Aeverson Arteaga waited until the literal last minute to hit a home run for the third straight game, and hit a walk-off home run for Eugene.  And in Sacramento, it was Kyle Harrison day, and he set a new career high in strikeouts.

This is how all games should end: A Gatorade shower and time to go home and watch Ted Lasso!

AAA: Oklahoma City 7, Sacramento 4

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Sacramento Notes:

  • It was Kyle Harrison day in Sacramento, and he delivered, striking out nine without allowing a hit in his 4.0 innings, but Oklahoma City stormed back against the bullpen at the end of the game, scoring four runs in the 8th and two runs in the 9th to take the game 7-4.
  • Harrison set a new season-high in strikeouts with nine in 4.0 innings as he bounced back from giving up bunches of runs over his last two games.  He allowed just a walk and a HBP.  He lowered his ERA to 4.11 from 4.73 in this game.  It’s just the second time that Harrison has gotten to 4.0 innings, and he has yet to reach 5.0 innings in any game after 10 starts.
  • The biggest hit for the Cats was Isan Díaz, hitting his second home run in his second game back in action, going 1-for-5.  Díaz is 3-for-8 (.375) with no walks to three strikeouts in his two games since returning from injury.
  • Catcher Ricardo Genovés went 1-for-3 with a walk.  Genovés has at least one hit in seven of his last eight games, going 8-for-26 (.308) with three walks and eight strikeouts over that span.
  • Shortstop Will Wilson was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Wilson is batting .242 (15-for-62) in May, with five walks to 16 strikeouts for a .294 OBP on the month.
  • Reliever Cole Waites had a scoreless inning of work, with a hit allowed.  Since returning from San Francisco, Waites has gone four scoreless innings, shaving his ERA from 9.31 to 6.59
  • Erik Miller struck out two of the three batters he faced, and hit the other one in his 0.2 innings.  Miller has gone four scoreless outings after allowing four runs in his first three after getting promoted to Sacramento.  In 10.0 innings at Triple-A, Miller has 11 strikeouts to four walks.

AA: Binghamton 8, Richmond 6

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Richmond Notes:

  • Binghamton scored in bunches, with two different 3-run innings late in the game to beat Richmond 8-6.  The Squirrels actually outhit the Ponies 10-6, but they had just one extra-base hit, a triple by Vaun Brown, while Binghamton had a pair of home runs.
  • Center fielder Vaun Brown’s triple was part of a 2-for-5 day.  In three games since Brown came up to Double-A, he’s 4-for-12 (.333) with a triple and a home run, but no walks to six strikeouts.
  • Brett Auerbach led the team in hits, going 3-for-4, and picked up his fifth steal of the year.  It was Auerbach’s first multi-hit game since April 18th.  Since then, Auerbach has gone 10-for-85 (.118) with just one double as his only extra-base hit.
  • Shortstop Marco Luciano was hitless, going 0-for-2, but walked three times and stole a base, his second of the year.  Luciano now has 11 walks to 22 strikeouts on the season.  In 2022, in 65 games between Arizona and Eugene, he had 26 walks to 58 strikeouts.
  • Wade Meckler went 1-for-3 with a walk.  Since arriving in Richmond, over six games, Meckler has gone 8-for-24, but has yet to get any extra-base hits.  He has three walks to two strikeouts.
  • Starter Kai-Wei Teng had a rough start, giving up a season-high five runs in 4.2 innings, on a season-high six hits, two walks, and two HBP, with just four strikeouts.  For the first time this season, Teng has a batting average allowed over .200, at .209.  
  • Reliever Spencer Bivens had 1.2 scoreless innings, with two strikeouts while allowing a hit and a walk.  It’s the scoreless first game in Double-A for Bivens since he got promoted at the start of May (five games).  Bivens has a 6.35 ERA with 11 strikeouts to five walks in 11.1 innings.

High-A: Eugene 6, Everett 5

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Eugene Notes:

  • What looked like a blowout early turned into an exciting walk-off victory for the Ems.  Everett jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, but Eugene started a comeback thanks to three walks and a HBP to knock in their first run of the game in the 3rd inning, leading to a 3-run inning.  They tied it in the 4th.  Both teams held the line there until the 9th, when Aeveron Arteaga hit the team’s only home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the 9th to win the game.
  • Shortstop Aeverson Arteaga started and ended the Eugene scoring.  His HBP in the 3rd knocked in the Emeralds’ first run, and he went 1-for-3 with that HBP and a walk, with the one hit being his walk-off home run, his fifth of the year.  It’s Arteaga’s third game in a row with a home run, and his slugging percentage has gone from .336 to 4.03 over that span.
  • Second baseman Damon Dues with the only Em with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk and his third double of the year, plus a steal.  Dues has a .273/.402/.307 batting line with nine steals on eleven attempts.  His three doubles are his only extra-base hits.
  • Ghordy Santos came into the game in the third as a pinch-runner, and went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, plus a walk.  It was Santos’ first game with a hit in his last four, but he does have a walk in each of the four.  On the year, Santos has a .175 batting average with a .316 on-base percentage, thanks to having 13 walks to 35 strikeouts in 22 games.
    • Luis Toribio was removed from the game in the 3rd after taking a walk, and was replaced by Santos.  There was no obvious injury or reason.
  • Starting pitcher Nick Sinacola struggled with his control for the 2.0 innings he was in, giving up five runs on five hits and three walks, including back-to-back home runs in the 2nd, with three strikeouts.  Sinacola was sitting 91-92 with his fastball, topping out at 93 (on the stadium gun), and he was struggling with it out of the stretch.  He did get a lot of swing throughs on his slider.
  • José Cruz got a season-high-tying four strikeouts while allowing just a walk in a season-high tying 2.0 innings of work.  It’s Cruz’s second game in a row with four strikeouts, and he now has 21 strikeouts to seven walks in 14.1 innings.
  • Tyler Myrick came in for the 9th to keep the game tied.  He allowed a hit but no runs, walks, nor strikeouts in his inning.  Myrick now has 14 strikeouts to one walk in 14.2 innings.  

Low-A: San Jose 3, Modesto 2

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San Jose Notes:

  • San Jose edged out the Nuts in a 3-2 win.  Modesto had a 2-1 lead going into the 4th inning, but San Jose scored the tiebreaker with an error on an attempted steal.  That set up Andrew Kachel hitting an RBI single to knock in the winning run, even though it was the 4th inning, as the pitching staff for both teams held the game scoreless the rest of the way.
  • Shortstop Diego Velasquez led the team in hits, going 3-for-3 with a HBP, though he got caught stealing twice.  Velasquez has a batting line of .326/.414/.442 with ten doubles and two home runs, and now has four steals in six attempts.
  • Left fielder Matt Higgins was 2-for-4 with a double and a steal.  Over the last four games, Higgins is 9-for-20 (.450) with three doubles and three home runs, and three walks to three strikeouts.
  • Carter Howell went 1-for-4 with a triple, his fourth of the season.  The leadoff hitter is sporting a .327/.395/.459 batting line, with seven doubles, four triples, and two home runs in 35 games this season.
  • Starter Miguel Yajure gave up two runs in 2.1 innings, on four hits, a HBP, and no walks, with five strikeouts.  In two starts so far this season, Yajure has a 6.75 ERA with seven strikeouts to one walk in 4.0 innings.
  • In relief for the first time this season, Manuel Mercedes went 3.1 innings of scoreless ball, allowing three hits, two walks, and a HBP, with four strikeouts.  On the season, Mercedes now has 22 strikeouts to 10 walks in 32.1 innings.
  • Thomas Gavello was a late scratch from the game.  No reason was given.