Down on the Farm: 9/18/2026

AAA:  Reno Aces defeated the Sacramento River Cats 6-4.

Darren Baker LF- 1 for 4, SB(5).  BA= .261.

Bo Davidson RF- 3 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .303.

Aeverson Arteaga SS- 1 for 3, 3B, Sac.  BA= .249.

Sam Hentges LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.93.

 

Bo Davidson is THE guy at this level right now.  He'll be added to the 40-man roster, before rosters are set this fall.  The only question is whether he will be added before the season ends to get into a few MLB games.

AAA is the only minor league level still playing.

Game Wrap 9/18/2026: Dodgers 8 Giants 2

Another late-inning disaster turned a close game into a route.  Key Lines:

Jung Hoo Lee RF- 1 for 4, HR(10).  BA= .274.  Lee was so good in the middle of the season. Unfortunately despite this HR, he is batting .143 over his last 7 games, .155 over his last 15 and .200 over his last 30.

Scott Bandura DH- 1 for 2, SB(1), R.  BA= .250.  Bandura scored the Giants second run after a single, SB and a 2-out single by Jonah Cox 2B/CF  The SB as a weapon?  What a concept!

Cesar Perdomo LHP- 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.72.  Considering he was facing the Dodgers in Dodger Stadium, this is a pretty good line.  Perdomo allowed 3 singles in the 5'th inning but had 2 outs with runners at first and second when Tony Vitello replaced him with Jason Foley RHP.  Dave Roberts countered with.....Max Muncy!  Not sure I like that matchup but I aws following on Gameday and it looked like Perdomo's velocity was down a couple of ticks so maybe that's what Vitello and the coaches were looking at?

Philip Abner LHP- 1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, 4 HR.  ERA= 7.23.  Tasked with keeping it close in the bottom of the 8'th inning, Abner gave up 4 home runs, 4!  I thought that might be some kind of record but I looked it up and apparently not.  5 HR's in one inning is the record and it's been done many times.  My friend texted me and asked who Abner is.  I said some random waiver claim.  Next!  

It doesn't get any easier tomorrow evening as TBD faces Tarik Skubal LHP who may be the best pitcher in MLB and comes in with a 2.70 ERA.

Down on the Farm: 9/17/2026

AAA:  Sacramento River Cats shut out the Reno Aces 3-0.

Bo Davidson RF- 1 for 4, HR(10), 3 RBI.  BA= .294.

Victor Bericoto DH- 3 for 4. BA= .288.

Will Bednar RHP- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.33.

Wilkin Ramos RHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.07.

Cristian Alvarado RHP- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 6.35.

R. J. Dabovich RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 2.45.

Eric Cerantola RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, Save(6).  ERA= 4.12.

Bo Davidson's second game back from foot injury from foul ball.  He's 1 for 8 over the two games but drove in all 3 of the 'Cats runs with a homer in this one.  Bullpen with a combined shut out.

AA:  Erie Seawolves defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-3.

Kaeden Kent DH- 1 for 3, HR, BB, 3 RBI.  

Jackson Flora RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  

Jacob Bresnahan LHP- 3.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K's. 

Tyler Vogel RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Kaeden Kent drove in all 3 Squirrels runs with a homer.  Jackson Flora with two dominant innings.  Jacob Bresnahan feel apart in his 4'th inning of work.  Squirrels lose the best of 3 Division Series 2 games to 0.  Very nice season for the much maligned Giants AA squad despite a lot of roster movement over the season.

Down on the Farm: 9/16/2026

 AAA:  Reno Aces edged out the Sacramento River Cats 3-2.

Parks Harber 3B- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .271.

Trystan Vrieling RHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 6 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 9.68.

Braxton Roxby RHP- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.88.

AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels had an off day in their best of 3 EL division series. They trail the Erie Seawolves 1 game to 0.

A:  Lake Elsinore Storm overwhelmed the San Jose Giants 13-2.

Josuar Gonzalez SS- 1 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB, 2 E.  

Lorenzo Meola 2B- 2 for 4.

Jeremiah Jenkins 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.

Dario Reynoso 3B- 3 for 4, SB.

SJ Giants fall short in the Cal League Championship Series losing 2 game to 1.  All 3 games had lopsided scores.  So what went wrong?  1.  Anything can happen in a short series.  2.  The Giants were primarily a hitting team all season with probably the weakest pitching I remember them having and I've followed them for 20 years.  Pitching tends to dominate in postseason play.  3.  Many of the top players for the regular season moved up to A+ before the postseason.  Overall it was a great season for SJ Giants hitters and a disappointing one for the pitchers.  

Game Wrap 9/16/2026: Giants 6 Cardinals 5(10 Innings)

The Giants almost managed to ruin a sparkling start by Anthony Molina but hung tough and Drew Gilbert's 2-run homer in the 10'th inning was just enough to hold on for the game win and series win.  Key Lines:

Jonah Cox CF/2B- 3 for 4, BB, 2 SB(13), R, RBI.  BA= .294.  Jonah Cox is showing what a classic leadoff hitter can do for a lineup.  When was the last time the Giants had one?

Drew Gilbert PH/CF- 1 for 1, HR(10), R, 2 RBI.  BA= .233.  Bryce Eldridge was the designated runner to start the 10'th inning.  Tony Vitello made a double move puting Grant McCray in to pinch-run for Eldridge and Drew Gilbert to pinch-hit for Brett Harris 3B against a RHP.  Both moves were the right call but Eldridge could have walked home ahead of Gilbert's bomb to CF.  Gilbert gets to double-digit HR's and seems to be fearless in clutch situations.  

Andrew Knizner C- 3 for 4, R, RBI.  BA= .212.  Knizner is batting .238/.333/.429 over his last 7 games.  

Anthony Molina RHP- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.18.  Nice bounceback from a disaster start.  Tony Vitello made an aggressive move to bring in Philip Abner LHP to fact Alec Burleson with 2 outs in the 6'th and no runners on base.  Molina was at 82 pitches.  Maybe Vitello figured this was Molina's last inning anyway and why risk losing the 1-0 lead on one swing when you can bring in the lefty for a more favorable matchup.  It ended up working out.

Carson Seymour RHP- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 5.06.  Walking two batters was far from ideal but Seymour was victimized by horrible defense including his own muff of a short toss covering first base.  Then Christian Koss yanked a throw that looked like Bryce Eldridge whiffed on the standard TV angle but from a LF camera you could see the throw was at least 3 feet beyond Eldridge's stretch.  Trent Harris RHP came on to get the final out of the inning and then pitched a scoreless 8'th.  

Dylan Smith RHP- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.50.  This was Smith's 5'th blown save and he looks gassed.  

Joel Kuhnel RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K's, Save(8).  ERA= 4.54.  Torture!  Kuhnel had to protect a 2-run lead so could concentrate on getting the batters out rather than worrying about the designated runners.  He walked two batters to add to the drama but got out of it on 3 fly ball outs.  Not ideal but the plane flight to LA will be happy. 

The Giants get a travel day tomorrow then face the Dodgers for a weekend series with Cesar Perdomo LHP pitching Friday evening against TBD.  Maybe with the off day the Giants flew home and will then fly to LA tomorrow evening or Friday AM?

Down on the Farm: 9/15/2026

 AAA:  Sacramento River Cats blasted the Reno Aces 9-2.

Victor Bericoto LF- 3 for 5.  BA= .280.

Parks Harber 3B- 3 for 5.  BA= .267.

Eddys Leonard DH- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(5).  BA= .211.

Zach Morgan C- 2 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .241.

Aeverson Arteaga SS- 3 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .250.

Seth Lonsway LHP- 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 5.22.

AA:  Erie Seawolves devoured the Richmond Flying Squirrels 18-6(Game 1 of EL Division Series).

Trevor Cohen CF- 3 for 5, 2B, HR.  

Dayson Croes DH- 2 for 5.

Gavin Kilen SS- 4 for 5, 3B. 

Sabin Ceballos 1B- 2 for 5.

We'll just say it was a rough night for the pitchers.

A:  San Jose Giants quieted the Lake Elsinore Storm 9-1(Game 2 of Cal League Championship Series).

Lorenzo Meola 2B- 1 for 3, 2B, BB, HBP.

Drew Smith DH- 1 for 4, 2B, BB.

Junior Barajas C- 2 for 5, 2B.

Andy Polanco CF- 3 for 5, 2 SB.

Dario Reynoso 3B- 1 for 4, BB, SB.

Broedy Poppell RF- 1 for 2, 2 BB. 

Argenis Cayama RHP- 5 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's. 

Ian Korn RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  

Eric Nachtsheim RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.

The SJ Giants turn the tables on the Storm after the blowout loss in LE on Sunday.  3 pitchers combine for a no-hitter led by Argenis Cayama who finishes the season strong on his 20'th birthday.  Overall, the SJ Giants pitching was disappointing this season but we're seeing encouraging signs from this year's draft class. Ian Korn was the 10'th round pick(why do I get a mental picture of heavy metal rock group when I see his name?).  Eric Nachtsheim was the Giants 6'th round pick.  Scouting report on him is a big fastball.

Game Wrap 9/15/2026: Giants 10 Cardinals 3

 A Quality Start for Blade Tidwell and a huge game at the plate for Bryce Eldridge led the Giants to an easy win in St. Louis.  Key Lines:

Bryce Eldridge 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(17), BB, 2 R, 3 RBI.  Bryce Eldridge is having a monster finish to his season.  Slash line .327/.422/.558 in September so far, .327/.414/.558 over his last 30 games.  Sal Stewart, who has 200 more AB's, probably still has a solid lead for ROY but Eldridge should be in the conversation.  

Turner Hill LF- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB, R, 3 RBI.  BA= .250.  Nice game for Hill who had been slumping. 

Christian Koss SS- 3 for 5, 2 RBI.  BA= .240.  Koss is hot.  .435/.480/.565 over his last 7 game, .333/.382/.510 over his last 15 and .276/.330/.418 over his last 30.

Blade Tidwell RHP- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.56.  This was Tidwell's longest start of the season and first Quality Start.  He has shown some resilience when coming off poor starts.  

Anthony Molina RHP tries to bounce back from a disaster start and get the Giants a series win against Matthew Liberatore LHP who comes in with an ERA of 5.53.  The series finale starts at 10:15 AM PDT.