It was a day of being on the wrong side of pitching duels for Richmond and Eugene, but Sacramento got three home runs by three different players who hadn’t hit one in Triple-A yet for a nice win.

AAA: Sacramento 6, Salt Lake 5

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Three River Cats hit their first Triple-A of the season (though all three have spent time in other leagues) for a 6-5 win over Salt Lake.  Bryce Johnson hit one in the 3rd inning, Tyler Fitzgerald had a 2-run in the 5th inning, and Patrick Bailey had a solo shot in the 8th inning that gave the Cats the win.
  • For Bryce Johnson, the home run was his second of the year after having one in the Majors, and was his first in Triple-A after four games.  Johnson was 1-for-4 on the day.  In his four games since returning, he’s batting .385/.467/.692 with a double and a home run.
  • Tyler Fitzgerald was also 1-for-4 on the day, with his first Sacramento homer.  Fitzgerald had two in 19 games at Richmond before his promotion, and now has a double and a home run after seven games.  He’s got a .250/.313/.393 batting line in Sacramento.
  • For Patrick Bailey, his home run came on a 1-for-3 day, also with a HBP.  It’s taken him nine games at Sacramento to get his first home run.  He had two home runs in 14 games at Richmond before his promotion.  His Sacramento batting line is .200/.342/.333 with six walks to eight strikeouts.
  • First baseman Matt Beaty was 1-for-2 with his 4th double, with a walk, and a HBP.  Beaty now has four doubles and two home runs in 17 games, with six walks to 16 strikeouts.
  • Daniel Tillo took the opener role, for his first official start of the year, with a scoreless first inning, striking out one.  That whittled his ERA down to 5.73.  It was his first strikeout in his last three games (5.0 innings), but he has just one walk in that span as well.  In 11.0 innings, Tillo has five strikeouts to 12 walks.
  • In the closing role, Ryan Walker faced just one batter, but struck him out to get his first save of the year.  Walker has a 0.96 ERA in 18.2 innings of work, with 20 strikeouts to seven walks.

AA: Erie 1, Richmond 0

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Richmond Notes:

  • It was a pitching duel in Erie, and in the end, Richmond blinked first.  The teams stayed scoreless through seven innings, but in the bottom of the 8th, Randy Rodriguez walked three straight players with no one out (though one was caught stealing), but a 2-out single scored the only run of the game, giving Richmond the loss.
  • It was a strong bounceback start for Mason Black, going 4.0 scoreless innings, striking four with one hit and one walk allowed.  Black had allowed four runs in 3.1 innings in his last start, but this was his first one without allowing a run.  Black now has a 4.57 ERA after six starts, with 28 strikeouts to seven walks in 21.2 innings.
  • Nick Swiney threw just one inning, walking one.  Swiney has 18 strikeouts to seven walks over 15.2 innings.  He’s got a 1.15 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP, and a .167 average allowed.
  • Randy Rodriguez allowed the game’s only run in one inning, on three walks and one hit allowed, despite striking out two.  Rodriguez’s run was the first earned run he’d allowed since April 23rd.  He’s got a 3.94 ERA, with 19 strikeouts to 10 walks.
  • Simon Whiteman had the best offensive day for the Squirrels, going 1-for-2 with a walk and a steal.  It’s Whiteman’s first hit in the last five games, since having a 2-hit game on May 3rd.  His batting line sits at .233/.356/.342, with two steals on three attempts.
  • Ismael Munguia was 1-for-4 from the leadoff spot.  Eight games into May, Munguia is batting .313/.389/.438 on the month.
  • Luis Matos didn’t get any hits, going 0-for-3, with one walk, and picked up his seventh steal of the season.  Matos now has seven steals on eight attempts this season, and has a batting line of .286/.386/.408 after 27 games.

High-A: Tri-City 2, Eugene 1

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Eugene Notes:

  • It was a low-scoring affair in the Northwest, as Eugene lost 2-1 to Tri-City.  The Dust Devils jumped out to an early lead in the 2nd inning on a wild pitch, and then got a second run on a 6th inning double, though Vaun Brown nailed the hitter at third from right field.  The Ems got a run on a Jared Dupere home run in the 7th, but wouldn’t get any more.
  • It was a 2-for-4 day for Jared Dupere with his fourth home run of the season.  It broke a 4-game hitless streak, and his first home run since April 29th.  Dupere has five doubles and four home runs, with a batting line of .261/.330/.446, but has just eight walks to 45 strikeouts.
  • Third baseman Luis Toribio went 1-for-2 with two walks.  Toribio is feeling the heat for his team lead in home runs, as Dupere now has four, behind Toribio’s six.  With the two walks, Toribio now has 15 walks to 30 strikeouts, and has a .286 batting average with a .390 on-base percentage.
  • Vaun Brown was 1-for-4 with a double in his 5th rehab game at Eugene.  After five games, Brown has a batting line of .300/.391/.550 with two doubles and a home run.  That gives him four doubles in nine games since returning from injury.
  • Starting pitcher Seth Lonsway went 4.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run on one hit, with three walks to six strikeouts, and had three wild pitches.  Lonsway has been a bit snakebit by errors, having allowed five unearned runs over his last two starts (and one earned), and has allowed nine unearned runs out of 24 runs overall, and has a 6.75 ERA on the year.
  • Reliever Nick Morreale struck out the side in his inning of work, allowing just one hit.  Morreale has a 5.27 ERA after 11 games, with 21 strikeouts to seven walks in 13.2 innings.

Low-A: Lake Elsinore 7, San Jose 5

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San Jose Notes:

  • San Jose’s bullpen and defense had a bad game late, and a 5-2 lead after six innings gave up five runs over the next two innings.  A pair of passed balls led to three unearned runs in the 7th, and a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly each scored a run in the 8th, giving Lake Elsinore the win.
  • Tanner O’Tremba was 1-for-3 with a walk, and picked up his first home run and his third steal of the season.  O’Tremba is having a great May so far, with a batting line of .364/.500/.682 with two doubles, a triple, and a home run.  Overall, he’s batting .297 on the year with a .881 OPS.
  • Second baseman Thomas Gavello went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk.  Since the start of May, in six games, Gavello has a batting line of .348/.500/.783 with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs.
  • Catcher Onil Perez went 2-for-5 with a triple, but also had three passed balls behind the plate.  Perez is having a strong season behind the plate, batting .352 with a double, a triple, and a home run, plus 11 walks to seven strikeouts.  However, he now has nine passed balls in 12 games defensively at catcher.
  • First baseman Garrett Frechette was 2-for-5 with his first triple of the season.  Frechette has a batting line of .222/.246/.349 with three doubles, a triple, and one home run, with 16 strikeouts to two walks.
  • Starter Gerelmi Maldonado gave up two runs in 3.0 innings, giving up five hits and four walks while striking out just two.  Now in 18.1 innings, Maldonado has 18 walks to 16 strikeouts, and his ERA bumps up to 5.40.  
  • Reliever Esmerlin Vinicio went 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks with one strikeout.  In 14.2 innings, Vinicio now has 12 walks to 10 strikeouts despite having just a 3.07 ERA.