Pitching was the theme of the night, as the four Giants starters did not give up a single run as the entire system won their games.  Plus, a grand slam in San Jose and a walkoff win in Sacramento!

AAA: Sacramento 6, Las Vegas 5 (11 Innings)

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Sacramento Notes:

  • A wild game ended with 7 runs scored from the 9th inning on.  It was Las Vegas who came from behind in the 9th with a 2-run home run of of Melvin Adón to make the score 3-3.  The teams traded runs in the 10th inning, and Las Vegas scored another in the top of the 11th to make it 5-4 Aviators.  But RBI singles by Shane Matheny and Matt Beaty in the bottom half would give the River Cats the win.
  • Casey Schmitt was back at shortstop, and was 2-for-4 with a strikeout and a HBP.  Schmitt now has a 6-game hitting streak, going 9-for-24 (.375), with two doubles and a home run.  Through 31 games, Schmitt has a batting line of .315/.350/.415 with 10 doubles and a home run.
  • Second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald went 1-for-4 with a double and a sacrifice fly, his first at the Triple-A level.  After three games at Sacramento, he is 3-for-12 (.250) with a double, and two walks to three strikeouts.
  • Center fielder Shane Matheny was 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.  In 30 games, Matheny is batting .244/.386/.278 with three doubles, and 21 walks to 36 strikeouts.
  • Starting pitcher Sean Hjelle made his Sacramento debut after being sent down, going 3.0 shutout innings with just one hit allowed, and two strikeouts.  Hjelle had started the year in the Majors, and had a 10.13 ERA after 10 relief appearances, with 16 strikeouts to 10 walks, and 21 hits allowed in 13.1 innings.
  • Reliever Clay Helvey struck out three, allowing just a walk in 1.2 innings.  Helvey has had his struggles this season, with 13 walks to nine strikeouts in 10.1 innings and a 6.10 ERA.  He had a 2.63 ERA in 2022 between High-A and Double-A, with 74 strikeouts to 29 walks in 54.2 innings.

AA: Richmond 3, Altoona 1

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Richmond Notes:

  • The Squirrels picked up a win behind the brilliant start by Kai-Wei Teng.  Teng gave up no hits and just one walk, giving Richmond the strong start during which they got a 3-0 lead.  Riley Mahan had an RBI double and a sacrifice fly to knock in two of the runs, while Altoona’s only run came in on a wild pitch.
  • Starter Kai-Wei Teng had another bigtime start, allowing just one walk and no hits in 4.0 innings, though he uncharacteristically only struck out two, by far his lowest total of the year.  Through five starts, Teng has 32 strikeouts to seven walks in 19.1 innings, and has a 2.33 ERA and just a 0.88 WHIP.
  • In relief, Nick Swiney gave up the only run, on two hits and two walks, plus a wild pitch, in 2.1 innings while striking out four.  Swiney has a 1.23 ERA, with 18 strikeouts to six walks in 14.2 innings of work after five appearances.
  • Blake Rivera struck out three, giving up just one hit and no walks in 2.2 innings of work.  His 0.00 ERA stays intact after eight games, and he has 15 strikeouts to two walks in 11.0 innings, with just a 0.73 ERA.
  • First baseman Riley Mahan had two of the team’s three RBI, going 1-for-3 with his sixth double and a sacrifice fly.  After 18 games, Mahan is batting .234/.250/.516, with six doubles and four home runs.
  • Left fielder Luis Matos led the team in hitting, going 2-for-3 with a walk and his fifth double of the season.  Matos currently has a batting line of .293/.402/.390, with five doubles and a home run, but has 15 walks to nine strikeouts.
  • Shortstop Marco Luciano went 1-for-3 with a walk, and picked up an error, his second since returning.  Luciano is 2-for-10 (.200) with three walks and five strikeouts after three games.

High-A: Eugene 6, Spokane 5

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Eugene Notes:

  • Vaun Brown made a successful return to Eugene as an 8th inning run gave the Ems a very close win.  The Ems had jumped out to a 4-0 lead early, but lost it late, leading to a 5-5 tie in the 8th.  Damon Dues walked to get on base, and moved to third on a steal, then a wild pitch, to score on a Grant McCray single to give the Ems the winning difference.
  • Vaun Brown was 2-for-5 in his High-A return, picking up an RBI and a steal as his rehab continued.  Brown had been 7-for-17 (.412) with two doubles and three steals with San Jose to start his comeback.
  • Logan Wyatt hit his 4th home run of the season, going 2-for-4 with a strikeout.  That gives Wyatt a new career-high in home runs in a season, after just 22, breaking the total of three he had in 44 games back in 2019.
  • Grant McCray was 2-for-5, with the game-winning RBI and three strikeouts.  McCray is 5-for-17 (.294) after four games in May, with one home run, and two walks to six strikeouts.  Overall, he has 12 walks to 37 strikeouts in 23 games.
  • Damon Dues started the game at second, and moved to third base, and went 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base.  After 18 games, Dues has a batting line of .276/.400/.293, with 12 walks to 15 strikeouts.
  • Starting pitcher Nick Sinacola went 4.0 shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing just three hits, one HBP, no walks.  Sinacola lowered his ERA to 0.86 after six games, with 29 strikeouts to six walks in 21.0 innings.
  • Reliever Tyler Myrick threw a scoreless 9th inning, allowing just a hit, but no runs or walks, and also getting no strikeouts.  Myrick has a 0.96 ERA, with eight strikeouts and still no walks in 9.1 innings.

Low-A: San Jose 6, Modesto 0 (6 Innings)

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San Jose Notes:

  • On a rainy Bay Area May day (?), San Jose pitched a 6-inning shutout victory behind Manuel Mercedes and one of his strongest starts of the year.  San Jose got all the offense it needed in the second, when they loaded the bases behind two walks and a single, and Garrett Frechette hit a grand slam to put San Jose up for good.
  • Starter Manuel Mercedes had his second straight start without allowing a run in 4.0 innings, giving up only a hit, while striking out two.  After eight shutout innings through those two starts, Mercedes has lowered his ERA from 3.75 to 2.25.  He has 13 strikeouts to five walks in 20.0 innings, but is holding opponents to a .188 average allowed, and a 0.90 WHIP.
  • Reliever John Bertrand ended up getting the final two innings of the game, giving up four hits, but not allowing any runs or walks, while striking out one.  Bertrand has a 2.65 ERA after five games, with 12 strikeout to two walks in 17.0 innings.
  • DH Garrett Frechette went 1-for-3 with his first home run of the year, a grand slam.  Frechette is hitting just .207/.233/.310 on the seaswon after 16 games.  In 2022, he had a career-high four home runs in 97 games at San Jose.
  • Second baseman Diego Velasquez was 2-for-4 with a double, his 7th of the season, and stole his third base of the year.  It was a bounceback for Velasquez, who broke his 11-game hitting streak on Thursday by going 0-for-5.  Velasquez has a batting line of .306/.381/.424 with seven doubles and one home run, with three steals in as many attempts.
  • Right fielder Tanner O’Tremba was 2-for-2 with a walk, and he picked up his second steal of the season.  O’Tremba now has multiple hits in three of his last four games, going 7-for-16 (.438) with two doubles and a triple in that period.  He has a .309/.427/.426 batting line after 19 games, with six walks to 18 strikeouts, and six doubles with one triple.