First of all…congratulations to Casey Schmitt!  First career game, first career home run, and hopefully a great start to a great Giant Future.

AAA: Sacramento 9, Salt Lake 2

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Salt Lake’s Jo Adell hit his minor league leading 13th home run in the 1st inning, but Sacramento hit three, the biggest a grand slam by Shane Matheny, to lead them to a big 9-3 win.  The three players that hit them for Sacramento might have just five home runs combined, but sometimes, it’s the bunches that win.
  • Third baseman Ford Proctor hit his first home run in the 2nd inning, going 2-for-4 on the day.  Proctor had 12 home runs in each of the last two seasons, but took him 30 games to reach #1 here in 2023.  He’s batting .221/.390/.284.
  • Right Fielder Shane Matheny was 2-for-5 with a grand slam for his second home run of the season, and stole his sixth base.  It was Matheny’s first grand slam in his 6-season career, out of 36 total home runs.  He’s batting .282/.402/.369.
  • Second baseman Will Wilson hit his second home run of the season, going 1-for-4.  Wilson is batting .200/.274/.309 over his season after 33 games.  This season, Wilson has played 19 games at second base, six games at third, five games in left field, and four games at shortstop.
  • DH Colton Welker led the team in hitting, going 3-for-4 with all singles, plus a walk.  Welker has multiple hits in each of his last three games, going 7-for-11 (.636) with three walks and one double.  Overall, he’s hitting .362 on the year.
  • Playing shortstop again now that Schmitt is promoted, Tyler Fitzgerald went 2-for-4 with a walk.  It’s Fitzgerald’s first game in Sacramento with multiple hits after six games, and he’s now batting .250/.321/.292 at the level.
  • Starter Sean Hjelle had a strong game, going 3.0 innings, giving up just one run on three hits, one being Adell’s home run.  He didn’t walk anyone, and struck out one.  Since going back to Sacramento, Hjelle has allowed just the one run in 6.0 innings, on four hits, and three strikeouts to no walks.
  • Reliever Joey Marciano went 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out five, while allowing two hits and one walk.  That chips away at Marciano’s ERA, as he has a 7.56 ERA after 12 games, now with 20 strikeouts to 18 walks.

AA: Erie 10, Richmond 1

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Richmond Notes:

  • Eh, this one was just an ugly loss.  The Squirrels took an early lead with a Riley Mahan RBI single in the 2nd inning, but just got blasted for seven runs in the next couple of innings and it just ended that way.
  • Leadoff hitting center fielder Ismael Munguia was 2-for-4 and got hit by a pitch, but picked up his fifth double of the season.  Munguia has a batting line of .279/.345/.385 with five doubles and two home runs
  • DH Luis Matos was 2-for-5 with a double of his own, giving him six on the season.  Matos has a batting line of .295/.391/.421 with six doubles and two home runs, with 15 walks to 11 strikeouts. 
  • Shortstop Marco Luciano was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, and his first double of the season.  Luciano has a .176/.333/.412 batting line, with a double and a home run, with four walks to seven strikeouts.
  • Starting pitcher Nick Zwack struggled, giving up seven runs on six hits, a walk, and a HBP, giving up two home runs on the day, with two strikeouts.  It was nearly as many runs (7) as Zwack had given up all season in five games before combined (8).  His ERA jumped from 4.41 to 6.98 in this game.
  • Reliever Blake Rivera had his first real struggle of the season, walking four and giving up one hit, leading to two runs,  Rivera’s ERA now is now 1.59, with 15 strikeouts to six walks in 11.1 innings.

High-A: Eugene 4, Tri-City 0

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Eugene Notes:

  • A great pitching game for Eugene threw a 2-hit shutout, led by starter Eric Silva, en route to a 4-0 win.  The offense was led by Vaun Brown with his best game of his rehab as he had a double and a home run, the only extra base hits the team had.
  • Eric Silva had his best start of the year, with five shutout innings, striking out five with a hit and a walk.  It was his longest start of the year, and he now has 19 strikeouts to nine walks in 23.2 innings this year.
  • Joe Kemlage also had five strikeouts, in just 2.0 innings, only allowing a walk.  Kemlage now has a 4.50 ERA, and has 17 strikeouts to six walks in 14.0 innings.
  • Jose Cruz allowed just one hit with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning.  After seven games, he has a 0.00 ERA, with 10 strikeouts to four walks in 7.2 innings.
  • Closer Tyler Myrick struck out two in his scoreless inning of work.  Myrick still hasn’t allowed a walk in 10 games, 10.1 innings, with ten strikeouts.
  • Vaun Brown played his fourth game at High-A, going 3-for-4 with his first double and first home run at the level.  In eight games at both Single-A levels, Brown has a .364/.462/.545 batting line with three doubles and a home run, with five steals in as many attempts.
  • DH Jared Dupere didn’t get any hits, but walked two times while going 0-for-2, and picked up two steals.  Dupere now has six steals in as many attempts, one off of his season high of seven in 61 games in 2022.

Low-A: San Jose 9, Lake Elsinore 8

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San Jose Notes:

  • In a matinee game, San Jose had a back-and-forth game that led to a big 9-8 win.  The team was led by Thomas Gavello, with a 2-home run game, and added one by Diego Velasquez in the 8th that gave them their winning run.
  • Thomas Gavello went 2-for-3 with two home runs, giving him five on the season, plus a HBP.  The 13th round draft pick now has a strong batting line of .297/.448/.581 with four doubles, a triple, and five home runs on the year.
  • Shortstop Diego Velasquez was 1-for-4 with his second home run of the season.  Velasquez has a batting line of .298/.387/.436.  In 24 games, he’s got seven doubles, two home runs, and 11 walks to 21 strikeouts.
  • Left fielder Matt Higgins went 2-for-3 with two walks.  After 23 games, Higgins has a batting line of .308/.413/.451, with five doubles, a triple, and two home runs.  He has 13 walks to 25 strikeouts.
  • Hayden Wynja made his first start as there was a shuffle on the pitching staff.  Wynja gave up a run on one hit and one walks with a strikeouts, in 2.0 innings.  Wynja has a 6.39 ERA after eight games, with 19 strikeouts to six walks in 12.2 innings.
  • William Kempner has moved to relief, as per San Jose broadcaster Joe Ritzo, and pitched the third inning, giving up three runs, one earned, on one hit, two walks, one HBP, and two strikeouts.  Kempner has 21 strikeouts to 12 walks in 19.0 innings.
  • Reliever Dylan Cumming struck out the side while allowing just one hit in 1.0 inning.  In 16.2 innings, that gives the undrafted free agent has 16 strikeouts to six walks in 16.2 innings this season.