Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/31/2011

AAA Reno Aces edged the Fresno Grizzlies 4-3: Nothing to see here.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels downed the New Britain Rock Cats 8-4:

Darren Ford(CF)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .293.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .257.
Justin Schumer(RHP)- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 1.46.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 3.47.

Culberson had virtually disappeared for several weeks until putting up some nice lines the last couple of games. Strange lines from Schumer and Correa with no K's. in the game until Hembree got 2 in the 9'th.

High A San Jose Giants battered the Bakersfield Blaze 10-1:

Gary Brown(CF)- 1 for 5, BB, SB(50). BA= .336.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .300.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 1 for 4, HR(10), BB. BA= .299.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(12), 2 BB. BA= .269.
Jose Flores(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(2), BB. BA= .243.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.29.
Jacob Dunnington(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.23.

Low A SAL was idle.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes blanked the Tri-City Dust Devils 4-0:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 2, 3B, BB, SF, SAC, 2 SB(45). BA= .281.
Kaohi Downing(2B)- 2 for 5. BA= .312.
Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 5. BA= .337.
Cameron Lamb(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 10/1.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.73.

Looking forward to a very interesting San Jose team next year. Not sure if Galindo makes the jump to SJ or goes one step up to Augusta.

Rookie AZL Dodgers win the AZL Championship with a 4-2 win over the Giants:

Eric Sim(C)- 2 for 2, 2B, 2 HBP.
Cristian Paulino(2B)- 2 for 3, 2B.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's.
Miguel Ferrer(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.
Derek Law(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.

Cautiously optimistic about Gregorio and Paulino, really, about the others too, but especially Gregorio and Paulino.

Game Wrap 8/31/2011: Giants 4 Cubs 0

Wow! On a day that may someday become known as the August 31 Massacre, Madison Bumgarner took matters into his own hands and dominated the Chicago Cubs for 8 innings and the offense contributed some runs to help out. The game, though, was really the secondary story as the Giants designated Miguel Tejada for assignment. That one was really a no-brainer as Miggy had become somewhat of a distraction in the clubhouse and is not under contract for next year. He wasn't coming back anyway. A bit more surprising was the DFA of Aaron Rowand. He is under contract for next year and at a large price. Didn't matter. He had become increasingly vocal about his dissatisfaction at being a bench player and had become a distraction also. His on-field performances have had a steady downhill trend over the last 3 seasons. There was no indication they would ever rebound. His contract was a sunk cost and the Giants apparently accepted that reality. The replacements for these two moves are Pat Burrell coming off the DL and Brett Pill being added to the 40 man roster and called up. It's still a bit unclear how Burrell and Pill will help. Pill plays only 1B and Burrell only plays LF, and not very well. If nothing else, the moves sent a strong message that the housecleaning has begun and if you don't want to get swept out, you better produce and possibly more importantly, you better put the needs of the team first. Key Lines:

Jeff Keppinger- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(6). BA= .303. Kepp has been a very nice addition. Too bad the rest of the team fell apart around him.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, HR(16). BA= .301. Sandoval has been great playing with a bad left shoulder but continuing to be one of the few hitters in the lineup you look forward to their AB's.

Chris Stewart- 2 for 4. BA= .195. I really like CStew, who has played his heart out, but games like this have been way too few and far between. We'll give him credit for calling a great game too.

Madison Bumgarner- 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 3.43. I like it that Bum has bounced back from bad starts with several good-great ones. A short memory is a big asset for a MLB pitcher. Bum looks like a great one for years to come.

Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.60. This wasn't a Save situation, but it was a lead that absolutely had to be preserved. Put Romo in the closer mix until Wilson returns.

We won't know if this win enables the Giants to gain a game on the D'Backs in the NL West, but it was definitely a mood elevator coming into a big weekend series against the Dangerous Ones.

After a much needed day off, Matt Cain takes the mound for the first game Friday Night against the Joe Saunders which should be a winnable game for the lads.

Down on the Farm: 8/30/2011

AAA Fresno Giants held off the Reno Aces 5-2:

Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .295.
Brett Pill(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(25). BA= .312.
Bill Hall(2B)- 1 for 3, HR(7), BB. BA= .286.

Gillaspie is a guy who should get some MLB AB's in September, if nothing else to hope he shows enough to interest some other team in a trade. I hope the Giants find a way to make room for a Pill call up. There are at least 3 or 4 veterans who are not contributing who also will not be back next season. No reason to keep them around just to play out the string, so it's doable.

AA New Britain Rock Cats pounded the Richmond Flying Squirrels 12-3:

Culberson, Peguero and Dominguez had 2 hits each with Peguero's BA climbing to .325. Peguero is a guy who should get some MLB AB's in September too.

High A Bakersfield Blaze out hit the San Jose Giants 11-6:

Hector Sanchez(C)- 1 for 4, HR(9). BA= .300.
Luke Anders(1B)- 1 for 4, HR(13). BA= .247.

Sanchez is yet another kid who should get some games under his belt in September, but watch them keep him in SJ for the playoffs.

Low A Greenville Drive defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 5-3:

Raynor Campbell(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(7). BA= .244.
Jose Valdez(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Short Season Tri-City Dust Devils topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 2-1:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(43). BA= .274.
Kaohi Downing(2B)- 2 for 4, SB(11). BA= .309.
Lorenzo Mendoza(RHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.19.
Keith Bilodeau(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Bilodeau's line spanning 2 levels is 1-0, 0.00, 14 IP, 4 BB, 15 K's. Mendoza has interesting secondary stats: 68 K's against 16 BB in 73 IP. He just turned 20 yo a few days ago.

Rookie AZL Giants pounded the Reds 9-3:

Stephen Yarrow(1B)- 3 for 5, HR, SB.
Eric Sim(C)- 2 for 4.
Mike Merganthaler(LF)- 3 for 3, 2B, 3B, BB.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.

It looks like this was game 1 of the AZL playoffs. The Dodgers are taking on the Rangers in the other division.

Game Wrap 8/30/2011: Cubs 5 Giants 2

It's getting tough to watch Giants baseball these days. I check into the game off and on, but have to admit I'm not watching every inning any more. This one followed an increasingly familiar pattern as Ryan Vogelsong gave up some loud hits early while the Giants offense failed to get the key hit in multiple innings. The result was yet another loss and another game lost in the NL West standings. Key Lines:

Jeff Keppinger- 3 for 5. BA= .297. Kepp has been a solid addition since the trade. He should be retained for next season.

Brandon Belt- 0 for 3. BA= .219. Belt's BA peaked at .243 after game 2 of the Padres series. Since then he has gone 2 for 21 with 1 BB and 8 K's. He's just not adjusting to the breaking ball. If the Giants were still in the race, I'd say he should be benched. Since they aren't, he needs to play every day through September in hopes he can make the adjustment in preparation for next year. Otherwise, I'm afraid we're looking at more AAA time for Brandon next season.

Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.63. Vogey has not been the lights out pitcher he was for a stretch early in the season but 7 of his last 10 starts have been Quality Starts. If this is where he regresses to, he's still a very serviceable #4 or #5 starter. Gotta wonder how much he can be counted on for next season, though.

The D'Backs won again and expanded their lead in the NL West to 6 games with 26 to go. It ain't over 'til it's over, but.....it's over!

Madison Bumgarner, who has the worst run support of any pitcher in baseball this year, goes against Rodrigo Lopez in an afternoon game. If he can't get some help from the offense in this one, it ain't gonna happen.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Game Wrap 8/29/2011: Cubs 7 Giants 0

By all appearances, Tim Lincecum and the Giants gave up on the season in the 7'th inning of tonight's game. After pitching his heart out for 6 innings with only a 1-0 deficit to show for it, Timmy fell apart in the 7'th allowing a solo dinger to Geovanny Soto and a 3 run jack to Blake DeWitt, two guys who ordinarily would not be able to touch Timmy. The look of exasperation on Timmy's face was unmistakable. The offense? What offense? The offense, or what's left of it, laid down and died in front of a mediocre pitcher who came into the game with an ERA of well over 5 and managed just 2 hits while allowing Randy Wells to complete a 9 inning shutout. No Key Lines tonight. There were no redeeming features of tonight's loss.

The D'Backs won their 7'th game in a row with a 5-1 win over the Rockies to stretch their lead over the Giants in the NL West to 5 games with just 27 to play.

Ryan Vogelsong takes the hill tomorrow evening against Matt Garza. If Garza is on, and what pitcher hasn't been against the Giants lately, he's a guy I could easily see no-hitting this team. It's gonna happen sooner or later at this rate.

Down on the Farm: 8/29/2011

AAA Reno Aces defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 5-2: Nothing to see here.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels soared over the New Britain Rock Cats 10-5:

Darren Ford(CF)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .270.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .252.
Francisco Peguero(RF)-3 for 5, HR(5). BA= .323.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 3, 2 SF. BA= .247.
Johnny Monell(DH)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .249.
Justin Fitzgerald(RHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.53.

Peguero is finishing off the season with a flourish. Looks like there should be plenty of opportunity for him and some of the other younger players/prospects to get some extended looks in September.

HIgh A San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7-4:

Gary Brown(CF)- 4 for 5, 2 2B, 3B. BA= .338.
Hector Sanchez(1B)- 2 for 4, 3B, SF. BA= .301.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .267.
Alex Burg(DH)- 2 for 5, 2 HR(13). BA= .294.
Addison Proszek(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.29.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(8). ERA= 4.30.

Another huge game for Brown who is finishing the season on fire. Alex Burg is putting on a strong finish too.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets blanked the Greenville Drive 1-0:

Shawn Sanford(RHP)- 8.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 14/2. ERA= 2.47.

Sanford took a perfecto into the 9'th inning. He's had a great second half of the season with a 2.19 ERA over his last 10 starts. His success is based on control(just 19 BB's in 163.2 IP) and ground balls(GO/AO= 1.66, 1.83 over last 10). His numbers are similar to Kevin Pucetas at the same stage except he has a higher GO/AO.

Short Season The NWL was idle.

Rookie AZL Giants downed the Angels 5-3:

Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 2, BB, 3 SB(11). BA= .357.
Stephen Yarrow(1B-3B)- 2 for 5, HR(1). BA= .286.
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 6.35.

Down on the Farm: 8/28/2011

AAA Sacramento River Cats defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 6-4:

Brett Pill(1B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .313.
Edgar Gonzalez(RF-LF)-2 for 4, HR(14). BA= .321.
Max Ramirez(DH)- 1 for 2, HR(11), BB, HBP. BA= .284.
Tyler LaTorre(C)- 1 for 3, HR(4), BB. BA= .293.

EdGone is coming close to playing every position this year. I think CF, C and P are the only ones left.

AA Akron Aeros beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-2:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .317.
Justin Schumer(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.00.

High A Rancho Cucamonga downed he San Jose Giants 7-5:

Carter Jurica(SS)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .250.
Alex Burg(LF)- 1 for 3, HR(11), BB. BA= .292.

Burg is hitting .344 over his last 10 games. He has played catcher, 3B, 1B and LF for SJ. I think his season batting line is quite interesting: .292/.367/.524.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets blanked the Greenville Drive 7-0:

Devin Harris(LF)- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(14). BA= .231.
Mario Rodriguez(LHP)- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.30.
Gaspar Santiago(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.25.

Scoma, Campbell and Villegas had 2 hits each.

Short Season Boise Hawks topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 9-2:

Nothing to see here.

Rookie AZL Giants were idle.

Hot Tip: Eric Surkamp is John Sickels' Prospect of the Day over on Minor League Ball. The link is over on the left.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Game Wrap 8/28/2011: Astros 4 Giants 3

I will give the Giants credit for battling to win this game. That would be a good sign for the future except for 2 inconvenient truths: 1. The Giants are rapidly running out of time 2. Their offense was utterly dominated for the first 6 innings of this game, perhaps like they haven't been dominated before this season, and that's saying a LOT! By the time the offense came to life, they had already lost too many potential opportunities to score runs. They didn't even get so far as to HAVE opportunities. Key Lines:

Matt Cain- 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.87. When the Giants scored 2 runs in the 7'th inning to take a 2-1 lead, I really thought Cainer might make that stand up the rest of the way. He was only at 85 pitches and was cruising. Alas, 31 pitches later, the game was tied and Cainer was done. Otherwise just another stellar pitching performance from the Hoss.

Bud Norris- 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 3.68. 2 of the hits and the BB came in the 7'th. For the first 6 innings, he might as well have been pitching a no-hitter. He was that dominant, maybe more so than a lot of no-hitters.

The D'Backs finished off their sweep of the Pathetic Padres 6-1 and the Giants drop 4 games off the pace on the NL West. That is now a deficit that cannot be made up with a H2H series sweep. It ain't over till it's over, but right now the D'Backs have the momentum and the Giants have whatever the opposite of momentum is.

The Cubbies are coming to town for a 3 game set with Timmy taking on Randy Wells in the opener tomorrow night.

Down on the Farm: 8/27/2011

AAA. Sacramento River Cats edged the Fresno Grizzlies 5-4:

Justin Christian- 2 for 4, HR(8), SB(32). BA= .332.
Brett Pill- 3 for 4. BA= .311.
Conor Gillaspie- 2 for 4. BA= .296.
Jason Stevenson- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.56.

Justin Christian has had a tremendous season and really seems like he could help a MLB team. Hopefully Stevenson gets a chance to stick around next year for a longer look.

AA. Richmond edged the Akron Aeros 3-2:

Darren Ford- 1 for 4, BB, 3 SB(6). BA= .254.
Wendell Fairley- 3 for 5, SB(2). BA= .280.
Ryan Verdugo- 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.11.

The Giants could use Ford's pinch running skills in Sept. Has Verdugo done enough this year to stay on the starter track? His K/9>9, but his BB/9 is around 4 which is too high.

High A. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes outlasted the San Jose Giants 8-7 in 14 innings:

Gary Brown- 2 for 6, 2 BB, SB(49). BA= .334.
Ehire Adrianza- 2 for 7, 2B, 3B, BB. BA= .304.
Tommy Joseph- 3 for 6, 2B, BB. BA= .270.
Ryan Cavan- 3 for 7. BA= .268.
Alex Burg- 3 for 7, 2B, HR(10). BA= .291.
Aaron King- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.

Burg's bat and versatility is an intriguing package. King finally makes it back to SJ and has a successful return. He still has a wild hair up his nose, though, as Kruk would say.

Low A. Greenville Drive pounded the Augusta Greenjackets 10-4:

Really nothing to see here. I'm surprised they got this one in with all the hurricanes a blowin'. Maybe they were far enough inland that they didn't get any of the storm. I would have thought it would be at least raining cats and dogs.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Boise Hawks 6-1:

Joe Panik- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .337.
Brett Krill- 1 for 4, HR(6). BA= .318.
Jack Snodgrass- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 9/2. ERA= 3.02.
Keith Bilodeau- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Phil McCormick- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.91.

Rookie AZL Giants downed the Cubs 6-3:

Kelby Tomlinson- 3 for 5. BA= .348.
Jose Cuevas- 3 for 3, 2B, SF. BA= .341.
Mike Merganthaler- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .382.
Christian Paulino- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(10). BA= .287.
Kyle Vazquez- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 7.36.
Derek Law- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.50.

I would expect Tomlinson to be the starting SS at Augusta next year with Panik in San Jose. Cuevas is repeating the AZL at age 23, but with much better results. Does he or Buechele get the 3B gig for Augusta next year? Merganthaler has been a surprise after being drafted in round 32 out of Richmond where he batted .307 but stole 18 of 20 bases. Paulino is a guy I think could make a big move next year. Does he get the Augusta 2B job over Kaohi Downing next year, or does Downing jump over Willoughby and grab the SJ job? Vazquez is in his 3'rd professional season. I think he may be coming off an injury though. I think this was his best game so far this year, maybe in his career.

Game Wrap 8/27/2011: Giants 2 Astros 1

Eric Surkamp had a successful major league debut and the Giants offense sputtered to 2 runs over 10 innings. In the end, though, the team and the fans got a walk-off celebration that stirred memories of last season. They looked like they were having fun! Maybe that injection of enthusiasm will be the spark that gets them going toward a stretch run. Key Lines:

Mike Fontenot- 1 for 5, 2B. BA= .220. Fonty's double to lead off the game eventually resulted in the first run on a couple of groundouts. It would be the only hit for the Giants until deep into the game and the only run until the walk-off 10 innings later.

Jeff Keppinger- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .296. Kepp has done everything he was acquired to do. His 2 out liner in the bottom of the 10'th was his second game winner in as many nights.

Carlos Beltran- 2 for 4. BA= .290. Second 2 hit game in a row for Beltran and 3'rd in 4 games with a 4 game hitting streak since coming off the DL.

Mark DeRosa- 1 for 1, SB(1). BA= .184. DeRosa came into the game at 1B replacing Huff on a double switch. He singled up the middle with one out in the bottom of the 10'th. Stole 2B on what is being reported to be a straight steal. Fonty swung at a bad pitch to try to help him out but apparently DeRosa was going on his own after Roberto Kelly tipped him off that the pitcher was slow to the plate. After Fonty struck out, DeRosa was off with the crack of the bat on Keppinger's hit, didn't hesitate rounding 3B even though RF Bogusevic has a rocket arm and slid home with the game winning run. Nice celebration afterwards led by Brian Wilson and Big Time Timmy Jim.

Eric Surkamp- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.50. Surkamp had to have had butterflies in his first MLB start, but he kept the Astros at bay for 6 innings. He got lucky on a 1 out liner to Sandoval with the bases loaded at one point, but showed a nice mixture of pitches. FB 88-90. A Sharp curveball, occasional slider and a changeup which I did not see very many of. if any. I think he earned a second start, don't you? Maybe the Giants finally have a decent #5 starter for the rest of the way.

Guillermo Mota- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.72. Another yeoman performance by Mota who has saved the Giants bacon on numerous occasions with multi-inning relief work.

The Giants needed the W to stay withing shouting distance of the NL West leading D'Backs who topped the Pathetic Padres again 3-1 to remain 3 games ahead.

Matt Cain takes the mound today against Bud Norris, who has serious stuff, but as Kuip likes to say, can also get a wild hair up his nose at times.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/26/2011

AAA. Sacramento River Cats defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 6-2:

Andres Torres- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .273.

Nothing else to see here. Grizzlies mustered just 3 hits in the game. Torres will probably be activated on Sunday

AA. Akron Aeros beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-5:

Nothing to see here. Quinowski got the start and it didn't go well. 5 runs in 0.2 IP.

High A San Jose Giants edged the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 8-7:

Gary Brown- 3 for 5, 2B, BB, SB(48). BA= .334.
Jarrett Parker- 2 for 4, HR(12), BB. BA= .266.

Brown is red hot, hitting .442 over his last 10 games. I don't know what his BABIP is, but I'm pretty sure he won't sustain it, although his .334 BA on the season might be his true mean. Noon an and Hector Sanchez had 2 hits each.

Low A. Greenville Drive blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 3-0:

Mike Kickham- 6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 14/1. BA= 4.09.

Jackets managed just 3 hits in this one. Kick ham's peripherals look pretty good on the season with 98 K's in 105.2 IP with a + K/BB. He might stand to improve on his BB/9, but it's not terrible at about 3.

Short Season. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Boise Hawks 7-3:

Leonardo Ochoa- 3 for 4, HR(5). BA= .282.
Joe Panik- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .337.
Kaohi Downing- 2 for 3, 2B, 3B, BB. BA= .300.
Brett Krill- 0 for 3, BB, 2 Assists(3B, Home). BA= .319.
Paul Davis- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.80.

Davis gets the promo from Arizona and has a successful first start for S-K. Krill apparently has a cannon in RF. I wonder if Panik could be accelerated a bit next year. Maybe SJ for 2 months until the weather arms up back east then the rest of the season in AA. It would be nice to have him and Brown come up together and provide a 1-2 punch at the top of the order for a full 6 years pre- FA.

Rookie AZL. Giants crushed the D'Backs 13-2:

Mike Merganthaler- 3 for 4, SF, SB(3). BA= .374.
Jose Cuevas- 1 for 1, BB, 2 SB(9). BA= .329.
Stephen Yarrow- 2 for 2, 2B, 3 BB. BA= .274.
Jean Delgado- 1 for 3, 3 BB. BA= .217.
Kentrall Hill- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .262.
Gus Benusa- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB. BA= .292.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.
Demandre Arnold- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.69.
Sundrendy Windster- 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 6.05.
Chris Marlowe- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Cuevas may have been injured as he was lifted for a PH from the DH spot. Delgado has an OBP of .383. I've read reports from people who have seen Hill play who came away very impressed by his athleticism. Romo has a successful rehab appearance. Arnold continues to impress.

Game Wrap 8/26/2011: Giants 2 Astros 1

Jeff Keppinger drove in 2 runs with a 5'th inning double. Madison Bumgarner had a solid start, and the bullpen was great as usual making it stand up for a much needed win for the Giants. Key Lines:

Jeff Keppinger- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .296. Keep has been a slid contributor since the trade. I'd like to see him stay on next year.

Carlos Beltran- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA = .288. I still think Beltran can turn himself and the team around in time for a stretch run.

Madison Bumgarner- 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 12/3. ERA= 3.59. Not a great K line, but he made up for it by keeping the ball on the ground.

Ramon Ramirez- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.98. Another solid relief job by Ramirez.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2). ERA= 1.40. I'd say Casilla is the closer until Wilson returns.

The Win enabled the Giants to stay 3 games behind the Dangerous D'Backs who blanked the Pathetic Padres 5-0 behind Tomahawk Boy.

It's always exciting for us prospect watchers when a kid we've been following for years in the minors gets to show his stuff in the majors. Eric Surkamp gets that chance today jumping from AA to the majors. He's got an average fastball, a great curveball and a plus change up with good command of all of them. We'll finally get to see how that plays in the Show.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/25/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Sacramento River Cats 7-4:

Andres Torres(DH)- 1 for 5. BA= .275.
Brandon Crawford(SS)- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .272.
Edgar Gonzalez(LF)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .323.
Justin Christian(CF-RF)- 2 for 4, 2 SB(31). BA= .333.

Not sure where people are getting the notion that Torres is "tearing it up" down in Fresno. Yeah, I know Amy G said it on a broadcast, but come on people, pay attention! Justin Christian is a guy who I think has earned a chance at a big league roster spot. I think he could help some team, maybe one not that far away from Fresno at least as a reserve OF. Ditto EdGone as a utility IF.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels edged out the Akron Aeros 4-3:

Francisco Peguero(DH)- 4 for 5. BA= .313.

Peguero is pretty much the same player at this level that he's been at lower levels. I find that encouraging.

High A San Jose Giants battered the Stockton Ports 11-5:

Gary Brown(CF)- 5 for 5, 2 2B, 2 HR(12). BA= .331.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .307.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .265.
Alex Burg(1B)- 2 for 3, 2 2B, SF. BA= .288.

What a huge game for Gary Brown! Gotta think this guy is going to get an AFL assignment then a chance to win a job out of Spring Training. Would it be better for him to spend some time at AA and AAA before getting his shot at the show? Adrianza is repeating the level, but just turned 22 yo a few days ago. He's a superior defensive shortstop. He's hitting .349 over his last 10 games.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets smothered the Kannapolis Intimidators 2-1:

Robert Haney(SS)- 3 for 4. BA= .251.
Ryan Lollis(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .313.
Taylor Rogers(RHP)- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.84.

Short Season Boise Hawks topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7-4:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 4, 2 SB(42). BA= .285.
Mike Murray(DH)- 3 for 4, 2 2B, BB. BA= .341.
Ben Thomas(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .314.

Galindo is looking like a very dynamic player who could develop into an ideal CF/leadoff hitter. Gee! Do the Giants have anybody else like that in the system? Murray continues to rake as does Ben Thomas.

Rookie AZL Giants out hit the Cubs in a wild one 17-15 in 12 innings:

Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 3 for 7, 3B. BA= .338.
Eric Sim(C)- 3 for 3, 3B. BA= .356.
Jonathan Jones(DH)- 2 for 7, BA= .231.
Cristian Paulino(2B)- 5 for 6, 3 2B, BB, 2 SB(9). BA= .279.
Gus Benusa(RF-CF)- 2 for 5, 3B, BB. BA= .279.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.43.
Miguel Ferrer(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.53.
Derek Law(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(3). ERA= 2.76.

Love these games in the desert heat! Credit to Ferrer and Law for stopping the Cubs' offensive onslaught. Cristian Paulino looks like a dynamic player with a high ceiling as he develops his game. He's got speed, excellent OBP skills and a whiff of power.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Game Wrap 8/25/2011: Astros 3 Giants 1

Yet another Giants Quality Start went to waste as the offense turned in yet another pathetic performance, almost beyond belief. The Giants' lone run scored on an RBI groundout by Orlando Cabrera against a starter the Giants gave up on. How embarrassing is THAT? Key Lines:

Ryan Vogelsong- 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K's ERA= 2.54. Yeah, the BB's are ugly, but a QS is a QS. That should be enough to win against a guy like Henry Sosa.

Henry Sosa- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 5.09. OK, maybe Sosa has pretty good stuff. Maybe he pitched pretty well tonight, but I'm also quite sure this line has a lot more to do with the Giants offense than Henry Sosa's pitching ability.

The Loss dropped the Giants 3 games behind the Dangerous D'Backs in the NL West as the D'Backs polished off the Nationals 8-1.

Madison Bumgarner takes the mound tomorrow night against lefty JA Happ.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/24/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies mauled the Sacramento River Cats 14-6:

Andres Torres(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .283.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .296.
Bill Hall(2B)- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .306.
Brandon Crawford(SS)- 1 for 3, BB, SF. BA= .273.
Justin Christian(RF-LF)- 4 for 5, 2 2B, HR(7). BA= .330.
Tyler LaTorre(C)- 1 for 4, HR(3). BA= .303.

AA Altoona Curve defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-2:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 3 for 4, SB(8). BA= .303
Skyler Stromsmoe(SS)- 2 for 4, HR(2). BA= .283.

High A Stockton Ports edged the San Jose Giants 5-4:

Gary Brown(CF)- 3 for 5. BA= .325.
Pat Burrell(DH)- 2 for 4. BA= .500.
Nick Noonan(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .274.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets came from behind to edge the Kannapolis Intimidators 3-2:

Shawn Sanford(RHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.61.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.32.

Short Season Boise Hawks topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7-4:

Joe Staley(C)- 2 for 4, HR(8). BA= .297.
Ben Thomas(1B)- 3 for 4. BA= .299.

Payne, Krill and Downing also had 2 hits each.

Rookie AZL Athletics downed the Giants 7-2:

Mike Mergenthaler(LF)- 3 for 5. BA= .358.
Eric Sim(DH)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .341.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.08.

Game Wrap 8/24/2011: Giants 2 Pesky Padres 1

Tim Lincecum was, once again, Big Time Timmy Jim tonight holding the Pesky Ones at bay while Beltran and Belt produced just enough offense to give the Giants a win they desperately needed. Key Lines:

Carlos Beltran- 2 for 4, HR(16). BA= .285. Beltran's laser shot HR into the RF arcade in the 4'th inning gave the Giants their first run and gave Timmy the lead. It might be just a bit early to be calling the Beltran trade a bust?

Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, 3B, SB(3). BA= .243. There were Giraffe hats in the stands as The Awkward One showed off his athleticism running out a standup triple to the CF wall and later easily stealing 2B.

Tim Lincecum- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.46. Timmy walked the bases loaded in the first inning after 2 outs. He got out of that one and then settled down to pretty much dominate the rest of the way. Big Time Timmy Jim may be gunning for another Cy. He has an ERA of 1.44 since the first of July.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(10). ERA= 1.43. A dominating save for Casilla. He just blew the last 2 batters away! Who needs Brian Wilson?

The Win enabled the Giants to keep pace with the Dangerous D'Backs 2 games behind in the NL West.

The Giants also begin a 4 game series against the Houston Astros with Ryan Vogelsong facing Henry Sosa tomorrow night.

Down on the Farm: 8/23/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Las Vegas 51's 7-6:

Tyler LaTorre(C)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(2). BA= .306.
Emmanuel Burriss(2B)- 2 for 5, SB(23). BA= .309.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(9). ERA= 3.66.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels split a DH with the Altoona Curve winning 6-2 and losing 4-3:

Darren Ford(CF)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .240.
Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .299.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 1 for 2, BB, SF. BA= .257.
Justin Schumer(RHP)- 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.50
David Quinowski(LHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.63.
Tim Alderson(Curve)- 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.48.

Anybody else impressed with now Peguero has handled AA? Schumer gets the call up from Augusta. Seems the Giants aren't moving anybody from SJ as they gear up for the Cal League playoffs. Q has quietly had a good season. Catching up on Tim Alderson, he is not having an impressive year at all with just 48 K's in 66.1 IP, with a GO/AO<1. He has a 9.37 ERA in his last 10 appearances.

Jackson Williams(C)- 1 for 2, HR(3). BA= .226.

With all the catching in the Giants system, it seems Williams is likely going to have to find another organization to have any hope of sniffing a cup-o-coffee in the majors.

High A San Jose Giants squeaked by the Stockton Ports 1-0:

Craig Westcott(RHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.93.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's, Save(6). ERA= 4.42.

The Giants mustered just 4 hits but 3 of those were doubles by Brown, Joseph and Jurica. Ironically, none of the doubles played a role in scoring the 1 run in the game.

Low A Kannapolis Intimidators outlasted the Augusta Greenjackets 5-4 in 11 innings:

Seth Rosin(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.58.
Andrew Bowlin(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.66.

Bowlin has a 1.46 ERA in his last 10 appearances spanning 12.1 IP. Mazzola, Harris, Weeks and Zambrano had multi-hit games. the top 3 batters in the 'Jackets' lineup, Willoughby, Lofton and Duvall went a combined 0 for 16.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Vancouver Canadians 12-0:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 0 for 2, 2 BB, 3 SB(40). BA= .283.
Ben Thomas(1B)- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(1). BA= .270.
Reiner Roibal(RHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.50.
Keith Bilodeau(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Phil McCormick(LHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.99.

Ben Thomas had been struggling since his promotion to S-K. This game raised his BA by about 50 pts. Payne, Panik and Krill also had 2 hit games.

Rookie AZL Giants were idle.

Interesting story in BA about Jason Stevenson, the LHP recently signed by the Giants and assigned to Fresno. He had been out of baseball for 5 years before hooking on with the indy Chico Outlaws this year. He walked away from the Expos organization 5 years ago after reaching AAA. It sounds like he then battled depression and other personal demons before finally pulling himself together and giving it another try. One interesting tidbit, he reportedly cleaned up his delivery by doing a lot of mirror work all by himself! Here's to hoping he can keep it together and prove something to himself. Bacci, sounds like you've got a new guy to root for!

Game Wrap 8/23/2011: Pesky Padres 7 Giants 5

The Giants mounted a comeback in the late innings against the Pesky Ones that had AT&T Park rockin' again, but the Peskiness of the Padres knows no bounds and they came back to retake the lead in the top of the 9'th inning and then held on for the Win. More ominously, the Giants sent two more players to the DL. Jonathan Sanchez was no surprise as his sprained ankle seemed like DL material from day 1. Nate Schierholtz turned out to have a fracture in his foot after all, which he apparently aggravated on Sunday, and a subsequent MRI showed the fracture which was not seen on the original X-ray. I don't remember when Nate fouled the ball off his foot, but that he has since apparently been playing on a fractured foot is pretty mind boggling. At this point, it's considered a good day for the Giants if they only put one player on the DL! Beltran came off the DL to replace Sanchez and may start game 2 against the Padres, but one gets the feeling that he still isn't 100%, especially batting from the left side. He pinch hit in this game against a LHP. Key Lines:

Cody Ross- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .237. Good to see Ross be a bit more patient at the plate tonight out of the 6 hole.

Hector Sanchez- 1 for 1. BA= .250. Sanchez gets his first MLB hit, a nice GB up the middle for an RBI in the 8'th inning rally.

Orlando Cabrera- 2 for 2. BA= .246. OCab entered the game in the bottom of the 7'th as a PH for Matt Cain. He ended up with the only multi-hit game for the Giants.

Matt Cain- 7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.90. Giants Nirvana has a nice story up showing how Matt Cain is statistically still on the upward side of his career as he has steadily improved his numbers year by year, including this year which is shaping up to be his best year yet. The most amazing part is his HR/FB rate which has always confounded his sabermetric critics but rather than regressing has gone to a whole new level this year. Ironically, it was a 2 run HR by Kyle Blanks that was the big blow for the Padres in this one. Even still, the Giants might have won this one were it not for the unearned runs.

Mat Latos(Padres)- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 11/3. ERA= 3.74. I missed the first part of the game. When I looked at the box score and saw 0 hits for the Giants after 4 innings, I said "uh-oh!" The line tells you that Latos didn't really pitch all that well, but as anemic as the Giants offense is right now, it seems like just a matter of time until they get no-hit by some random pitcher.

The Loss dropped the Giants 2 full games behind the Dangerous D'Backs who blanked the Nationals 2-0 behind Ian Kennedy who just might win 20 games this year.

Tim Lincecum takes on the Pesky Ones and Tim Stauffer tonight in what seems like a must-win game.

Addendum: According to Baggs, Nate is not going on the DL mainly because it's only 9 days until rosters expand and the Giants apparently think he can help in a PH role before then.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/22/2011

Before we delve into the farm, we'll note that the Nationals defeated the D'Backs tonigh, 4-1 so the Giants trail them in the NL West by just 1 game coming into the most favorable stretch of the season. Can the Giants overcome the injuries and get it done? Go Giants!!

AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Las Vegas 51's 6-4:

Andres Torres(CF)- 2 for 5, 3B, HR(3). BA= .270.
Brett Pill(1B)- 3 for 5. BA= .312.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .296.
Jason Stevenson(LHP)- 6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.68.
Waldis Joaquin(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 3.33.

Torres is at his best when he is driving the ball. He's had trouble maintaining it this year. I don't know what Stevenson has been doing the last 6 years of his life. He last pitched in the affiliated minor leagues in 2005!

AA Altoona Curve edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-2:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .295.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, SB(1). BA= .250.
Skyler Stromsmoe(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .275.
Ryan Verdugo(LHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.17.

High A San Jose Giants destroyed the High Desert Mavericks 18-4:

Gary Brown(CF)- 3 for 5, 2 3B. BA= .323.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 1 for 4, HR(3), SF, HBP. BA= .303.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 2 for 5, 2B(30), HR(20). BA= .269.
Nick Noonan(3B)- 2 for 4, SF. BA= .276.
Luke Anders(1B)- 2 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .251.
Juan Ciriaco(LF)- 3 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .301.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.29.
Ari Ronick(LHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.27.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.48.

The Mavs committed 5 errors and the Giants committed 3 in this one.

Low A Kannapolis Intimidators outlasted the Augusta Greenjackets 3-2 in 12 innings:

Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, S. BA= .292.
Josh Mazzola(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(13), BB, SF. BA= .256.
Ryan Scoma(RF)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .249.
Robert Haney(SS)- 3 for 5. BA= .240.
Ryan Bradley(LHP)- 6.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 8/1. ERA= 3.80.

Bradley has a ERA of 2.22 over his last 10 appearances with a 2.48 GO/AO.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Vancouver Canadians 14-5:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 5, SB(37). BA= .286.
Shawn Payne(LF)- 2 for 4, 3B, 2 BB. BA= .310.
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 5, 3B, HR(6). BA= .346.
Mike Murray(DH)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .333.
Brett Krill(RF)- 2 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .320.
Garrett Buechele(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(5), BB. BA= .264.
Ben Thomas(1B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .224.
Jack Snodgrass(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.49.
Chris Gloor(LHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.45.

Wow! Where do I start? Right now, the Giants farm system is like AM/PM: Too much good stuff!

Rookie AZL Giants downed the Angels 6-5:

Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .344.
Christian Paulino(2B)- 1 for 2, 3 BB, SB(7). BA= .250.
Eldred Barnett(LF)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .260.
Jonathan Jones(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .167.

Jones was the 23'rd round draft choice of the Giants this year out of JC ball in Canada. He's listed as a 3B in BA's Draft Database. At 6'4", 205 lb he may profile more as a 1B. I've read that he may be a bit of a project but has a high ceiling.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/21/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Las Vegas 51's 3-2:

Brandon Crawford(SS)- 0 for 4. BA= .275.
Justin Christian(RF)- 2 for 4, 2 2B, SB(28). BA= .319.
Max Ramirez(C)- 2 for 4, HR(9). BA= .285.
Matt Yourkin(LHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.59.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Akron Aeros 2-0:

Eric Surkamp(LHP)- 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.02.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(15). ERA= 3.52.

Not a great K game for Surkamp but he got deeper into the game than usual and pitched a gem.

High A San Jose Giants edged the High Desert Mavericks 4-3:

Gary Brown(CF)- 1 for 5, 2 Assists(2B, 1B). BA= .320.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 7.1 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 3.43.

Even when he doesn't have a great day at the plate, Brown helps his team win in other ways. In addition to a pretty sweet set of wheels in the OF, he seems to have a pretty good arm to go with it. Heston has been terrific over his last 9 starts: 5-1, 2.52, 60.1 IP, 17 BB, 61 K's. He also has a GO/AO>2 on the season.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets smothered the Charleston River Dogs 9-1:

Ryan Lollis(CF)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .313.
Adam Duvall(DH)- 2 for 3, HR(22), BB, HBP. BA= .290.
Jeff Arnold(C)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .224.
Ydwin Villegas(SS)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .194.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 9/3. ERA= 4.18.

I believe this may be Kickham's best appearance as a professional.

Short Season Vancouver Canadians topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 8-7:

Shawn Payne(LF)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB, 3 SB(19). BA= .304.
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .345.
Garrett Buechele(3B)- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(4). BA= .258.

Payne is hitting .400 over his last 10 games. Buechele is 7 for 16 over his last 4 games.

Rookie AZL Giants defeated the Angels 7-3:

Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .345.
Stephen Yarrow(1B)- 3 for 5. BA= .286.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.37.
Chris Marlowe(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.
Derek Law(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.93.

5'th round pick Chris Marlowe makes a successful professional debut. Seems like shortstop is going to be a mighty crowded position in the organization next spring. Probably a good problem to have.

DSL No games scheduled. The DSL regular season ended with yesterday's games. The Giants finished 3'rd in their division at 35-32, 9.5 games behind the division winning Cubs2 team. The Giants will not be participating in the DSL playoffs this year.

Game Wrap 8/21/2011: Giants 6 Astros 4

It was an ugly game at the end of an ugly road trip, but you know what? The Giants won and survived the most difficult stretch of their schedule with only a 1.5 game deficit to show for it. In the process, a few bright spots are starting to shine through the darkness. Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 6, HR(15). BA= .310. Pablo is banged up but playing his heart out. He deserves consideration for the Willie Mac Award, although Vogelsong continues to be the frontrunner. The 2 run dinger was a huge game winner to left-of-center >404 ft.

Aubrey Huff- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .248. While practically everyone has been calling for him to be benched, Huff has been hot for awhile. He was on base 3 times in 5 PA's today.

Brandon Belt- 4 for 5, HR(5). BA= .230. OK, I'm ready to say it. Belt is ready to be a starting player in the major leagues! The dinger was an inside fastball that he pulled his arms in for, turned on it and drove it off the facing of the second deck in RF while his parents, wifey and extended family cheered him on. He pulled another inside pitch into RF for a single, went the other way on an outside pitch and pulled yet another one on the outer half of the plate to right-center. He's closed up the holes in his swing and is comfortable enough to be more aggressive. He now has 5 dingers in 100 AB's. That projects to 30 dingers over 600 AB's in a full season as an every day starter. His OBP is 100 pts higher than his BA. Yeah, he's ready! When Beltran comes back, I think the Giants need to put him in CF, Nate in RF and Belt in LF. Maybe, maybe platoon Ross and Belt. Belt has to be the starting LF next year if Huff is still around, starting 1B if not.

Dan Runzler- 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 7.77. Well, that didn't go so well! Runzler had a chance to get out of the second inning with just 1 run allowed after inducing a DP grounder with the bases loaded. He then walked the pitcher, Sosa and Altuve made him pay, as expected. Bochy was clearly steamed in the dugout. I'm thinking we won't be seeing Runzler again any time soon.

Bullpen- 9.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. Mota took a couple of batters to settle in but after that, the bullpen was nails as usual in these kinds of games. I'll single out Steve Edlefsen: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. I'm thinking the cool climes of AT&T Park may help his sinker and slider work better than it did in the PCL.

The Braves completed a sweep of the D'Backs in ATL 1-0 allowing the Giants to creep up to 1.5 games behind in the NL West.

The Giants now get a travel day off before starting a 12 game homestand which also starts a stretch of 18 home games out of their next 21. Their season will depend on how they do in this stretch. This is their big schedule advantage for the season. They have to do it now!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/20/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Las Vegas 51's 8-7:

Andres Torres(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B, BB. BA= .250.
Brandon Crawford(SS)- 0 for 5. BA= .292.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .292.
Justin Christian(RF)- 2 for 3, 2B, HBP, 2 SB(27). BA= .315.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Akron Aeros 8-6:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 1 for 1, BB, 2 SF, SB(7). BA= .300.
Roger Kieschnick(DH)- 1 for 4, HR(16). BA= .260.
Wendell Fairley(LF)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .268.
Skyler Stromsmoe(SS)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .268.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(14). BA= 3.68.

High A High Desert Mavericks blanked the San Jose Giants 2-0:

Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 3, HBP, SB(47). BA= .321.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .306.
Tom Vessella(LHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.75.
Michael Main(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.65.
Addison Proszek(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.

I believe this was Vessella's best appearance as member of the Giants organization, by a fair margin. Proszek gets the promo from the AZL. He's a big RHP drafted out of Gonzaga in 2009 and hadn't shown much before this year.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets beat the Charleston River Dogs 6-3:

Taylor Rogers(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.90.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, Save(7). ERA= 1.35.

Lollis, Mazzola and Weeks had 2 hits each. Duvall, Harris and Weeks had a double each.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds outlasted the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 5-4 in 11 innings:

Shawn Payne(CF)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(16). BA= .291.
Cameron Lamb(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.26.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.38.

Payne has kind of gone unnoticed but has put together a fine first professional season.

Rookie AZL Giants topped the Indians 7-5:

Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 3 for 5, SB(8). BA= .339.
Eric Sim(DH)- 2 for 4, 3B, SF. BA= .344.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 7.50.

DSL Giants downed the Nationals 3-1:

Nothing to see here.

Game Wrap 8/20/2011: Astros 7 Giants 5

The offense showed some signs of life, so of course the Madison Bumgarner has an off day and the Giants Roadus Horribilus continued. Bum actually didn't pitch as bad as it looks. Yes, he left some balls out over the plate, and when he does that he tends to get hit hard. He did indeed give up some hard hit balls but he also gave up a whole bunch of dribblers, bloopers and seeing-eye ground balls that added to the mayhem. Key Lines:

Aubrey Huff- 2 for 4, HR(12), BB. BA= .248. Huffster is hitting .282 over his last 10 games and has an OPS of .846 in August.

Keppinger, Sandoval and Fontenot also had 2 hit games.

Madison Bumgarner- 6.2 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.68. See discussion above.

The Loss prevented the Giants, once again, from gaining ground on the Dangerous D'Backs who lost again to the Braves 8-1 this time to remain 2.5 games up in the NL West.

Looks like Brian Wilson is going on the DL.

Dan Runzler gets the start tomorrow against former Giants farmhand Henry Sosa. Now, losing to Sosa would be embarrassing! I'm sure Sosa will have something to prove to his old organization out there tomorrow though. I'm also pretty sure Guillermo Mota will be warming up in the bullpen from the get-go, maybe even before the game starts!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/19/2011

Generally on the day of a tough loss, it's nice to dream about the future while perusing the minor league box scores, but several of the Giants minor league teams got shut out today too. Not a particularly good day to be a Giants fan.

AAA Round Rock Express flattened the Fresno Grizzlies 12-2:

Andres Torres(CF)- 1 for 5, HR(2). BA= .208.
Emmanuel Burriss(2B)- 1 for 5. BA= .309.
Brandon Crawford(SS)- 1 for 4. BA= .317.
Brad Eldred(????)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Impressive emergency pitching appearance for Eldred. At 6'6", 270 lb, he'd be an imposing presence on the mound.

AA Akron Aeros blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-0:

Justin Fitzgerald(RHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 11/1. ERA= 3.38.

Stromsmoe and Culberson had 2 hits each out of a total of 5 for the Squirrels.

High A San Jose Giants beat the High Desert Mavericks 5-1:

Andy Reichard(RHP)- 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 2.88.

Reichard has a 2.25 ERA since moving to starter over his last 6 games. He's 26 yo which is old for a SP prospect, but he's a big strong guy who seems to get better with more work. Cavan, Burg and Flores had 2 hits each. Parker, Joseph, Cavan and Ciriaco each had a double. BTW, Tommy Joseph made #4 on BA's Hot Sheet this week and Ehire Adrianza, surprisingly, was #9.

Low A Charleston River Dogs squeaked past the Augusta Greenjackets 1-0:

Shawn Sanford(RHP)- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 17/2. ERA= 2.73.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.67.

Pretty ridiculous ground ball rate there for Sanford.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 5-1:

Lorenzo Mendoza(RHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.02
Rafael Martinez(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 7.17.

Rookie AZL Giants defeated the Padres 5-2:

Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .327.
Eric Sim(DH)- 2 for 4, SB(5). BA= .339.
Mike Merganthaler(RF)- 3 for 4, 2 2B, HR(4). BA= .366.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 5.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, 2 HBP. ERA= 0.32.
Derek Law(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2). ERA- 3.38.

The 2 HBP's were the only baserunners Blackburn allowed. Law has 14 K's against just 2 BB in 13.1 IP.

Game Wrap 8/19/2011: Astros 6 Giants 0

I think it's fair to say, at this point, the Giants have been decimated by injuries. There were several additions to the casualty list today including Pablo Sandoval with a shoulder strain, Orlando Cabrera with a groin strain and Eli Whiteside with an apparent concussion, leaving them with a truly pathetic lineup that had no chance against a pretty good MLB pitcher in Wandy Rodriquez. If you want more details of the injury list, check out Extra Baggs. He's got all the info. The 'Stros fielded a AAA lineup themselves but their hitters launched a spirited attack against Ryan Vogelsong who didn't pitch as bad as his line looked like but it didn't matter. 1 run was all the 'Stros needed in this one. Key Lines:

Ryan Vogelsong- 7 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.47. Vogey obviously wasn't as sharp today as he was in his last start. Still, he didn't pitch that badly and it might have been a different outcome had the Giants been capable of mounting any kind of offensive attack at all as well as fielding the ball better.

In losing, the Giants failed to gain ground on the Dangerous D'Backs who lost to the Braves 4-2. The Giants remained 2.5 games off the pace with Colorado and LA tied for 3'rd place at 11.5 games behind. So, it's still a 2 team race and the Giants remain within fairly easy striking distance. They are going to have to get some people well, and quickly, though.

Madison Bumgarner takes on rookie RHP Jordan Lyles tomorrow. It remains to be seen if the Giants have enough bodies to field a lineup though. We may actually see a pitcher or two playing another position before this is over!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/18/2011

AAA Round Rock Express defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 7-4:

Brandon Crawford(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .274.
Justin Christian(RF)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(25). BA= .311.
Tyler LaTorre(C)- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(1). BA= .323.

Brett Tomko was the starter for Round Rock. He has a 6.42 ERA for them.

AA Bowie Baysox edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-4:

Johnny Monell(DH)- 2 for 4. BA= .253.
Juan Perez(LF)- 2 for 4, HR(4), SB(21). BA= .249.
Skyler Stromsmoe(SS)- 2 for 4, HR(1). BA= .250.

Roger Kieschnick appeared as a PH in his first game action since 8/13.

High A San Jose Giants were idle.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets out hit the Charleston River Dogs 9-6:

Carlos Willoughby(2B)- 3 for 5, 3B. BA= .259.
Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 5. BA= .253.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 2, 3 BB. BA= .287.
Ryan Scoma(LF)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .248.
Mario Rodriguez(LHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.84.
Edward Concepcion(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.83.

Rodriguez has a 1.46 ERA over his last 10 appearances spanning 12.1 IP. Concepcion has 53 K's in 44.2 IP.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 5-4:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 5, 3 SB(36). BA= .285.
Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(12). BA= .347.
Garrett Buechele(3B)- 2 for 3, 2B, SB(1). BA= .247.
Reiner Roibal(RHP)- 5 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.86.
Chris Gloor(LHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.95.

5 SB's and a CS in this one. Trebelhorn has 'em running wild. Galindo's speed is for real. Doubt Panik is much of a threat at higher levels.

Rookie AZL Giants were idle.

DSL Giants blanked the Rangers 3-0:

Alejandro Flores(RHP, 18 yo)- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 5.33.
Reyes Maronta(RHP, 18 yo)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(5). ERA= 2.13.

Flores has not allowed a run in his last 2 starts spanning 11 IP.

Game Wrap 8/18/2011: Braves 1 Giants 0

This will be short. Another disheartening loss for the Giants as Tim Lincecum pitched another terrific game, but lost on 1 mistake pitch to Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones. Meanwhile the Giants offense got shut down by rookie LHP Mike Minor and the Braves "Three Headed Monster" relief team of Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel. Minor is a former first round draft choice by the Braves and is a good pitcher, but he did come into the game sporting a 4.84 ERA. Even a subpar offense ought to be able to scratch out a run or two off that. Key Lines:

Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.53. Timmy got Cained.

With the Loss, the Giants remained 2.5 games off the pace to the D'Backs in the NL West assuming the Phillies' lead stands up against the Dangerous D'Backs.

The Giants move on to Houston where Ryan Vogelsong faces Wandy Rodriguez in game 1 of a 3 game weekend series. After that, the Giants have 34 remaining games, 21 at home and 13 on the road. The only remaining games against teams with a winning record are the 6 games against the D'Backs. If the Giants can get a few of their injured players healthy they may not not be in terrible shape down the stretch. It's a lot of ifs, but the Giants faced much more daunting odds several times last season.



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/17/2011

AAA Round Rock Express blanked the Fresno Giants 1-0 in rare PCL pitching duel:

Nothing to see here. Grizzlies managed just 4 hits. Not sure why Kown only pitched 1 inning.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Bowie Baysox 8-5:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .303.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 2 for 4, HR(9). BA= .258.
Jackson Williams(C)- 2 for 4, HR(2). BA= .250.
Ryan Verdugo(LHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.34.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.67.

Peguero's average is climbing. Dominant long relief outing by Correa.

High A San Jose Giants outslugged the Lake Elsinore Storm 11-6:

Ehire Adrianza- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .294.
Nick Noonan(3B)- 3 for 6, 2 2B. BA= .266.
Tommy Joseph(DH)- 1 for 5, HR(19), BB. BA= .270.
Alex Burg(C)- 3 for 5, HR(9). BA= .291.
Luke Anders(1B)- 2 for 5, HR(12). BA= .255.
Craig Wescott(RHP)- 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.08.
Ari Ronick(LHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.40.
Michael Main(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.93.

Joseph has now hit 7 dingers in his last 7 games. His line over his last 10 games is .409/.438/.955. If that doesn't make BA's Hot Sheet, I don't know what would. Burg is hitting just .244 over his last 10 but with a .340 OBP and a .512 SLG%.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets smothered the Greensboro Grasshoppers 8-5:

Robert Haney(SS)- 2 for 3, 2B, 2 BB, SB(4). BA= .237.
Adam Duvall(DH)- 2 for 4, HR(21), BB. BA= .286.
Ryan Lollis(RF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .310.

I think Duvall still leads the organization in HR's although Tommy Joseph is catching up fast.

Short Season Vancouver Canadians topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-1:

Stephen Shackleford(RHP)- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.35.

Rookie AZL Brewers defeated the Giants 3-1:

Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.08.
Demondre Arnold(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.23.

A couple of high ceiling arms. The Giants challenge is to develop them.

DSL Phillies beat the Giants 2-1. Nothing to see here.

Game Wrap 8/17/2011: Giants 7 Braves 5

The Giants sorely needed this win tonight. They got a tremendous pitching performance from Matt Cain, put together some offense and held off a late Braves' rally to hold on for the W. Key Lines:

Mike Fontenot- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .220. Fonty is better than a Mendoza line guy. He's due to get some hits and raise that average. He did it by going the other way tonight.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 2 2B, SF. BA= .311. The SF was one of 4 by Giants hitters on the night. The Giants are 10'th in all of baseball in SF's, 11'th in S, and I read somewhere recently they are near the top in advancing baserunners. The Giants offensive problems are due to lack of baserunners and lack of power, not "situational hitting."

Aubrey Huff- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB, SF. BA= .248. The 2, 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup had 6 doubles between them. Huffster is hitting .286 over his last 10 games. He has an .854 OPS in 15 games in the month of August and a .782 in 29 games post All-Star. His overall numbers for the year will probably still look pretty ugly, but his second half split will likely be respectable.

Nate Schierholtz- 2 for 5. BA= .279. Great to see Nate back in the lineup after the injury scare from fouling a ball off his foot. the 2-5 hitters in the lineup went a combined 9 for 17.

Matt Cain- 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 2.86. What an effort by Matt Cain. He started out a bit rough and already had thrown 60 pitches by the end of the 3'rd inning. He ended up with a total of 114 over 8 innings. He retired the last 18 batters he faced. He either pitched to contact or mowed them down in just a few pitches thus managing to keep his pitch count down despite all the K's. His ERA is 2.30 over his last 10 starts.

Dan Runzler- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 6.64. Runzler couldn't get his breaking ball over the plate which allowed the ATL batters to time the fastball. There was an error by OCab and a misadventurous route to the ball by Cody Ross involved too.

With the Win, the Giants moved to 2.5 games behind the NL West leading Diamondbacks who lost to the Phillies 9-2 as the Phils broke this one open late.

On the injury front: Nate played tonight and did not appear to be hampered. Jonathan Sanchez is thinking he may not miss a start with his ankle sprain. Brian Wilson traveled to Dr Andrews clinic to have the elbow that Andrews did TJ surgery on while Willie was in college. Diagnosis: Inflammation. Treatment: a couple days rest. Stay tuned on that one! Kepp is still nursing a right wrist sprain/bone contusion and is day to day.

Tim Lincecum tries to get the Giants a split in the 4 game series and a positive W-L on the road trip so far tomorrow evening against rookie LHP Mike Minor.





Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/16/2011

AAA Round Rock Express defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 7-5 in 10 innings:

Edgar Gonzalez(LF)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .326.
Brett Pill(1B)- 1 for 5, HR(24). BA= .312.
Bill Hall(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(5). BA= .333.
Brad Eldred(DH)- 2 for 4, HR(21). BA= .271.
Scott Munter(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.58.

Hey, maybe we'll see Scott Munter and his bowling ball sinker again! Just kidding!

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels edged the Bowie Baysox 5-4:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .294.
Johnny Monell(DH)- 2 for 2, HR(10), BB. BA= .250.
Eric Surkamp(LHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.14.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(13). ERA= 3.86.

High A Lake Elsinore Storm outlasted the San Jose Giants 4-3 in 10 innings:

Tommy Joseph(C)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .271.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.28.

Joseph stays hot.

Low A Greensboro Grasshoppers pounded the Augusta Greenjackets 13-2:

I'm going to call nothing to see here.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Vancouver Canadians 5-2:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 4, BB, 2 SB(33). BA= .281.
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 5. BA= .354.
Mike Murray(DH)- 0 for 1, 4 BB. BA= .351.
Dan Burkhart(C)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(1). BA= .270.
Jack Snodrass(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.74.
Matt Graham(RHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 8.42.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(4). ERA= 2.61.

More baby steps for Graham.

Rookie AZL Giant clubbed the A's 16-8:

Kelby Tomlinson(2B)- 2 for 6, 2 2B, SB(7). BA= .324.
Major Blair(LF)- 3 for 5. BB. BA= .382.
Mike Merganthaler(DH)- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(3), 2 BB. BA= .347.
Leonardo Fuentes(RF)- 1 for 5, 2B, SF, SB(1). BA= .280.
Stephen Yarrow(1B)- 2 for 4, 2 BB. BA= .268.
Keith Bilodeau(RHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Some of these guys are college draftees from major programs who are probably playing at too low a level. Still, it's better to be playing well than not well at whatever level you find yourself at.

DSL Giants downed the Mets1 3-1:

Emmanuel De Jesus(LHP)- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 1.74.

Yet another dominating start by De Jesus. In 8 starts he has a line of 4-1, 0.63, 43 IP, 12 BB, 56 K's. Can't wait to see what he an Mejia do in the States next season.


Game Wrap 8/16/2011: Braves 2 Giants 1

The Giants absorbed another tough loss tonight, but the bigger story, and possibly the more damaging going forward is injuries, injuries on top of injuries. Beltran and Sergio Romo got placed on the DL for starters. Then came word that Jeff Keppinger has a jammed wrist and underwent an MRI. Preliminary report, "it doesn't look good!" Nate fouled on off his foot last night and thought he might have broken a bone. X-rays were negative but he is day-to-day. Even Aaron Rowand has a strained side. He can bat but can't throw so is available only as a PH. Once the game started, Jonathan Sanchez twisted an ankle while fielding a ball off the mound and limped off the field after throwing one pitch to the next batter. I told Ricky Oropesa's mom that at this rate, they might have to call Ricky up this year! LOL! Key lines:

Cody Ross- 1 for 5, HR(10). BA= .241. Ross was the Giants offense tonight as they managed just 4 other hits. The dinger came in the 7'th inning and broke up a no-hitter by Braves rookie RHP Randall Delgado. Cody looked like he might have been swinging for the fences a bit too much on subsequent AB's.

Jonathan Sanchez- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 4.26. Well, we'll see how bad this one is. Runzler was called up to replace Romo. Looking at who else is on the 40 man roster, it's between Steve Edlefsen, Waldis Joaquin and Clayton Tanner. I would think Joaquin would be the next callup with Runzler moving into the rotation, unless they throw a Hail Mary and add Eric Surkamp to the 40 man roster. That's all assuming Sanchez has to go on the DL.

Guillermo Mota- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.94. Another lights out long relief performance by Mota!

The Dangerous D'Backs proved just how Dangerous they are by coming from behind to bite Roy Halladay and the Phillies 3-2. That moved them to 3.5 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West. Ordinarily I would say it's too early to panic, but with all the injuries piling up, it's pretty easy to envision the Giants fading out of sight pretty fast here.

Matt Cain tries to stick his finger in the dike tomorrow evening facing Jair Jurrjens. Hate to say it, but it could be another Caining.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/15/2011

AAA Albuquerque Isotopes burned the Fresno Grizzlies 8-4:

Justin Christian(RF)- 1 for 3, BB, 2 SB(24).

6 Grizzlies got 1 hit each with EdGone and Bill Hall's being 2 baggers.

AA Eastern League was idle.

High A San Jose Giants edged the Lake Elsinore Storm 2-1:

Gary Brown(CF)- 0 for 2, 2 BB, SB(45). BA= .323.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 1 for 4, HR(18). BA= .269.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K's, GO/AO= 9/1. ERA= 3.49.

Gary Brown drawing walks is a very good thing. Joseph keeps the HR binge going away from Lancaster. Heston has shown the ability to get both K's and ground balls. He's on the old side but may be a sleeper.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets edged the Greensboro Grasshoppers 3-2:

Devin Harris(LF)- 2 for 4, HR(13). BA= .229.
Taylor Rogers(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.96.

Harris has hit a HR in each of his last 3 games. His line over his last 10 games is .351/.442/730.

Short Season Vancouver Canadians came from behind to catch the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the 9'th inning and went on to win 7-6 in 11 innings:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 4, HBP, 2 SB(31). BA= .282.
Joe Staley(C)- 2 for 5, HR(7). BA= .294.
Brandon Allen(RHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.43.

Rookie AZL Reds pounded the Giants 12-2:

Really, nothing to see here.

DSL Giants swept a DH from the Yankees1 4-1 and 3-2:

Not much of anything to see here either.

Good news! The Giants sign Andrew Susac, Ricky Oropesa and Josh Osich at the 2011 draft signing deadline. Susac was a first round talent who they got in round 2 and Oropesa was at least a supplemental round talent that fell to the 3'rd round. If he's fully healthy, Osich is also a late-first/supplemental round talent. Love this draft for the Giants!

I work with Ricky Oropesa's mom and have followed him since he was in high school. I dreamed of the Giants drafting him, but figured it would never happen. He just seemed more like the type of player the Red Sox or A's or Milwaukee Brewers would draft. John Barr definitely has had an impact on the type of hitters the Giants draft. Ricky's mom told me that the Giants Scouting Director was in the stands the night Ricky took Gerrit Cole deep and that seems to be what clinched the Giants interest.

I think Ricky is going to surprise a lot of people with how good his bat is. He loves hitting with wood. Look up his sophomore numbers at USC. THAT is the real Ricky! Last year was a bit of a down year, not terrible but not the monster year you would hope for. A couple of reasons for that: 1. The new BBCOR bats did not come in Ricky's preferred size until about 1/3 of the season was already over. He had use a smaller bat that he said felt like swinging a toothhpick. 2. The new coach asked him to ditch the uppercut swing for a more level, line drive producing swing which I don't think Ricky was ever comfortable with. If you look at what the Giants have done with Brandon Belt and Andres Torres, I don't think they will have any problem letting Ricky go back to his more natural swing.

Great draft by the Giants. I'm looking forward to following the progress of these players, especially Ricky Oropesa. The future is bright!!

Game Wrap 8/15/2011: Braves 5 Giants 4

There is an old country song by Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart titled "This One's Gonna Hurt You For A Long Long Time" which pretty much sums up how I feel about the game tonight. Ouch! Now THAT hurt! The Giants got a few runs for Madison Bumgarner who hung tough after giving up 2 runs in the first two innings. They had it within their grasp in the 9'th with a 2 run lead and closer Brian Wilson taking the mound. Alas, it was not to be. There were a couple of tougher losses last year: The extra inning game against the Rockies in Colorado and later the broken bat triple game in AT&T, so I'm not ready to throw myself down the stairs just yet, but yeah, this one was painful to watch. Key lines:

Mike Fontenot- 1 for 3, HR(3). BA= .213. Fonty had to come in at 3B for Pablo who left the game after fouling one off his right foot. Fortunately, X-rays were negative. Fonty got an insurance run with a HR. I wonder if Pablo might have made a couple of those plays in the 9'th inning though. We'll never know.

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 2, HR(9), BB, HBP. BA= .277. Nate got his second HR in 2 games and seems to be hot again.

Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.49. Bum has been sharper, but still a mighty fine effort to leave the game with a 2 run lead.

Brian Wilson- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K, BS(5). ERA= 3.19. Wilson's back has been bothering him but he got his heater up to 97 MPH in this one. Maybe he's a bit rusty from too little work lately, or maybe the odds just caught up with him in this one. I really thought he was going to get Freeman for the last out, leave the bases loaded and come away with a 4-3 win. Credit Freeman for hanging tough and hitting it back up the middle for the game winner, but Wilson should never have been in that position. As an aside, I have to wonder it it might have been a different outcome had Pablo been playing 3B and Crawford playing SS in the 9'th.

With the Loss, the Giants dropped another 0.5 games down to the D'Backs who were idle.

Jonathan Sanchez tries to right the ship tomorrow evening facing rookie Randall Delgado who is tremendously talented but possibly a bit raw. He is taking the place of Tommy Hanson who is on the DL.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/14/2011

AAA Albuquerque Isotopes staved off a comeback by the Fresno Grizzlies to win 9-8:

Bill Hall(3B-SS)- 3 for 4, 2 HR(4) BB. BA= .327.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .274.
Dan Runzler(LHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.17.

AA Binghampton Mets defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-3:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 1 for 4, SB(6). BA= .289.
Juan Perez(CF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .248.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .258.

High A San Jose Giants beat the Lancaster Jethawks 7-5 in 10 innings:

Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 6. BA= .324.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 2 for 4, 2 HR(2), BB. BA= .295.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 5, HR(11). BA= .274.
Alex Burg(1B)- 2 for 2, HR(8), 3 BB. BA= .290.
Michael Main(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.08.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.54.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets downed the Greensboro Grasshoppers 9-6:

Devin Harris(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(12), BB. BA= .226.
Ryan Scoma(1B)- 3 for 3, HR(5), BB. BA= .245.
Robert Haney(SS)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .230.

Harris is hitting .333 over his last 10 games with a .442 OBP and .694 SLG%. Scoma is also hitting .333 over his last 10.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes came out on top of a pitching duel 1-0 over the Spokane Indians:

Chuckie Jones(DH)- 2 for 3. BA= .274.
Cameron Lamb(RHP)- 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.40
Cody Hall(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(3). ERA= 3.06.

Jones was the only Volcano to get more than 1 hit. I'm pretty sure this was Lamb's best appearance as a pro. Hall has 27 K's in 17.2 IP. He seems to have taken over as S-K's closer.

Rookie AZL Giants scored 6 runs in the 9'th inning for a come-from-behind win over the D'Backs 8-3:

Eric Sim(C)- 2 for 4, HR(6), BB, SB(4). BA= .336.
Major Blair(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .370.
Jean Delgado(2B)- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .255.
Paul Davis(RHP)- 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.62.
Demondre Arnold(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.42.

DSL Giants game was cancelled.

Game Wrap 8/14/2011: Giants 5 Marlins 2

The Giants needed to win a series in the worst way. Today, the offense broke out the long ball and Ryan Vogelsong put on a pitching clinic to carry the team to a 2-1 series win on the road over a team that literally almost destroyed them in a 3 game sweep in SF earlier in the season. Key Lines:

Cody Ross- 2 for 5, HR(9). BA= .245. I like Cody Ross leading off. His .331 OBP is not exciting, but it's .086 higher than his BA and he tends to see a lot of pitches. It's also the second highest out of current players on the 25 man active roster after Pablo Sandoval's .353. Today, he broke the streak of 21 consecutive solo HR's with a 2 run blast in the 3'rd inning.

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 4, HR(8). BA= .276. Nate missed a 3 run dinger in the first inning as his drive down the RF line hooked foul by less than a foot way up near the top of the foul pole.

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 2 HR(4). BA= .232. Maybe the Marlins didn't have a scouting report on Belt, or maybe their pitchers just didn't execute, but you cannot let his kid get his arms extended. He gets such tremendous leverage and bat head speed out there and he's terrific at driving pitches on the outside corner to the opposite field. To have any chance at all against him, you have to pound the ball in on his fists and keep doing it. He's choking up on the bat by about a half inch now so he may be better able to turn on inside pitches than in the past. He turned smartly on one for his second HR. off a LHP no less, but the pitch was out over the plate. I would think this game earned him a chance to start more games in the near future.

Ryan Vogelsong- 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.47. Vogey put on a clinic of how to pitch with the fastball today. He wore out the outside corner with an 88 MPH cutter and a 92-93 MPH 4 seamer that prevented the Marlins' batters from timing the pitches. That enabled him to drop in an occasional curveball for a strike that froze the batters because they could not be expecting it. As for those who have been predicting a regression because of walk rates, he didn't walk his first batter until the 8'th inning. Just a nice, nice piece of pitching. Where, oh where would this team be without Ryan Vogelsong?

Vogey also flashed a bit of anger when he was HBP in the 7'th by Burke Badenhop. The Hopper threw two heat seakers in a row and the second one got Vogey on the left upper arm. Volstad had thrown a heat seaker near his head earlier in the game. Vogey turned around and threw his bat down then gave the catcher an earful holding up 3 fingers while saying he'd been thrown at 3 times. I doubt the Marlins were trying to hit him. Vogey is a pretty good hitter, but it's still probably not necessary to throw heat seakers to the opposing pitcher unless he's done damage in a prior AB.

Anyway, love that Vogey stood up for himself, yet stayed under control enough to not get himself thrown out. Kudos to the ump for letting him have his say. Seemed like maybe the ump thought he had a point.

With the Win, the Giants kept pace with the NL West leading D'Backs 2 games behind the leaders who topped the Mets again 5-3.

The Giants now move on to ATL where they take on the Braves. It would be nice to at least split the 4 game series but they absolutely have to win 1 of the games. Madison Bumgarner takes on Tim Hudson in game 1.



Down on the Farm: 8/13/2011

AAA Albuquerque Isotopes beat the Fresno Grizzlies 10-4:

Brandon Crawford(SS)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(4). BA= .349.
Barry Zito(LHP)- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.55

No Grizzly hitter had more than 1 hit. Zito was carried off the field in the third inning after apparently re-injuring his foot in what sounds like an almost identical scenario to his original injury. I've watched a lot of baseball for a long time. Can't say I've seen very many injuries like that. Dude's been so durable over the course of his career too.

AA Binghampton Mets blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-0:

Nothing to see here.

High A San Jose Giants crushed the Lancaster Jethawks 16-3:

Gary Brown(CF)- 4 for 6, 3B, HR(10). BA= .324.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 4 for 6, 2B. BA= .290.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 5 for 6, 2 HR(17). BA= .270.
Andy Reichard(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.02.

Wind was blowing out to CF at 22 MPH at the start of this one. The Giants' hitters had a field day in Lancaster, but give credit to their pitchers for holding down the Lancaster hitters in those conditions. .....and wow, Lancaster may be a wind tunnel but Tommy Joseph is ridiculously hot right now.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets game was postponed.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Spokane Indians 8-4:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 4, BB, SB(28). BA= .280.
Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 4, HR(5). BA= .360.
Brett Krill(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .345.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .261.
Lorenzo Mendoza(RHP)- 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.27.

Panik is hitting .472 over his last 10 games. Chuckie Jones is hitting .361 over his last 10.

Rookie AZL Giants were idle.

DSL Giants game was postponed.

Draft signing deadline coming up tomorrow. I think we might get an announcement on Ricky Oropesa today.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Game Wrap 8/13/2011: Giants 3 Marlins 0

I said in my last Game Wrap that Timmy was going to try to be the Stopper today and he did just that, blanking the Marlins over 7 innings in dominant fashion. I believe that Timmy knew his team needed a shutout, he prepared himself mentally to do it, and delivered exactly what he set out to do. That, my friends, is a Stopper! Key lines:

Jeff Keppinger- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .297.

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .276.

Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 2.58. OK, tell me you are going to bet against Timmy if he faces off against Roy Halladay in the NLCS again! What a dominant start against a pretty good lineup!

The Win enabled the Giants to stay 2 games behind the NL West leading D'Backs by 2 games as the Snakes topped the Mets 6-4. The third place Rockies remain 11.5 games behind after defeating the Cards 6-1.

Ryan Vogelsong tries for a series win tomorrow at 10 AM PDT facing off against Chris Volstad.

Down On the Farm: 8/12/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies pounded the Albuquerque Isotopes 15-10:

Emmanuel Burriss(2B)- 2 for 3, 3 BB, 2 SB(21). BA= .339.
Edgar Gonzalez(LF)- 4 for 6, 2 HR(13). BA= .321.
Brandon Belt(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(8), BB. BA= .309.
Brett Pill(1B)- 3 for 5. BA= .317.
Conor Gillaspie- 2 for 3, HR(10), 2 BB. BA= .293.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 2 for 5. BA= .261.
Waldis Joaquin(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.24.

Nice game for padding the stat lines. Seems like EdGone could help a MLB club. Gillaspie is out of options after this year. I wonder what becomes of him?

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Binghampton Mets 6-2:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, Assist(2B). BA= .290.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .259.
Clayton Tanner(LHP)- 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.20.

High A San Jose Giants beat the Lancaster Jethawks 8-2:

Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .320.
Nick Noonan(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .275.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 4 for 5, 2B, 2 HR(15). BA= .262.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(9). BA= .265.
Alex Burg(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .290.
Craig Westcott(RHP)- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.

Tommy Joseph is white hot right now hitting .341/.378/.683 over his last 10 games. BA also named him the best defensive catcher in the Cal League which is a complete surprise. The rap on Joseph has always been that he probably won't stick at catcher. If he is even an average defensive catcher, he moves way up the prospect charts, I would think. Westcott ran his record to 13-3 which I believe is one of the best W-L's in the minor leagues.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets pounded the Lexington Legends 9-1:

Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .260.
Josh Mazzola(1B)- 4 for 5, 2B. BA= .254.
Ryan Lollis(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .307.
Devin Harris(LF)- 2 for 5, HR(11). BA= .222.
Jeff Arnold(C)- 1 for 4, HR(5), BB. BA= .212.
Ryan Bradley(LHP)- 6 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.11.
Edward Concepcion(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.64.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Spokane Indians 8-4:

Joe Panik(SS)- 4 for 4, HR(4). BA= .352.
Brett Krill(RF)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(3). BA= .341
Reiner Roibal(RHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.88.

The ultimate test is whether he becomes a MLB player, but Joe Panik has done everything you could possibly hope for in a first round draft choice in his draft season.

Rookie AZL Giants downed the Rangers 6-2:

Carter Jurica(SS)- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .303.
Major Blair(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .364.
Eric Sim(C)- 3 for 5. BA= .330.
Mike Merganthaler(LF)- 2 for 3. BA= .313.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.40

Gotta be concerned about Blackburn coming out so early. Injury?

DSL Giants mounted an 8 run rally in the bottom of the 9'th inning, but it fell short as they lost to the Nationals 11-8:

Fernando Pujadas(C)- 2 for 5, HR(3). BA= .276.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.42.

This was Mejia's worst start of the year. Last start was not quite as sharp either. He's averaged 6 IP per start for 13 starts which may be starting to wear on an 18 yo arm.


Game Wrap 8/12/2011: Marlins 2 Giants 1

Man, these things are getting harder to write by the day. Blogging about your favorite team is great and all when they are winning, but losing stinks an so does writing about it. I don't know what's more demoralizing, a 9-2 blowout loss, or a game like this where a win is within reach the whole game but you increasingly realize it's really out of reach. Anyway, Matt Cain can't pitch a shutout every game and Pablo Sandoval can't be the whole offense which pretty much sums up why the Giants lost this one. Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 3, HR, BB. BA= .314. Pablo is having a fine season, but looking at him last night, I think it's a race against time to see if he stay below last year's weight all season. Man, Pablo ain't small!

Matt Cain- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.00. As frequently happens, a tough first inning doomed Cain even though he ended up with a QS.

The Loss dropped the Giants a full 2 games behind the D'Backs in the NL West as the Dangerous Ones hung on to edge the Mets 4-3.

Tim Lincecum tries to be the stopper tonight facing Javier Vazquez.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/11/2011

AAA PCL was idle.

AA Harrsburg Senators defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-1:

Darren Ford(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .273.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .259.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .254.
Ryan Verdugo(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA- 4.13.

The K and BB numbers would suggest that Verdudo pitched better than the number of runs allowed would indicate.

High A San Jose Giants pounded the Lancaster Jethawks 15-4:

Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, Assist(2B). BA= .318.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 4 for 6, 2B. BA= .281.
Nick Noonan(2B)- 3 for 6, 2B, 3B. BA= .257.
Tommy Joseph(DH)- 2 for 4, HR(13), BB. BA= .255.
Luke Anders(1B)- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(11). BA= .257.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 6.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 6 H. ERA= 3.29.
Jacob Dunnington(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.29.

Game was played in the wind tunnel up in Lancaster. Nice game for padding the stat lines.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets beat the Lexington Legends 5-2:

Josh Mazzola(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(11). BA= .245.
Ryan Scoma(1B)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .237.
Adam Duvall(DH)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .293.
Robert Haney(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .229.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.58.
Jose Valdez(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.46.

This is Duvall's first game since July 21. Must have been injured in some way. Jose Valdez gets the demotion even though he had been pitching better of late for SJ.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Spokane Indians 7-4:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 4, BB, SB(27). BA= .281.
Shawn Payne(LF)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB. Assist(2B). BA= .289.
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB(11). BA= .339.
Joe Staley(C)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .288.
Jack Snodgrass(LHP)- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.40.

6 SB's by the Volcanoes. Steve Decker doesn't have anything on Tom Trebelhorn! Snodgrass has a 2.95 ERA over his last 10 appearances.

Rookie AZL Giants dominated the Mariners 9-1:

Myles Schroder(C)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B, BB. BA= .256.
Jose Cuevas(3B)- 3 for 5, 2B, 3B. BAS= .352.
Leonardo Fuentes(RF)- 2 for 5, HR(5). BA= .290.
Major Blair(LF)- 3 for 4, 2 3B, HR(1). BA= .356.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.06.

Fuentes is going to be a beast!

DSL Cubs clobbered the Giants 10-2:

Nothin' to see here.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Down on the Farm: 8/10/2011

AAA Omaha Stormchasers edged the Fresno Grizzlies 7-6:

Edgar Gonzalez(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(11), BB. BA= .316.
Max Ramirez(C)- 2 for 3, HR(8). BA= .286.

Christian and Graham also had 2 hits each.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Harrisburg Senators 3-1:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .287.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 1 for 4, HR(15). BA= .265.
Eric Surkamp(LHP)- 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 2.03
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.00.

OK, can we at least move Surkamp up to Fresno so he has a head start on AAA and possibly be ready to call up if the Giants need an emergency starter next year?

HIgh A Cal League idle today.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets blanked the Lexington Legends 5-0:

Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .259.
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 2 for 4. BA= .243.
Taylor Rogers(RHP)- 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.03.

This was Lofton's 3'rd straight 2 hit game.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Spokane Indians 7-6:

Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(9). BA= .335.
Kaohi Downing(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(6). BA= .315.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 1 for 2, HR(2), BB. BA= .250.

Apparently Panik came out early last night just because it was a blowout game.

Rookie AZL Giants beat the Indians 7-2:

Jose Cuevas(3B)- 4 for 5, 2B, 2 SB(6). BA= .341.
Leonardo Fuentes(DH)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .286.
Jose De La Cruz(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .262.

Fuentes is hitting .317/.378/.537 over his last 10 games.

DSL Rangers downed the Giants 8-6:

Alberto Robles(3B, 20 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .349.
Randy Ortiz(CF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .299.
Renzo Freite(RHP, 18 yo)- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.01.


Game Wrap 8/10/2011: Pirates 9 Giants 2

The Giants turned in another embarrassing, uncompetitive performance today getting blown out by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the type of team the Giants need to be winning series from. Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, HR(13), BB. Sandoval was half the offense all by himself, once again.

Jonathan Sanchez- 4.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.29. Sanchez is still missing bats, but pretty much not doing anything else right. Might as well face the fact that right now the Giants are forfeiting every 5'th game whether the starter is Zito or Sanchez. Contrast this state of affairs with last year when Zito gave them 20 QS's as the 5'th best starter on the team. Good thing Ryan Vogelsong happened. Baggs had some pretty strong words about Sanchez and he has a point. If the Giants are faced with having to pay Sanchez $6 M next year since he has arbitration leverage, might it make more sense to non-tender him? I mean, for the difference in cost, I might prefer to see Runzler out there, or Surkamp or even a Matt Yourkin or Andrew Kown. Heck, since they are going to have to pay Zito no matter what, I'd probably rather see him out there, although it's a close call. Didn't see the game today, but I can imagine what Sanchez body language looked like today. It's been horrible all year and there was no reason for it to be any different today.

D'Backs lead Houston 6-3 late in their game, so are likely to take over first place from the Giants in the NL West by 0.5 games. BTW, the starting pitcher for the 'Stros was none other than Henry Sosa, former Giants farmhand who was traded to the 'Stros organization in the Keppinger trade. Sosa allowed 4 runs in 6 IP. He's it's at least as good as what Sanchez gave the Giants today!

Giants get the day off tomorrow to travel to Miami to kick off a 10 game roadie against the Marlins with Matt Cain facing Ricky Nolasco. If this trip doesn't knock them out of the race, then the schedule gets a bit more friendly the rest of the way.

Down on the Farm: 8/9/2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Omaha Stormchasers 4-3 in 10 innnings:

Justin Christian(RF)- 1 for 4, BB, 2 SB(22). BA= .320.
Edgar Gonzalez(LF-2B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .314.
Brandon Crawford(SS)- 3 for 4, HR(1). BA= .375.
Matt Yourkin(LHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.60.

AA Harrisburg Senators edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-4:

Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(7). BA= .254.
Chuck Lofgren(LHP)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .400.
Chuck Lofgren(LHP)- 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.73.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.60.

There was some debate over whether Lofgren should be drafted as a hitter or pitcher coming out of HS.

High A Bakersfield Blaze smothered the San Jose Giants 3-0:

Gary Brown(CF)- 1 for 3, HBP, SB(44). BA= .316.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, Assist(Home). BA= .274.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.61.

I'm tellin' ya. Parker has a howitzer for an arm!

Low A The SAL was idle.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds pounded the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 13-7:

Shawn Payne(CF)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .274.
Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 1, BB, SB(8). BA= .335.
Wilber Bucardo(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.35.

Panik came out of the game early. Not sure why. Hopefully to give him a breather in a blowout game.

Rookie AZL Giants outslugged the Royals 16-14:

Brian Nicholson(1B)- 3 for 5, 2 2B, BB. BA= .337.
Eric Sim(C)- 3 for 5, 2B, 2 HR(4), SF. BA= .317.
Leonardo Fuentes(RF)- 2 for 5, HR(4). BA= .277.
Carter Jurica(SS)- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB. BA= .286.
Eldred Barnett(CF)- 2 for 4, BB, SB(5). BA= .275.
Demondre Arnold(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.56.
Danny Sandbrink(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.77.

Sim has been a monster of late. Once again, love what Fuentes is doing this season. Excited about Demondre Arnold.

DSL Giants downed the Phillies 9-3:

Carlos Cartegena(LF, 18 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .167.
Emmanuel De Jesus(LHP, 18 yo)- 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.04.

Game Wrap 8/9/2011: Giants 6 Pirates 0

Aubrey Huff had a big night and Madison Bumgarner pitched possibly the most dominant start of he career so far as the Giants cruised to a 6-0 victory over the Bucs. Key Lines:

Aubrey Huff- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(11). BA= .249. Huffster is hitting .355 over his last 10 games and has raised his BA from .240 to .249. His BA reached a nadir on July 18 at .232. It has been climbing fairly steadily since then. I know Huff has had big games before and then gone right back into a slump but this one felt different. He was driving the ball to all fields, seeing good pitches and hitting them hard. We'll see. If the Giants could have just a career average Huff the rest of the way, it would be huge.

Orlando Cabrera- 2 for 4, SB(7). BA= .244. OCab has performed right at his season average since the Giants acquired him. With noticeably better D than Tejada or Fonty and noticeably better O than Crawford, he should be an asset if he just keeps doing what he's doing.

Chris Stewart- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .223. CStew hit his first MLB HR in 10 years of professional baseball. He was presented the ball at the end of his interview with Amy G on he CSN Post Game Show.

Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 3.53. Great stuff, good velocity, pinpoint control....Bum had it all going from the get-go and dominated the Bucs. On any given day, he's as dominating as any pitcher in baseball right now.

With the Win, the Giants hung onto their 0.5 game lead in the NL West over the Dangerous D'Backs who win a slugfest from the 'Stros 11-9.

Jonathan Sanchez takes the mound today facing Jeff Karstens as the Giants try for a much needed series win