AAA: Sacramento 5, Oklahoma City 2

Top Lines

2B-LF Jason Krizan: 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B (4)
SS Thairo Estrada: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B (2), 1 SO, 1 CS (1)
CF Bryce Johnson: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B (6), 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 SB (1)

SP Connor Menez: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO
RP Kervin Castro: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR
RP Daniel Álvarez: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO
RP Tyler Cyr: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
RP Sam Wolff: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

The River Cats took half the game before the offense woke up, but it was enough for them to pick up a second win against the Dodgers.  In the 5th inning, with just two hits previous, got a leadoff double from Mitchell Tolman, followed by a 2-out double by Bryce Johnson to score their first run and tie the game.  In the 6th, a Joey Bart walk preceded a Joe McCarthy double to give the River Cats a 2-1.  In the 7th, Jason Krizan and Bart had back-to-back RBI hits to ice the game off.

Other Notes:

  • Conner Menez had an excellent bounce back from a rough first start, when he gave up three runs in 2.1 innings.  He still gave up four hits in two innings, but kept runs off the board.
  • Kervin Castro started an inning for the first time in his Triple-A stint.  He only gave up one run, but it was off the second home run he’s given up this season.  In three innings, he’s allowed five runs on three hits and seven walks, with seven strikeouts.
  • Sam Wolff got into his first game of the 2021 season.  The 30-year old had a 2.87 ERA in 35 games in 2019 across three levels, mostly at Double-A.

AA: Harrisburg 4, Richmond 3

Top Lines

3B David Villar: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO
CF Heliot Ramos: 1-4, 2 SO
LF Vince Hernandez: 1-4, 1 RBI

SP Gerson Garabito: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
RP Mac Marshall: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
RP Frank Rubio: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

In perhaps a bit of a comedown from Thursday’s high of a franchise-first 9-inning no-hitter, Richmond’s record win streak came to an end at eight games.  Richmond fell behind right away, as Harrisburg scored three runs in the first inning against Squirrels starter Gerson Garabito.  Richmond scratched back, as David Villar hit an RBI single in the third inning, and the game was tied in the 6th after Vince Fernandez hit an RBI single, and Frankie Tostado hit a sacrifice fly.  But in the bottom of the 6th, with runners on the corners, a squeeze bunt play scored the difference in the game.

Other Notes:

  • Garabito had a rough start in his second start, letting three runs score in the first, but he righted the ship afterwards.  From the second through fifth innings, Garabito allowed just three hits and no walks.
  • David Villar picked up his third multi-hit game of the season, both singles.  He’d been hitless in each of his past two games before that.
  • Heliot Ramos came off his sombrero and first hitless game of the season to pick up a single, but struck out two more times.  He now has 12 strikeouts against five walks in 39 plate appearances.

High-A: Eugene 3, Hillsboro 1

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SS Will Wilson: 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B (5), 1 SO
DH Sean Roby: 2-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR (3), 1 SO
2B Simon Whiteman: 1-3, 1 R, 1 SO, 1 SB (5)

SP Nick Morreale: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO
RP Ryan Walker: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
RP Jose Marte: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO

Eugene seems to vacillate between big run-scoring explosions and extreme pitching performances.  Today, it was the pitching.  Nick Morreale had a career-high in innings pitched (5) and in strikeouts (9) while driving this Emeralds victory, striking out more than half of the batters he faced (17).  That was followed by Taylor Rashi’s two scoreless innings, Ryan Walker giving up an unearned run in the eighth, and Jose Marte notching two more strikeouts for his second save of the season.  That was enough, behind Sean Roby’s 2-run home run in the 4th, giving Eugene all they’d need to take home this win.

Other Notes:

  • Morreale was a 14th round pick in 2019 out of Georgetown, and had a 1.52 ERA in that season in the Arizona League, working mostly as a starter.
  • Coming off his grand slam, Will Wilson had his third multi-hit game on the season.  Wilson has collected at least one hit in each of the first eight games of the year, and has eight extra-base hits out of 14 total hits so far this season.
  • Marte has put together a dominating early stretch out of the bullpen.  Out of 4.1 innings, he’s struck out nine, walked none, and given up just two hits.  He had 80 strikeouts to 44 walks in 74.0 innings in San Jose in 2019 as a starter.
  • Sean Roby has a career-high of five home runs, reached in both 2018 and 2019 in 45 and 56 games respectively.  In 8 games in 2021, he already has three home runs, as well as a double.

Low-A: San Jose 14, Stockton 3

Top Lines

SS Abdiel Layer: 4-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (2)
C Ricardo Genovés: 4-6, 2 R, 1 RBI
CF Luis Matos: 3-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB (2)
LF Harrison Freed: 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR (1)

SP Kyle Harrison: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 7 SO, 1 WP
RP Jorge Labrador: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 HBP
RP Justin Crump: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 1 HBP
RP Randy Rodriguez: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO

San Jose exploded for a ton of runs, and it almost overshadowed top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison’s second start.  Harrison gave up his first run, but once again was mostly effectively wild.  Although he didn’t hit any batters (he hit two in his first start), he walked five in 2.1 innings.  However, he’s struck out seven in each start, so now has 14 K’s to 8 walks in 5.1 innings.

Harrison’s short outing plus the bullpen was enough for a huge offensive day, headlined by 2018 40th round pick Abdiel Layer, who hit two home runs, his first two of the season.  This was only Layer’s third game of the season, and half of his hits on the year are home runs.  He was joined in the box score by Luis Matos for his second home run, and Harrison Freed’s first, a 3-run shot in the fifth inning.

Other Notes:

  • Luis Matos has quietly become the team’s top regular hitter.  He’s collected multiple hits in each of the last three games, and five of the last six.  He also took his first walk in the previous five games, and has a 8:2 K:BB ratio.
  • Randy Rodriguez had just three strikeouts over 3.1 innings in his first three games.  He tripled that total as he nearly doubled his innings total in an extended relief appearance.
  • Ricardo Genovés led the team with four hits, boosting his batting average from .273 to .357 in the one game.
  • Alexander Canario picked up a single, along with a walk and a strikeout.  On the season, Canario’s struck out 13 times with six walks in 38 plate appearances.  In 2019, he had 80 strikeouts  against 20 walks in 59 games.