SF Giants Minor Lines, 6/4/17

There have been a lot of things going on in the farm system that have led to losing, but one of the toughest truths has been that the starting pitching has been inconsistent at best (and at times, much worse). Today? We get three strong pitching performances on one day. Huzzah!

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Sacramento defeated Albuquerque (Rockies), 5-4 (10 Innings)

There was some bullpen drama and one interesting player substitution in today’s New Mexico game.

Let’s start with the pitching. Joan Gregorio put out his best start in nearly a month. His 7 innings with just 1 earned run allowed is the first time he’s allowed that few since May 7th, at which point Gregorio had allowed one earned run or less in four of his first five starts. While Gregorio did tie a season-low in strikeouts, Gregorio also went without a walk for the first time this year. Gregorio has a 46:31 SO:BB line in 63.2 innings of work.

In relief in the 8th with a 3-2 lead, Matt Reynolds allowed asingle surrounded by two outs. The River Cats brought in Tyler Rogers with two outs in a double switch, and Rogers gave up a double to blow the save and tie the game. Rogers gave up another single to give the Isotopes a brief 4-3 lead.

The good news is that the Sacramento offense had an answer. Singles by Juan Ciriaco, Carlos Moncrief and Wynton Bernard in the 9th tied the game. In the 10th, John Polonius tripled, and Juan Ciriaco put down a successful squeeze bunt to give the ‘Cats the winning run.

As you see, a number of the guys in the back of the Sacramento lineup were getting hits, although leadoff hitter Wynton Bernard put down three hits, including his 4th double of the year. Mac Williamson, meanwhile, picked up his first non-homer since his return to Triple-A. But he did hit a home run as well, which meant that Williamson’s first four hits back in Sacramento were all home runs.

But let’s mention the curious. Yesterday, Ryder Jones was removed from the game after being hit in the helmet by a baseball, as per our man on the scene Dan from NM. Today, third baseman Jae-Gyun Hwang was removed in the 4th inning. Hwang struck out in the top half of the fourth, and was removed after. There has been no announcement of any injury. The River Cats will have a third baseman tomorrow, as Christian Arroyo returns, but it will be interesting to see Hwang’s status. Maybe Dan can help us out if he was at the game on Sunday.

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Richmond defeated Trenton (Yankees), 5-4 (12 Innings)

Did someone order extra innings today or something?

The Squirrels bullpen did a fantastic job absorbing innings because starter Jose Flores only went three innings today, for as-yet unannounced reasons, but likely pitch-count related. Flores gave up just 1 run, but did allow 6 hits and 2 walks. Flores, a recently converted reliever, had gone 4 and 5 innings in his two other starts this season, but the 61 pitches were the most he’s had this season. The result was 9 innings of work for a retooled bullpen, which did give up three runs (and the lead), but came out on top. Among the interesting relievers:

• • Christian Jones had the biggest struggles, getting 5 outs and giving up 5 baserunners, including 3 walks without a strikeout. Jones has now given up 30 hits and 12 walks against 20 K’s in 22.1 IP.
• 27-year old Jarret Martin made his Giants’ system debut. Martin, a 19th round pick from the Orioles in 2009, spent 2016 in the Independent Canadian-American League with 3 different teams. Martin’s highlest level reached was AA, where he had a 3.29 ERA in 46 relief appearances in 2014.
• Ryan Halstead, recently promoted from San Jose, had a much better appearance after giving up 3 runs in his first game at the level.
• Tyler Cyr picked up his second win of the season with two innings of strong work.

Richmond won just like Sacramento did: squeezing it out. Brandon Bednar and Ryan Lollis had back-to-back singles, putting Bednar at third. Rando Moreno then laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring the winning run.

The game saw Miguel Gomez start to wake up a little. Gomez recently came off a 14-game hitting streak, but many of those hits were lonely singles, just one hit in most of those games. Sunday was Gomez’s second day of multiple extra-base hits since May 19th, other than his 2 home runs on May 28th.

If you’d like a little extra reading, this weekend the Richmond Times-Dispatch had a nice article about the flexibility of Myles Schroder. No, not yoga-style flexibility.

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San Jose defeated Lancaster (Rockies), 4-2

San Jose got a very nice start from Conner Menez, continuing a refreshing trend among starters in this farm system.

Menez went 6 innings allowing two runs, just one earned, putting Lancaster in a position to win. Menez now has a 44:22 K:BB line in 56 innings of work. With his 3.05 ERA, Menez has the best ERA of San Jose’s full-season starters (recent promotion from Augusta Matt Solter has a 2.89 ERA in 3 starts).

That would be enough for San Jose, who scattered 7 hits, with just two extra-base hits. One of tose, the big one, was T.J. Bennett’s first home run of the season, a 2-run shot in the 5th that put San Jose up 4-1. Ronnie Jebavy, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 with his second double in three games since coming back from injury.

Conner Gillaspie was designated hitter for 7 innings, going 1-for-2 with a walk, and is 2-for-5 with a walk in his two games rehabbing with the Giants.

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Augusta was defeated by Lexington (Royals), 5-2

It was a tough game for Augusta starter Caleb Baragar. Baragar went just three innings for the second time in his last three starters, giving up 7 hits. Baragar has given up 24 hits in 10.2 innings over his last three starts, and has a .305 batting average against on the season. Those five runs would be enough to keep the GreenJackets down.

The GreenJackets did get extra-bases, with three extra-base hits out of four total hits. Jacob Heyward had the biggest, his team-leading 7th home run of the season, a solo shot in the 6th. Heyward now has 3 home runs in his last 10 games.

Frandy De La Rosa had his 8th double with Augusta this year. Kelvin Beltre added his 13th, as he continues to lead the the team in most hitting categories.

Meanwhile, in North Augusta, a new building rises. First thing to do? Dugouts, apparently.

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DSL Giants was defeated by the Reds, 7-5 (Saturday)

Hey, it’s Caribbean baseball! This game happened on Saturday, but the box didn’t show up until Sunday. So here it is.

One of the team’s debuts was starter Luis Moreno, an 18-year old from Colombia. Moreno gave up four runs out of seven baserunners, and taking the loss for the first game.

Two others making debuts, 17-year old 2B Samuel Jorge and 17-year old SS Ghordy Santos (one of the team’s top 2016 signings), had good first games, each collecting a double in their first games. The other top signing from 2016 was Ismael Alcantara. The 17-year old Alcantara is listed as an outfielder, but came in mid-game at first base and went 2-for-3. Both Alcantara and Santos were signed for the team’s maximum bonus of $300K, due to penalties from the Lucius Fox signing.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento: Michael Roth vs. Trent Thorton

Richmond: Sam Coonrod vs. Donovan Hand

San Jose: Mike Connolly vs. TBD

Augusta: Stephen Woods vs. TBD

DSL Giants: No Announced Starters, @ DSL Reds

SF Giants Minor Lines: Roger

Well, folks, it’s been fun filling in here at Minor Lines. Actually, it’s been a ton of work. You have no idea about the Cramazing job that Roger does here all year long. Hopefully I’ve left this place in good working order for him.

Oh, and Roger…sorry about the new look. It wasn’t my fault, I swear.

See you guys on Sunday!