AAA: Reno 6, Sacramento 2

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Enmanuel De Jesus had a strong start for Sacramento on the road, going unscored upon with five strikeouts, allowing four hits and a walk.  He’d allowed five runs in 2.1 innings in his last start, so this was a nice bounceback.  Despite having allowed ten hits, he has just two walks to ten strikeouts in 6.1 innings.  His fastball was running 91-94, and worked mostly with it and his slider, with a changeup mixed in.
  • On the other hand, Luis Ortiz struggled in Reno after looking strong in his first two appearances.  Ortiz allowed five runs on six hits, including a 2-run home run, in a single inning.
  • After some shaky control early, Kervin Castro had a strong inning pitching the 9th, with two strikeouts.  He was working evenly with his curve and fastball.  His fastball at 94-95 got four swings, all whiffs.  He now has six strikeouts to three walks in 3.0 innings.
  • It was a pretty weak offensive day for Sacramento, but Ka’ai Tom picked up one of the team’s five singles, extending his hitting streak to six games.  He’s 10-for-23 with two doubles, and three walks to five strikeouts.
  • One of the other hits was by Luis Gonzalez, who is 8-for-27 with six walks, leading to a .296 batting average and a .424 OBP.
  • Heliot Ramos is expected to rejoin Sacramento for Friday’s game.

AA: Richmond 5, Altoona 4

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Richmond Notes:

  • After hitting two home runs on Wednesday, Sean Roby came back and hit another, his 4th of the season.  He was 1-for-2 with the homer, and also drew two walks and struck out.  Roby’s four home runs leads the Squirrels, with only one other player with more than one home run.  Roby now has five walks to 10 strikeouts in 27 plate appearances.
  • That player was catcher Brandon Martorano, who hit his second for his only hit of the game.  Martorano’s season high is nine, which he hit while playing in just 64 games in 2021, between High-A, AA, and AAA.
  • Frankie Tostado picked up a pair of doubles, giving him three on the season.  Tostado is 7-for-21 with the three doubles.
  • Jake Dahlberg allowed three runs in 4.0 innings, on four hits and two walks.  His ERA jumped to 3.24 and now has seven hits and three walks allowed in 8.1 innings on the season.
  • Tyler Schmipf got the win in relief with a quiet inning, allowing just a walk and striking out one.  Schimpf allowed two earned runs in his first inning of work on the season.
  • Patrick Ruotolo had a big save, working two innings and striking out five of the six batters he faced.  That gives Ruotolo seven strikeouts and no baserunners across 3.0 innings this season.

High-A: Eugene 7, Spokane 3

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Eugene Notes:

  • Marco Luciano had his best day of the season so far, notching his first two doubles of the season and also with a sacrifice fly.  He’s 6-for-16 with two doubles and a home run over four games this season.
  • Casey Schmitt continued his hot start with another 2-hit game.  He’s had three 2-hit games of four played this season, and is 6-for-14 with a double and home run.  He’s also got three walks to just one strikeout.
  • Armani Smith had the other multi-hit game for the Emeralds, going 2-for-3, got hit by a pitch, and also picked up his first steal.  Smith has a .357/.471/.571 batting line over four games.
  • Prelander Berroa made his High-A debut, going four scoreless innings, with a hit and a walk allowed while striking out four.  It was a successful debut, following up a strong season in San Jose where he had a 3.56 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 98.2 innings.
  • Abel Adames went two scoreless innings in his season debut, striking out three and allowing just a hit.  He had a 3.86 ERA in 17 relief appearances in 2021.
  • Cole Waites pitched the 9th, allowing a run on two hits.  He allowed four runs in his first appearance this season.

Low-A: Fresno 9, San Jose 5

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San Jose Notes:

  • On a cold night in the south bay, San Jose got a lot of hits, but all 11 were singles in a 9-5 loss.
  • Aeverson Arteaga had a 3-hit night for his best hitting performance of the season.  He’s 5-for-18 with a home run, and four walks to nine strikeouts.  This was his first game of the year without a strikeout.  In this game, though, he proved that he needs to work on making flips while laying on his stomach, as he tried to flip one to second after  diving to stop an infield hit, and didn’t really come close.
  • The other 3-hit game was Garrett Frechette, his second multi-hit game of the season.  Frechette now has a .350/.381/.400 batting line, but with just one double and one walk to six strikeouts.  In San Jose in 2021, he hit .219/.268/.289 over 31 games. 
  • Alexander Suarez had the team’s other multi-hit game, and is now 3-for-15 (.200) on the year.
  • Bad news: Dilan Rosario was hit by a pitch in the 8th inning and was taken out of the game after being in extreme pain.  The pitch hit his left (glove) hand as he was holding the bat.  There has been no announcement about any injury or expected time out, if any.  The HBP did drive in a run, but that’s small comfort.
  • In his first game in two years, Keaton Winn struggled last week.  His second game went well, with two scoreless innings, two hits allowed and three strikeouts.  His fastball was 95-97 according to the radio.
  • Nick Sinacola came in on the piggyback, and struggled with his control on the cold night.  He walked the bases loaded in the 4th, and two hits later had allowed three runs.
  • Esmerlin Vinicio got his second appearance, coming in early after the two piggyback starters each went just two innings.  Vinicio gave up five hits and a walk, with a HBP and a balk mixed in, in his one inning of work.
  • Among the other relievers, Hunter Dula had the best time of it, with a runnerless inning in relief, now with five strikeouts and one walk in 4.0 innings so far this season.
  • Rayner Santana pitched the 9th to save some relievers, after a lot of long innings covered by the bullpen.  He was throwing low-60’s, but struck out the first batter he faced at 66 MPH.  He did give up two hits and a walk, as well as a balk, but you can forgive the catcher that.  Santana had also been 1-for-3 in the lineup as DH before pitching.

Let’s wrap this up with a little defense.  One of these guys did it a little better than the other.  First, we’ve got Franklin Labour in right field at Richmond.

And then we’ve got Bryce Johnson for Sacramento…well, sort of?

😬 Well…sometimes part of the game is a good sale, right?  This is your reminder that there’s no replay in the minors!