AAA: Tacoma Rainiers defeated the Sacramento River Cats 3-1.
Monday, August 24, 2026
Down on the Farm: 8/23/2026
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Game Wrap 8/23/2026: Red Sox 5 Giants 4
Matt Wilkinson's honeymoon phase as a rookie in Major League Baseball did not last long as he was cuffed around for 4 runs and didn't make it out of the 4'th inning. The Giants resulting loss was compounded by two injuries of undetermined seriousness. Key Lines:
Willy Adames SS- 1 for 3, R. BA= .230. The Giants jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with Adames scoring the second run from 2B on a groundball single to LF by Victor Bericoto LF. Adames appeared to injury himself on the slide into home and was later removed after appearing to be in pain again after striking out in the 5'th inning. He will undergo an MRI on his left elbow. Bericoto later appeared to hurt his knee after a fan interference call on a foul ball he was trying to catch along the 3B line seats. He will undergo an MRI too.
Bryce Eldridge 1B- 2 for 4, RBI. BA= .252. Eldridge drove in the Giants first run of the game in the first inning with a line drive single to RF.
Jonah Cox CF- 2 for 4, HR(2), R, RBI. BA= .255. Cox broke out of a strikeout streak with a HR off a major league pitcher(his first MLB HR came off a position player who was pitching late in a game) to lead off the 2'nd inning.
Matt Wilkinson LHP- 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 6.35. Wilkinson's FB is nothing to write home about at best and by the 4'th inning he was struggling to break 89 MPH with it. You are not going to have long term success in today's MLB with a sub-90 MPH FB.
The Giants limp home beat up in more ways than one and must get back after it tomorrow evening against The Reds and Chase Burns RHP who comes in with a 14-2 record and a 1.51 ERA. The Giants SP is TBD.
Down on the Farm: 8/22/2026
AAA: Tacoma Rainiers outscored the Sacramento River Cats 15-11.
Game Wrap 8/22/2026: Red Sox 3 Giants 2
Another bullpen failure in the 9'th inning ruined an excellent bounce back start by Blade Tidwell. Key Lines:
The Giants run output consisted of solo HR's by Willy Adames SS(21) and Andrew Knizner C(1) in the first and third innings respectively.
Blade Tidwell RHP- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.58. Tidwell follows up his worst appearance with his best which seems like a good predictor of future success. He has now made 3 good starts out of 4. Since the #1 goal of the remainder of this season is finding pieces for next year's rotation, that's the big takeaway from this game. The loss itself is almost a non-factor.
Dylan Smith RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.96. The line does not do Smith justice. He entered the game in the 8'th inning with no outs and runners at first and second. He allowed a soft single that loaded the bases but then went K, K fly out to maintain the shut out. He walked the leadoff batter in the 9'th and was replaced by Sam Hentges LHP who went HBP, force out(2B), LD single, LD double, IBB to tie the score. The next batter grounded one to Bryce Eldridge 1B who threw home for the force out except the throw pulled Knizner's foot off home plate and the walk-off run scored. I understand patience is a virtue for a manager but I'm in line with Baseballjeff1 on Bluesky who said it's past time to try a different reliever in situations where inherited runners are involved(paraphrase).
Matt Wilkinson LHP gets the start in the series finale facing Jake Bennett LHP who comes in with a 3.46 ERA. Is Wilkinson going out there as a SP or an Opener for Adrian Houser? I think it's too soon for Houser's turn in the rotation.
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Down on the Farm: 8/21/2026
AAA: Tacoma Rainiers topped the Sacramento River Cats 6-5.
Game Wrap 8/21/2026: Red Sox 6 Giants 4
Logan Webb's night fell apart in front of our eyes in the third inning as the Red Sox put up a 5-spot and a Giants comeback fell short. Key Lines:
Drew Gilbert CF- 2 for 3, HR(7). BA= .241. Gilbert singled to lead off the game then followed Christian Koss 3B 2-out double in the 4'th inning with a HR. Rafael Devers DH followed Gilbert with his 26'th HR to cut the Red Sox lead to 5-4. The Giants never got closer than that the rest of the night. Gilbert's hits came against Sonny Gray RHP. He was replaced by Jonah Cox PH/CF to face a parade of LHP's. Cox struck out twice and now has 8 K's in a row over his last 3 games. It's a small sample but 8 K's in a row is a lot.
Logan Webb RHP- 2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K's, 2 HBP, 3/1 GO/AO. ERA= 3.75. Webb allowed 3 baserunners in the first two innings so he was not exactly sharp from the beginning. still, I wasn't too worried when Willson Contreras came up in with 2 on and 2 out in the third inning. I did think Wilyer Abreu's single just ahead of Contreras looked awfully fat, like a batting practice pitch. Then Contreras absolutely unloaded on a changeup at the bottom of the strike zone but center-cut. It might still be in the air out there somewhere in Boston, 116 MPH, estimated distance 452 ft. What followed was single, single, HBP, walk, HBP and Webb's night was done.
Friday, August 21, 2026
Down on the Farm: 8/20/2026
AAA: Sacramento River Cats edged out the Tacoma Rainiers 2-1.