Minor League round-up, June 16

Wednesday was a winning day for the San Francisco Giants organization. Not only did the MLB team beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the Giants Minor League affiliates went 2-1 on the day. The AAA Sacramento River Cats had the day off.

Here’s how the other squads did:

AA Richmond (21-17)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 7-5, 11 innings
Box score

The Flying Squirrels lost a close one after failing to score their ghost runner in the 11th inning, followed by Frank Rubio allowing a walk-off home run. The offense was quiet for the second straight game as, for the second-straight game, a double by Andy Sugilio (.651 OPS) represented the team’s only extra-base hit.

But unlike in their Tuesday loss, there were some positives to find on the pitching front. 2019 eighth-round pick Caleb Kilian continued his strong start to the season, allowing 6 hits, 0 walks, and 3 earned runs in 7 innings, while striking out 9. His 2.74 ERA and 2.38 FIP in AA are justifying the quick promotion that he earned a few weeks ago.

And speaking of promotions, shortstop Simon Whiteman picked up his first AA stolen base in his second game, after registering 17 in his 28 games at High-A earlier in the year.

High-A Eugene (22-15)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 7-4
Box score

Farhan Zaidi will be pretty pleased with Eugene’s performance, as the team’s hitters worked 8 walks to just 11 strikeouts. The pitchers, on the other hand, recorded 13 strikeouts while issuing just 4 free passes. Solid baseballing all around.

Franklin Labour and Diego Rincones led the offensive attack, as they both had 2 walks and an extra-base hit.

It was also an encouraging start from Kai-Wei Teng, who was part of the Sam Dyson trade. Teng struck out 10 batters in 5 innings, while allowing just 5 baserunners. He’s now up to 14.2 strikeouts per 9 innings on the season.

Low-A San Jose (26-12)

San Jose Giants beat the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 6-5
Box score

History repeats itself, as the Giants beat the Nuts 6-5 for the second day in a row. And just as with the High-A team, the Major League front office will likely be excited with the San Jose hitters, who struck out just 6 times and drew as many walks (3 of which came from first baseman Abdiel Layer).

Right fielder Carter Williams made his season debut and had a double, and shortstop Marco Luciano added to his growing OPS (.912) by going 2-3 with a walk.

It wasn’t a great start for 2020 fifth-round pick Ryan Murphy, who allowed 5 earned runs in 5 innings, but the bullpen trio of Jorge Labrador, Brooks Crawford, and Clay Helvey combined for 4 shutout innings of relief. Crawford, the 866th pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, now has a 1.23 ERA and a 1.80 FIP, with 12.9 strikeouts and just 1.8 walks per 9 innings.

Home runs

Just one home run on Wednesday.

High-A Franklin Labour (4)

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Salt Lake Bees, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ Somerset Patriots, 4:05 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Hillsboro Hops, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Modesto Nuts, 7:05 p.m. PT