SF Giants Minor Lines 7/13/18: Jalen Miller doubles career HRs

It’s a Friday the 13th edition of Minor Lines, but there’s nothing to fear here—except maybe some good old fashioned highway robbery!

HIGHLIGHTS: CJ Hinojosa had three hits, two SB; Jalen Miller doubled and homered; Manuel Geraldo had three hits with a double; Gregory Santos struck out 7 over 4 IP.

---

Sacramento lost to Salt Lake Bees (Angels), 7-4

Yeah, tough night for starter Casey Kelly who gave up back to back crooked numbers in the 3rd and 4th innings to put Sacramento in a large hole. Kelly ended up staying in through 6 innings and the staff threw up zeros from there on out, but the deficit was too big to climb out of.

The RiverCats runs all came on two swings of the bat. Ryder Jones went deep for his 9th long ball of the year to put Sacramento on the board in the 5th. And then in the 8th, Mac Williamson cleared the bases with a three-run double to give the home crowd the faint scent of a comeback in the air but that was the closest they got.

Mac’s double was his first extra base hit since June 26. He’s gone just 5 for 43 since being optioned down to AAA as he struggles to regain the stroke and the timing — and the vision — that he had in the early spring. Get healthy Mac!

---

Richmond won at Trenton Thunder (Yankees), 7-6 in 10 innings

CJ Hinojosa and Dylan Davis led the Squirrels to an extra inning win, each knocking out three hits including an RBI single in the 10th. Hinojosa had a big impact out of the leadoff spot—in addition to his three hits he stole two bases. The first of those came in the top of the 3rd, when he and Matt Lipka pulled off a picture perfect double steal to give Richmond a 2-0 lead.

The Squirrels seemed to have the game well in hand, but Dillon McNamara—who was a member of the Trenton Thunder last year—apparently had some gifts to hand out in his homecoming. The right-hander surrendered three runs in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game up and send it to extras.

Richmond scored three in the 10th on RBI singles from Hinojosa, Davis, and Aramis Garcia, and then Sam Wolff withstood a two-run bottom of the 10th to secure the win. Wolff issued back to back walks with one out in the inning to load the bases and lead to some serious drama. A Sac Fly brought it to within a run, but he got a 3-2 called third strike to end it against the Thunder’s Wendell Rijo.

---

San Jose beat Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks), 8-6

San Jose used three home runs to win a wild one over the Rawhide—a game that included five home runs in all.

All Star Jalen Miller had two extra base hits in the game, including his career high 11th HR to start the scoring in the first. Miller is starting to heat back up a bit as he now as a six-game hitting streak going. “Career high” is actually underselling things a bit—Miller’s 11 HRs in 2018 actually matches his career total coming into the year. That’s 11 on the year, 22 for the career. I remember when Pablo Sandoval more than doubled his career HR total in San Jose — that turned out pretty well!

Wander Franco and Matt Winn also went deep for the Giants. For Franco, it was just his 2nd of the year.

Logan Webb worked into the 5th inning for the first time this year. And though his ERA ballooned all the way up to 1.96 when he allowed solo runs in the 4th and 5th innings, it was yet another positive step forward for the power-armed right hander. Webb has really found his swing and miss rhythm lately, as he has 24 Ks over his last four starts in just 16.2 IP. That brings him up to a K an inning on the season with 59 in 59.2 IP. The walks are still high but that’s a small quibble. Webb (along with Miller) is having one of the very few unqualified big steps forward of any prospect in the system in 2018.

Sando Cabrera had a tough outing in relief. He came in to relieve Webb with two outs and two on in the 5th and got Webb out of the jam. But the lefty could get no traction on his own when coming back out for the 6th. He gave up two doubles and a single before being relieved with just one out in what would ultimately be a four-run rally for the Rawhide to take the lead.

The Giants answered right back, opening the bottom of the 6th with three straight hits of their own to come back to tie it. Matt Winn’s 8th HR of the year would ultimately seal the victory.

CF Bryce Johnson has been on a tear lately, going 8 for his last 15. All but one of those hits have been singles (there was a triple mixed in) but he’s also stolen four bases in that stretch as his speed is weapon when he gets on base.

---

Augusta lost to Lexington Legends (Royals), 3-2
winning their series, 2-1

Heliot Ramos’ charge to .250 hit a speed bump, as he took an 0 for 4 with a hat trick in the loss. Instead it was Manny Geraldo who had the big game with three hits. It was the second consecutive three-hit game for the All Star. After a torrid May that made Geraldo Player of the Month in the Sally, he endured a brutal June. But Geraldo’s back to hitting again in July as he regains his stride. The power has gone missing though—Geraldo hit 6 HRs in May but has only two the rest of the year. Yesterday’s double was his 10th of the year.

Garrett Cave had struck out 22 batters in his previous 16 innings, but he didn’t seem to have his swing and miss stuff last night, K-ing just 2 in 4 innings while walking 4 and surrendering his 5th HR of the year. Cave does have 77 strikeouts in 72 IP this year as he seeks some consistency in his mechanics and performance.

---

Salem-Keizer lost at Everett AquaSox (Mariners), 3-1

No Joey Bart HR? BO-RING!

Well, can I console you with another fine performance from 18 year old RHP Gregory Santos? Santos hit a career high 7 Ks, while allowing just 1 unearned run over 4 innings. His 28 Ks for the year (in 29 IP) is tied for 2nd in the league. And the teenager is showing pretty decent command as well, pairing the Ks against just 8 BBs on the year.

David Villar picked up his 5th double of the year with the Volcanoes. With 5 doubles and 4 HRs, more than half of his 17 hits with Salem-Keizer have gone for extra bases for a sparkling Iso of .284. Doesn’t match Bart’s .559 of course, but it’s still pretty good!

---

Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Michael Connolly vs. Jose Suarez
Richmond: Chase Johnson vs. Michael King
San Jose: Dom Mazza vs. TBD
Augusta: John Gavin vs TBD
Salem-Keizer: Norwith Gudino vs. Orlando Razo
AZL: Johan Herrera (Black), Marco Gonzalez (Orange)
DSL: OFF — ALL STAR GAME

Back to the full slate with a big Saturday night. And hopefully we’ll stop this whole “no Bart HR” day nonsense tonight. Have a fun one everybody!