AAA: Sacramento 7, Las Vegas 2

Top Lines

DH Justin Bour: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (4), 2 SO
SS Mitchell Tollman: 2-3, 2 R, 1 2B (4), 1 CS (1)
2B Thairo Estrada: 2-4, 1 2B (7), 2 SO
CF Bryce Johnson: 2-5, 2 RBI, 1 SB (8)
RF Joe McCarthy: 1-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR (3)

SP Anthony Banda: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR
RP Tyler Cyr: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
RP Gregory Santos: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
RP Dominic Leone: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

A pair of 3-run innings power Sacramento’s win as they reached the second part of their all-Nevada homestand (having just finished a week against Reno).  The Cats got two gifts to lead off the second, with Joe McCarthy getting on by an error, and Mitchell Tolman getting hit by a pitch.  Drew Robinson followed with an RBI double, and after a walk, Bryce Johnson hit a 2-run double to put Sac up 3-0.  The teams traded runs in the fourth, with Justin Bour’s first home run of the game, setting up the next big inning.

In the fifth, Sacramento drew two quick outs, but McCarthy hit a solo home run.  Tolman followed that with a double, and then Bour hit his second home run of the game to give the Cats a 7-1 lead that would be more than enough for the win.

Other Notes:

  • Justin Bour now has four home runs on the season.  He had 25 between Triple-A and the Angels in 2019.
  • Anthony Banda hit a season-high 5.2 innings in this start.  He gave up six walks in his first start (4.1 innings), but had then allowed just one walk in 12.0 innings since until this game.  He now has 10 with 21 strikeouts in 22.0 innings.
  • Gregory Santos picked up another scoreless outing, giving him three in a row.  Santos has seven strikeouts against four walks and nine hits in 9.1 innings at Triple-A this season.
  • Thairo Estrada’s strong season continues since his acquisition from the Yankees.  He has a batting line of .364/.424/.649 with seven doubles and five home runs on the season now.
  • Dominic Leone has struck out at least two in five straight games, and six of his seven games.  He’s struck out 16 in 9.0 innings, with three walks.
  • Bryce Johnson has a pair of hits in each of the last three starts, and is batting .364/.467/.519
  • Joey Bart still has not played since being removed in the middle of the home opener on May 20th.  He reportedly was lifted with groin tightness, and there have been no updates since.

AA: Rained Out – Postponed

I think this weekend might have a few doubleheaders.  The Phillies and Squirrels will attempt to get both games in on Saturday, and right now have a bit of an afternoon window to try to get the games in, though according to The Weather Channel, there’s still a 24% chance of precipitation from 3 pm through 10 pm during that window.  Either way, Sunday might be a rainout as well, with rain scheduled all day for what would be the series finale.

High-A: Spokane 7, Eugene 1

Top Lines

RF Frank Labour: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR (3)
DH Patrick Bailey: 1-4, 1 2B (5), 3 SO

SP Nick Avila: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
RP John Russell: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR
RP Chris Wright: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO
RP Taylor Rashi: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO

This game just wasn’t a great one, so let’s focus on a positive.  Chris Wright got to make his Eugene debut after his promotion from San Jose, and was lights out.  Wright faced eight batters, walked one of them, and struck out the rest.  Wright had 17 strikeouts in 8.0 innings with San Jose before his promotion, and at least for his first game, his strong season is still rolling.

Other Notes:

  • Nick Avila struggled, giving up a season-high in hits allowed (9) and tying his high in runs (4).  It was his second start of the season, the previous one coming on May 10th.  He had a 0.95 ERA in 10 games in 2019, but his ERA is up to 6.75 so far this season.
  • Patrick Bailey took his fourth 3-strikeout game this season out of 19 games played.  Bailey has 29 strikeouts to nine walks in 89 plate appearances this season.
  • Reliever John Russell gave up his first runs of the season.  Before this game, he’d allowed just one hit and one walks over seven innings.  Today, he allowed four hits and two walks, on top of three runs.

Low-A: San Jose 1, Lake Elsinore 0

Top Lines

SS Marco Luciano: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 2B (7)
CF Luis Matos: 1-4, 1 2B (7), 1 SO
DH Casey Schmitt: 1-4

SP Carson Ragsdale: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 SO, 1 WP
RP Juan Sanchez: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
RP Brooks Crawford: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

San Jose’s pitchers had absolute domination on the mound tonight, led by a career night for Carson Ragsdale.  Ragsdale faced 22 batters, and struck out 12 of them, limiting Lake Elsinore to just a pair of hits and a walk.  He didn’t get the win, getting replaced in the middle of the 6th after striking out the side in the 6th inning…but a wild pitch let one of those strikeouts reach base.  Coming in to replace him was Juan Sanchez, who notched the inning’s fourth strikeout to finally end it.  Sanchez would pick up four strikeouts in all, and Brooks Crawford got his first save of the season while getting two more strikeouts, giving the Giants 18 in the game.

That held up thanks to San Jose getting on the board at nearly the last minute.  With two out in the 8th inning, Ricardo Genovés collected a walk.  He was lifted for Brett Auerbach as a pinch runner, and Auerbach stole second and got to third on an error from the attempt to catch him.  

Other Notes:

  • Ragsdale gave up three runs while striking out nine in his last start, this time, there were no runs allowed.  Ragsdale has 35 strikeouts against five walks in 19.2 innings, with 13 hits given up.
  • Juan Sanchez has only gotten into four games this season, with this being the first in which he didn’t give up a hit.  He’s got 10 strikeouts to one walk in 7.0 innings.
  • Brooks Crawford had three saves in 12 games in his rookie 2019 season in the Arizona League.  He’s allowed just one hit and no walks (and one unearned run) in 7.0 innings, striking out 10.
  • Two more hits for Marco Luciano, who’s gone 7-for-11 with three doubles and a home run over his last three games.  His batting line has been slowly improving, now at .273/.333/.519