Game Wrap 6/30/2011: Cubs 5 Giants 2

This game probably ranks fairly high on the list of most frustrating games in the recent history of the Giants, and that's saying something! Another terrific start by Matt Cain wasted, 2 blown Saves, losing in extra innings, more than 10 innings without so much as a hit. I'm tellin' ya, this game had it all! Key LInes:

Andres Torres- 0 for 6, 4 K's. BA= .222.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 6, 2B, SB(2). BA= .293.
Nate Schierholtz- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .264.
Matt Cain(RHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.02.
Sergio Romo(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.45.
Brian Wilson(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K's, HR. ERA= 2.61.
Ramon Ramirez(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.51.

Any chance this offense has of improving depends a lot of how Sandoval hits, so this game is good from his standpoint. At least Nate drew a couple of walks. What can I say about Cainer? He's allowed just 1 ER in his last 21 IP, yet has just 1 Win to show for it. Wilson has given up a lot of hard outs lately. It finally caught up with him in this one. Still, it's only his 3'rd BS. From Baggs' desecription of things, Ramirez was monumentally unlucky in this one. Should have been out of the inning but lost out on a close check swing non-call that should have been strike 3, out #3.

Andres Torres was putrid in this one. Bochy is going to sit him for a couple of games again. Not sure how many times you can do that without deciding he just isn't going to turn it around. I'd probably go with an OF of Burrell in LF, Ross in CF and Nate in RF for the time being and see if they can gel into something. Burrell struck out 3 times this game though, so Bochy will probably go with Rowand, Ross and Nate. That's not a criticism of Bochy, BTW.

The Reeling Rockies were the only other NL West team in action today and they lost to the ChiSox 6-4. That leaves the Giants 2 games ahead of the D'Backs, 6.5 games up on Colorado, 9 games up on San Diego and 10 games up on the Dodgers. All things considered, not a terrible place to be in at this point of the season.

Madison Bumgarner takes the mound in Detroit against Brad Penny. Who's going to DH? Fortunately, the Giants don't face Justin Verlander this series. THAT could be a perfecto! The Max Scherzer game on Saturday might not be too much fun to watch though.

Down on the Farm: 6/29//2011

AAA No games scheduled in the PCL

AA Harrisburg Senators edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-2:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .333.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .223.
Justin Fitzgerald(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.55.
Daryl Maday(RHP)- 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.84.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.

This was the completion of the game suspended in the first inning 6/28 which is why Fitz pitched just 1 inning.

A+ San Jose Giants split a 7 inning doubleheader with the Modesto Nuts losing game one 8-4 and winning game 2 7-2:

Game 1:

Alex Burg(3B)- 0 for 1, 3 BB. BA= .413.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .271.

Burg seems to maybe have some versatility that might stand him in good stead in the future. Parker is hitting .314/.385/.543 over his last 10 games.

Game 2:

Alex Burg(C)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .420.
Jarrett Parker(RF)-2 for 4, HR(7). BA= .274.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB. BA= .274.
Luke Anders(1B)- 3 for 4. BA= .249.
James Simmons(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .296.
Michael Main(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.42.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.65.

Burg and Parker keep rolling. Simmons is back in San Jose. Organizational player at this point. How long has it been since Gary Brown was a factor?

Low A Augusta Greenjackets split a 7 inning doubleheader with the Charleston River Dogs winning game one 2-1 and losing Game two 9-2:

Game 1:

Ryan Lollis(RF)- 2 for 3. BA= .280.
Gaspar Santiago(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.66.

Game 2:

Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 2, 2B, BB. BA= .268.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.88.
Ryan Bradley(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 8.00.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds edged the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 3-2:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .213.
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .364.
Leonardo Ochoa(LF)- 2 for 4. BA= .313.
Reiner Roibal(RHP)- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.21.
Jack Snodgrass(LHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 10.29.

This game ran Galindo's hit streak to 7 games in which he is 9 for 30. Keep an eye on Ochoa.

Rookie AZL Giants out hit the Padres 9-8:

Brian Nicholson()- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(1). BA= .286.
Ydwin Villegas(SS)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(1). BA= .313.

Buechele and Benusa had 2 hits each.

DSL Rangers topped the Giants 3-2 in 10 innings:

Shurendell Mujica(SS)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .236.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.14.

Blogger's Note: Site Crash

Hey team. Sorry, but the site crashed last night just as I hit the Publish Post button and the whole thing went down the drain. It was still down this morning so I'm way behind. Will try to get caught up. Sorry for the delays.

Dr B

Game Wrap 6/29/2011: Cubs 2 Giants 1

The bad news is the Giants lost a 1 run game, wasted an excellent pitching performance by Tim Lincecum and failed to capitalize on an opportunity to gain ground on the NL West. The good news is the the D'Backs, Rockies and Dodgers all lost too, and failed to gain ground on the NL West leading Giants. Key Lines:

Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.04. Tough to pitch much better than that. Too often, a dominating pitching performance is not good enough to win for this team.

Sergio Romo- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.55. Romo's WHIP is 1.51 over his last 10 appearances against 0.89 for the season and 0.95 for his career. Not saying he is not good, but he is in a slump much like Affedlt was earlier in the season.

With the Loss, the Giants failed to extend their 2.5 game lead in the NL West as the D'Backs lost to the Cleveland Indians 6-2, the Rockies lost to the ChiSox 3-2 and the Dodgers lost to the Twins 1-0. The Padres managed to dig themselves out of the cellar with a 4-1 win over the KC Royals.

Matt Cain takes the mound in an afternoon game tomorrow against Big Bad Carlos Zambrano.

Down on the Farm: 6/28//2011

AAA Tucson Padres held off a late rally by the Fresno Grizzlies for an 11-9 win:

Jason Christian- 2 for 5, BB, SB(1). BA= .400.
Brett Pill(2B)- 3 for 5, 3B. BA= .307.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .315.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 3 for 4, BB, 2 PB. BA= .314.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Christian gets the callup from Richmond replacing Darren Ford who went on the DL. Steve Decker says Hector Sanchez needs some seasoning and the 2 PB's would seem to back that up. Nice offensive game though. I'm really high on him as a future backup for Buster or even a starter. Otero is the only Fresno pitcher who has been able to get hitters out in the rarified Tucson air.

AA Richmond's game was suspended after half an inning.

A+ San Jose Giants vs Modesto Nuts rained out, in late June no less.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets rained out.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds crushed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 11-0:

Mike Murray(DH)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .424.
Kaohi Downing(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .438.
Brandon Allen(RHP)- 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 0 K's, 2 HBP, 2 WP. ERA= 11.32.
Matt Andriese(RHP,Ems)- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.40.

Murray and Downing continue to hit. Not a good day for Brandon Allen. I like Andriese. Was hoping the Giants would draft him.

Rookie AZL Giants were idle.

DSL Phillies downed the Giants 8-3:

Carlos Cartegena(LF, 17 yo)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .140.

Cartegena is a 6 figure bonus baby who signed this offseason. He went 2 for 3 with a HR in the suspended game from the 27'th, so he maybe getting it in gear after a slow start.

Game Wrap 6/28/2011: Giants 13 Cubs 7; Giants 6 Cubs 3

If someone had told you this morning that the Cubs would score 7 and 3 runs against Giants pitching in the doubleheader games today, you might have reasonably concluded that the Giants were about to be swept. Instead, they put on a surprising burst of offense, as they should have, against a couple of pretty bad pitchers and the Giants were the team that ended up with the sweep. Key Lines:

Game 1

Aaron Rowand- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .245.

Miguel Tejada- 3 for 6, HR(2). BA= .229. Miggy T hitting .273 over his last 10 games.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .294. Good to see Pablo not miss a beat after coming out of Sunday's game early with a quad strain.

Pat Burrell- 3 for 5, HR(7). BA= .237. Pat the Bat is 6 for 18, .333 over his last 10 games with 2 BB's.

Chris Stewart- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .224. Is CStew winning the starting catcher's job? His D has been noticeably better than Whiteside's and he's hitting .280 over his last 10 games. Love his enthusiasm too!

Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.09. It was a warm day in Wrigley, but the box score says the wind was blowing in from LF. Not a great line but not a terrible one either.

Game 2

Cody Ross- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .270.

Nate Schierholtz- 3 for 4, SB(5). BA= .267. Nate got a pinch hit in game 1 too. He's hitting .346 over his last 10 games.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .198. Crawford is hitting .182 over his last 10 games but got a hit on Sunday and is 3 for his last 9 AB's.

Eli Whiteside- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .225. Whitey is hitting .290 over his last 10 games and has been better on D. Not sure the Giants need to trade for a catcher the way he and CStew have been playing lately. It's not like they are going to get Joe Mauer or Brian McCann in a deal.


Barry Zito- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.95. I didn't see the game. What was Zito's velocity? Anyway, nice game. it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

With the Double W, the Giants gained 0.5 games on the Arizona D'Backs, who won a see-saw battle with the Cleveland Indians 6-4. The Giants are now 2.5 games ahead in the NL West. The Rockies topped the ChiSox 3-2 but dropped 0.5 games to a 6.5 game deficit. The Desperate Dodgers lost to the Twins 6-4 to drop 10.5 games behind the leaders. The Pesky Padres won their 3'rd straight, 4-2 over the KC Royals to tie the Dodgers for last place.

Tim Lincecum tries to extend the Giants winning streak to 8 games tomorrow evening facing Ryan Dempster.

Down on the Farm: 6/27//2011

AAA Tucson Padres came from behind to out score the Fresno Grizzlies 12-11:

Conor Gillaspie(1B-3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .295
Brett Pill(2B-1B)- 3 for 4, 2B, SF. BA= .302.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 2 for 5. BA= .313.
Brad Eldred(RF)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(14). BA= .289.

Not sure what either hitting or pitching stats mean in Tucson in the summer. I guess if you can't hit there you won't hit anywhere and if you can pitch there, you can pitch anywhere.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators 9-3:

Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .350.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 3 for 4. BA= .255.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(2). BA= .333.
Johnny Monell(C)- 2 for 3. BA= .243.
Henry Sosa(RHP)- 6.1 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 9/3. ERA= 1.61.

Peguero isn't missing a beat out of the gate in AA. Huge game for Chris Dominguez. The Dinger was a grand slam. 12 of his 14 hits since his promotion to Richmond have gone for extra bases. SLG%= .738! No way he keeps up this pace, but my goodness, even a respectable showing in AA for him would be huge for the organization which is desperate for power bats. Sosa had good peripherals even though he gave up a lot of base hits.

A+ Modesto Nuts dropped the San Jose Giants 9-4:

Alex Burg(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(3), BB. BA= .422.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .237.
Zack Wheeler(RHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.84.

Joseph has been slumping with a .135 BA over his last 10 games even after the 2 hits tonight. He doesn't turn 20 yo until the middle of next month, so might benefit from repeating the level next year. Wheeler had decent peripherals in this one. Modesto is a tough place to pitch when the weather gets hot. Not sure what to make of Burg. Obviously, he won't keep up this pace, but he does have a decent hitting resume.

Low A Charleston River Dogs blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 3-0:

Justin Schumer- 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.26.

Greenjackets mustered just 3 hits.

Short Season Vancouver Canadians topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 8-5:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 4, SB(9). BA= .190.
Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 4, HR(3), BB. BA= .378.
Kaohi Downing(2B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .429.
Cameron Lamb(RHP)- 3 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 5.14.
Matt Graham(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 16.20.
Aaron King(LHP)- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 8.59.

Panik's dinger was a grand slam with 2 outs. Galindo has a 6 game hitting streak in which his BA= .280. Downing continues to rake. Not much to recommend in Lamb's start. He pitched to contact and they made HARD contact! Graham did not get shelled, so it's moral victory for him. King had a nice outing.

Rookie AZL Giants out hit the Brewers 8-6:

Ben Thomas(1B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .579.
Leonardo Fuentes(RF)- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB, Assist(2B). BA= .250.
Ryan Bean(RHP)- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Thomas probably should be moved up a level. Fuentes(18 yo) probably has as high a ceiling as any player in the organization.

DSL Giants game was suspended in the 8'th inning with the Mets leading 4-2.

Breaking News: Dodgers Declare Bankruptcy!

The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection this morning. You could kind of see this coming. Steve Soboroff who was Frank McCourts finance guy resigned over the weekend. No way he does that if he thinks McCourt would survive this. I don't pretend to know enough about bankruptcy law to know what all this means or how it will play out. Gotta think this means that the Dodgers are at least 2 steps closer to being sold to another owner. I have to say, as a Giants fan, I have mixed feelings about this. No question the Giants have benefitted from the Dodgers having a terrible owner. The line for potential multibillionaire owners in LA is long. It's really baffling how on earth a guy like McCourt got to be the owner in the first place. Whoever takes over the team, is likely to have boatloads of dough and a willingness, if not eagerness, to turn the Dodgers into the Yankees West or the Baseball Lakers.

At any rate, the Dodgers declaring bankruptcy is a huge, huge baseball story and a huge black eye for the game and for Bud Selig whose watch it occurred under. As always, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Down on the Farm: 6/26//2011

AAA Tucson Padres edged the Fresno Grizzlies in a see-saw battle 10-9:

Tyler Graham(RF-CF)- 1 for 4, BB, SB(38). BA= .273.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(6). BA= .293.
Brett Pill(2B-1B)- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .296.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .310.
Brad Eldred(1B-RF)- 4 for 5. BA= .281.
Marc Kroon(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.94.

I wonder if Marc Kroon is simply losing interest.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels pounded the Erie Seawolves 10-1:

Francisco Peguero(DH)- 3 for 4, SF. BA= .313.
Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 2 for 2, HR(8), 3 BB. BA= .263.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .316.
Juan Perez(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .242.
Johnny Monell(C)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .238.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 1 for 3, BB, BA= .226.
Ryan Verdugo(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.70.

Peguero, Kieschnick and Dominguez are all legit prospects who the Giants need to do well at this level. So far, so good!

A+ Stockton Ports out hit the San Jose Giants 9-8:

Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 5. BA= .322.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .270.
Alex Burg(DH)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .415.
Jose Flores(3B)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .172.
Robert Haney(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .229.
Craig Westcott(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.04.
Chuck Lofgren(LHP)- 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.86.
Ari Ronick(LHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.09.

Brown had a good game coming off a mental rest day. Parker is hot: 5 for 9 over his last 2 games. .324/.419/.514 over his last 10. Burg hit fairly well at 3 levels last year after being drafted in round 24. Interesting that he's in San Jose and Burkhart, Staley and Mike Murray are in Salem-Keizer. Bad start for Westcott. Solid efforts by Lofgren and Ronick.

Low A Savannah Sand Gnats stung the Augusta Greenjackets 2-0:

Raynor Campbell(LF)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .224.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.83.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes pounded the Vancouver Canadians 8-1:

Jesus Galindo(RF)- 1 for 5, SB(8). BA= .184.
Shawn Payne(CF)- 0 for 3, 2 BB, SB(6). BA= .281.
Kaohi Downing(2B)- 4 for 5, 2B. BA= .400.
Joe Staley(C)- 3 for 4, 2 HR(2). BA= .261.
Leonardo Ochoa(LF)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .250.
Lorenzo Mendoza(RHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA- 1.80.

Maybe the Giants scouting staff blew it when they drafted Downing as a pitcher instead of a hitter? Staley, Murray and Burkhart all seem to be able to hit. Not sure if any of them can stick at catcher. All are a bit old for the level. Ochoa is somebody to keep an eye on. Signed as a FA in 2008, he hit .288 for the AZL Giants in 2009. He missed all of last year, presumably due to injury. He's still just 21 yo, so still has time on his side. Mendoza is short for a pitcher but is just 19 yo and is putting up interesting numbers so far. Has been more of a GB pitcher than a K pitcher before this year.

Rookie AZL Giants edged the Reds 6-5:

Ben Thomas(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(2). BA= .600.
Eric Sim(C)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .308.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.08.
Keurin Feliz(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(3). ERA= 0.00.

DSL Giants were idle.

Game Wrap 6/26/2011: Giants 3 Indians 1

Madison Bumgarner rebounded from one of the worst starts in the history of baseball, to pitch one of the most dominant starts of his young career. Jeremy Affeldt added 2 more dominant frames as the two Giants pitchers struck out a total of 16 Indians. The Giants completed the series sweep and a 5-1 homestand after MadBum's horrific start in that first game against the Twins. Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .290. Pablo looked good at the plate tonight but pulled up with a lame quad and came out of the game early. Hope it's not another trip to the DL. The Giants need his bat. Quads can either be nothing or a full 6 weeks on the DL. Hope it's the former.

Bill Hall- 1 for 3, BB. SB(2). Hall scored one run and should have scored another. He was on 3B and broke for home on what he thought was a suicide squeeze. Only problem was Bum missed the sign, swung away and missed leaving a suprised Hall hung out to dry in a rundown.

Chris Stewart- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .171. CStew had a good day at the plate and another great one behind it. He gunned down Grady Sizemore on a steal attempt at 3B after Sizemore got a good jump and Bum took forever to release the ball. The call at 3B was questionable, but it was a great throw anyway.

Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 3.84. Bumgarner had it all working tonight, Fastball, cutter, slider, pinpoint accuracy on his dart-like throws, high, low, inside, outstide. I mean, it was all there tonight. He seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Credit CStew for calling a great game too.

Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.51. Didn't matter which batter's box they were standing in, Affeldt was unhittable tonight. He's got a 0.79 ERA over his last 10 appearances and has 16 K's against just 2 BB's in 11.1 IP. His current hot streak goes actually goes back 15.1 IP, to May 31 in which he has given up exactly 1 ER for an ERA of 0.58! How many Giants fans were ready to throw him under the bus just a few weeks ago?

With the W, the Giants were able to stretch their lead in the NL West to 1.5 games over the D'Backs who lost to the Detroit Tigers 8-3. The Rockies lost to the Yankees 6-4 to slip 5.5 games behind the Giants while the Dodgers kept pace, 9.5 games back, with come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Angels. The Padres maintained in last place 10.5 games behind with a 4-1 win over ATL.

The Giants have tomorrow off to travel to Chicago for the second time this year to take on the Cubs. Tuesday will be a doubleheader with Ryan Vogelsong and Barry Zito as the Giants starters taking on Doug Davis and Rodrigo Lopez. Neither Davis nor Lopez are good pitchers so even with Zito starting, the Giants should have a reasonably good chance at sweeping the DH. Of course, all bets are off with this offense, especially if Pablo can't go.

Down on the Farm: 6/25//2011

AAA Tucson Padres beat the Fresno Grizzlies 8-3:

Max Ramirez(C)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .250.

Sounds like Sanchez has gotten a bit beat up behind the plate and is getting a day or two off. He appeared in this one as PH though.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Erie Seawolves 6-2:

Charlie Culberson(2B)- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .248.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .273.
Roger Kieschnick(DH)- 1 for 4, SB(9). BA= .258.
Clayton Tanner(LHP)- 5.2 IP, 6, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 10/3.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 6.00.

After a rough AA start, Hembree seems to be finding his range.

A+ Stockton Ports outhit the San Jose Giants 9-7:

Jarrett Parker(CF)- 2 for 4, BB, 2 SB(14). BA= .263.
Alex Burg(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .417.
Jose Flores(3B)- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .120.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 5 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.43.

Gary Brown got the day off, probably for mental rest. All but 1 of Stockton's runs was earned despite 5 errors by the Giants.

Low A Savannnah Sand Gnats edged the Augusta Greenjackets 6-5:

Carlos Willoughby(2B)- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .264.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .268.
Josh Mazzola(1B)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(6). BA= .226.

Willoughby has an OBP of .377 to go with his .264 BA.

Short Season Vancouver Canadians downed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 11-9:

Jesus Galindo(RF)- 1 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB(7). BA= .182.
Shawn Payne(CF)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB(5). BA= .310.
Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 5. BA= .394.
Mike Murray(DH)- 2 for 4, 2 HR(3), BB. BA= .417.
Kaohi Downing(3B)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .300.
Leonardo Ochoa(LF)- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .250.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 3 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 5/0. ERA= 11.81.
Wilber Bucardo(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Galindo has an OBP of .308 against a BA of .182. Big game for Payne drafted out of tiny Middle Georgia College. I wonder if Murray can catch at all, because he sure seems like a hitter. Kaohi Downing is off to a good start in his transition away from pitching. Flores got hit around, but had good peripheral stats. Wilber Bucardo looking good in his comeback.

Rookie AZL Rangers pounded the Giants 9-3:

Mike Merganthaler(LF)- 1 for 5, HR(1)- BA= .286.
Leonardo Fuentes(RF)- 4 for 4, 2B. BA= .333.
Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .500.

Fuentes is a 6 figure bonus baby from Colombia, signed last year. 18 yo, 6'4", 215 lbs. Huge upside Tomlnson makes his pro debut, right after his signing announcement, with 2 hits and 2 errors.

DSL Giants defeated the Yankees1 5-3:

Shurendell Mujica(SS, 20 yo)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SF. BA= .237.
Victor Feliz(1B, 20 yo)- 1 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .290.
Royel Astacio(3B, 17 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .254.
Hector Mercedes(RF, 19 yo)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .278.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP, 17 yo)- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 7/1.

Game Wrap 6/25/2011: Giants 1 Indians 0

This game can be summed up in two words: Matt Cain! Make that three words: Matthew Thomas Cain! I mean, Dude is just unbelievably nails, game after game year after year! Oh, and Dude is a freaking horse too! Words so fail to describe what Matt Cain means to this team. I am literally shaking and in tears as I am writing this right now. When you strip away Panda hats, the beards, the misfits stuff, not that there is anything wrong with those or that they aren't important, but when you get past all that superficial stuff and get down to the heart and soul, the absolute bedrock of this team, you get to one name: Matthew Thomas Cain! Hoss got exactly 1 unearned run to work with, and it came late in the game, and with 2 innings of help from the bullpen, he made it stand up. 1 unearned run and it was enough! Simply unbelievable! Key Lines:

Matthew Thomas Cain- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.22. That's it! There really is nothing else to say about this game. Cainer came into it having accumulated 2.1 WAR already this season. I don't know how many more he added in this one, bu in my book, he deserves another full WAR.

The other games from the NL West are not all in yet. The Rockies and Dodgers both lost. With Justin Verlander going for Detroit against the D'Backs, the Giants have a good shot at moving their flag back to the top of the Standings Pole tonight.

Madison Bumgarner tries to rebound from his nightmare last start and get that sweep for the Giants tomorrow against Fausto Carmona in a 5 PM ESPN game, so it should be another low scoring affair.

Addendum: Missed the bases-loaded balk that got the Giants their lone run. I didn't see it, but the Indians apparently didn't contest it, so I assume it was legit. Probably would have scored that inning anyway if Nate hadn't slipped trying to stretch a double into a triple.

Down On the Farm: 6/24/2011

AAA Salt Lake City Bees stung the Fresno Grizzlies again 7-5:

Darren Ford(CF)- 0 for 4, BB, SB(10), Assist(Willits@3B). BA= .212.
Tyler Graham(RF)- 2 for 4, 2 SB(37). BA= .274
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .292.
Brett Pill(2B)- 2 for 4. BA= .291.
Max Ramirez(DH)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .242.
Dan Runzler(LHP)- 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.50.
Dab Otero(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Runzler seems like a poor man's Jonathan Sanchez as a starter. Is Otero positioning himself for a call up? I don't think I've ever seen a scouting report on him and never saw him pitch when he was with SJ.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels dominated the Erie Seawolves 8-0:

Roger Kieschnick(DH)- 2 for 4. BA= .258.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(1). BA= .276.
Wes Hodges(1B)- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .233.
Jason Christian(LF)- 2 for 3, 2B, S. BA= .259
Sharlon Schoop(SS)- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .172.
Eric Surkamp(LHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 1.74.

Dominguez seems to be not intimidated by AA so far. Schoop was back at SS. Surkamp continues to dominate in impressive fashion. Moving way up Giants prospect rankings!

A+ Stockton Ports beat the San Jose Giants 8-5:

Gary Brown(CF)- 0 for 5. BA= .321.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(8). BA= .280.

Brown is now hitting .125 over his last 10 games.

Low A Augusta Geenjackets split a DH with the Savannah Sand Gnats losing the first game 2-1 and winning the second 4-2:

Nothing to see in Game 1

Game 2:

Carlos Willoughby((2B)- 1 for 3, HBP, SB(25). BA= .267.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 S. BA= .239.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .269.
Josh Mazzola(DH)- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .220.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 3.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.92.
Jake Dunnington(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.54.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.72.
Stephen Harrold(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(11). ERA= 1.89.

Not much to comment on here. Edward Concepcion was suspended for 25 games for substance violation. Generally a first strike is 50 games, but it can be reduced for a minor violation such as possession of paraphernalia.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds downed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-3:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(5). BA= .172.
Shawn Payne(LF)- 2 for 4, BB, 3 SB(3). BA= .240.
Dan Brock(3B)- 1 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .235.
Reiner Roibal(RHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.00.
Matt Graham(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 30.00
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Rookie AZL Giants topped the Angels 8-5:

Eldred Barnett(CF)- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .400.
Ben Thomas((1B)- 4 for 5, 2 2B, HR(1). BA= .636.
Miguel Ferrer(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Keurin Feliz(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2). ERA= 0.00.

Thomas raked in college against 3'rd tier competition, which is still pretty good. He's probably starting out at too low a level here.

DSL Marlins edged the Giants 6-5:

Alberto Robles(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .365.
Hector Mercedes(RF)- 2 for 4, Assist(3B). BA= .260.

At this point, getting through a scoreless inning counts as a major victory for Graham.

Game Wrap: Giants 4 Indians 3

The Giants overcame yet another shoddy pitching performance by Jonathan Sanchez in a come from behind win in this inter league matchup. Key Lines:

Andres Torres- 3 for 4, HR(3). Looks like the time off was just what Torres needed. Getting him back to last years mid-season level would be huge for this offense!

Jonathan Sanchez- 4.2 IP, 2H, 3 R, 6 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.81. I guess he was still not very hittable, but my God! It's one thing to walk 2 or 3 batters in an otherwise quality 6 inning start, but Sanchez seems to have settled into a pattern of walking 5 or 6 in 5 inning starts. We're getting close to Steve Blass territory here!

Bullpen- 4.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. The bullpen won this game with some help from Carlos Santana. So, who do the Giants drop to make room for Zito? I'd almost rather send Mota out there to start game 2 of that DH and make it a bullpen game if it means dropping one of these guys to add Zito.

With the Win, the Giants kept pace with the NL West leading D'Backs who came from behind to edge the Detroit Tigers 6-5. The Giants remain 0.5 games behind. The Rockies also kept pace, 4 games back with a 4-2 win over the Yankees. The Dodgers slipped to 9 games back with an 8-3 loss to freeway rivals the Angels of Anaheim. The Padres stayed 10 games behind with an 11-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Matt CAin tries to keep it going today against Justin Masterson in an afternoon game that I won't get to see because Fox will be broadcasting the Dodger-Angel game.

Down on the Farm: 6/23//2011

AAA Salt Lake City Bees stung the Fresno Grizzlies 6-5:

Tyler Graham(RF)- 1 for 4, 2B, HBP. SB(35). BA= .270.
Edgar Gonzalez(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .297.
Conor Gillaspie(1B)- 2 for 5. BA= .288.
Brett Pill(2B)- 3 for 5, 2 2B, 3B. BA= .288.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .319.
Brad Eldred(DH)- 2 for 4, HR(13). BA= .272.
Justin Dowdy(LHP)- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.93.
Marc Kroon(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.05.
Jerome Williams(RHP, Bees)- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.50.

Interesting that Gillaspie played 1B when they have Brett Pill playing 2B and Eldred DH'ing. Jerome Williams, a Blast From the Past, is trying to make a Ryan Vogelsong-like comeback except with the Angels. Maybe the Giants can offer him a ST invite for next season?

AA Harrisburg Senators topped the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-2 in a game called after 8 innings:

Francisco Peguero(CF)- 0 for 4. BA- .000.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 1 for 2, BB, HBP, SB(10). BA= .252.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 3, 2B, SF. BA= .240.
Wes Hodges(1B)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .222.
Daryl Maday(RHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.75.
Alex Hinshaw(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.88.

Peguero makes his AA debut.

A+ Stockton Ports edged the San Jose Giants 2-1:

Gary Brown(CF)- 1 for 4, SB(33). BA= .326.
David Mixon(RHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.66.
Michael Main(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.64.
Ari Ronick(LHP)- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.19.

Still cautiously hopeful about Michael Main's future.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets rained out.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds beat the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 5-2:

Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 4. BA= .480.
Brice Cutspec(1B)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .188.
Shawn Payne(LF)- 2 for 3, 3B. BA= .190.
Brandon Allen(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 9.95.
Wilber Bucardo(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Aaron King(LHP)- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 12.60.
Stephen Shackleford(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Matt Andriese(RHP, Ems)- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 10/1. ERA= 3.60

A Wilber Bucardo sighting!! The struggles of Brandon Allen and Matt Graham are cautionary against irrational exuberance about HS pitching draftees with raw arms. Not that I'm writing them off, but they require huge amounts of patience and the attrition rate is high. 0 BB's for King are encouraging. Andriese is a hard thrower from UC Riverside who I wouldn't have minded the Giants drafting.

Rookie AZL Giants idle.

DSL Giants box not up yet.

Game Wrap 6/23/2011: Giants 2 Twins 1

The Giants offense and Brian Wilson managed to turn a dominating start by Tim Lincecum into a nail biter at the end, but we wouldn't want it any other way, would we? Key Lines:

Aaron Rowand- 2 for 3. BA= .245. Gamer is hitting .273 over his last 10 games but has just 1 RBI and 0 Runs to show for it. Still, he might actually be a better option than Andres Torres right now, much as I hate to say it.

Miguel Tejada- 2 for 3. BA= .226. Miggy is hitting .270 with an OBP of .325 over his last 10 games. That's no great shakes, of course, but look at the rest of the Giants lineup.

Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 K's, GO/AO= 8/0. ERA= 3.16. OK, we can forget all about the talk of what's wrong with Timmy. There's nothing wrong with Timmy! I do think he's more comfortable with CStew behind the plate, though.

With the W, the Giants remained 0.5 games behind the Arizona D'Backs who defeated the KC Royals 5-3. The rest of the NL West was idle which means the Rockies, Dodgers and Padres all lost 0.5 games in the standings to 4, 8 and 10 games respectively.

The Cleveland Indians come to town for another interleague series starting tomorrow evening with Jonathan Sanchez taking the mound against Carlos Carrasco.

Down on the Farm: 6/22//2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies stole Salt Lake City Bees' honey 8-3:

Tyler Graham(RF)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .271.
Brett Pill(2B-1B)- 2 for 4, 2 HR(13). BA= .283.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .321.
Brad Eldred(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(12). BA= .267.
Max Ramirez(DH)- 3 for 4. BA= .240.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .289.
Matt Yourkin(LHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.46.
Casey Daigle(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.63.

Fresno box scores are suddenly some of the most interesting in the system. Lots going on here. Ramirez has potential as a hitter. I understand he's defensively challenged as a catcher. He should not take defensive PT away from Hector Sanchez. I continue to have this crazy idea that Tyler Graham could help a MLB club as a 4'th or 5'th OF. If the Giants are looking to make a trade at the deadline and I'm the GM of another team, Graham is a guy I'm asking for as a throw-in. Casey Daigle is married to softball hottie Jennie Finch. They recently had a second son. Those two definitely are not as good at naming babies as they are at their respective sports(and in Daigle's case, he's not that good at baseball). Son #1 was named Ace because supposedly Casey always wanted a son named Ace(shrugs). So son #2 gets a normal name, right? Ummm no! The unlucky newborn was given the moniker Diesel Dean Daigle. Diesel Daigle? OMG!

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators 4-2:

Chris Dominguez(3B)- 3 for 4, 2 2B, 3B. BA= .227.
Justin Fitzgerald(RHP)- 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.59.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 9.00.

Big game for Dominguez. Just one game, but do you realize how huge it would be for this organization if he's able to make a successful transition to AA? Fitzgerald is a horse. If he has the stuff to pitch in the majors, he'll be a major innings eater. Nice recovery from a prior poor outing by Hembree.

A+ The California League was idle post All-Star Game.

Low A The Sally League was idle post All-Star Game.

Short Season Eugene Emeralds edged the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3:

Joe Panik(SS)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .524.
Dan Burkhart(C)- 2 for 4, HR(1). BA= .389.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 0 for 3, 3 K's. BA= .278.
Cameron Lamb(RHP)- 6 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 10/3. ERA= 1.64.

Beyond the HR, Panik uncharacteristically K'd 3 times. Chuckie Jones and Tom Trebelhorn were both ejected in the 7'th inning, presumably for arguing balls and strikes. Second strong outing in as many starts for Lamb.

Rookie AZL Giants topped the AZL Angels 4-2:

Eldred Barnett(CF)- 0 for 1, BB, HBP, SF. BA= .400.
Christian Paulino(2B)- 2 for 4. BA= .300.
Ben Thomas(1B)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1). BA= .500.
Ryan Bean(RHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Steve Edlefsen(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Sundrendy Windster(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(1). ERA= 0.00.

Bean is repeating the AZL after putting up excellent K and GB numbers last year. He's 21 yo drafted last year in round 17 our of JC ball. Maybe it's because they are trying him at starter? Or, maybe he's rehabbing something? Edlefsen is rehabbing. Windster makes his pro debut as a pitcher. Fleet was a college closer. Is he back to closing permanently?

DSL Giants downed the Cubs2 10-4:

Alberto Robles(2B, 20 yo)- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .379.
Victor Feliz(1B, 20 yo)- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .357.
Hector Mercedes(RF, 19 yo)- 3 for 4, 2B, 2 HR(3). BA= .375.
Randy Ortiz(CF, 18 yo)- 1 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .211.

Game Wrap 6/22/2011: Giants 5 Twins 1

The most remarkable story of the season so far, and I don't think it's at all close, is Ryan Vogelsong. Inning after inning, game after game, he has pitched about as well as anybody has ever pitched in baseball in those 12 appearances. The Giants needed a stopper tonight and Vogelsong came through, once again, with flying colors. I'm guessing his wifey was in tears again tonight as he walked off the field. The fistbump and hug he got from Eli Whiteside in the dugout after the 7'th inning was certainly heartfelt. For his part, Eli Whiteside made a major contribution to Vogelsong being credited with a victory as he drove in the first 3 runs of the game for the Giants. Key LInes:

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .253. Nate stroked a hard double to the RF wall. It's not often you see him draw 2 BB's.

Eli Whiteside- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .221. Hey! Eli is hitting .294 over his last 10 games!

Ryan Vogelsong- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 12/5. ERA= 1.86. Vogelsong pounded the strike zone with 2 seamer and a cutter and had the Twins hitting ground balls. 2 of his 3 K's came in the 7'th after the first two batters of the inning reached base and he was pitching for the K instead of to contact. Just a remarkable piece of pitching to get out of that 7'th inning with just 1 run allowed. Remarkable performance all around when the Giants needed it most.

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA- 2.45. Even though it was a relatively uneventful inning, Wilson doesn't look right to me. He's obviously stretching his oblique before every pitch. The TV caught him rubbing his side at one point. He just doesn't look comfortable out there. Ordinarily a FB maxing out at 95 MPH would not be a sign that something isn't right, but in Wilson's case, it ain't Wilson!

With the Win, the Giants kept pace 0.5 games behind the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks who edged the KC Royals 3-2. The Rockies lost to the Cleveland Indians 4-3 and dropped back to 3.5 games behind the leaders. The Dodgers lost to Detroit 7-5 to fall back to 7.5 games behind while the Pesky Padres topped the BoSox 5-1 to remain 9.5 games behind and in last place.

Tim Lincecum tries to right his ship and keep the Giants on the winning track tomorrow afternoon facing lefty Brian Deunsing.

Down on the Farm: 6/21//2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies blanked the Salt Lake City Bees 2-0:

Darren Ford(CF)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .264.
Brad Eldred(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(11). BA= .262.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .286.
Barry Zito(LHP)- 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 13/4. ERA= 2.40.

Looking over the Bees' lineup, I don't see a lot of names I recognize as being good hitters. Zito got a lot of ground balls. He's not generally a GB pitcher. I guess we'll find out what he has on the 28'th against the Cubbies in Chicago.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Harrisburg Senators 4-2:

Charlie Culberson(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .254.
Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 2 for 5, HR(7). BA= .254.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .111.
Johnny Monell(C)- 2 for 3, HR(8), BB. BA= .230.
Henry Sosa(RHP)- 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 0.56.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Jason Stoffel(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.55.

Henry Sosa has been a completely different pitcher since being sent down to AA.

A+ Cal League All-Stars downed the Carolina League All=Stars 6-1:

Gary Brown- 1 for 4.
Westcott, Marte, Heston and Wheeler pitched a scoreless inning each.

Low A SAL Southern Division All-Stars topped the SAL Northern Division All-Stars 6-3:

Carlos Willoughby- 1 for 5.
Adam Duvall- 2 for 3, HR.

Taylor Rogers pitched a scoreless inning. Shawn Sanford went 0.2 IP, and Stephen Harrold came in to ge the last out. Duvall was named MVP of the game.

Short Season Spokane Indians pounded the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 15-8:

Jesus Galindo(RF)- 0 for 4, 2 BB, 2 SB. BA= .059.
Danny Brock(1B-3B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .273.
Mike Murray(C)- 2 for 5. BA= .500.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .333.
Brice Cutspec(PH-1B)- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .182.
Lorenzo Mendoza(RHP)- 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.25.
Matt Graham(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 45.00.
Jack Snodgrass(LHP)- 1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 18.00.
Brennan Flick(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.86.

The Volcanoes drew a total of 9 walks in the game. Graham has been knocked around pretty good in both of his appearances. He might need to go back to camp and pitch some more in the AZL.

Rookie AZL Giants downed the AZL D'Backs 4-2:

Eldred Barnett(CF)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .500.
Garrett Buechele(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .400.
Jose Cuevas(SS)- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .286.
Myles Schroder(C)- 3 for 4, SB(1). BA= .750.
Joan Gregrorio(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Miguel Ferrer(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Ariel Hernandez(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA=0.00
Keurin Feliz(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Dashenko Ricardo(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 9.00.

Barnett was drafted late out of Grambling State. He seems to have some tools. The Dominican pitching contingent got a workout. I'm hopeful about Gregorio because of his size. Ricardo was a catcher who the Giants signed in the Rule 5 draft last year and converted to pitching.

DSL Rangers topped the Giants 3-1:

Alberto Robles(3B, 20 yo)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .371.
Yeini Martinez(RHP, 20 yo)- 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.18.
Bertoni Garcia(RHP, 19 yo)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Game Wrap 6/21/2011: Twins 9 Giants 2

Well, THAT was embarrassing, seeing as the wife is a Twins fan and all. Madison Bumgarner had a historically bad start allowing 8 hits before striking out opposing pitcher Carl Pavano and then allowed another for good measure before being pulled after allowing 8 runs in 0.1 IP. Key Lines:

Eli Whiteside- 2 for 3, HR(2). BA= .207.

Bullpen- 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.

Gotta think Bumgarner's nightmare was a fluke. He had pitched something like 10 QS's in a row prior to this. Still a very embarrassing and disconcerting start for the kid.

With the Loss, the Giants dropped their 5'th game in a row and slipped 0.5 games behind the Dangerous D'Backs in the NL West.

Ryan Vogelsong tries to be the stopper tomorrow against Nick Blackburn.

Down on the Farm: 6/20//2011

Hot Tip: John Klima has a Q/A with Trevor Bauer over on baseballbeginnings.com. Man, if that kid is half as smart about pitching as he sounds, and all evidence points to that he is, I shudder at the thought of what he is going to do for the D'Backs, as if they aren't already Dangerous enough! That is must reading!

AAA Sacramento River Cats edged the Fresno Grizzlies 3-2:

Tyler LaTorre(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .275.
Shane Loux(RHP)- 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.78.
Rich Harden(RHP, River Cats)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Fantasy alert! Rich Harden begins a rehab assignment and has the K thing going! As long as you know going in he won't last the season, Harden is a great fantasy player while he's healthy.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels were idle.

A+ The Cal League is starting their All-Star break. SJ players on the squad include Pitchers Marte, Heston, Westcott and Wheeler with Gary Brown the only position player representing the Giants.

Low A The Sally League is starting its All=Star break. Augusta players on the squad include RHP Shawn Sanford, 3B Adam Duvall, 2B Carlos Willoughby, RHP Taylor Rogers and RHP Stephen Harrold. Steve Kline was named the Pitching Coach for the Southern Division.

Short Season Spokane Indians out hit the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 15-7:

Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .588.
Joe Staley(C)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(2). BA= .250.
Brett Krill(RF)- 1 for 2, 3B. BA= .400.
Shawn Payne(LF-CF)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .083.
Dan Burkhart(DH)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .357.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 15.43.
Aaron King(LHP)- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 1 K. ERA= 20.25.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.

Seems like Panik could be quickly moved up to San Jose. Krill was replaced after a double was hit to RF by a Spokane batter. Don't know if he was pulle for disciplinary reasons or if he was injured on the play. He legged out a triple in the second inning. Maybe he tweaked something then and it became apparent on defense later? Anyway, I have Krill pegged as a sleeper so I'm interested in what happened. Disappointing start for Flores who was excellent last year in Arizona. After a nice first outing, Aaron King continued his nightmare with a wild outing tonight.

Rookie AZL Giants downed the AZL Cubs 8-5:

Leonardo Ochoa(LF)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .750.
Garrett Buechele(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .400.
Jose De La Cruz(DH)- 3 for 4, SB(1). BA= .750.
Leonardo Fuentes(RF)- 0 for 4, 4 K's. BA= .000.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 2.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.86.
Luis Angeles(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= .000.

Good to see they've signed Buechele. Tough night for Bonus Baby Fuentes. Noted that Sundrendy Windster is listed as a pitcher on the roster.

DSL Giants blanked the Phillies 9-0:

Franklin Matamoros(1B, 18 yo)- 2 for 5. BA= .250.
Hector Mercedes(RF, 19 yo)- 1 for 3, 3B, 2 BB. BA= .222.
Royel Astacio(DH, 17 yo)- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .268.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP, 17 yo)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 1.23.

DSL games tend to be rather ragged affairs. This game featured 11 walks by Giants batters along with 6 SB's. Mejia seems to be too good for this league as he sports 32 K's against just 4 BB's in 29.1 IP. At 6'3", 195 lbs, he's got perfect size for a pitcher. Can't wait to see what he does in the States!

Down on the Farm: 6/19//2011

Fresno Grizzlies topped the Sacramento River Cats 4-2:

Darren Ford(CF)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(8). BA= .289.
Edgar Gonzalez(2B)- 2 for 4, SB(9). BA= .302.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .292.
Tyler Graham(DH)- 1 for 3, S, SB(34)- BA= .268.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .328.
Dan Runzler(LHP)- 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.92.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(3). ERA= 0.00.

Runzler's line looks like a typical Jonathan Sanchez line with fewer K's.

AA Bowie Baysox lit up Ryan Verdugo and cruised to a 12-4 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels:

Juan Perez(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .243.
Wes Hodges(1B)- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .200.
Ryan Verdugo(LHP)- 2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.84.
Wilmin Rodriguez(LHP)- 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.41.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 18.00.

Not too many bright spots here.

A+ San Jose Giants cracked the Modesto Nuts 2-1:

Gary Brown(CF)- 0 for 4. BA= .328.
Francisco Peguero(DH)- 3 for 4, SB(4). BA= .324.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 3 for 4. BA= .280.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .268.
Wendell Fairley(LF)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .249.
Craig Westcott(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.09.
Tom Vessella(LHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Mitch Lively(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2). ERA= 1.77.

Brown is in a definite slump that seemed to start about the time Peguero arrived on the scene. Not saying there is a connection. Vessella is a 25 yo organizational pitcher who has seen time in Richmond and Augusta prior to this appearance. LIvely appears to be the new SJ closer.

Low A Augusta Greenjeckets blanked the Asheville Tourists 6-0 as they completed a game suspended yesterday:

Carlos Willoughby(2B)- 2 for 5, HR(1). BA= .267.
Devin Harris(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .233.
Taylor Rogers(RHP)- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's, GO/AO= 7/1. ERA= 2.27.
Jacob Dunnington(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.69.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.84.

Asheville Travelers edged the Augusta Greenjackets 8-7 in the regularly scheduled game:

Carlos Willoughby(2B)- 1 for 2, 3 BB. BA= .269.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .238.
Adam Duvall(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .269.
Raynor Campbell(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(6), SB(9). BA= .223.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 4.31.

Dunnington has 50 K's against 27 BB's in 39 IP. Young Mr. Bochy has 20 K's against 5 BB's in 14.2 IP. Adrianza is hitting .208 over his last 10 games. Kickham was missing bats.

Short Season Spokane Indians came from behind to edge the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3:

Jesus Galindo(RF)- 0 for 3, BB, SB(2). BA= .000
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .583.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 1 for 3, 2B, HBP. BA= .500.
Reiner Roibal(RHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 2.25.
Phil McCormick(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= .000.

Wow! Thats a fairly dominant 4 IP for Reiner Roibal. Do we have another high ceiling pitching prospect? Joe Panik is performing exactly as you would hope a first round draft choice would perform. I'm sky high no Chuckie Jones!

DSL Giants were idle as usual on Sundays.

Game Wrap 6/19/2011: A's 2 Giants 1

Well, THAT was disappointing! Matt Cain, once again, pitched his heart out and was rewarded with a big no-decision and a team loss due to an increasingly inept Giants offense. Key Lines:

Andres Torres- 0 for 4. BA= .236. Torres looks totally lost at the plate.

Aaron Rowand- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .245. Rowand had the lone XBH and RBI for the Giants driving in Nate all the way from 1B on a double down the LF line in the second inning. The Giants managed just one baserunner after the third inning.

Brandon Crawford- 0 for 3. Crawford hit the ball sharply twice. Conor Jackson made a diving stop on one at 1B and the other went right at Adam Rosales' glove at 3B.

Matt Cain- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.44. Cained again! At least he won me the WHIP category for my fantasy baseball team.

Despite the L and series sweep to the A's, the Giants maintained their 0.5 game lead in the NL West over the Dangerous D'Backs who lost to the ChiSox 8-2. The Rockies stayed 3.5 games back after getting blown out by Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers. The Dodgers gained a game to 7.5 behind with a 1-0 win over the 'Stros. The Padres stayed 9.5 games back and in last place on a walk-off loss to the Twins 5-4.

The Giants get a much needed day off to regroup the start a 6 game homestand against the aforementioned Twins who are coming off a sweep of the Padres and might be the hottest team in baseball and now have Joe Mauer back. Madison Bumgarner starts game 1 on Tuesday night against Carl Pavano.

Around the League: Edwin Rodriguez Resigns

Word is out that Edwin Rodriguez, manager of the Florida Marlins has resigned. Ordinarily something like that wouldn't rate a comment on this Giants oriented blog, but the Marlins just happen to be the team that came into San Francisco a few weeks ago riding high. They figuratively ransacked the city, massacred the men and took the women and children into captivity. Oh, and they absolutely tore the hearts out of the team and it's fans by injuring the Savior of the Team, Buster Posey. Well, Karma is a bitch! Since that awful week, the Marlins are the team that went into a tailspin they haven't recovered from. Scott Cousins is on the DL. His mouthy roommate, Logan Morrison, has been told to "shut up and hit" by the owner. The Batting Coach has been fired, and now the manager has resigned. I have to think that the emotional trauma of the Buster injury and the ensuing media firestorm was even greater for the guilty team. What goes around, comes around. The Baseball Gods have their ways of meting out their own brand of justice.

Down on the Farm: 6/18//2011

Hey, what happened to Optioned to Fresno? No posts since June 6, after Day 1 of the Draft.

AAA Fresno Grizzlies blanked the Sacramento River Cats 3-0:

Edgar Gonzalez(2B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .298.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 2 for 4. BA= .328.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .310.
Andrew Kown(RHP)- 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.61.
Waldis Joaquin(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.76.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(2). ERA= 0.00.

Andrew Kown pitched 6 no-hit innings. Ran his pitch count up with the 4 walks. After the game, he gave credit to Hector Sanchez for "calling a great game." It may have been just a platitude, but the Giants and their pitching staff seem to put a lot more stock in "calling a great game" than other organizations. Kown is an interesting guy. 6'7" tall, 28 years old, he has pitched pretty well for the last 3 years in the minors. Pitching in the PCL is about as good a test as you are going to get in the minors. The Giants are about to have a problem with too many SP's at the major league level, but it seems like this guy deserves a chance with somebody. As Bacci pointed out in a previous comment, it looks like Otero has taken over the closer role in Fresno.

I have to say, I'm getting very close to wanting to see a housecleaning of position players when Belt comes off the DL. Bring up Belt, Neal, Sanchez, maybe even Gillaspie, let 'em play and see what we've got for next year. Can't do much worse than the offense is doing now.

AA Bowie Baysox topped the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-1:

Johnny Monell(DH)- 1 for 3, HR(7). BA= .228.
Clayton Tanner(LHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 6/1. ERA= 4.65.
Hector Correa(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.

This may have been Tanners most dominant start from the standpoint of secondary stats. It was a QS on ERA, but the Squirrels managed just 3 hits. Correa's first AA appearance is a success.

A+ Modesto Nuts edged the San Jose Giants 2-1:

Gary Brown(CF)- 0 for 2, BB, S. BA= .332.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K's, GO/AO= 8/2. ERA= 3.48.
Ari Ronick(LHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.27.

The Giants managed just 2 hits as a team. Heston had a dominant start from a K/BB standpoint, but gave up 2 solo dingers. On the season, Heston has a decent K/9 of 7.5 with an excellent BB/9 of 1.9 and a K/BB of 3.6 with a GO/AO= 1.92 all of which would seem to bode well for the future.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets vs Asheville Tourists game was suspended after 4 innings with the Jackets leading 6-0.

Short Season Spokane Indians parlayed a 6 run 4'th inning into a 7-2 victory over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes:

Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 4, BB, SB(1). BA= .556.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 1 for 4, BB, SB(1). BA= .571.
Brett Krill(RF)- 2 for 4, SB(1). BA= .375.
Kaohi Downing(DH)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .667.
Brandon Allen(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 7.36.
Matt Graham(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 20.25.
Steven (Jack) Snodgrass(LHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.

The Volcanoes stole 4 bases in this one. Allen was drafted out of HS last year and Graham the year before. Gotta be patient with both these kids. Snodgrass is interesting for his size(6'6") He had a decent record at Austin Peay State. Looks like Downing has given up pitching to try hitting. That is generally a tougher transition than hitting to pitching.

DSL Giants downed the Mets 6-4:

Shurendell Mujica(2B, 20 yo)- 2 for 4, 3B, HR(1), BB. BA= .286.
Rando Moreno(SS, 19 yo)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(2). BA= .303.
Julio Pena(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .244.
Renzo Freite(RHP, 18 yo)- 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 1.08.

Pena is hitting .275/.356/.550 over his last 10 games.

Game Wrap 6/18/2011: A's 4 Giants 2

The Giants finally took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 5'th inning, but Jonathan Sanchez couldn't make it out of the bottom of the 5'th. These days, all it takes is one bad inning and the Giants are sunk. Key Lines:

Jonathan Sanchez- 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K's, L(4-5). ERA= 3.71. Sanchez seems to be slowly regressing this year. Maybe he needs to skip a turn or two when Zito comes back. That sure woke him up the last time he got pulled from the rotation.

Not a lot else to say about this game. They had 7 hits, 4 BB's and the A's committed 2 errors. It seems like they should have been able to parlay that into more runs. This team has zero power other than Cody Ross's occasional bomb. Burrell wasn't the DH for the second game in a row even though he seems like the obvious choice. His days on the team could be numbered.

With the Loss, the Giants stayed 0.5 games ahead of the Dangerous D'Backs who lost to the ChiSox 6-2. Here come the Rockies again! They gained a game to 3.5 back with their 4'th win in a row, this time 5-4 over the Detroit Tigers. The Desperate Dodgers got shellacked by the 'Stros again 7-0. They've lost 5 in a row and stayed 8.5 games behind the leaders while the Pathetic Padres lost their 4'th in a row, 1-0 to the Twins, to stay 9.5 games behind the leaders.

Matt Cain tries to stop the Giants losing streak at 3 facing Trevor Cahill who has struggled lately. Don't think we can count on him to struggle against the Giants though.

Down on the Farm: 6/17//2011

AAA Sacramento River Cats came from behind to pass the Fresno Grizzlies 6-5:

Darren Ford(CF)- 2 for 4. BA= .316.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .293.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .308.
Matt Yourkin(LHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.70.
Vinnie Chulk(RHP, River Cats)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W(3-2). ERA= 2.97.

Yup, THAT Vinnie Chulk! Ford starts a rehab assignment. Unclear if he'll get called back to SF when it's done. Conor Gillaspie and Hector Sanchez keep hitting. Gotta be getting a bit excited about Sanchez, in particular.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Bowie Baysox 6-4:

Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .256.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .125.
Johnny Monell(C)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .227.
David Quinowski(LHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.01.

A+ Modesto Nuts crushed the San Jose Giants 10-1:

Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, Assist(3B). BA= .335.
Alex Burg(3B-C)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .462.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 2.93.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.79.

Brown has been in enough of a slump to get mention on BA's "Not So Hot" list. This was Marte's worst start of the season so far.

Low A August Greenjackets smothered the Asheville Tourists 15-5:

Adam Duvall(3B)- 4 for 6, 2B. BA= .266.
Devin Harris(LF)- 1 for 3, HR(9), HJBP, SF. BA= .228.
Ryan Scoma(DH)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .247.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 3 for 4, 2 2B, HR(3), BB. BA= .230.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K'S, Save(1). ERA= 3.83.
Tyler Matzek(LHP, Tourists)- 1.1 IP, 3 H, 8 R, 6 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 14.00.

Adrianza is hitting .282/.341/.436 over his last 10 games, 8 for 23 in his last 6. Not sure how he got credit for a Save entering the game with a 12-5 lead, but my man Seth Rosin had a dominant outing. He has 10 K's against 1 BB in 6 IP his last 2 outings. The wheels have completely fallen off for Tyler Matzek, a former first round draft pick for the Rockies. He was recently demoted from the Cal League and is even worse at the lower level.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes exploded for a 14-2 win over the Spokane Indians:

Jesus Galindo(CF-RF)- 0 for 5, BB, SB(1). BA= .000.
Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 5, BB. BA= .400.
Dan Burkhart(C)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .333.
Mike Murray(DH)- 5 for 6, 2B, HR(1). BA= .833.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 3 for 3, 2B, 2 BB, HBP. BA= 1.000!
Brett Krill(RF)- 1 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .250.
John Eshleman(3B)- 2 for 6, 2B, SB(1). BA= .333.
Julio Izturis(2B)- 2 for 6, SB(1). BA= .333.
Cameron Lamb(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 9/2. ERA= 1.80.
Aaron King(LHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.

Lots of stuff going on here. Galindo is a slap and dash guy from the DSL who stole a lot of bases but had trouble keeping his BA above the Mendoza Line. He's off to a similar start here. Solid start for first round draft pick Panik. Gotta love Chuckie Jones who reached base 6 times in the game! Brett Krill is a sleeper drafted in a late round last year out of UCLA. He's big and looks unathletic but is surprisingly fast and has a great arm for RF. Cameron Lamb was signed as a 17 yo out of Australia back in 2007. He's been hampered by rawness and injuries. He's 22 yo now. This could be his make or break year. We'll see if Aaron King can find a floor here and start to rebuild his career which has been derailed by wildness.

DSL Angels blanked the Giants 4-0.

Nothing to see here.

Game Wrap 6/17/2011: A's 5 Giants 2

I got a fierce headache part way through this game and had to go to be early. It was kind of starting before the game, so I don't think it was from watching Tim Lincecum pitch, but I'm sure Timmy didn't help it at all. Then there was the jarring sight of Bip Roberts sitting next to Duane Kuiper at the top of the TV broadcast. Apparently Kruk is on "assignment" whatever that means. Hope everything is all right with my man Krukow and he's just on vacay or something. It was a pretty crappy game with Timmy all over the place, some sloppy fielding by the Giants and the typical impotence of the bats against a guy they should have sent to the showers early. Key Lines:

Cody Ross- 2 for 4, HR(6). BA= .275. Once again, Cody was the only guy hitting with any kind of authority last night.

Tim Lincecum- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.39. Timmy was obviously out of sorts, especially in the first 3 innings. He was wild high with the fastball, hanging breaking pitches. The split/change was diving down but the hitters were taking it and the ump was not calling it for strikes even though it looked like it was catching the front of the strike zone to me.

Here's my theory on Timmy's struggles. It's not an injury. The fastball has plenty of heat at 94 MPH. I think Carl Steward's notion of him missing Buster has some merit. Timmy has obviously gained a significant amount of weight. He's fuller in the face and much thicker around the torso. My theory is that even though he is stronger and getting more velocity on the FB, the extra weight has started to restrict his extension and he's not able to get on top of the fastball and breaking ball like he should. Maybe it's time to dial back on the double-doubles and maybe order just 2 instead of 4?

With the Loss, the Giants lead in the NL West shrunk back to 0.5 games over the Dangerous D'Backs who topped the ChiSox 4-1. The Rockies climbed up to 4.5 games out with a 13-6 win over the Detroit Tigers. The Desperate Dodgers lost to the 'Stros 7-3 in the only non-interleague game of the night to remain 8.5 games off the pace. The Pathetic Padres lost to the Twins 6-5 to remain 9.5 games out and in last place.

Jonathan Sanchez tries to be the stopper tonight facing Guillermo Moscoso, whoever that is.

Blast From the Past: AFW, Brian Sabean's Plan For the Post-Bonds Era

Even the most ardent of Brian Sabean's detractors, and there are still a lot of holdouts out there, grudgingly admit that he deserves some credit for putting together the championship team of 2010. They are quick to add, though, that he just got lucky. Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. The theory goes that he was "lucky" to have a series of high draft picks which were supposedly slam dunks to produce MLB stars and then he had a string of luck with mid-season acquisitions and it all ended up in a perfect storm of luck to produce the 2010 championship. Most of the "detractors" have even conceded that the Barry Zito signing was probably done at the insistence of Peter Magowan. A lingering argument, which on the surface seems to have some merit, is that the team was unprepared for the Post-Bonds era and went through an unnecessary drought to get the high draft picks and eventually rebound to win the 2010 World Series.

Did Brian Sabean really just forget about preparing for the post-Bonds era? Not so fast there, detractors! Remember a trio of pitching prospects, Kurt Ainsworth, Jesse Foppert and Jerome Williams, AKA AFW? By now, it should be obvious that at the core of his soul, Brian Sabean believes in building a team around pitching, homegrown pitching! With that in mind, and the knowledge that in 2003, he had assembled one of the most impressive trifectas of pitching prospects in the history of baseball can lead one to conclude that Brian Sabean had indeed prepared for the post-Bonds era and he saw the future as being based on pitching, pitching and more pitching. I know there is a nemonic known as TINSTAAP, There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect, but it's pretty hard to find a similar run of monumental bad luck than the complete failure of 3 such highly ranked pitching prospects in succession.

Kurt Ainsworth was the Giants first round draft pick in 1999 out of LSU. I can't confirm this right now, but I believe he had undergone Tommy John Surgery at some point in his amateur career, but even in those days, TJ survivors frequently came back stronger than before the injury. Ainsworth didn't have overpowering stuff, but he could get his fastball up to 92 MPH and he had terrific command of two fastballs, slider, curve and changeup. In 2002, he had a record of 8-6 with an ERA of 3.41 at age 23 for AAA Fresno which is pretty good given league and park effects. He pitched in 25.2 innings for the Giants at the end of 2002 with an ERA of 2.10. He began the 2003 season in the Giants rotation and went 5-4 with an ERA of 3.82 over 66 IP, I remember one start in particular against the Dodgers where he threw something like 27 first pitch strikes and had all 5 of his pitches working. It was a thing of beauty. Alas, he went on the DL with a stress fracture of the right scapula, a rare injury, and was never the same again. He was later traded with Damien Moss to the Orioles for Sidney Ponson where his shoulder basically fell apart with both a labrum tear and a torn rotator cuff. Again, I may be wrong here, but I think I remember him also re-injuring his TJ repaired right elbow.

Jerome Williams was drafted in the supplemental first round of the 1999 draft out of high school in Hawaii. Despite being drafted out of high school, he progressed rapidly through the Giants farm system. Although he was somewhat inconsistent, the scouting reports were mostly positive having him with a FB up to 94 MPH and a rapidly developing changeup, slider and feel for pitching. During his development, he raised a few eyebrows by talking about dialing down the fastball to achieve better command and increasing his reliance on the changeup. Williams got his first callup in 2003 and pitched very well, going 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA during a Giants run that ended with a NLDS loss to the Florida Marlins in which he was the center of a controversy about who should start a must-win game. Williams showed up to spring training in 2004 looking visibly overweight, but eventually got into decent shape and put together a solid, if unspectacular, 10-7 record with a 4.24 ERA. After that, something went terribly wrong in his life. He married a girl from Fresno, seemed to lose interest in playing baseball, became grossly overweight, was demoted to the minors and eventually traded to the Cubs for LaTroy Hawkins. Despite numerous attempts with numerous organizations, including the Giants, he was never able to get his career back on track. He is currently signed to a minor league deal with the Angels.

Jesse Foppert was drafted in the second round of the 2001 draft out of USF. He immediately started putting up eye-popping numbers in the minor league and rocketed through the Giants farm system. Reports started surfacing in Baseball America of 97 MPH fastballs thrown with an effortless delivery. He split time in 2002 between AA and AAA and struck out a total of 183 batters. Entering 2003, he was BA's #5 overall prospect and the top ranked pitching prospect in all of baseball. He was brought up to the majors early in 2003 after an injury to Ryan Jensen. His arrival was possibly the most anticipated and most disappointing of any in the entire history of the Giants organization. He never once displayed the legendary fastball velocity that had been reported in the minors usually sitting at 87-90 MPH. His results were mediocre at best. On August 20, 2003 he went on the DL with "ulnar neuritis". He received a cortisone shot and while throwing in practice, felt a pop in the elbow and soon after underwent TJ surgery. Unlike many pitchers who have undergone the procedure, "Foppy" never made it back. He was traded from the Fresno roster to the Seattle Mariners in 2005 along with Yorvit Torrealba for Randy Winn. He never regained his once legendary form and now lives in Greenbrae where he is the pitching coach at Marin Catholic High School.

Brian Sabean wasn't content with just "AFW" in the organization. He drafted Matt Cain in 2002. After winning the NL Pennant in 2002, he traded Russ Ortiz to the Braves for Damien Moss and a young fireballing RHP named Manuel Mateo who soon rocketed to the top of BA's prospect lists and changed his name to his true identity of Merkin Valdez who was a few months older than Manuel Mateo. At one point in 2003, the Giants future rotation seemed set as far as the eye could see into the future. AFW plus Cain and Valdez were about as good as it gets in pitching prospects. Of the 5, only Cain would reach the stardom that was predicted for all of them to one degree or another. They were the Giants future that would carry on after Barry Bonds left the scene. There was even a good chance that some or all of them might help end the Bonds era with a long elusive championship!

Those who dismiss Brian Sabean's success in 2010 should also acknowledge that he also suffered a run of monumentally bad luck in the failure of "AFW". Even acknowledging TINSTAAP, which I don't personally believe in that much, it is hard to find a comparable run of bad luck in the development of a group of highly ranked pitching prospects.

We will never know how history might have been different had "AFW" succeeded, if even one of that trio had "made it." Perhaps they would not have been as dominant as Timmy, MadBum and Buster. Perhaps they would have been just good enough to help the Giants contend but never win it all, thus depriving the Giants of the chance to draft the core of the championship team. We'll never know, but as I like to say, "all things work together for good."

Down on the Farm: 6/16//2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Tacoma Rainiers 8-4:

Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .283.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 2 for 4, SB(5). BA= .325.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .273.
Barry Zito(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 6.00.

I have a feeling Sanchez is going to get a chance to show what he can do in the Show at some point this season. I can't think of any pitcher on the Active Roster I would be happy to send out to make room for Barry Zito right now.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels outslugged the Binghampton Mets 11-9:

Jason Christian(LF)- 2 for 4, HR(4), BB. BA= .255.
Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(6), SF. BA= .256.
Wes Hodges(1B)- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .250.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 0 for 4, BB. BA= .000.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(1). ERA= 0.00.

Kieschnick drove in 5 runs. Dominguez and Hembree make their AA debuts.

A+ San Jose Giants beat the Modesto Nuts 6-3:

Gary Brown(CF)- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .332.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 2 for 4. BA= .253.
Michael Main(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.79.
Mitch Lively(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, Save(1). ERA= 1.82.

Joseph continues his hot hitting. Michael Main is back from the DL and missing bats as well as the strike zone. Is Lively the new closer for San Jose?

Augusta Greenjackets edged the Asheville Tourists 6-5:

Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(9). BA= .263.
Rafael Rodriquez(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .248.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.98.
Stephen Harrold(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(10). ERA= 2.01.

Lofton was moved up to #2 in the batting order and seemed to like it there. Young Mr. Bochy seems to be for real.

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes played an exhibition game against a local All Star team. I wasn't able to find a boxscore or game wrap anywhere at this time. Will add it in if it becomes available.

DSL- the entire DSL was rained out.

Game Wrap 6/16/2011: D'Backs 3 Giants 2

The Giants put up a fight, but in the end, it wasn't enough as Justin Upton hit a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 10'th to avoid as series sweep. Key Lines:

Aubrey Huff- 2 for 4. BA= .243. Huff is hitting .316 over his last 10 games and is 8 for 15 over his last 4.

Cody Ross- 1 for 3, BB, SB(4). BA= .270. Ross struck out with runners on first and third and no outs in the top of the ninth.

Pat Burrell- 0 for 0, SF. BA= .225. Burrell drove in the tying run with a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth. Ultimately, it wasn't enough.

Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.92. Vogelsong made one bad pitch to Chris Young, a hanging curveball with Upton on first. He still had a QS and pitched every bit as well as Bumgarner the night before. It wasn't enough in this one as Ian Kennedy was tougher.

Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.81. Affledt is pitching really well, which should be invaluable as the season stretches out.

Santiago Casilla- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. Casilla had pitched well, retiring 3 LH batters out of the 4 outs he recorded. He elevated a fastball on the outer half of the plate to Upton and the kid took it the other way for a walk-off dinger. No shame in giving up a walkoff to the other team's best hitter. It happens. This loss was really on the offense.

With the Loss, the Giants lead over the Dangerous D'Backs in the NL West shrunk to 1.5 games. The rest of the division had the night off. The Rockies are 5.5 games back, the Dodgers 8.5 and the Padres 9.5.

The Giants come back to the Bay Area for an away series in Oakland. Tim Lincecum tries to right his ship facing Rookie Graham Godfrey in just his second MLB game. He got hit around a bit by the White Sox in his debut and sports an ERA of 10.38.

Down on the Farm: 6/15//2011

AAA Tacoma Rainiers pounded the Fresno Grizzlies 11-4:

Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(4). BA= .277.
Thomas Neal(LF)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .319.
Marc Kroon(RHP)- 1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2 HBP. ERA= 4.26.

Tough night for Kroon who had been pitching great for almost a month.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Binghampton Mets 5-3:

Charlie Culberson(2B)- 1 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .260.
Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(5), BB. BA= .252.
Wes Hodges(1B)- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .000.
Henry Sosa(RHP)- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Jason Stoffel(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(10). ERA= 3.42.

Hodges was a 2'nd round draft choice by Cleveland out of Georgia Tech in 2006(was it THAT long ago?). I was really high on him and he started out pretty good. His fielding was subpar at 3B and he's never hit quite enough to be a first baseman. He was released last week by Cleveland and apparently picked up by the Giants. Not sure what was wrong with Sosa in Fresno, but he's been revitalized since his demotion to Richmond. Nice 2 inning Save for Stoffel.

A+ San Jose Giants downed the Bakersfield Blaze 4-1:

Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(12). BA= .268.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .291.
Andy Reichard(RHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 8/1. ERA= 2.90.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(21). ERA= 0.73.

Low A Lexington Legends edged the Augusta Greenjackets 2-1:

Gaspar Santiago(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.68.
Jacob Dunnington(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.89.

DSL Giants defeated the Nationals 9-5:

Richard Rodriguez(DH, 18 yo)- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(3). BA= .087.
Royel Astacio(3B, 17 yo)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(2). BA= .323.

Astacio has nice size at 6'2", 197 lbs. I think he might be a keeper.

Game Wrap 6/15/2011: Giants 5 D'Backs 2

The Giants played a terrrific game on another hot desert evening and had some breaks go their way as they stretched their lead in the NL West by beating their closest pursuers. Key Lines:

Aaron Rowand- 2 for 5. BA= .250. Gamer was just that in the 8'th inning playing LF after a defensive substitution put Andres Torres in CF with Burrell coming out of the game. Kelly Johnson had blooped a single to LF and was on first base, not a slow runner by any means. Justin Upton then pulled a ball down the LF line into the corner. Gamer got himself in perfect position to field the carom and it bounced directly into his bare hand. In one motion his threw a strike to Tejada who was the relay man in shallow LF behind 3B. Tejada wasa able to calmly throw another strike to Eli Whiteside to nail Johnson by at least 5 feet. Eli didn't have to block the plate. He just put his glove in front the plate and Johnson had no choice but to slide into it. Might have been a game saver right there. Great defensive teamwork there!

Aubrey Huff- 2 for 4. BA= .239. Huff usually hits better against lefties and he seems to own Joe Saunders. He also seems to be playing more within himself instead of trying to be the hero of ever game.

Pat Burrell- 1 for 2, 3B, BB. Burrell hit a liner down the LF line that caromed straight back off a fencepost almost back to the D'Backs dugout. While Willie Bloomquist was chasing it practically all over the field, Burrell was humping it around the bases sliding into third with a triple. I'm surprised they didn't have to come out and give him a nitro or two under his tongue after that one! Pretty funny!

Bill Hall- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .229. Are the Giants catching lightning in a bottle with Hall? He singled in the go ahead run in the 6'th and then scored the first insurance run in the top of the 9'th after doubling over Chris Young's head.

Eli Whiteside- 1 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .211. Whitey drove in Bill Hall with one insurance run and then scored another on a wild pitch. Nearly did a face plant on a headfirst slide into 3B but came up grinning. Whitey is 6 for 16 over his last 5 games with 2 BB's.d Gotta catch more balls behind the plate, though. He whiffed on a strike 3 to Kelly Johnson allowing Johnson to reach base.

Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. W(3-8). ERA= 3.21. The roof was open again on a hot evening. Tough place to pitch and the D'Backs have a serious lineup. He gave up 2 dingers but they are both solo shots. Another strong game for the kid. Good to see him get the W.

Bullpen- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. Not an overpowering night for the bullpen, but they got the job done holding a 3-2 lead which eventually built into a relatively easy win. Wilson gets his 20'th Save after allowing his usual 2 runners with 2 outs.

With the W, the Giants stretch their NL West lead over the D'Backs to 2.5 games. The Rockies beat the hapless Padres to remain 6 games behind while the Dodgers got hammered again by Cincinnati to fall 9 games back. The Pathetic Padres are now a full 10 games off the pace and fading fast.

Ryan Vogelsong tries to keep the magic going and pitch the Giants to a series sweep tomorrow evening against Ian Kennedy who is always tough on the Giants and has been tough on everybody this season.

Down on the Farm: 6/14//2011

AAA Tacoma Rainiers downed the Fresno Grizzlies 6-2:

Dan Runzler(LHP)- 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.16.

Runzler isn't going to get hit like this consistently. If he keeps the BB's down, he'll be fine. One of the errors was by Runzler himself.

AA Binghampton Mets topped the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-4:

Justin Christian(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .254.
Charlie Culberson(2B)- 1 for 4, SB(9). BA= .259.
Ryan Verdugo(LHP)- 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.00.

The K's and BB's look good for Verdugo. He may have succumbed to the whims of BABIP in this one.

A+ San Jose Giants edged the Bakersfield Blaze 3-2:

Gary Brown(CF)- 0 for 4, BB, SB(32), Assist(2B). BA= .335.
Jarrett Parker(DH)- 1 for 1, 2B, 3 BB, HBP. BA= .264.
Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .240.
Luke Anders(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .262.
Wendell Fairley(LF)- 1 for 3, HR(2). BA= .247.
Zack Wheeler(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.26.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 6.09.
Ari Ronick(LHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.40.

Brownie has been in a bit of a slump, but still finds ways to help his team win. I wonder if he senses a bit of a rivalry with Peguero? Parker has an OPB of .382. Wheels'ability to get the ground ball helped him with 2 DP's to overcome a bad WHIP.

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

Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(17), BB. BA= .261.
Ryan Scoma(DH)- 3 for 4. BA= .243.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.41.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.06.
Edward Concepcion(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.73.

Duvall has an OBP of .357 and a SLG% of .539 for an OPS of .896. Rosin goes 3 solid innings. Hope they are stretching him out to put him back in the rotation. I still think he is a solid SP prospect.

DSL Giants pound Cubs2 9-4:

Julio Pena(LF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, HR(3). BA= .200.
Randy Ortiz(CF,18 yo-birthday boy today!)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(7). BA= .282.
Adalberto Mejia(6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K's. ERA- 1.61

Pena is 5 for 14 with 2 dingers in his last 3 games. Ortiz is 8 for 19 in his last 5 games. Mejia looks like a solid pitching prospect.

Game Wrap 6/14/2011: Giants 6 D'Backs 5

The Giants opened their showdown series with NL West rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks, on a hot evening in the desert, and balls were jumping off bats right and left, a recipe for disaster with the Giants if there ever was one. Except for one terrible pitch by Matt Cain, it was the Giants bats that did most of the damage, though, and the bullpen hung on for another nail-biting win. Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .310. Pablo gave the team a shot in the arm with his enthusiasm, hitting and most of all, some sensational fielding at 3B.

Aubrey Huff- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .235. Nobody is happier to see Pablo back in the lineup than Huff. Hopefully having someone else to help carry the load will allow him to relax and just let the game come to him. He's been trying to carry the team himself and he's just not that kind of a hitter.

Cody Ross- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB. BA= .268. Ross has been the Giants most consistent hitter, of the guys who are still not on the DL. Again, having Pablo in the lineup allows him to move down a notch and play within himself.

Burriss and Crawford had 2 hits each. The D is there for both of these kids if they can just keep getting hits. Again, Pablo allows the Giants to take a defense first posture with the middle infielders.

Matt Cain- 6.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.61. Cainer was giving up hard hit balls at an alarming rate. He managed to keep them all in the park except for a horrible pitch to Miguel Montero that got crushed. Unfortunately, it was with 2 runners on base and the game that was looking like a cakewalk for the Giants suddenly turned tense. I don't know where the idea to try to sneak one by on the inside to Montero came from. Whitey set up inside. I think they were trying to come in over his hands, but Cainer didn't elevate the ball enough and it bled back over the middle of the plate, belt high. Blam!!! What a blast! Ironically, Cainer was still given credit for the W. I guess with all the times he's gotten Cained, he deserves one like this once in awhile.

Javier Lopez- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.81. Romo walked the leadoff batter in the 8'th which brought up the Dangerous, Dangerous Miguel Montero. Lopez came in and got Montero, then the RH batting Nady and the lefty Parra. A great plece of pitching even with no K's.

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, Save(19). ERA= 2.61. Anybody else get the feeling that Wilson creates drama just to keep himself from getting bored? I mean, with 2 outs, he walks 2 batters and then WP's them to 2'nd and 3'rd. He then K's Stephen Drew on a very questionable called strike by a rookie home plate umpire. Game over! Kuiper didn't even try to hide his disgust with the nail biting act despite the exhortations of Kruk. Really interesting to listen to them call the 9'th inning on the TV broadcast.

The Giants had lost 0.5 games to the D'Backs on their off day as the D'Backs beat the Braves. With the Win tonight, the Giants extend their lead in the NL West to 1.5 games. The Colorado Rockies beat the Pathetic Padres 6-3 to remain 6 games behind in 3'rd place. The Desperate Dodgers lost to Cincinnati 3-2 to drop 8 games off the pace while the Padres slid to 9 games back.

Madison Bumgarner will try to secure a series win tomorrow evening against lefty Joe Saunders, who tends to run hot and cold.

Down on the Farm: 6/13//2011

AAA Tacoma Rainiers beat the Fresno Grizzlies 8-3:

Really, nothing to see here.

AA No games scheduled in the Eastern League.

A+ San Jose Giants blanked the Bakersfield Blaze 6-0:

Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(11), SB(8). BA= .296.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 2 for 4. BA= .252.
Luke Anders(1B)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .256.
Craig Westcott(RHP)- 7.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 8/2. ERA= 2.14.

Dominguez is hitting .357/.400/.595 over his last 10 games. Joseph is hitting .442/.467/.721 over his last 10. Westcott is an older pitchers who is repeating the level.

Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Lexington Legends 8-3:

Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 5, HR(16). BA= .257.
Josh Mazzola(1B)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .221.
Ryan Lollis(RF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .304.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .216.
Taylor Rogers(RHP)- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 13/3. ERA= 2.40.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.13.

Not too much to comment here.

DSL Giants topped the Rangers 8-1:

Alberto Robles(3B, 20 yo)- 3 for 5. BA= .413.
Royel Astacio(DH, 17 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .292.
Randy Ortiz(CF, 17 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .250.
Julio Pena(RF, 18 yo)- 1 for 5, HR(2). BA= .161.
Jose Reyes(RHP, 20 yo)- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.84.
Reyes Maronta(RHP, 18 yo)- 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.25.

DSL prospects and pretenders still shaking out.

Down on the Farm: 6/12//2011

AAA Salt Lake City Bees stung the Fresno Grizzlies 4-0:

Nothing to see in this one.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels pounded the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9-3:

Charlie Culberson(2B)- 1 for 5, 2 SB(8). BA= .259.
Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 2 for 4, 3B, BB, 2 SB(8). BA= .254.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .228.
Clayton Tanner(LHP)- 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 11/3. ERA= 4.66.

Noonan had been in a brutal slump. Kieshnick stays hot with a .350 BA in his last 10 games. He hit .205 in April, .260 in May and .351 so far in June.

A+ San Jose Giants topped the Modesto Nuts 4-1:

Nick Liles(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .321.
Francisco Peguero(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B, Assist(home). BA= .341.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .259.
Alex Burg(C)- 3 for 3, HR(1). BA= .579.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 8/3. ERA= 3.57.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's, Save(20). ERA= 0.76.

Dominant start for Heston. Brown, Dominguez and Joseph got the day off.

Low A Augusta Greenjackets edged the Lexington Legends 4-3 in 10 innings:

Carlos Willoughby(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .278.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(15). BA= .258.
Jacob Dunnington(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.96.

Duvall leads the organization in HR's by a significant margin.

DSL Giants had the day off as they do almost every Sunday.

Game Wrap 6/12/2011: Giants 4 Reds 2

The Reds outscored the Giants in this 4 game series 17-9, but a 3-2 win counts just as much in the standings as a 3-0 win and a 4-2 win counts as much as a 10-2 win. The Giants formula is win the close games and forget about the blowouts. They followed that formula this evening to gain a split in the series and win the homestand 6 games to 4. Key lines:

Andres Torres- 1 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .254. Despite the uninspiring BA, Torres' OBP is a very good .354 for a leadoff hitter. It would sure be nice for him to get hot though.

Miguel Tejada- 1 for 3, BB, SB(3). BA= .227. Miggy is hitting .275 over his last 10 games. Not great, but pretty good considering what the rest of the lineup is doing.

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 2, BB, SF. BA= .263. Nate was clutch again tonight scoring 2 of the 4 runs and driving in another.

Aubrey Huff- 3 for 4. BA= .234. They weren't struck with authority, but they got the job done. Maybe the 3 hits will be something to finally build on. It seemed like the 3 HR game just brought back some bad habits.

Chris Stewart- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .118. CStew had a nice game, both at the plate and behind it. He had some nice blocks and threw a perfect strike to nail Jay Bruce attempting to steal 2B.

Emmanuel Burriss- 0 for 3, BB. BA= .250. I was impressed by Burriss' defensive play at 2B. He showed good range and made at least 2 very difficult throws that showed good arm strength. I'm not sure the bat is good enough to play there regularaly though.

Jonathan Sanchez- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.47. I think by now, you can almost look at the pitching line and know who owns it without posting the name in front of it. Just a very typical Jonathan Sanchez start. Out of 14 starts this year, he's thrown 7 QS's. Of the other 7 starts, he's given up less than 3 runs and pitched at least 5 innings in 5 others. in other words, he's given his team a chance to win in 12 of his 14 starts. You wouldn't want a rotation full of guys like him because it would wear out the bullpen, but in a rotation like the Giants, it's a very valuable piece to have.

Javier Lopez- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.92. Lopez absolutely abused the Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, 2 of the best hitters in baseball and both very good against LHP's. Those were two huge outs!

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(18). ERA= 2.70. CStew and BWeezy seem to work well together.

The Win enabled the Giants to stay 12 game ahead of the Dangerous, Dangerous D'Backs, in the NL West, who topped the Marlins 5-1. The Dodgers outslugged the Rockies 10-8 to drop the Rocks 5.5 games behind in 3'rd place while the Dodgers remained 6.5 games off the pace in 4'th place. The Pathetic Padres lost again to the Nats 2-0 as the Nats scored 2 runs in the top of the 9'th.

The Giants get a much needed day off tomorrow before traveling to Arizona for a NL West showdown with the Dangerous D'Backs. Matt Cain gets the first game against Jesse Collmenter and his Iron Mike delivery. Collmenter has a very low BABIP, so may regress once teams have had a look at his delivery a time or two.

Down on the Farm: 6/11//2011

AAA Fresno Grizzlies outlasted the Salt Lake City Bees 6-5:

Tyler Graham(CF)- 0 for 3, 2 BB, S, SB(31). BA= .277.
Pablo Sandoval(3B)- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .357.
Brett Pill(2B)- 2 for 6, 2B, HR(11). BA= .291.
Hector Sanchez(C)- 1 for 5, 2B. BA= .250.
James Simmons(RF)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .244.
Matt Yourkin(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.97.
Marc Kroon(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.59.

Good to see Pablo flashing power. The wrist must not be bothering him too much. The notion of Brett Pill coming up as a 2B isn't seeming so outlandish right now, huh? Marc Kroon has a 0.84 ERA over his last 10 appearances with 14 K's in 10.2 IP.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2-0:

Jason Christian(CF)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .254.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 0 for 4. BA= .218.
Daryl Maday(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 3.43.
Henry Sosa(RHP)- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 8/1. ERA= 0.00.

Noonan has gone into a tailspin at the plate. Sosa seems to have gotten his feet back on the ground after losing his place on the 40 man roster and being demoted to AA.

A+ San Jose Giants dropped the Modesto Nuts 8-3:

Ryan Cavan(2B-SS)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .280.
Francisco Peguero(RF)- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .333.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .293.
Tommy Joseph(C)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .248.
Barry Zito(LHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.98.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 6.33.

Not an impressive line for Zito, especially the BB's at this level. I would project this start to be pretty much a shelling at the MLB level.

Savannah Sand Gnats topped the Augusta Greenjackets 4-2:

Shawn Sanford(RHP)- 7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 12/4. ERA= 2.70.

No Greenjacket player got more than 1 hit.

DSL Giants stomped the Phillies 13-4:

Rando Moreno(SS, 19 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B, 2 BB, SB(1). BA= .412.
Alberto Robles(3B, 20 yo)- 1 for 3, 3 BB. BA= .390.
Royel Astacio(1B, 17 yo)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .263.
Julio Pena(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .154.
Randy Ortiz(CF, 17 yo)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .219.
Carlos Diaz(LHP, 17 yo)- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.79.

Still sorting out the position players on the DSL team. Again, the box scores are difficult to decipher with lots of walks and lots of errors. Diaz is listed at 6'2", 176 lbs and is off to a good start. We'll keep an eye out for him.