SF Giants Minor Lines 6/8/19: Bart Blasts Two

It was a tough day in the system, but there was one big highlight.

Highlights: Joey Bart hits 2 home runs

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Sacramento lost to New Orleans (Marlins), 4-2

A late comeback didn’t come back enough for the River Cats.

Ty Blach was Sacramento’s starter in the Big Easy, giving up a run in the first inning, but holding the line until the seventh inning. Blach got one out in the inning, but gave up a single and a home run to put three runs on his record. Although it resulted in three runs, Blach had one of his best games in terms of his peripherals. He struck out a season high seven without a single walk, his first start without a walk since mid-April.

The top line from the offense belonged to Francisco Pena, whose solo home run in the seventh inning temporarily tied the game. Pena also picked up his sixth double in 19 games with Sacramento, and is batting .301/.311/.466 with the River Cats. Chirs Shaw was the only other River Cat with more than one hit, and notched his third straight 2-hit game. He’s now 6-for-23 in Triple-A across his first six games, still recovering from an 0-for-10 to start his second chance at the level.

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Richmond lost to New Hampshire (Blue Jays) in 10 innings, 5-4

A late flipflopping of the lead led to extra innings in New Hampshire, but a loss for the Squirrels.

The standout offensive performer was Johneshwy Fargas, who walked his way onto the bases, going 1-for-2 with three walks, and proceeded to steal four bases in the game. The steals matched a career high set on April 14th, 2015, and matched on July 3rd of that year. Fargas has 21 stolen bases on 29 attempts this season, and broke a tie for the Eastern League lead with Jalen Miller. The highest non-Squirrel in the Eastern League has 14 steals in 17 attempts.

Zach Houchins had his third straight 2-hit game, and seven 2-hit games in his last ten. It was also his second game with a home run in a row, and fourth in his last six games. His eighth inning home run was part of a 3-run inning that gave the Squirrels a temporary lead.

Caleb Baragar had the start for the Squirrels, the second straight game with a nearly identical pitching line with two earned runs on two walks, six strikeouts, with four hit allowed this game instead of five, but also two hit batters. His ERA was practically steady at 2.45 with the solid start. But things got rough with Raffi Vizcaino’s third rough outing in a row. Vizcaino has given up seven earned runs across his three past games, 3.1 innings.

The loss belonged to Melvin Adon, who got credit for the unearned run in the 10th, because he started the tenth inning with a runner placed on second. He got two strikeouts, and threw an intentional walk to set up a force out at any base. After an unintentional walk, Sam Moll came in, and the winning run came in in the most unimaginable way, with the runner on third stealing home on a 2-2 count. Adon got the loss. He has six walks over his last two games, including two intentional walks.

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San Jose lost to Stockton (Athletics) in 10 innings, 8-7

Another attempted comeback, but another loss. Man, this was a rough Saturday.

Joey Bart was the leader for San Jose, with his two home runs accounting for all of the Giants’ runs for the first eight innings. A solo home run in the fourth inning and and 2-run shot in the sixth gave Bart a little boost after two straight hitless games. Bart now has a .264/.339/.623 in 14 games played this season, with five home runs.

Unfortunately, one big inning tilted by a one-out error by Manuel Geraldo changed Jake Wong’s start. Three unearned runs came in after that error. Wong finished the game with five innings and just one earned run, but four total. He struck out just three with one walk, giving up a 19:6 K:BB ratio in 21 inning this season.

The deciding 10th inning was pretty crazy. After a Courtney Hawkins walk, David Villar singled to give the Giants a brief lead. A Kyle McPherson double gave San Jose two more. But Caleb Simpson came in with a a bit of trouble. After one strikeout, Simpson gave up a walk, and then a 3-run home run that tied the game. A walk, a single, and a wild pitch (the second of the inning), and Stockton had the winning run come in. Simpson’s ERA jumped up from 0.82 to 3.09 in one game.

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Augusta was postponed for the second day in a row

Augusta was supposed to play a doubleheader on Saturday, after Friday’s game with Kannapolis was suspended in the bottom of the second inning.

Sunday will feature a continuation of Friday’s game (which will be played to the full nine innings), and a seven inning game for the nightcap…if the rain lets up. Rain is due in the Augusta area through Wednesday. One game was cancelled straight up, meaning Augusta will only get to play 139 games this season instead of 140.

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The DSL Giants defeated the Mariners, 20-11

Well, welcome to the Dominican Summer League. 31 runs, 32 hits, nine errors combined between these two teams. Pity the pitchers.

Although every Giants starter got at least one hit, only two hitters had more than two hits. The first was Omar Medina, the 19-year old third baseman (listed on the roster as a catcher), who had a nearly perfect day. 4-for-4 at the plate, two walks, obviously no strikeouts, two doubles and a stolen base (his second of the season). Only an error looked bad on his day. Medina is in his third season in the DSL, and hit just .235/.411/.296 last season across 37 games. He’s off to a .348/.483/.609 start in seven games this season.

The other standout star was 17-year old outfielder Victor Bericoto, who hit the game’s only home run and his first of the season. That was a 9th inning grand slam, which was his first pro home run. Bericoto was 3-for-5 with a strikeout, and his batting .364/.481/.682 after six games. Luis Matos had a nice day as he’s gotten off to a slow start, picking up his second double and a walk in a 2-hit game. Matos is batting .227/.308/.455 with two doubles and a home run so far.

As for the pitching, it was the tale of two main pitchers. 19-year old starter Rafael Martinez gave up seven runs, five earned, while giving up his first walk of the season and striking out four. He’s only pitched two games, but he has a 10.50 ERA. He only pitched three innings in relief last season. Jorge Garcia picked up the majority of the rest of the innings in relief, and was the one pitcher who put together a solid extended outing for either side. The 17-year did give up six hits, but only let one run cross the plate. He’s struck out six in seven innings this season in two starts, without walking anyone yet.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento (Connor Menez) at New Orleans (Zac Gallen), 1:00 PM CDT

Richmond (Brandon Beachy) at New Hampshire (Nate Pearson), 1:35 PM EDT

San Jose (Trenton Toplikar) at Stockton (TBD), 2:09 PM PDT

Augusta (TBD) vs. Kannapolis (TBD), 12:05 PM EDT