Luis Matos may have found his power his been missing in Sacramento, hitting a home run in his second straight game.  Mason Black had his best start in Richmond.  And Guillermo Williamson had a big game in the AZL.

AAA: Sacramento 4, Las Vegas 3

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Sacramento Notes:

  • The River Cats pulled out a back-and-forth game, as the teams traded single runs throughout the game.  It came down to the Cats leading 3-2, but Las Vegas tied the game with a run on a fielder’s choice in the 9th.  But with one out in the 9th, and a runner on second, Tyler Fitzgerald hit a flyball to left-center that saw the fielders collide, and drop the ball, allowing the walkoff run to come in on the error.
  • Has Luis Matos found his power?  He went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.  That’s two home runs in as many days, and now in 20 games at Sacramento, he’s hit .380/.412/.587, with six doubles, two triples, and three home runs.
  • Also hitting a home run was left fielder Will Wilson, on a 1-for-3 day.  That was Wilson’s seventh home run of the season, in his 57th game.  Wilson has a batting line of just .211/.280/.363 on the season, with eight doubles and seven home runs.
  • Third baseman David Villar went 3-for-4 with a double, his fourth since returning to Sacramento.  Villar is batting .333/.426/.614, with four doubles and four home runs, and with ten walks to 16 strikeouts over 15 games.
  • Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles.  That’s three straight 2-hit games for Fitzgerald, which has raised his Sacramento batting average from .302 to .320.  He’s got five doubles, one triple, and three home runs.
  • Catcher Joey Bart’s difficult rehab continued with an 0-for-4 day with three strikeouts.  That takes Bart down to hitting just 2-for-21 (.095) over six games with 11 strikeouts in this rehab stint.
  • Pitcher Phoenix Sanders made his first start of the season, and gave up a run in 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and a walk, with two strikeouts.  Sanders now has a 15.63 ERA after six appearances, with seven walks to five strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
  • Reliever Joey Marciano struck out four in 1.1 innings, giving up only a HBP.  It’s the most strikeouts Marciano has had since May 9th.  He now has 36 strikeouts to 27 walks with 28.1 innings.
  • Erik Miller gave up an unearned run on no hits and two walks, with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings.  Miller’s got 23 strikeouts to 12 walks in 17.0 innings, and nudged his ERA down to 2.12.

AA: Richmond 2, Altoona 0

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Richmond Notes:

  • You don’t get pitcher’s duels like this one very often.  Mason Black gave up two hits, a HBP, and nothing else in 4.0 innings, and those were the only baserunners given up by Richmond all game.  Meanwhile Brandon Martorano hit a home run in the 7th inning to give Richmond a 1-0 lead, while a Simon Whiteman RBI single in the 8th gave them an unneeded run of insurance.
  • The big hit was by catcher Brandon Martorano, who was 1-for-4 with his first Double-A home run in his return to the level.  Martorano went down with an injury in late April, and made two rehab appearances in Arizona on June 5-6.  He was 1-for-4 in each of those games just like today, but this time he hit a home run.  In ten total games at Double-A, he’s batting .143/.324/.286 with one double and one home run, and eight walks to 14 strikeouts.
  • Center fielder Simon Whiteman went 1-for-3.  In 45 games, Whiteman has just a .209 batting average and a .302 on-base percentage.
  • The other Richmond hit belonged to Carter Williams, who was also 1-for-3 with a stolen base, leading to the team’s second run.  It’s Williams’ third stolen base in his fourth attempt.  He’s batting .257/.309/.407 in 34 games at Double-A.
  • Mason Black had one of his best starts, notching six strikeouts and allowing only the two hits and a HBP in 4.0 innings.  That bumps his ERA down to 5.31 after 11 games, and he now has 51 strikeouts to 15 walks in 40.2 innings.
  • Wil Jensen struck out four in 3.0 innings without allowing a baserunner.  It was his best outing of the year, pushing his ERA down to 2.97, and gives him 41 strikeouts against 15 walks in 33.1 innings.
  • In his second game at Double-A, José Cruz had a great start, striking out three in 2.0 innings.  He gave up two runs in an inning in his first appearance.  He now has four strikeouts to one walk and two hits in 3.0 innings.

High-A: Eugene 10, Tri-City 5

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Eugene Notes:

  • The Emeralds blew out the Dust Devils, with two big early rallies.  A Victor Bericoto 2-run double highlighted a 5-run 2nd inning.  That was followed by an Edison Mora triple highlighting a 3-run 3rd inning, putting Eugene up 8-4 early, and never looking back as they would win 10-5.
  • Victor Bericoto went 3-for-5 with two doubles, giving him ten on the season.  It’s Bericoto’s second straight 3-hit game, as he has boosted his batting average from .285 to .305 over those two games.  He now has ten doubles, a triple, and nine home runs.
  • Center fielder Grant McCray was 3-for-5 with a triple, and picked up two stolen bases.  It’s McCray’s third game with at least three hits this season, and fifth game with multiple stolen bases.  McCray now has 23 steals in 28 attempts over 51 games on the season.
  • Second baseman Edison Mora went 2-for-4 with a strikeout, and his first triple of the season.  After six straight hitless games, Mora is 5-for-12 (.417) over his last three games with two doubles, a triple, and a home run.  His overall batting line is still just .160/.236/.320.
  • Starting pitcher John Bertrand struggled, giving up a season-high five runs on six hits and a season-high four walks in 3.1 innings, striking out just three.  His High-A ERA is now at 5.18, with 19 strikeouts to seven walks in 24.1 innings.
  • Reliever Ben Madison struck out four in 1.2 innings, allowing only one walk, although he threw two wild pitches.  He shaved his ERA down to 3.90, the lowest it’s been since April 23rd.  He has 46 strikeouts to 17 walks in 27.2 innings.

Low-A: San Jose 6, Visalia 4

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San Jose Notes:

  • A strong start by Gerelmi Maldonado led to a San Jose win.  By the time Visalia got on the board, San Jose was up 4-0.  Visalia would tie it up, but in the 7th inning, Anthony Rodriguez hit a 2-run double to give the Giants the win.
  • Matt Higgins had the lone San Jose home run, going 1-for-5 with his seventh home run of the season.  It’s Higgins’ first home run since May 21st.  To go with the seven home runs, Higgins has ten doubles and a triple, to go with a batting line of .290/.371/.485.
  • Second baseman Thomas Gavello was 2-for-4 with a double, his eighth of the season.  Gavello has a batting line of .271/.421/.493 with eight doubles, a triple, and seven home runs.  He has 52 strikeouts to 17 walks in 39 games.
  • Third baseman Anthony Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  After seven games, Rodriguez now has four doubles and a triple, with two walks to nine strikeouts.  Rodriguez’s batting line is now .357/.419/.571.
  • Shortstop Jose Ramos was 1-for-4, but picked up three stolen bases.  That gives him 16 steals in 17 attempts in 47 games.  He’s close to his total of last season, when he had 22 steals in 23 attempts in 49 DSL games.  Ramos has a batting line of just .213/.313/.331 after 47 games.
  • Starting pitcher Gerelmi Maldonado went 4.0 shutout innings, on one hit and one walk, with three strikeouts and a wild pitch.  Maldonado hasn’t given up any earned runs in his last three games, a span of 12.0 innings.  He has a 3.75 ERA with 40 strikeouts to 24 walks in 36.0 innings.

ACL: ACL Dodgers 13, ACL Giants Black 12

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ACL Giants Black Notes:

  • Left fielder Guillermo Williamson led the way in this game, going 2-for-5 with two home runs, including a grand slam.  Those are his first two home runs in three games so far this season, and the 19-year old is batting .455/.500/1.091 to start the young season.
  • DH Nomar Diaz led the team in hitting, going 3-for-5 with a triple.  Diaz is 3-for-8 (.375) in two games so far, with the triple as his first extra-base hit.
  • Catcher Cesar Gonzalez, going 1-for-5 with his first triple of the season.  The 22-year old is 2-for-8 (.250) in two games, with a double and a triple, giving him a .625 slugging percentage.
  • Center fielder Cesar Quintas had a perfect on-base day, going 2-for-2 with two walks, a double, and a HBP.  After three games, Quintas is 4-for-7 with five walks and a strikeout.
  • Ryan Reckley was 1-for-6 with three strikeouts, a stolen base, and three errors.  That is four errors in 24.0 innings after three games for Reckley.  He’s 2-for-13 (.154) to start the season.
  • Mauricio Llovera had another rehab start, giving up a run in one inning on two hits, and striking out three.  He has five strikeouts and no walks in 2.0 innings in his rehab so far.

ACL Giants Orange: Scheduled Day Off

DSL: DSL Giants Black 10, DSL Giants Orange 6

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DSL Giants Black Notes:

  • Shortstop Samuel Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a walk, and his second double of the young season.  He also got caught stealing and gave up an error.  The 19-year old is batting .385/.429/.538 after three games, with two doubles.
  • First baseman Eduardo Montero went 2-for-4 with a strikeout, and his first double of the season in his first game of the year.
  • Center fielder Rayner Arias was 2-for-4 with a walk in his third game.  After three games, he’s 5-for-13 (.385) with a home run, and two walks to two strikeouts.
  • DH Yosneiker Rivas was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.  It’s been a slow start for him hitting, as he’s just 2-for-11 (.182), but he has five walks to one strikeout, leading to a .438 on-base percentage.
  • Starting pitcher Carlos Rangel gave up two runs, one earned, over 4.0 innings.  He gave up five hits and two walks, with two strikeouts and a wild pitch.  It’s the 19-year old’s first start.  Rangel made eight appearances in 2022, all in relief, where he had a 9.82 ERA and just nine strikeouts to 11 walks in 7.1 innings.

DSL Giants Orange Notes:

  • Left fielder Angel Guzman led the team in hitting, going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.  That gives the 17-year old four doubles in just three games, and is batting .462 with a .769 slugging percentage already.
  • DH Jose Astudillo went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  The double was his first of the season, as the 19-year old has started his third season in the DSL by going 7-for-12 (.583) with a walk to no strikeouts, and with a steal.
  • Second baseman Anthony Tandron was 2-for-5 with his first double and first stolen base of the season.  After three games, the 17-year old is 4-for-11 (.364) with a double, and two walks to two strikeouts.  He has one steal in two attempts so far.
  • Right fielder Luis Frias was 2-for-5 with a steal and got caught stealing.  The 18-year old now has four steals in five attempts, and has gone 5-for-15 (.333) to begin the season.
  • Starter Jose Rengel (not to be confused with the Black team’s Carlos Rangel) gave up three runs in his 2.1 innings, on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts.  It was the 17-year old Venezuelan’s first start.
  • Reliever Moises Gonzalez struck out four with just one walk allowed in 2.0 innings  It’s a great bounceback for Gonzalez, who gave up three runs in just a third of an inning in his first appearance of the year.