SF Giants Minor Lines 8/20/18: Too Much Like The MLB Squad

Yeah, that just about says everything about Mondays. And pretty much the entire month.

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Sacramento Had A Scheduled Day Off

Don’t worry, Sacramento’s already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs at 50-76, the second-worst record in the PCL. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean there’ll be a top draft pick.

Sacramento returns home for a 10-game home stand, kicking it off with Fresno, then facing Las Vegas and Albuquerque to wrap up their home schedule.

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Richmond was defeated by Bowie (Orioles), 6-2

There was an offensive standout in this game, as Richmond continues to mimic the big league squad.

Ryan Howard was the only player to get on base more than once for Richmond, having a perfect OBP day. For Howard, not only was he 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, and his second straight 2-hit game, and extended a 7-game hitting streak. For Howard, he’s taking the final month in the right direction, having raised his batting average from .267 to .275 and his OBP to .343. Even with the two singles, this game pushed Howard’s slugging percentage moved over .400 (.404). This is the first time it’s been at the .400 level since June 1st.

The rest of the offense was not much to write home about. C.J. Hinojosa picked up a single hit for the third straight game, but his batting average is still slipping slowly.

On the mound, the team couldn’t recover from another rough Jake McCasland start. It was the second straight start where McCasland gave up five runs on eight hits over five innings with four strikeouts. The only difference was that he walked three yesterday, rather than just two last week. In the bullpen, the most notable appearance was Sam Wolff. Although his ERA moved back up to 6.75 on the year, the run he gave up yesterday was his first allowed in five appearances, his longest scoreless appearance streak since the start of the season. Hopefully it means Wolff is back on the right path, recovering from a very difficult stretch in Mid-July where he gave up 10 of the 16 earned runs he’s allowed this season over just four appearances.

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San Jose had a Scheduled Day Off

At 20-36, San Jose is in last place in the 2nd half, and all but eliminated. San Jose hits the road for three games in Visalia and four in Modesto before coming home for the final homestand of the season.

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Augusta defeated Asheville (Rockies), 2-1

This is how you throw shade in Asheville:

Much like Richmond, Augusta seems to be built like the Major League squad, without scoring many runs. The winning run came off the bat of Logan Baldwin, hitting his sixth home run int he 7th inning, making it a then-2-0 lead. It’s Baldwin’s second home run of August, and third straight game with a hit. Baldwin has come back to life in August, now batting .282/.364/.538 after a 2-month slump in June and July

The other force of the offense was Manuel Geraldo, who is also having an August awakening. It was his second 2-hit game in a row, and continued a now 6-game hitting streak. Geraldo is batting .358/.397/.448 after also slumping in June and July, batting .233/.245/.262 in July.

The offense held up thanks to a good game from the pitching staff. Aaron Phillips had allowed a run in each game he’s pitched this season, until yesterday. The two hits allowed were also a season-low, and he got the win. Jorge Labrador only went 1.2 IP, having gone at least 3.1 innings in each of the last three games. And Camilo Doval picked up the save, although he gave up a run. Doval’s given up three runs in his last six appearances (8 innings).

Meanwhile, the GreenJackets caught the positional flexibility of one of their own guys…

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Salem-Keizer was defeated by Boise (Rockies), 8-4

The Volcanoes had spurts of offense, but they weren’t enough to sustain a win.

The offense was led by leadoff hitter Kyle McPherson’s 3-hit game with his 17th double and 6th home run. It was a bounce-back game for McPherson who had a 10-game hitting streak broken in his last game on Saturday. Aaron Bond hit his 9th home run of the season in his 2-hit game, his third home run in his last 10 games. And Wander Franco (Yes, that one) had his second 2-hit game in a row, picking up a pair of doubles to give him 18 on the season to lead the team, taking the lead from McPherson and David Villar (17 each).

Greg Jacknewitz was on the mound for the start, and was unable to keep the Volcanoes in the game. The two innings were his shortest for a start this season. He now has a 9.82 ERA over five starts, and a 4.45 ERA in seven relief appearances. Trent Toplikar matched his season-high with three innings, for the third time this year, and the first of those three without allowing a baserunner. Closer Jesus Tona pitched a scoreless inning, making his 19th appearance. He’s got 34 strikeouts and eight walks in 26.1 IP, and just 16 hits.

For some positive notes, how about a Joey Bart interview?

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AZL Black defeated the AZL White Sox, 3-2

No extra-base hits for this Giants squad, as they fall in a close game.

Alexander Canario’s been sliding backwards a little of late, going 3-for-29 (.103) over his previous nine games, but his 2-hit game puts a small pause in that slide. He had struck out 9 times in his last 25 at-bats before yesterday. Abdiel Layer had a 2-hit game as well, but it was his second in a row and fourth in the last six games. Layer is batting .287/.358/.412 on the season.

Conner Nurse had his second start without allowing an earned run, although a pair of unearned runs were a blemish on this game. Nurse has turned around his season, and now in 48 innings, has 45 hits allowed, 24 walks and 51 strikeouts. Behind him, Aneudy Acosta had his longest relief outing since his first appearance of the season, and set a season-high with five strikeouts and no walks. He has 26 stikeouts and 10 walks in 27.2 innings.

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AZL Orange were defeated by the AZL Royals, 7-3

It was a tough game for the Orange team, most notably with six errors, leading to a loss.

Half of the team’s errors came from Hector Santiago, who replaced Yorlis Rodriguez in the first after Rodriguez hit into a fielder’s choice and beat out the throw to first on a potential double play. Santiago replaced Rodriguez at third, and made three errors, giving him eight on the season. It was a forgettable day for Santiago at the plate as well. Oh, and I’m calling a Twitter Jinx on @giantsprospects regarding Yorlis Rodriguez’s removal/possible injury:

On Offense, Patrick Hilson had the big hit, with his fourth home run of the season, and getting on base in three of four plate appearances. Hilson is still just under the Mendoza line, and has been since July 21st. Meanwhile, leadoff hitter Austin Edgette had a 3-hit game, his highest hit total of the season. His double, the third of the season, are his only extra-base hits of the season. He has a higher OBP (.415) than SLG (.377).

Marco Gonzalez had a rough start, giving up five runs, three earned. He’s struck 47 on the season now, in 52.1 IP with 13 walks. Logan Harasta struck out the side, but also gave up a pair of hits and was affected by errors, giving up two runs, one earned. Harasta’s ERA jumped from 0.63 to 1.17 from this game.

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The DSL Giants lost to the DSL Mariners, 9-7

The Giants and Mariners had an exciting end to this game, with eight runs scored in the final two innings…but it was four from each team, so the Mariners pulled out the win anyway.

So, let’s start with Keyberth Mejias. Mejias has exactly six hits in his last 8 games (25 at-bats, .240 average), but four of those hits are home runs. Overall, Mejias is 21-for-81 (.259) but slugging .444 behind those four home runs. Ghordy Santos is 2-for-5 with a double (his eighth of the season), putting a little distance between his average and the Mendoza line. He’s now at .207. Luis Toribio got a double, his tenth, fo his only hit, but was 1-for-6 with two strikeouts. He now has 57 strikeouts against 45 walks, and has struck out five times since his last walk.

It was a rough day for Giants’ pitchers. Sonny Vargas gave up runs for the first time in the last five starts, breaking a nice run for him. He is still doing well with walks, with none in this game, and just two walks in his last 27 innings pitched (and 24 strikeouts). Reliever Willian Suarez had one big blowout inning in the eighth. He gave up two home runs, despite having given up just one home run in his other 15 games this season.

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Let’s have a little fun, non-Giants related.

Yesterday, a Rockies fan made a silly offer to the Colorado Rockies…and Rockies Twitter tried to be ridiculous in return…

That said, the tweet is picking up steam, and spent much of Monday going Viral. And, the Rockies seem to be getting worried about this.

The instigator himself has a good point to make.

I don’t know if he’s trying to say not to retweet…or is convincing more to. Because that just makes this funnier and made me retweet again with another account, just for the lolz.

Finally, to wrap things up…enjoy one of the most entertaining guys to wear a Giants’ uniform while it lasts…

I’ve been through a lot of August Non-Waiver Trade Deadline, and too many people (including Tim Flannery on Giants Post-Game Live) think there’s something in the works here. Almost every other guy put on waivers gets the “Oh, it happens to everyone” deal.