AAA: Scheduled Day Off

The River Cats are getting hot, batting-wise, with Joey Bart, Braden Bishop, and Joe McCarthy among others all mashing.  They’ll take the aquatic feline show up to Tacoma next.  Maybe the big league team can stay healthy enough to let this team gel.

AA: Postponed – Rain

I remember being worried about rain in the Northwest High-A West League now that it plays in the wet springtime.  I should’ve been more worried about the east coast it seems.  Richmond will try to make this game up on Thursday in a double-header.

High-A: Everett 9, Eugene 4

Top Lines

3B Tyler Fitzgerald: 4-5, 1 R, 1 SO, 1 SB (4)
CF Ismael Munguia: 2-2, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SF
SS Simon Whiteman: 1-4, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 SB (17)

SP Nick Avila: 3.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
RP Jasier Herrera: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR
RP John Timmins: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR

Eugene’s offense was a pretty literal definition of “too little, too late”.  The Emeralds had nine hits, but none of them went for extra bases.  The Ems fell behind 6-2 after five innings, and were down 9-2 going into the final inning.  In the top of the ninth, Ismael Munguia led off the inning with a single, but then fell into two outs.  That was when the rally began.  Will Wilson and Sean Roby each singled to score two runs.  Logan Wyatt followed with a walk, and Tyler Fitzgerald singled to load the bases.  With the tying run still in the hole, the inning ending there.

Other Notes:

  • Tyler Fitzgerald reached a season-high with a four hit game, raising his batting average from .216 to .243 in just one day.
  • Ismael Muguia came back from the Olympic qualifying tournament and was back to hitting in the pros like he never left.  The only out he made was a productive one, a sacrifice fly, but his batting average jumped up from .299 to .319.
  • Nick Avila gave up a season-high six runs, but also collect a season high in strikeouts with five.  Avila has 19 strikeouts in 22.0 innings, with 8 walks.
  • Rumor is, we could see Hunter Bishop return to the Emeralds lineup in a few days.  Maybe that’ll help the power drought the team is having right now.

Low-A: San Jose 6, Stockton 5

Top Lines

SS Marco Luciano: 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR (6)
RF Alexander Canrio: 2-5, 2 R, 1 2B (5)
DH Casey Schmitt: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR (5), 1 BB, 1 SO
CF Luis Matos: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B (11) 1 SO, 1 E (3)

SP Carson Ragsdale: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 1 HBP
RP Randy Rodriguez: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO
RP Juan Sanchez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
RP Ivan Armstrong: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

San Jose’s late, power-driven comeback was responsible for this win against the Ports.  The Giants had fallen behind 5-2 going into the final two innings.  That was solved by the middle of the order.  Marco Luciano hit a one-out home run to kick off the scoring, but it wasn’t a rally killer that home runs are sometimes called.  Alexander Canario followed that up with a double, which set up a Casey Schmitt home run that tied the game.  That home run did kill the rally, but that left one inning.

Luis Toribio hit a one-out single in the ninth, and was replaced by pinch-runner Edison Mora, who might have been placed to mess with the Ports pitcher Jose Mora’s head because of the name.  A wild pitch moved Edison Mora to second, and a passed ball put him on third.  That let Marco Luciano hit the game-winning single.

Other Notes:

  • Marco Luciano got his first home run in nine games, and notably, both of his hits were in clutch situations for the budding superstar.  His batting line sits at .270/.339/.522.
  • Carson Ragsdale had two spectacular starts, he was due to fall back a little, giving up a season-high five runs.  But he still was effective at striking out batters with nine, and he’s had nine strikeouts or more in each of his last four starts.  He leads the California Low-A West League with 54 strikeouts in 29.0 IP.
  • Alexander Canario is now batting 6-for-12 over his last three games with a double and a home run.  He’s batting .212 on the season, but is batting .333 (9-for-27) for the month of June.
  • Casey Schmitt got his second home run in three games.  Over the month of June, Schmitt is batting .304/.360/.565 (7-for-23 in 6 games), but is batting just .169/.235/.348 on the season.
  • Ivan Armstrong continues his solid season, picking up his first pro save.  He hasn’t been blowing away hitters like others, with just 20 strikeouts in 18 innings, but he’s only given up 10 hits, to the tune of a .167 batting average allowed, after hitters hit .300 off him in 2019 in the AZL.