SF Giants Minor Lines, 5/31/17

Not a lot of baseball today, thanks to some rain and scheduling. But we do have a bunch of home runs and a good pitching performance; and, a new way to lose.

Sacramento Had A Scheduled Day Off

The River Cats head on the road to Albuquerque in the middle of a difficult season; Sacramento sits at 19-32, and are just one game away from the worst record in the entire PCL (held by the New Orleans Baby Cakes).

Well, the River Cats have definitely been failing…but this tweet is more in the context of a story today on CSN Bay Area.

Richmond and Hartford were suspended in the 4th Inning, tied 1-1

Rainy day in Connecticut, pressing the pause button on this game. It’ll interrupt a solid start by Cory Taylor, whose only run allowed was a rather unique one, on a sacrifice fly to second baseman Miguel Gomez…while I can’t say for sure, it would appear it was on a fly to foul ground.

The Squirrels, meanwhile, got their lone run on a leadoff home run by Slade Heathcott, his 7th of the season.

The game will be picked up in the top of the 5th inning on Thursday.

San Jose defeated Lake Elsinore (Padres), 6-1

Matt Solter put forth one of his best starts this year to pick up his second win with San Jose.

Solter only allowed five baserunners without allowing a run, for the second time this season. This time, he went 6 innings, continuing what has been a good season for the 23-year old.

While Solter put the Giants in the position to win, a new batting order helped make sure they won it. Ryan Howard, the team’s leading hitter, was batting 9th. While he didn’t score any runs, or knock anyone in, he was one of the three Giants to pick up a pair of hits.

Luckily, the rest of the team picked up three home runs to ensure the win. Jonah Arenado collected his third home run of the year. Heath Quinn got his fourth (in just 15 games). And Aramis Garcia got his 7th of the year, tying him for second on the team with Dillon Dobson, behind Gio Brusa. Quinn’s home run broke the longest slide of the short season for him, two hitless games (though he walked in each game). His ISO is now .293, a superb number for anyone.

Oh, and the Giants had a special guest. Hunter Pence made his first rehab appearance, going 5 innings. Pence looked good, getting on base two times in three plate appearances. Here’s hoping for a quick return, because the outfield in San Francisco is pretty rough right now. Pence is scheduled to appear today as well for San Jose, but nothing has been announced beyond today, though John Shea indicated he has a few more days beyond that.

One quick roster move:

Augusta was defeated by Columbia (Mets), 4-3

So the past couple of days, we’ve seen bullpens blow it, we’ve seen starters fall behind…today, it’s the turn to look at the defense.

Melvin Adon wasn’t having the best start, but the defense behind him did not help his cause. In the first inning, with two runners on and one out, a Jose Vizcaino error led to two unearned runs. In the second, it was a throwing error by Cristian Paulino leading to another run. And center fielder Johnshwy Fargas marred the fourth inning. It led to Fargas’ second-shortest appearance in terms of inning pitched (with his 1.2 IP outing, where he walked four batters, unlikely to lose the title). However, despite that, Adon matched his season-high with 87 pitches thrown, and his pitch count was likely a reason for his removal.

At least the errors on defensive side were offset by the same players at the plate. Vizcaino went for three hits, including his first triple of the season at either Augusta or San Jose. Vizcaino has come alive on the road in Columbia, now batting 5-for-8 in two games there. Meanwhile, Paulino collected his first extra-base hits of the season, in his 13th game. He’s been hovering around the Mendoza Line for a little over a week.

Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento: TBD vs. Harrsion Musgrave (If this seems familiar, it’s because I was wrong yesterday)

Richmond: TBD vs. Yency Almonte

San Jose: Matt Krook vs. Jacob Nix

Augusta: Garrett Williams vs. Geoffery Bramblett

Not much to predict with those TBDs. It’ll still be interesting to see if Stratton takes his spot in the Sacramento rotation, as discussed yesterday. But Matt Krook has been having a start to a turnaround. Garrett Williams got a late start on his season, but it’s been a good three games so far. So there’s two short trends worth seeing if it continues.

One more name on the disabled list:

But don’t worry, I hear that Roger might be coming off the disabled list himself soon. Rehab games will begin soon.