Game Wrap 6/19/2021: Phillies 13 Giants 6

The Giants and Phillies slugged it out to a 6-6 tie after 3 innings but the Phillies bullpen shut down the Giants the rest of the way while the Giants bullpen just kept pouring gasoline on the fire.  Game Notes:

Alex Wood LHP continues to struggle.  He had a 1.93 ERA on May 21 after 7 Starts, but has been torched for a 7.88 ERA in 5 Starts since.  The problem seems to be with commanding his slider which requires a strong grip which........OK, you get the idea.  His slider usage is way down and his changeup usage is way up.  Short of a trade, the Giants probably don't have any great options other than to keep putting him out here and hoping he gets is figured out. 

Lamonte Wade Jr LF had another nice game with 2 hits including a double in 5 AB'S.  He is hitting .296 over his last 7 games and has his season BA back up to .278.  Kap talked about Alex Dickerson OF and Darin Ruf OF/1B starting rehab assignments.  He didn't sound all that anxious to get them back:  "We'll see how many at-bats they need to feel good."  

Mike Yastrzemski RF hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the first inning to give the Giants a short-lived lead.  He's also hitting .296 over his last 7 games with 2 HR'S. 

Brandon Belt 1B homered again and he is definitely hot hitting .423 over his last 7 games with 3 HR's.  He also drew a walk and stole his 3'rd base of the season in today's game.

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The Giants will remain in first place in the NL West after the Loss, but will likely lose ground to their pursuers, the Dodgers and Padres, who are both leading in their night games....er, the Padres won their game over the Reds to cut their deficit to 5 games.

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Sammy Long LHP will get the start tomorrow apparently without an Opener.  He will be trying for a series Win facing Zach Eflin RHP.  

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Alex Dickerson LF- 1 for 3, HR(1).  BA= .333.

Caleb Baragar LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.50.

AA:

Heliot Ramos CF- 1 for 4, BB, SB(6).  BA= .262.

David Villar 3B- 2 for 3, HR(7), 2 BB.  BA= .222.

Jacob Heyward LF- 1 for 4, HR(5).  BA= .225.

Akeel Morris RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 3.60.

RJ Dabovich RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 9.00.

Akeel Morris was recently signed out of indy ball.  This was RJ Dabovich's second appearance after a promotion from High A Eugene.

High A:

Ismael Munguia CF- 2 for 5, HR(3).  BA= .274.

Will Wilson SS- 2 for 3, HR(7), BB.  BA= .255.

Armani Smith LF- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .267.

Franklin Labour RF- 1 for 1, HR(5), 2 BB, SF.  BA= .240.

Ryan Walker RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.18.

Low A:

Ricardo Genoves C- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .328.

Marco Luciano SS- 2 for 4, SF.  BA= .277.

Harrison Freed LF- 3 for 4, HR(3), HBP.  BA= .220.

Jairo Pomares RF- 1 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .235.

Alexander Canario CF- 1 for 5, 2 SB(11).  BA= .231.

Game Wrap 6/18/2021: Giants 5 Phillies 3

The Giants kept the pedal to the metal with a Quality Start from Johnny Cueto RHP, timely hitting and Stellar D.  Game Notes:

How many first inning, leadoff HR's have Giants pitchers allowed this season?  Maybe it's just me, but it seems like a lot.  This time it was Odubel Herrera CF off Cueto before most of the fans had taken their seats.  With the way Cueto has been pitching, that did not seem to bode well for the rest of the night, but Cueto recovered to pitch well enough for the W.  He allowed a 2-run HR to Cutch in the 4'th allowed just 6 hits, 0 Walks and 5 K's in 6 IP for the QS.  

The Giants offense came storming back in the 2'nd inning with a 3-spot to give Cueto a bit of breathing room.  Brandon Crawford SS led off the inning with a double.  He scored on Jason Vosler 3B's single.  The other big hit of the inning was a double by Lamonte Wade Jr smashed past 1B and down the RF line to drive in Steven Duggar CF who had walked.  Vosler then scored the 3'rd run of the inning on a WP.

Wade drove in another run in the 4'th after Cutch tied it with his blast.  In a comedic turn, Cueto was on 1B after drawing a walk.  Wade drove the ball past Herrera in R-CF for a triple.  Cueto, who can show off his speed when he wants to, tossed aside his helmet between first and second and just kept running around the bases to score easily.  Make no mistake, Wade put a serious charge in that ball, but Herrera got to it with room to spare.  He whiffed on the catch allowing the ball to get to the wall.

Wade had another big moment in the 6'th inning when he played a carom perfectly off the LF wall and gunned down Bryce Harper RF at 2B trying for a double.  Do we need Alex Dickerson OF back?

Brandon Belt 1B capped off the Giants scoring with a solo HR(10) into the RF arcade in the 5'th inning.  The Belter is hitting .400 with 2 HR's over his last 7 games.

Dominic Leone RHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Jake McGee LHP shut it down over the last 3 frames with McGee recording his 14'th Save.

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The Win was the Giants 5'th in a row and it enabled them to stay 2.5 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West and 6 games up on the Padres.  They also continue to sport the top record in MLB.

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Alex Wood LHP tries to keep it rolling tomorrow afternoon against Aaron Nola RHP.  Another Boo! for peacock.com and streaming.

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Joey Bart C- 2 for 4, HR(7).  BA= .343.

Jaylin Davis RF- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .269.

Scott Kazmir LHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.74.

Davis' HR was a grand slam.

High A:

Diego Rincones LF- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(5).  BA= .308.

Rincones drove in 7 of the Emeralds 10 runs on the night.

Low A:

Jairo Pomares RF- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA- .250.

Kyle Harrison LHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 2.48.  

Kyle Harrison continues to look like the prize of the 2020 draft, dominating Low A in his first full season out of HS.  A Jairo Pomares sighting!

Game Wrap 4/17/2021: Giants 10 D'Backs 3

The Giants tore into the D'Backs for the fourth game in a row, scoring in all but 2 innings while ace Kevin Gausman RHP shut down the snakes offense for a runaway win.  Game Notes:

Curt "Magic Fingers" Casali C was the batting hero of the game with 3 hits including the first triple of his career and a 2-run HR.   Casali has been a pitcher-whisperer behind the plate but an automatic out in the lineup all season.  Now off the IL from giving his surgically repaired wrist a chance to mend, he is 6 for 9 with a walk over his last 3 games.  Wow!  Just when you think the Giants can't get any better, think of what they might do if Casali's wrist is healthy and hit to his career average.  .224 may not seem like much but it beats .100 which is where he was 5 days ago and that comes with 38 HR's in 910 career AB's.  

Steven Duggar CF added a 3 for 3 with a 2B, 3B and walk.  So the Giants had two triples and two hitters who had 3 components of a cycle each.

Mike Yastrzemski RF stayed hot with 2 singles.  He's hitting .304 over his last 7 games.

Kevin Gausman allowed just 1 hit and 2 baserunners through 6 innings before letting up a bit in the 7'th.  He ended up allowing just 2 runs over 8 IP to extend his W-L's to 8-1.  With Jake DeGrom RHP walking off the mound complaining of shoulder pain yesterday, Gausman may be lined up to start the All-Star Game.

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The Dodgers were idle to the Win extended the Giants lead in the NL West to 2.5 games. They remain 6 games in front of the Padres.  They also regained their Best Record in MLB status over the Rays and White Sox.

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The Giants start a weekend series against the Phillies tomorrow evening with Johnny Cueto RHP facing Vince Velasquez RHP.  DrB is not happy all 3 weekend games are only available on some streaming service called Peacock. Yeah, I know it's free, but you know what's coming down the pike.  Boo!

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Joe McCarthy- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(8).  BA= .322.

Bryce Johnson RF- 2 for 4, SB(11).  BA= .288.

Aaron Sanchez RHP- 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 11.81.

Aaron Sanchez may need just a bit more time to rehab.  Reports say the trainer was looking at his hand.  Sanchez has a history of blisters.

AA:

David Villar 3B- 1 for 4, HR(6).  BA= .209.

Jacob Heyward DH- 1 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .224.

Sean Hjelle RHP- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 3.48.

Hjelle appeared to hurt his leg as he delivered a pitch and had to be helped off the field.

High A:

Ismael Munguia- 2 for 5, HR.  BA= .281.

Tyler Fitzgerald- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB, SB(5).  BA= .248.

Franklin Labour- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(6).   .232.

Heath Quinn- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .333.

Hey look!  A Heath Quinn sighting!  

Low A:

Brett Auerbach C- 2 for 4, 3B, SB(9).  BA= .326.

Luis Toribio 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .234.

Ricardo Genoves DH- 3 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .325.

Wil Jensen RHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.45.

Ivan Armstrong RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R,  1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.17.

Luis Toribio has raised his average from a nadir of .177 on June 2.  He's hitting .321 over his last 8 games.

Game Wrap 6/16/2021: Giants 13 D'Backs 7

 Buster Posey's 3-run first inning HR was the first of 5 for the Giants in an offensive explosion that overwhelmed the D'Backs.  Game Notes:

Buster Posey C added 2 singles and a walk to raise his BA to .337.  The HR was his 12'th of the season.

Steven Duggar CF and Lamonte Wade Jr LF added solo HR's in the 4'th inning.   Both were to LF off former Giants pitching prospect, Keury Mella RHP.  The HR's were Duggar's 6'th and Wade Jr.'s 4'th of the season.  

Wilmer Flores PH added a 2-run shot in the 5'th inning(4) and Brandon Belt 1B bookended Posey's 3-run blast also in the 5'th inning(9).  Belt had tripled  in the 3'rd inning, his second in consecutive games for the first time in his career, but was left stranded.

This was the first time the Giants have hit 5 HR's in a game since 2008.

Anthony DeSclafani RHP was not as sharp as his previous start and fell behind 2-0 in the first inning with one of the runs being unearned.  He finished with a line of 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's.  He threw 87 pitches and probably could have gone another inning but Giants large lead likely helped Manager Gabe Kapler give him an early exit while still picking up the W.  

Conner Menez LHP had a rough 6'th inning which made the game seem closer than it really was.  4 of the 5 runs he gave up were unearned but he committed the error that extended the inning.

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The Win enabled the Giants to extend their lead over the Dodgers in the NL West to 2 games and over the Padres to 6 games. The Giants are tied with the White Sox for the best record in MLB.

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The Giants send ace Kevin Gausman RHP to try for the swweeep tomorrow afternoon against Zac Gallen RHP.

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Down on the Farm:

AA:  

David Villar 3B- 3 for 4.  BA= .208.

Frankie Tostado 1B- 2 for 4.   BA= .275.

Andy Sugilio RF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .286.

Heliot Ramos CF- 1 for 4, BB, SB(4), Assist(2B).  BA= .272.

Caleb Kilian RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 2.74.

Heliot Ramos shows off his tools.

High A:

Diego Rincones LF- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .286.

Tyler Fitzgerald 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .244.

Franklin Labour RF- 1 for 2, HR(4), 2 BB.  BA= .221.

Kai-Wei Teng RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 10 K's.  ERA= 4.74.

Teng  is off the suspended list.  He presumably did not use any sticky stuff tonight and still somehow managed to strike out 10 in 5 IP without killing anyone.

Low A:

Abdiel Layer 1B- 0 for 2, 3 BB, SB(1).  BA= .241.

Marco Luciano SS- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .274.

Game Wrap 6/15/2021: Giants 9 D'Backs 8

Mike Yastrzemski RF hit a monster grand slam HR in the bottom of the 8'th inning to cap a game-long Giants comeback from a 7-0 deficit.  Tyler Rogers RHP shut down a shell-shocked D'Backs team in the 9'th to seal the Win.  Game Notes:

The Opener did not work out so well in this game as Zach Littell RHP failed to record an out while giving up  4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks.

Bulk Innings pitcher Sammy Long LHP quickly restored order in the first inning with a K and GIDP but then ran into trouble of his own in the second inning giving up 3 more runs.  Long settled down after that and only gave up one more run over the next 3 innings. That would prove to be critical to the final outcome.

I wasn't home for the first half of the game but had a feeling when I saw the score was 7-3 in the 4'th inning so I tuned in.  Things weren't looking so good when it got to 8-3 in the 5'th, but the feeling came back when the Giants chipped away with 2 runs in the 6'th.  When YtY came to the plate in the 8'th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, I really had the feeling and wow!  Did that work out or what?  

The blast was YtY's first HR since May 17.  He is hitting .333 in June so far with a 4-game hit streak.

Steven "Grave" Duggar had a splash hit HR of his own with a 2-run blast in the 2'nd inning to cut the D'Backs lead to 7-3.  The HR came off a lefty, Alex Young.  Duggar is still hitting .294 on the season but only .176 over his last 7 games.

Brandon Belt 1B fell a HR short of the cycle with  3 hits and a walk.  He now has 5 hits in his last two games after an 0 for 23 skid.

Donovan Solano 2B is back to being Donnie Barrels with 2 more hits.  He is hitting .292 over his last 7 games and .300 over his last 15.

Conner Menez LHP, Jarlin Garcia LHP, Jimmie Sherfy RHP and Tyler Rogers RHP shut the D'Backs down over the final 4 frames with Sherfy getting credit for the W and Rogers recording his 9'th Save.

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With the Win, the Giants maintain their 1 game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West. The Padres lost to fall 5 games off the pace.

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Anthony DeSclafani RHP tries to keep the winning going tonight facing Merrill Kelly RHP.

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The Churn was idle yesterday.

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Braden "Not Hunter" Bishop LF- 5 for 6.   BA= .380.

Thairo Estrada 2B- 3 for 5, 2 2B, HBP.  BA= .395.

Joey Bart C- 2 for 6.  BA= .352.

Chadwick Tromp C- 3 for 6, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .246.

Jason Krizan 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(3), SF.  BA= .307.

Tyler Beede RHP- 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 7.77.

All 5 of Bishop's hits were singles.  More of the same from Tyler Beede who has yet to find traction in his comeback from TJ surgery.

AA:

Vince Fernandez LF- 1 for 3, HR(6), BB.  BA= .197.

Michael Plassmeyer LHP- 4.2 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 13.50.

Tough Giants organizational debut for Plassmeyer who was recently acquired in a trade with the Rays for Matt Wisler RHP.

High A:

Will Wilson SS- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .268.

Sean Roby 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .205.

Logan Wyatt 1B- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .216.

Conner Nurse RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.23.

Jasier Herrera RHP- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.00.

Low A:

Brett Auerbach 2B- 2 for 4, 2 2B, SF.  BA= .317.

Luis Matos CF- 2 for 4, BB, SB(11).  BA= .304.

Ricardo Genoves C- 1 for 4, HR(6), BB.  BA= .312.

Marco Luciano SS- 1 for 4, HR(8), BB.  BA= .265.

Alexander Canario LF- 1 for 3, BB, SB(8).  BA= .237.

Carson Ragsdale RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 3.27.

Austin Reich RHP- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, Save(1).  BA= 1.86.

Game Wrap 6/14/2021: Giants 5 D'Backs 2

Brandon Crawford SS drove in 3 of the Giants 5 runs to back a Quality Start by Alex Wood LHP with the bullpen shutting it down over the final 3 innings.  Game Notes:

Crawford's 2-run bomb in the 4'th inning gave the Giants a 3-1 lead they would not relinquish.  He added a SF in the Giants 2 run rally in the 8'th inning that put the game away. Like many Giants hitters, Crawford was in a slump going 1 for his last 16 so his performance here was reassuring on several levels.  

Donovan Solano 2B had 2 doubles in 5 AB's and scored 2 runs.  He hit just .200 in May following an IL stint, but is hitting .286 in June so far.

Brandon Belt 1B had 2 hits and a walk.  He's hitting just .208 over both his last 7 games and his last 15.  Hopefully this game was a slump-breaker for him.

He did not figure in the scoring but Curt Casali C had 3 hits in the game. By all accounts and measures, Casali is having a great season behind the plate, but has struggled offensively hitting just .129 on April and .083 in May.  He's played just 2 games in June since coming off the IL.  Hopefully resting his sore wrist is enough for sustained improvement in the bat.

Alex Wood seemed to be back on track with a 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's line.  Dominic Leone RHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Jake McGee LHP shut it down over the final 3 frames with McGee getting the Save Op and converting it, although one of his outs was a long fly that went to the deepest corner of L-CF where Steven Duggar CF tracked it down.

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The Win kept the Giants in sole possession of first place in the NL West by a game over the Dodgers and 4 games over the Padres.

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Zach Littell RHP opens tonight's game presumably before Sammy Long LHP gets the bulk innings.  The D'Back's SP is TBD.

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The Churn was quiet yesterday.

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Joey Bart C- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .353.

Thairo Estrada SS/2B- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .385.

FZ has done some very good things as GM of the Giants.  His track record for finding undervalued talent at the MLB level is now long enough to be almost certainly due to more than good luck.  His manager and coaching staff are getting tremendous results from a data-driven approach to both managing and coaching.

There may be other areas, though, that spell future trouble for FZ management regime.  The long term health of an organization is generally tied to how well they draft and draft success is generally tied closely to performance of first round draft picks.  The early returns on FZ's first two drafts is starting to look a bit alarming.

2019 first round pick, Hunter Bishop OF, put up an odd line of .229/.438/.429 in 146 PA's at two levels after the draft.  He as assigned to high A Eugene this season after missing 2020 due to the COVID lockdown.  He reportedly had symptomatic COVID at one point.  He's spent most of the season on the IL and has played in just 3 games.

2020 first round pick, Patrick Bailey C, got off to a hot start this spring, but his bat went cold and he's now hitting .187/.296/.301.  

It's too early to label Bishop and Bailey as draft busts, but prospect watchers should reasonably start to be concerned about them and by extension, concerned about FZ's scouting and drafting process.

Game Wrap 6/13/2021: Nationals 5 Giants 0

 I don't have the numbers but my impression is that the Giants record in getaway games is terrible.  Today was no exception as Johnny Cueto RHP gave up 4 runs on two HR balls to Kyle Schwarber LF in the first two innings and the Giants offense simply didn't show up.  Game Notes:

Those Ross Boys, Tyson and Joe strike again.  They aren't so hot agains the rest of the league but eat the Giants lunch every time they face them.  Tyson has a career ERA of 4.04 but is 2.81 in 14 games against the Giants.  Joe, who shut them down today has a career ERA coming into today of 4.37 but 3.60 in 2 games against the Giants.  Both of those numbers are significantly lower after today's game!

Of course all that does not explain why the Giants aren't hitting against anybody right now.  They scored just 3 runs in the 4 games series over a total of 33 innings.  We and they need to hope a nights sleep in their own beds tonight and playing at home in Oracle Park will revive their moribund bats.

It's become standard practice against almost all lefthanded batters for the 2B to set up in short RF.  I have lost count of how many line drive outs that positioning produces.  Hey! The Giants do it too and it's a big reason for their pitching success but wow!  What an offensive killer THAT is!  

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The loss ends the 4 games series with a 2-2 split, which we are fortunate for.  It could easily have been a sweep for the Nationals.  They also end up with a 3-3 split of the road trip, which is generally the goal on road trips.  

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Alex Wood LHP gets the first start of a 4-gamer agains the D'Backs tomorrow night against Brad Peacock RHP.

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Churn Update:

Caleb Baragar LHP got sent down to get the roster from 27 for the doubleheader yesterday to the standard 26.  Seems like he'll probably be back, possibly multiple times over the remainder of the season.

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Down on the Farm:

AA:  

Heliot Ramos CF- 1 for 3, 2B, BB, HBP.  BA= .281.

Frankie Tostado 1B- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .279.

Trent Toplikar RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.18.

Luis Amaya LHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.77.

Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.48.

Heliot Ramos has another 1 hit/1 walk game with an HBP added for good measure.  15 of his 36 hits have gone for XB's.  Don't know much about Trent Toplikar but he's been putting up nice numbers since he was drafted out of UC Riverside in 2018.

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Low A:

Luis Toribio DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(2), BB.  BA= .230.

Luis Matos CF- 2 for 4, SB(10).  BA= .298.

Marco Luciano SS- 1 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .266.

Alexander Canario LF- 1 for 5, HR(4).  BA= .235.

Abdiel Layer 1B- 1 for 2, 3B, 2 BB.  BA= .247.

Brett Auerbach C- 2 for 2.  BA= .308.

Ty Weber RHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.04.

Brett Auerbach has appeared in 10 games at C, 8 games at 2B, 2 games at 3B, 3 games in LF.  A utility player who can catch or a catcher who can play multiple other positions is an extremely valuable commodity.  Not sure why we don't see more of them.