SF Giants Minor Lines 4/19/19: Augusta Comes Back in the 9th

Now that the golf is done, and Augusta is playing their opening homestand, we get a look at a more complete SRP Park!

I hope that is some break-resistant glass. Jacob Gonzalez is still playing in Augusta.

Highlights: Mac Williamson hit his first home run of the season; Seth Corry struck out six in 3.2 innings; Augusta came back in the 9th inning to tie and win in 10 innings.

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Sacramento defeated Salt Lake (Angels), 11-5

Las Vegas leaves town, and look what happens to the Sacramento offense!

Every starter picked up at least one hit in this game as they beat up on the Bees. And leading the way was the answer to a meme from last year: #DidMacHomer? Yes, yes he did, for his first of the year. The 3-run home run is part of Williamson’s resurgence, and his first since July 26th. Mac is 9-for-21 over his last five games (.429) with a double and home run, and he’s finally beginning to show the hitting ability that was the heat of the minor league system last April.

Austin Slater got his 3rd double and extended his utility ability with his third career game at third base. He also added another walk, giving him a .460 OBP. Mike Yastrzenski added his second home run of the season with a walk, raising his average to .267. Anthony Garcia took the start at first, his second career start there and fifth appearance of any kind. He took two errors at the spot before being relieved at the spot in the seventh.

On the mound, Enderson Franco went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks. Franco’s had a rough go of it this season, although he did lower his ERA from 9.45 to 8.18 with this game. The bullpen wasn’t spectacular, but 33-year old Fernando Abad continued a nice start to his season. He began the season in Richmond, without allowing a run in six innings. In Triple-A, he’s thrown 2.2 innings, hasn’t allowed a baserunner and struck out five.

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Richmond was postponed due to weather

Rain got in the way, and Richmond’s game with Altoona in Richmond was postponed.

The team will attempt to make up the game today, starting at 5:05 PM. Notably, the Luchador Mask giveaway scheduled for Friday was postponed until June 14th, when pro wrestler (but not luchador) Jeff Jarrett will be making an appearances, so that’s appropriate.

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San Jose defeated Rancho Cucamonga (Dodgers), 6-3

What if I told you that San Jose got just six hits, struck out 13 times, and needed five pitchers to get through nine innings, would you think they won? It turns out you don’t need hits to knock in runs.

San Jose first got on the board as John Riley bunted on the squeeze play with runners on the corners. Two runs scored on that play. Bryce Johnson then knocked in another run on a groundout to give San Jose a 3-0 lead. In the sixth, the Giants scored a fourth run as Logan Baldwin hit into a throwing error. In fact, the only hit that knocked in runs was a ninth inning home run by Riley to score two runs in the ninth that weren’t really needed for the win.

The Giants certainly didn’t get many big hits other than Riley’s home run. Riley’s second home run comes as he is spending his third part of a season in San Jose. He tied his career high last season with six home runs in 57 games. Perhaps the 25-year old can tap into some power this year if he stays healthy.

The pitching staff pieced together short performances for the win. DJ Myers struck out seven in only his second start of the season, and his longest outing at 3.2 innings. Between San Jose and Sacramento, he’s struck out 21 in 12 innings. Camilo Doval bounced back from giving up five hits in his last appearance to just one today.

In the daily Heliot Ramos watch, he was 1-for-4 for the third straight game, and he added two more strikeouts to his total. I fear that we jinxed him with the praise for his walk total.

And in another note of players in unusual positions, Orlando Garcia made his first career start at first base. No errors for him.

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Augusta defeated Charleston (Yankees) in 10 Innings, 5-4

It was a wild game in Augusta, with a ninth inning comeback to take the victory.

Augusta had managed just two hits through the game’s first eight innings. But in the ninth, the rally started with walks to Shane Matheny and Diego Rincones, and Frankie Tosatdo doubled in a run to start the rally. Jacob Gonzalez followed with an RBI single of his own. After a strikeout, Wander Franco doubled to tie the game, and the GreenJackets came close to taking the win, but Gonzalez was thrown out at home.

In the tenth inning, a bunt and sacrifice fly gave Charleston the lead with the runner placed on second. But Ismael Mungia’s leadoff double tied the game up again, and Matheny singled to score the game-winning run.

The finish overshadowed another interesting start by Seth Corry. Corry struck out the side in first inning, giving up a walk and a hit. Corry would finish with six strikeouts (five looking) and three walks, and two unearned runs on two hits and a wild play in the third inning in which Gonzalez and Munguia each committed an error. For Gonzalez, it was his seventh error. Corry finished with 81 pitches in those 3.2 innings, 46 of them were strikes. And the two runs, even unearned, were the first allowed by Corry this season.

https://twitter.com/CheneyAUG/status/1119391253349720064

Filling in on the mound was Keaton Winn, who threw five innings in relief. It was Winn’s longest outing of the year, and the six strikeouts gives him 11 in 13 innings, with two walks.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento (Andrew Suarez) vs. Salt Lake Bees (Parker Bridwell), 7:05 PM PDT

Richmond vs. Altoona Doubleheader: Game 1 - Garrett Williams vs. James Marvel; Game 2 - Brandon Beachy vs. Pedro Vasquez. 5:05 PM EDT

San Jose (Trent Toplikar) at Rancho Cucamonga (Edwin Uceta), 7:05 PDT

Augusta (Sean Hjelle) vs. Charleston (Luis Medina), 6:05, EDT

Sean Hjelle headlines a nice set of Giants’ prospects for Saturday. Andrew Suarez remains part of the Giants future, and Garrett Williams remains one of the more intriguing throwers.

Notably, Triple-A opponent Parker Bridwell was released by the Athletics organization on April 5th, and has just bbeen assigned to Salt Lake. The former Major Leaguer had a 17.55 ERA for the Angels last season in six games, and a 8.68 ERA for Salt Lake in six starts.