AAA: Las Vegas 11, Sacramento 10 (10 Innings)

Top Lines

CF Bryce Johnson: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR (2), 3 BB, 1 SO
2B Mitchell Tolman: 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR (1), 2 SO
SS Thairo Estrada: 2-6, 2 SO, 1 SB
3B Jason Krizan: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B (3), 1 BB, 1 SF
LF Drew Robinson: 1-5, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

SP Conner Menez: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
RP Kervin Castro: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO 1 HR
RP Daniel Álvarez: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR
RP Gregory Santos: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
RP Yunior Marte: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 E (1)
RP Jason Krizan: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO

Sacramento lost a wild extra-inning game thanks to a staff that was unable to hold the line.  Starter Conner Menez went just 2.1 innings, leaving the bullpen a lot of innings to fill.  He was replaced by Kervin Castro, who gave up a run while getting the final two outs of the third.  Castro started the fourth, but walked the first two batters he faced before being relieved himself.  Of all the relievers, only Gregory Santos went unscored upon.

Sacramento had used five relievers to cover 6.1 innings on Friday.  Rather than continue to work through the bullpen, Sacramento ‘opted to save their bullpen’ for the remaining series and put infielder Jason Krizan on the mound in the 10th, and he allowed the winning run to come in.

Other Notes:

  • Technically, Sacramento’s starters have gone 5.2 innings total in their first three games, though in Game 1, their starting pitcher was Tyler Beede, rehabbing and capped at 20 pitches.  Still, Game 1’s Anthony Banda went 4.1 innings, the longest stint of any River Cat pitcher this season.
  • Mitchell Tolman’s 6th inning grand slam seemed to put the River Cats ahead for good, giving them a 10-5 lead.  Tolman had just six home runs while batting .256/.342/.362 in 128 games in 2019, mostly in Double-A and 12 games in Triple-A for the Mets system.
  • Kervin Castro struggled in his second Triple-A appearance.  He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, and after getting two outs and leaving two runners on, he then walked the first two batters in the next inning.  Castro walked 13 in 67.2 innings in 2019 (in Short-A), but has three in one inning of work so far in Triple-A.
  • Bryce Johnson had his second home run in as many games.  Johnson is 5-for-9 (.556) in his first three games.
  • Jason Krizan took the pain on the mound, but also continued to hit, with another double.  As a hitter, Krizan is 4-for-13, but three of the hits are doubles.  As a pitcher, Krizan had made three prior appearances, all in 2019 in Double-A.  He had a 23.14 ERA that season.  However, out of seven pitches, he threw four for strikes.
  • Drew Robinson reached a huge milestone, collecting his first hit of the season, and more notably, his first since losing an eye in 2020.  Robinson had struck out in all four of his first game’s at-bats, and had three more in his second game, but has been making more contact as he’s made adjustments to the game.  His return has been nothing short of inspiring.

AA: Game 1: Richmond 2, Hartford 0

Top Lines

3B David Villar: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B (2)
CF Heliot Ramos: 1-2, 1 R, 1 2B (2), 1 BB

SP Matt Frisbee: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO
RP Patrick Ruotolo: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

Game 1 of the season’s first doubleheader was headlined by the pitching of Matt Frisbee, who was fantastic in his Double-A debut.  Frisbee went five and gave up just two hits, striking out 5.  In 2019, he had a 3.13 ERA with 154 strikeouts in 132.1 innings, with 113 hits and 28 walks.  He’s off to a better pace to start this season.  The game was wrapped with a 2-inning save by Ruotolo, his first of the season, as he allowed just the one walk.

AA: Game 2: Richmond 9, Hartford 5

Top Lines

LF Sandro Fabian: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR (1), 1 SO
CF Heliot Ramos: 1-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
C Andres Angulo: 2-3, 1 R
2B Kyle Mottice: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
RF Andy Sugilio: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SO, 1 SB

SP Gerson Garabito: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
RP Mac Marshall: 0.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO
RP Luis Amaya: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO

An 8-run 4th inning was the difference in Game 2 for Richmond.  Tied 1-1, Sandro Fabian led off the inning with a single, followed by a Shane Matheny walk.  The next batter, Andres Angulo, singled on a bunt that led to a throwing error and both runs coming in, even all the way from first.  The inning continued, including an Andy Sugilio 2-run single, but it was finished off by a 3-run homer by Fabian, who had led off the inning.

Other Notes:

  • Heliot Ramos combined for a 2-for-5 day with two walks, giving him three against five strikeouts in the first five games.  He has a .444/.524/.889 batting line over his first five games.
  • Gerson Garabito had a fine Game 2 start, giving up six baserunners but only one unearned run.  Garabito spent 2019 in the Double-A with the Royals organization, where he had a 3.77 ERA.
  • 23-year old Andres Angulo’s last pro season (2019) was spent in Low-A Augusta, where he played just 73 games hitting .210/.260/.294.  In his first four games in Double-A, he’s 6-for-15 (.400) with one walk and one strikeout.

High-A: Spokane 10, Eugene 6

Top Lines

3B Jacob Gonzalez: 2-4, 1 R
RF Franklin Labour: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR (1)
2B Carter Aldrete: 2-4, 2 R, 1 SO
C Patrick Bailey: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO

SP Conner Nurse: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR
RP Taylor Rashi: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 1 WP
RP Bryce Tucker: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO

Eugene’s perfect start to the season came crashing to an end after Spokane jumped out to an 8-0 lead after five innings.  A one-out walk followed by a home run ended Conner Nurse’s otherwise strong start, putting Spokane up 2-0.  It was then Taylor Rashi, who struggled in a big way, letting five of the first six batters he faced get on, along with a wild pitch.  It would be too much of a lead for even Eugene’s offense to get past.

Other Notes:

  • Hunter Bishop, a late scratch on Friday, was again not in the lineup.  No reason has been posted.
  • Rashi, 25, only had 10 games of pro experience before this, having been drafted in 2019, all but one of the games in the Arizona League.
  • Franklin Labour got his first home run of the season.  Labour made waves in Salem-Keizer in 2019, hitting 14 home runs in 41 games there, before getting a promotion back up to Augusta.
  • Jacob Gonzalez played third base in his second game of the season.  Gonzalez has struggled there on occasion in his past seasons, and had played the outfield in his first High-A game.
  • Logan Wyatt’s season-starting on-base streak ended at four games, after he went 0-for-4 today.

Low-A: San Jose 3, Fresno 1

Top Lines

CF Luis Matos: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B (2), 1 SO
RF Armani Smith: 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B (1), 1 SO
3B Luis Toribio: 1-3, 1 2B (1)

SP Kyle Harrison: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 SO, 2 HBP
RP Ty Weber: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO

A great start to Kyle Harrison’s career headlined a strong pitching duel in San Jose.  Harrison was notably wild, walking three and hitting two batters, but he was effective at it as he kept hits off the board.  That was followed by three solid innings by Ty Weber, and even though Fresno scored one in the ninth, it wouldn’t be enough.

Other Notes:

  • Luis Matos picked up his first two doubles, after having gone 4-for-17 over his first four games.  Five of his six hits have come in the last two days.
  • Marco Luciano picked up another hit, a single.  He’s 3-for-18 on the season to start the year.

Notable Transactions

IF Peter Maris sent to Sacramento from Richmond

C Ronnie Freeman signed a free agent contract, assigned to Richmond

The promotion of Maris implies that the Giants may be moving an infielder to the big leagues from Sacramento in the near future.  That also means Richmond’s opportunities will open up a bit more, perhaps most notably for Ryan Howard, who has had a solid start to the season.