as possible near-future San Francisco Giants, it was a bad day.

Let’s start with 2012 1st-round pick Chris Stratton. Stratton gave up season highs in hits and earned runs. His ERA jumped from 5.59 to 6.88 in the one game. He has also now got a .320 batting average against. He does have 28 strikeouts against 12 walks in 34 IP, but with the hits allowed, he has a 1.74 WHIP.

Then there was submariner reliever Tyler Rogers, who had been putting together some excellent numbers. He was unable to finish an inning for the first time this season (he’d gone less than an inning before). He gave up two hits, three walks, and an error by Jae-Gyun Hwang at third base did not help things. He now has 11 walks in 29.2 IP, with 16 strikeouts.

Finally, D.J. Snelten had an electric 15 games in Richmond, but has struggled in Sacramento. He has given up three earned runs in two games at Triple-A, and has give up six earned runs in his last three appearances (2.2 IP)

For that, the offense was not enough. Kelby Tomlinson got on to led off the game, and Orlando Calixte hit his 7th home run of the season, but that was just about the only highlight for the offense. Calixte is the team leader in home runs for the River Cats (the closest behind him is Ryder Jones, at 7), but a lot of that has to do with San Francisco giving almost anyone with some power a shot with a promotion, and then cutting them.

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Richmond was defeated by Harrisburg (Nationals), 5-2

The Squirrels had a chance for a win, but the bullpen didn’t let them have the chance. The Squirrels took the early lead, with a lot of thanks going to Hunter Cole. Cole hit a solo home run in the second inning to give Richmond the 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Miguel Gomez doubled, followed by Cole’s double to put Richmond up 2-0. It was Cole’s 13th double and 2nd home run for the year. For Gomez, it was his 11th double, raising his batting average to .331

Matt Gage didn’t leave with the lead, but he had a great start. A season-high 7 strikeouts was the highlight, even though he gave up two runs off of a home run to give up a tie. However, the bullpen let the game get out of hand, specifically Carlos Alvarado. Alvarado gave up five hits, two singles, two doubles and a home run, to allow three runs. And in this case, the home run was just the second hit he gave up, so it wasn’t a rally killer, unfortunately.

One more hitter to highlight is Ali Castillo. Castillo had a 3-hit game, his first in ten games. Between the two 3-hit games, Castillo has been hitting .429.

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San Jose was defeated by Modesto (Mariners), 7-3

San Jose got out of Lancaster, and San Jose’s power disappeared as well.

The Giants only got one extra-base hit, a double by Matt Winn. Otherwise, it was six singles that the Giants peppered the Nuts with. However, the Nuts only got one extra-base hit themselves, a triple. But they got nine singles and six walks and peppered Mark Reyes to the tune of six runs. The five earned runs weren’t quite a season-high for Reyes, but the six walks allowed were. He now has 42 walks against 25 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work.

The top hitter for San Jose was Bryan Reynolds, who has quietly been hitting again. He had his third multi-hit game out of the last five, and extended his hitting streak to six games. He also picked up a walk, his first in eight games. He has 13 walks against 37 strikeouts in 169 at-bats. Heath Quinn also extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single. The single was a two-out, two-RBI single that represented a big part of San Jose’s offense.

An interesting pre-game tweet by Joe Ritzo (add a loss to the road numbers).

Why do the Giants struggle at home? San Jose is one of the fairer of the parks in the offensively-oriented California League.

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Augusta was defeated by Rome (Braves), 5-3

The GreenJackets were on the verge of winning this one, but they pulled a 2016 SF Giants move, and blew the save.

That blown save came from Wilson Santos, who came in for the 8th inning and went the final two innings. With the GreenJackets up 3-2, Santos hit the first batter he faced, and that runner stole second. A single and a sacrifice fly later, and the game was tied. In the ninth, he struggled to two more runs, in an inning marred by two walks (one intentional), a wild pitch, a passed ball, and an error. It was the first runs Santos had given up in three appearances since arriving on May 16th

That wasted an excellent start by Garrett Williams, even though it was arguably his worst of three starts this season. The two earned runs were the first he’d given up this season (he’d given up two unearned ones previously), and all his stats were his highest of the season. However, Williams has been nothing but encouraging since his debut, with 12 strikeouts and 4 walks in 13 innings. The Giants also got Greg Brody (11th round, 2014 draft) making his season debut with a scoreless inning. Brody only got into four games in 2016 (and missed all of 2015).

The offense didn’t have an overwhelming moment. Michael Bernal, getting his first start with Augusta after coming down from San Jose, hit the only extra-base hit for the team, with a double. Kelvin Beltre picked up a two-hit game, as did Jacob Heyward. Heyward is now batting .286 over his last ten games, slowly raising that batting average.

Finally, Augusta’s most exciting development has been the develop of a new riverside stadium. You probably know this by now. So, if you want to see Computer Generated renderings from each of the sections inside the new ballpark, click this link and enjoy!

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento: Dan Slania vs. Aaron Laffey

Richmond: Jordan Johnson vs. Jaron Long

San Jose: Jake McCasland vs. Pablo Lopez

Augusta: Domenic Mazza vs. Bryse Wilson

And, finally…

Because of course the Dodgers did that.