SF Giants Minor Lines 8/21/19: Matos and Bericoto come up, but Luciano goes down

So, let’s start with the big news: Marco Luciano was removed from Wednesday night’s game in Salem-Keizer with a leg injury after hitting a double. That’s pretty much all we know at this point, even Salem-Keizer’s own game recap did not mention the injury. I don’t know if that’s good news or not.

As of this point, I have not seen the injury mentioned on Twitter. Hopefully, the beat guys can get some information from the Giants tomorrow.

Highlights: Luis Matos and Victor Bericoto had big debuts in the U.S.; Kai-Wei Teng had a good start for Augusta.

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Sacramento lost to Albuquerque, 9-0

Not even more multiple hits from Jaylin Davis were enough to get Sacramento on the board in this game.

Davis now has five multi-hit games in the last six, but today they were just singles, as Davis remains white hot. He’s batting .397/.486/.905 as a River Cat, and is getting so close to that .400 plateau. But the rest of Sacramento fell cold, except for Brandon Van Horn, just promoted up from San Jose and who is hitting .545 with a .909 slugging percentage in five games at Sacramento, despite batting under 200 in 85 games combined at San Jose and Richmond this season.

Carlos Torres gave up six runs in the start for Sacramento, his third with the River Cats. He’s now allowed 14 hits, including three home runs in 11.1 innings, striking out ten. Torres has a 3.77 ERA overall this season in the minors, but until coming to Sacramento, he’d only been a reliever.

Melvin Adon worked in relief, with another scoreless inning paring down his Triple-A ERA. He now has 11 strikeouts to six walks and nine hits allowed in 6.2 innings at Sacramento.

Playoff Position: First Place, 8.0 Games ahead of Reno. Elimination Number is 5 with 12 Games left

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Richmond split a Doubleheader with Erie (Tigers)

Game 1 (Completion of Tuesday): Erie 7, Richmond 3 (10 Innings)

Game 2: Richmond 11, Erie 10 (13 Innings)

Remember yesterday’s 1-1 tie with the Squirrels getting one-hit? Um, oops. Raffi Vizcaino tried to go three innings, but only was good for two. Vizcaino got bombed in the 10th inning, and it was too much for even an awake Squirrels offense. Jacob Heyward singled and Jalen Miller doubled in the tenth to help score two runs. So, let’s move on.

Game 2 was a game of attrition, with the Squirrels outlasting Erie in extra innings. Gio Brusa had the biggest day, with his 16th double and his 12th home run, a 3-run home run in the fifth.

alen Miller picked up three hits, including his 15th double. Neither are having great seasons this season, though. And Peter Maris, who hit his first home run in yesterday’s now-finished game, had the game winner.

Ramos had a 2-hit game with a walk, and is now batting .208 in Richmond. Joey Bart had a game to forget though, going 1-for-6 with five strikeouts. Bart now has 15 strikeouts in 12 games at Richmond, with just three walks.

It was another rough day for Hjelle, who is just not missing bats. He gave up 12 hits, and now has a batting average against in Richmond of .377 in three games. That’s 26 hits in 15.1 innings, but just four walks and 15 strikeouts. But damn, how about catcher Matt Winn, coming in to save some pitching arms?

Playoff Position: Out.

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San Jose lost to Modesto (Mariners), 10-3

It was a weak offensive effort for San Jose as they hang on to a playoff chance. Courtney Hawkins hit his 14th home run of the season, his sixth of the month of August. Hawkins has a .899 OPS in the month of August with San Jose, and is doing his best to get the team in the playoff push.

Hamlet Marte had the only 2-hit game for San Jose, picking up his second double in San Jose in his eighth game at the level. Hamlet was batting .187/.255/.257 in Richmond before going down to San Jose.

Jose Marte started, and had his worst game of the season, giving up six runs and walking five, both season highs. Jose has 73 strikeouts but now 37 walks in 65.2 innings. Patrick Ruotolo struggled in his second game back at San Jose, after 1.2 scoreless innings in his first game back.

Playoff Position: 2 games behind Stockton for the Wild Card with 12 games left.

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Augusta defeated Asheville (Rockies), 1-0

It was a great start for Kai-Wei Teng, who now has two scoreless starts in a row for his new team. Teng struck out nine and walked just one while giving up two hits in a must-win game for the playoff chase. Teng now has a 1.80 ERA as a GreenJacket, after posting a 1.60 ERA before the trade. On the season, Teng has 68 strikeouts against 19 walks in 65.2 innings.

Franklin Labour picked up two hits, and scored the game’s only run. He raised his struggling batting average to .238 with the pair. Labour had two multi-hit games in his first four at Augusta, but this was his first in the 15 games since.

Frankie Tostado also picked up two hits, raising his average back to .259. Tostado slumped with a .649 OPS in June and a .698 OPS in July, but has a .804 OPS so far in August.

Playoff Position: 2nd place, 1 Game Back of Asheville. Elimination number of 12 with 12 games left.

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Salem-Keizer defeated Boise (Rockies), 4-1 (6 Innings)

Okay, I’d tell you not to panic, but I’m not stupid. Let the panic on in the comments. Luciano is batting .212/.316/.333 in nine games with Salem. As I hear more, I’ll share about his history and future.

Alexander Canario got his fourth multi-hit game in his last five games, boosting his batting average to .299 in Oregon. Canario’s batting line is beginning to come up to speed, and is now batting .299/.372/.516, and has 14 doubles in 41 games.

Kervin Castro had the start, and it was a good start. He now has 58 strikeouts agains 12 walks in 65.2 innings.

Playoff Position: In. First half champions.

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AZL Black defeated the AZL Brewers Gold, 5-4

Tyler Wyatt led the way again, with two doubles among three hits, giving him 15 on the season. Wyatt has heated up in the last week and a half, batting .297 over his last ten games, raising his batting average from .232 to .242 overall in the AZL.

Grant McCray was 1-for-5, with one more stolen base (15) and one more caught stealing (13). The speedy 3rd round pick now has an 8-game hitting streak, and has raised his batting average from .220 to .271 over that span.

Oregon State star Bryce Fehmel finally gave up his first earned run in the pros, in his sixth game. He now has 11 innings of work, and has given up just five hits and no walks, with 11 strikeouts on the season.

Playoff Position: Out.

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AZL Orange defeated the AZL Mariners, 7-2

Two new names showed up in the AZL, and after an international flight, it didn’t slow them down.

Luis Matos made his U.S. debut and got three hits out of five plate appearances, with a HBP to go along with it. Matos remains red hot, having now finished the DSL with a .362/.430/.570 batting line, with 24 doubles, two triples, and seven home runs. Now, he’s off to a good start in a short stint in Arizona.

Victor Bericoto also made his U.S. debut, going 2-for-5. Bericoto had a .344/.472/.485 batting line with 15 doubles and five home runs in the DSL. He also stole his first base, after having ten in twelve attempts in the DSL.

Javeyan Williams also added a 3-hit game and stole his 18th base in his 20th attempt.

Caleb Kilian had the start, and he maintains his 0.00 ERA through five appearances. In nine innings, he’s allowed five hits, one walk and nine strikeouts.

This is looking like a record-setting year for the Orange Squad.

layoff Position: 1st place, 3 games ahead of the Cubs 2. Elimination Number of 2 with four games back.

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The DSL Giants lost to the DSL Tigers2, 7-4 (10 Innings)

The Matos-less and Bericoto-less DSL Giants may not have the highlights to look for anymore, but maybe there’s something in here to look for. Jose Hernandez led the way tonight, getting a pair of hits and getting his fourth double in his 27th game. Hernandez is batting .253/.363/.266 in his second season at the DSL, after having a .531 OPS last season as an 18-year old.

Luis Castillo started for the Giants, and it was more of the same for him. He gave up two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings, barely lowering his ERA from 5.11 to 5.06. The 16-year old pitcher has 52 strikeouts and 28 walks in 53.1 innings.

Playoff Position: Out.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento (Conner Menez) at El Paso (Emmanuel Ramirez), 6:05 pm PDT

Richmond (TBA) at Akron (TBA), 7:05 EDT

San Jose (TBA) at Modesto (TBA), 7:05 pm PDT

Augusta (Seth Corry) vs. Asheville (Nick Bush), 7:05 pm EDT

Salem-Keizer (Travis Perry) vs. Boise (Will Ethridge), 6:35 pm PDT

Well, if Augusta is going to tie for first place, the right guy is on the mound. Here’s hoping for good news on Luciano tomorrow.