Carson Whisenhunt went back on a tear after his weakest game of the year, and is looking as strong as ever as one of the Giants top pitching prospects.  Meanwhile, there were quite a few debuts (and one second game) across the system that left an impact on their games.

AAA: Tacoma 7, Sacramento 6 (10 Innings)

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Sacramento blew a couple of leads to lose this game.  Sacramento had a thin 5-4 lead going into the 9th, and an error set up a 2-out infield single that let Tacoma tie up the game.  That sent the game to the 10th, where a Luis Matos single gave the River Cats a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th.  But in the bottom half, with the ghost runner on, Melvin Adon hit a batter with a pitch, and a steal put runners on 2nd and 3rd, which set up a 2-run walkoff single with two out to end the game.
  • David Villar led the River Cats, hitting their only extra-base hit by going 3-for-6 with two strikeouts and a home run to give him three RBI.  After nine games, Villar is batting .294 with a double and three home runs.
  • Luis Matos was 3-for-5 with three singles, a walk, two strikeouts, two stolen bases, and a caught stealing.  It’s Matos’ second straight 3-hit game, and fourth in 13 games at Sacramento.  Matos has a batting line of .362/.413/.483 in Sacramento, with four steals in five attempts, all coming in the last two games.
  • Another good game for newcomer Jacob Nottingham, who was 2-for-3 with a walk, a HBP, and a stolen base.  In three games with Sacramento, Nottingham has gone 6-for-11 with a double, with a walk to two strikeouts.
  • Starter Sean Hjelle had a solid game.  He gave up three runs, two earned, in 5.0 innings, with six hits, a walk, and three strikeouts.  Hjelle has a 3.00 ERA in Sacramento after six games, but with just 17 strikeouts to five walks in 24.0 innings.
  • Cole Waites delivered his seventh straight scoreless game, giving up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts.  Waites has lowered his ERA from 9.31 to 5.29 over that span, and has increased his strikeouts, with two in each of the last two games.  Over the seven games, he has struck out five to two walks in 7.1 innings
  • Joey Marciano had a tough game, blowing the save and getting two unearned runners on his record, with his ghost runner in the 10th scoring after he left, on two hits and no walks.  Marciano has a 5.88 ERA on the season, with 32 strikeouts to 26 walks in 26.0 innings of work.

AA: Erie 10, Richmond 3 (10 Innings)

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Richmond Notes:

  • Woof…a tight game turned into an extra-innings blowout.  Marco Luciano had a 1st inning to put Richmond up 1-0, and the teams traded leads until it was 3-3 after six innings.  It stayed that way and went into the 10th inning, but Erie scored seven runs, many of them unearned thanks to a one-out error, and there was no hope for Richmond after that.
  • It was another strong game for Vaun Brown, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and a double.  It was his second of each in Double-A, coming in his eighth game at the level.  Brown has a Richmond batting line of .355/.444/.677, with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs.
  • Marco Luciano hit his 5th home run, going 2-for-4.  It’s his second 2-hit game out of the last three.  His batting line is now at .185/.292/.432 after 23 games, slowly inching up after a very slow start.
  • Left fielder Carter Aldrete went 2-for-4 with two strikeouts and a double, and picked up a steal.  Aldrete had a 9-game hitting streak end on Tuesday, so he got back on the hump.  He now has nine doubles and six home runs in 43 games.
  • Making his Double-A debut was Jimmy Glowenke, but it didn’t go that well.  Glowenke was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and also made a key 10th inning error while playing second base.  Glowenke hit .313/.413/.542, with ten doubles and three home runs.
  • Starting pitcher Landen Roupp had another strong, though short, start.  In his fifth start of the season, Roupp struck out a season-high seven in 3.0 innings, allowing a run on three hits and a walk.  Roupp has a 2.31 ERA with 19 strikeouts to four walks in 11.2 innings, and is holding batters to a .195 batting average.
  • Juan Sanchez was the best of the relievers, striking out two in 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk.  Sanchez has 2.28 ERA with 25 strikeouts to eight walks in 23.2 innings.

High-A: Eugene 8, Vancouver 1

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Eugene Notes:

  • A pitching duel rather suddenly became a blowout for Eugene.  Carson Whisenhunt set the tone, with 5.0 shutout innings, allowing just one baserunner with a hit allowed, and struck out seven.  Eugene scored a run in the 1st, and it stayed 1-0 until Eugene got a second in the 7th.  But in the 8th inning, the team scored six runs to put the game away.
  • It was a great bounceback start for Carson Whisenhunt, who responded to his worst game at High-A with his best (at least, with one walk less than the runner up).  After six games with Eugene, Whisenhunt has a 1.42 ERA, and has 36 strikeouts to eight walks in 25.1 innings, and is holding batters to just a .107 average.
  • José Cruz didn’t allow any baserunners in his 2.0 innings, striking out four.  That’s five straight scoreless games for Cruz, with 17 strikeouts to two walks and two hits in 9.0 innings.
  • In his second High-A game, Carter Howell led the team offensively, going 4-for-5 with a double and a triple.  So far he’s 5-for-9 with the double and triple, and no walks or strikeouts at his new level.
  • Victor Bericoto went 2-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.  Bericoto’s batting line sits at .297/.342/.485 through 43 games, with 15 walks and 37 strikeouts.  He has eight doubles, a triple, and seven home runs.
  • Center fielder Grant McCray went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.  It’s been a good May for McCray, who has a batting line of .295/.395/.514 on the month, with five doubles and six home runs, and 18 walks against 35 strikeouts.
  • Aeverson Arteaga was 2-for-5, having been moved down to the number six spot after Howell’s arrival.  Arteaga’s May isn’t as strong, but he had a solid .233/.312/.393 line with six doubles, two triples, and four home runs, and 13 walks to 26 strikeouts.

Low-A: San Jose 8, Fresno 5

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San Jose Notes:

  • San Jose just had too many hits and overwhelmed Fresno for this win.  San Jose didn’t have any home runs out of 12 hits, but had three triples and three doubles en route to this win.  And it was highlighted by shortstop Anthony Rodriguez having just about a perfect day in his Low-A debut.
  • Shortstop Anthony Rodriguez made his Single-A debut after an injury in the spring delayed him, and he went 3-for-3 with a HBP, with two doubles and a triple, although he also had two errors.  The 20-year old spent the last two seasons in the Arizona Complex League, combining the two years to have a batting line of .238/.345/.371 with 13 doubles, a triple, and ten home runs.
  • Onil Perez was at DH, going 2-for-4 with a triple.  Perez has a batting line of .313/.391/.417 with five doubles, two triples, and one home run, and 14 walks to 12 strikeouts.
  • Left fielder Tanner O’Tremba was 1-for-5 with his second triple of the season.  O’Tremba now has 11 doubles, two triples, and three home runs in 37 games, for a batting line of .272/.387/.449.
  • Third baseman Andrew Kachel was 2-for-5 on the day.  He’s had a great May, where he had a batting line of .348/.421/.576 with six doubles and three home runs.
  • Another debut was outfielder Turner Hill, who played center field and went 1-for-4 with a double.  The 24-year old Hill was signed out of the Frontier League three weeks ago after going undrafted in 2022.  He led the summer MLB Draft League in batting average last year.
  • Starting pitcher Hayden Birdsong gave up a season-high four runs in 3.1 innings, on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts.  Birdsong had not given up more than two earned runs in a game before this on the year.  It bumped his ERA from 1.78 to 2.67, and he now has 59 strikeouts to 20 walks in 33.2 innings.
  • Reliever Dylan Cumming got the save, striking out one in a scoreless inning.  It’s his fifth save of the season for the 30-17 Giants, and he hasn’t given up any runs since allowing three on May 4th.  Since then, over seven appearances, he’s dropped his ERA from 4.02 to 2.36.