Tyler Fitzgerald headlined Sunday with two home runs, including a grand slam to power Sacramento to a blowout win.  Meanwhile, Hayden Cantrelle had a 4-for-4 day in Richmond and a good run by unheralded Ghordy Santos continues!

AAA: Sacramento 11, Sugar Land 2

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Sacramento finished strong, and it finished big.  Sacramento and Sugar Land were tied 2-2 after five innings, and that’s when the River Cats turned it on.  They scored once in the 6th, but then a grand slam highlighted a 7-run 7th, with another home run in the 9th to dominate this game.
  • Tyler Fitzgerald only got hits in his last two at-bats, but they were big hits.  He went 2-for-5 with two home runs, and with two strikeouts.  He had the 7th inning grand slam, and a 9th inning solo shot.  That gives him ten home runs on the season, with eight in 33 games at Sacramento.  Fitzgerald now has a batting line of .307/.370/.529, with the eight home runs as well as a triple and five doubles.
  • Second baseman Isan Díaz went 2-for-5 with a home run.  Díaz has only gotten into six games with Sacramento, three in May and three in June, and he now has three home runs (this was his first in June).  He’s 8-for-24 (.333) with one walk and eight strikeouts, with a double as well as the three home runs.
  • Shortstop Brett Wisely went 2-for-4 with a walk, a steal, and a double, his 11th of the year.  In Triple-A, Wisely is .313/.466/.525, with 11 doubles and two home runs.  He has 21 walks to 26 strikeouts.
  • Bryce Johnson was 1-for-3 with two walks, and got caught stealing for the second time this season.  In Sacramento, Johnson had a batting line of .305/.397/.475, with eight walks to 13 strikeouts.
  • Starting pitcher Drew Strotman gave up a run on three hits and a walk in 3.2 innings, with five strikeouts.  Strotman has a 6.54 ERA over 13 games this season, with ten starts.  He has 39 strikeouts to 29 walks.
    • Sean Hjelle was scratched late in this game, as it became known the San Francisco Giants were going to have to put Scott Alexander on the IL. There’s a good bet that Hjelle will be returning to SF.
  • Reliever Erik Miller had 2.0 scoreless innings, with a hit and a walk, with three strikeouts.  After 17 games in Triple-A, his ERA is at 2.08, and has 17 walks to 30 strikeouts in 21.2 innings.

AA: Richmond 10, Bowie 6

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Richmond Notes:

  • This game wasn’t as close as it looked.  Richmond jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning, and was up 6-0 after the top of the 4th inning.  Bowie began coming back, making it a 10-6 game, but Bowie only score one run earned after three Richmond errors, and that earned run coming in the 9th.
  • Left fielder Carter Aldrete went 2-for-4 with a walk and a 3-run 1st inning home run.  That’s Aldrete’s ninth home run, to go with 11 walks in 58 games.  His batting line is .242/.299/.422, with 17 walks to 60 strikeouts.
  • Shane Matheny went 3-for-5 with a walk and a pair of doubles.  Matheny’s been back in Double-A in six games, and has three doubles and one home run, plus five walks to nine strikeouts.  On the batting line, he’s hitting .261/.393/.522.
  • Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with all singles, plus a stolen base and a HBP.  It’s Cantrelle’s first 4-hit game as a pro, and raised his batting average from .212 to .231, and gives him a .405 on-base percentage  after 58 games in Richmond.
  • Starting pitcher Wil Jensen went 2.0 scoreless innings with the start, giving up only three hits and one walk, but he did not get a single strikeout.
    • Originally, this start was being planned for Carson Whisenhunt, but reportedly his next start has been pushed back until late in the week.  Whisenhunt’s stuff has been down in his first two Double-A starts, so they are probably just giving him rest in his first full season.
  • Nick Zwack took the lion’s share of the innings, giving up just one unearned run in 4.0 innings, on three hits and no walks, while striking out five.  It was the first start where Zwack did not allow any earned runs since his first game on April 8th.  His ERA dropped from 7.68 to 6.96 in this start.  He has 48 strikeouts to 20 walks over 42.2 innings.

High-A: Eugene 6, Spokane 5

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Eugene Notes:

  • Both teams had big 4-run innings, so it was the extra 1-run inning that was the difference.  Max Wright’s 3-run home run highlighted a 4-run 4th inning for Eugene.  Spokane would get it’s own 4-run inning in the 8th.  But the difference would come in the 7th inning, when a Brett Auerbach home run gave Eugene what would be the winning run.
  • Catcher Max Wright went 2-for-4 with the big 3-run home run.  That gives Wright three home runs to go with two doubles in 23 games.  His batting line sits at .178/.299/.329, with nine walks to 24 strikeouts.
  • The other home run came off the bat of left fielder Brett Auerbach, who was 1-for-5 with the 7th inning solo shot.  It’s just Auerbach’s second home run of the season, and first in ten games since he was sent back to Eugene.  In those ten games, his batting line is .282/.356/.436 with three doubles and the home run.
  • Designated hitter Ghordy Santos went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double.  Santos now has a hitting streak of seven straight games, and is 12-for-27 (.444) with three doubles, two triples and one home run.  His overall line is .235/.357/.417.
  • Grant McCray was just 1-for-5, hitting a double with his only hit.  McCray quietly has a 6-game hitting streak, though only one game was multiple hits.  He’s 7-for-30 (.233) with two doubles, and two walks and 11 strikeouts.  Overall, he’s batting .231/.334/.397.
  • Starter John Bertrand gave up just one run in 5.0 innings, off of four hits and two walks, while striking out two.  Bertrand has a 3.93 ERA after eight games in High-A, five of which were starts, after having a 2.65 ERA in relief in San Jose.
  • Reliever Matt Mikulski had a scoreless inning in relief, striking out two while walking one.  That’s two straight games for Mikulski not allowing a run, as he’s shifted to short relief, as the two games are his first of throwing only a single inning.

Low-A: Rancho Cucamonga 5, San Jose 3

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San Jose Notes:

  • San Jose just couldn’t string the hits together enough to win this one.  Rancho Cucamonga took a 3-0 lead with three runs in the 4th inning.  The teams would trade single runs, including each team scoring one run in the 9th, but San Jose would never have the lead.
  • Catcher Zach Morgan hit his 6th double, while going 1-for-2 with two walks and a sacrifice fly.  Morgan has a rough batting average, but with 29 walks to 35 strikeouts, his line is at .218/.341/.354.
  • Third baseman Dilan Rosario was 1-for-4 with a double and a HBP.  It was Rosario’s second game back in San Jose, after he spent two games in Eugene.  In San Jose, he’s batting .214/.313/.250 with two doubles and six walks to 20 strikeouts.
  • Designated Tanner O’Tremba went 2-for-3 with two singles and two walks.  O’Tremba has been on a streak of walks, now with five straight games with at least one walk (for a total of seven).  He has a batting line of .279/.397/.436 after 45 games.
  • Starting pitcher Jack Choate went 4.0 innings, allowing three runs, on earned, on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  Choate’s ERA has basically held steady since June 1st, when it was 2.31, and stayed at either 2.31 or 2.30 through June 18th.  Choate now has 67 strikeouts to 19 walks in 47.0 innings.
  • Reliever Daniel Blair also went 4.0 innings, giving up just one run on three hits and three walks, with six strikeouts.  Blair has a 2.35 ERA after 15 relief appearances, with 36 strikeouts to 16 walks in 38.1 innings.