Catcher on the brain!  Adrian Sugastey saved the Eugene Exploding Whales in their matchup today, with the tie-breaking home run just moments after they gave up a lead.  And a new Giants catcher debuted in Sacramento.

AAA: Oklahoma City 5, Sacramento 4

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Sacramento took a tough loss, negating a nice comeback.  Oklahoma City was leading 4-1 going into the bottom of the 5th inning, but they scored two runs in the 5th and the tying run on a wild pitch in the 7th.  But in the 9th, a double and a single by Oklahoma City set up a sacrifice fly that gave the Dodgers the winning run.
  • The only River Cat with multiple hits was newcomer Jacob Nottingham in his first game with his new team, going 2-for-4 with a double.  The Giants traded for Nottingham from the Seattle Mariners on May 25th.  In 17 games with Tacoma, Nottingham had a .200/.294/.450 batting line with three doubles and four home runs.
    • It’s still unclear what the return going to Seattle for Jacob Nottingham is.  The official transaction simply says “Seattle Mariners traded C Jacob Nottingham to San Francisco Giants.”  It’s Nottingham’s 6th organization.  He was drafted by the Astros in the 6th round, was traded to the Athletics, who traded him to the Brewers in 2016.  The Brewers DFA’d him in 2021, and he was traded to Seattle.  Seattle released him, and he spent 2022 with the Orioles before returning to Seattle as a free agent.
  • Shane Matheny was 1-for-4 with his first triple of the season.  That matches his total triples he had in 2022 and 2021.  On the season, Matheny has a .234/.359/.314 batting line with three doubles, a triple, and two home runs.
  • Will Wilson was playing second base, and went 1-for-4 with a walk and his 7th double of the season.  After a really rough start to the season, Wilson is batting .239/.304/.423 in May, with one double and four home runs.
  • Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald went 1-for-3 with a walk.  Fitzgerald has drawn six walks in the last six games, against four strikeouts.  Fitzgerald now has nine walks against 14 strikeouts in 14 games at Triple-A.
  • Sean Hjelle had the start, and it was his first truly rough one at Sacramento.  He gave up three runs on five hits, two walks, and a HBP in 4.0 innings, with five strikeouts.  In five games since being returned to Triple-A, Hjelle has a 2.84 ERA with 14 strikeouts to four walks in 19.0 innings.
  • Reliever Chris Wright struck out four without allowing a baserunner in two innings of work.  It’s Wright’s first game without allowing a run in his last four games, which had raised his ERA from 1.23 to 6.75, but he brought it back down to 5.68.

AA: Binghamton 7, Richmond 2

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Richmond Notes:

  • Richmond just got Zwacked by the Rumble Ponies.  Starter Nick Zwack gave up five runs in three innings, putting Richmond in an early 5-2 hole that they would not be able to get out of, with an impotent offense that didn’t get a single extra-base hit.
  • The only Squirrel with multiple hits was center fielder Vaun Brown.  Brown has played only five games since his first game in Richmond on the 18th, playing on back-to-back days only once.  But he’s gotten at least one hit in each of his games, and has a batting line of .350/.409/.600.
  • Brady Whalen was 0-for-2, but had a walk and a sacrifice fly to knock in one of the two Richmond runs.  In three games since joining Richmond, Whalen is 3-for-11 (.273) with a triple and a home run, and one walk to two strikeouts.
  • Starter Nick Zwack lasted just three innings, allowing his five runs on six hits, a walk, and a HBP, while striking out just two.  Over his last five games, Zwack has allowed 20 runs, all earned in 16.1 innings (11.02 ERA), and has just 11 strikeouts to six walks.
  • Juan Sanchez struck out four without allowing a baserunner in 2.2 innings.  It was Sanchez’s longest appearance of the season, as he shaved his ERA down to 2.49.  Sanchez now has 23 strikeouts to seven walks in 21.2 innings.
  • Randy Rodriguez struck out two without allowing a runner in his inning of work.  That gives him 33 strikeouts to 16 walks in 23.2 innings, 

High-A: Eugene 8, Everett 6

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Eugene Notes:

  • On the back of Adrian Sugastey, the Exploding Whales pulled out a win against Everett.  Sugastey had two home runs, the biggest being his last.  Eugene had jsut blown a 6-2 lead in the top of the 7th, allowing four runs to tie the game.  But Sugastey had a solo home run in the 7th, which was the first of two runs in the inning, to seal an 8-6 win.
  • Catcher Adrian Sugastey went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs, doubling his season total from two to four.  Sugastey is having a great month of May, with a batting line of .339/.381/.542 with three doubles and three home runs.
  • First baseman Logan Wyatt also had a home run, going 1-for-4 with a strikeout.  It’s the first home run Wyatt has had since he had them on back-to-back days on May 12th and May 13th.  That moves Wyatt back into a 3-way tie for second on the team in home runs, one behind the currently missing-in-action Luis Toribio, who has eight.
  • Ghordy Santos made his first outfield start of the season, going 1-for-2 with two walks, a double, and a fielding error in the outfield.  Santos played 22 games in right field and four in center field in 2022, which was the first time in his pro career he played in the outfield.  He’s batting just .174 with a .321 on-base percentage, with three doubles to three home runs.
  • Third baseman Jimmy Glowenke was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double.  Jimmy G is now batting .342/.441/.589 on the season, with nine doubles and three home runs, with 12 walks to 13 strikeouts.  In 2022, he had just 25 walks to 93 strikeouts in 83 games.
  • Grant McCray was 2-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases.  That gives McCray 19 steals in 23 attempts on the year.  May has been good for McCray, as he has a batting line of .284/.379/.523 with 11 steals in 12 attempts on the month, with three doubles and six home runs.
  • Starter Eric Silva had a mixed day.  He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in 4.0 innings, but also struck out seven.  It was Silva’s second straight game with his season-high seven strikeouts.  The game bumped up his ERA to 2.88, with 37 strikeouts to 17 walks in 34.1 innings.
  • Reliever Mat Olsen struck out three in 2.0 innings of work in relief.  Olsen now has a 5.60 ERA after six straight scoreless appearances, with his ERA dropping from 11.42, and he’s struck out 15 without walking anyone.

Low-A: Modesto 9, San Jose 2

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San Jose Notes:

  • What started to be a shutout for San Jose turned around quickly.  San Jose led 1-0 after six innings, but in the 7th and 8th innings, Modesto scored nine runs against the San Jose bullpen to get a blowout win.
  • Diego Velasquez was the only Giant hitter with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a walk.  Velasquez has an 8-game hitting streak now, with five of those games with multiple hits.  Velasquez has gone 14-for-34 (.412) over that span, with one double, and three walks to seven strikeouts.
  • Leadoff hitter Carter Howell with a double, the only Giants extra-base hit.  Howell now has nine doubles to go with four triples and three home runs, and is batting .335/.398/.486.
  • Starting pitcher Jack Choate went 3.0 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks, with four strikeouts.  Choate now has a 2.61 ERA in nine games, with 48 strikeouts to 15 walks in 31.0 innings.
  • Reliever Tyler Vogel was the only San Jose bullpen pitcher to not allow any runs, giving up a hit and striking out one in 0.2 innings.  Vogel has 25 strikeouts to 14 walks in 18.2 innings.