SF Giants Minor Lines 5/30/18: Austin Slater has an eventful day

Spotlight on defense! Make a play, Nick Hill!

Atta babe!

And this one is from Tuesday night, but I can’t resist. Watch the reflexes of one-time SS Casey Kelly (one of two great defensive plays Kelly made in this game)!

HIGHLIGHTS: Austin Slater homered, stole a base, and threw a runner out; Manuel Geraldo had 5 hits, stole 3 bases;

Sacramento lost at El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 4-3

Austin Slater picked up a Minor Lines patented (TM) Toolsy Triple last night, homering for the 4th time this year, stealing his 5th base, and picking up a crucial OF assist. In the end, however, it was a night Austin might prefer to forget. Slater drove in all three runs for the RiverCats yesterday, with two of them coming on this funky, but blasted, opposite field shot (I believe all four of Slater’s HRs this year have been to RF):

His OF Assist got more than a little bit of assistance (from both his teammates and the opposition) but it came at a crucial juncture in the game, with the bases loaded in the 7th:

That kept it tied for the moment, but El Paso would walk off the victory with a single in the 9th. Ironically, after all my bragging on him, the winning run was set up when Austin Slater made a three base error to lead off the 9th. That’s a tough way to end a nice game.

Sacramento had a 3-0 lead in the 7th in this game, but Josh Osich once again couldn’t find home plate. Osich failed to retire any of the 4 batters he faced, and he went to at least a 2-0 count on all four of them (walking two). MLB orgs covet hard throwing left-handers like nobody’s business, but with the extremely difficult and constrained 40 man decisions the Giants have facing them this week, I’d want to be throwing some strikes were I Josh.

Steven Duggar had a nice game, picking up two hits including his 12th double of the year while stealing his 8th base of the season. He was robbed of a third hit by his El Paso counterpart.

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Richmond’s game against Bowie was postponed

Has it been particularly rainy in the mid-Atlantic this year? I can tell you that in my neck of the woods we set an all time record for consecutive days of measurable rain last week, took a day off, and then went right back to see if we could set it again. Tough for players to maintain their habits in these conditions.

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San Jose lost to Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks), 3-2 in 10 inn

The Giants had a powerful top of the lineup, as both erstwhile San Francisco 2b — Joe Panik and Alen Hanson — were in the lineup. Panik went all 9 at 2b, drawing a walk in four PA. Hanson, who’s a little behind Panik in the rehab cycle, played just five innings at SS, starting three double plays in his time there and picking up a hit.

The 22 year old lefty with the dazzling curve has worked almost exclusively in long relief roles since coming stateside (though, of course, he was a rotation stalward for the 2015 DSL champs), but he’s finding a comfort zone in San Jose’s rotation. He really needs a couple more ticks on his below average fastball, but his breaking ball is certainly an out pitch. He made just one real mistake last night, and Pavin Smith, the #7 overall pick of last year’s draft made him pay for it:

On a night when San Jose hitters went just 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position, that one mistake was enough to prevent the win. SJ catcher Tanner Murphy’s two-run triple accounted for all the Giants’ runs on the night. In the 10th, win the benefit of the free baserunner, they had the potential tying run at 3b with 1 out, but back to back Ks ended a frustrating night.

Jalen Miller kept his hot hitting going, picking up two more hits (albeit one was a perfectly placed pop up) and stealing his 6th base of the year.

Not sure what to watch tonight with the Giants having an off day?* Hey baseball fans: have I got a deal for you!

• (yes, ok, I think you probably have some other sport to watch tonight)

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Augusta beat Greenville Drive (Red Sox), 9-6 in Gm 1

Augusta lost to Greenville Drive (Red Sox) 5-4 in Gm 2 (7 inn)

Minor league regulations can be byzantine sometimes. Because the first game of yesterday’s double header was the resumption of a suspended game (suspended in the top of the 2nd) rather than a replay of a postponed game, they played the full 9 innings, rather than the double header standard 7. And because they played the full 9 innings, we get to see this:

Ramos’ monster homer over the batters’ eye tied the game up with one out in the 9th. Augusta would ultimately score five 9th inning runs to grab the come-from-behind win away from Greenville. Four batters after Ramos, Ryan Kirby’s bases loaded single put the Jackets ahead for the first time in the game. Rob Calabrese had begun their comeback from a 6-1 deficit with his 4th HR of the year in the 6th.

The nightcap was a frustrating affair as the Greenjackets wasted multiple opportunities to break a 4-4 tie in the late innings, before succumbing to a walk off HR by Drive DH Marino Campagna (who had also homered in the opener). In the 6th inning, Heliot Ramos hit into some tough luck, lining out to a leaping 2b with the bases loaded and two outs. The following inning, Jacob Gonzalez got just the teensiest bit greedy on this deep drive to CF.

Was he safe? Hard to tell from the replay. Where’s my frame-by-frame shot? Anyway, that came back to haunt Augusta as Gonzalez’ hit was followed by a single, a walk, and a WP. Had Jacob dropped anchor at 2b, Augusta would surely have scored at least one run. Instead, they went to the bottom of the 7th in a frustrating tie and never came to bat again. All four of the Greenjackets’ runs for the game came via 1b John Riley, three of them on this smash:

Manny Geraldo had a tremendous evening. If you include the HR he hit 10 days ago before the first game was suspended (as the box score does), Geraldo’s line for the day was 5 for 7 with 2 walks, a HR, and three SB. On the night he had four hits and two walks, which gives him 7 hits in his past two days of work. He leads the team in batting average at .323. He leads the team in SB with 14. He’s tied for the team lead in HRs with 6. Dude on fire!

The two teams originally planned to play back to back double headers yesterday and today to make up for multiple rainouts. However, they apparently reached a mutual agreement that back to back twin bills was a little too much for their respective staffs, especially in the iffy weather (they finished last night’s second game in a steady rain). Instead they will play just the regularly scheduled game tonight, and make up Tuesday’s rainout next week in Augusta. And there was much rejoicing.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Taylor Hill vs. TBD
Richmond: Jordan Johnson vs. Brian Gonzalez
San Jose: TBD vs. Kevin McCanna
Augusta: Jason Bahr vs. Jhonathan Diaz

Rotations are scrambling a bit today. Taylor Hill was rushed from double header duty in Richmond (where he didn’t fare particularly well) to pick up a date with Sacramento to cover the temporary absence of Tyler Beede. San Jose posts a TBD and Augusta would have as well, had they not mutually decided to skip their second game. Meanwhile, Richmond’s got the opposite problem — to many arms too well rested. If they can play tonight, Jordan Johnson will take the field for the first time in a week. The iceman cometh for them though as they’re going to have double headers lined up till St. Swithin’s Day once the weather finally starts clearing up.

Before we go, I’ll bet at some time you’ve said to yourself: “I sure do wish I knew what it felt like to hit two home runs in a game.” Well if so, you’re in luck! As Jalen Miller is here to explain it all for you: