Kai-Wei Teng goes either hot or cold, and today he was red hot with a season-high 12 strikeouts for Sacramento.  That set the tone for the pitching in the system, as Carson Seymour was great for Richmond, and Trevor McDonald returned to Eugene…but then both of those teams lost 1-0 off of unearned runs.  Plus, “Trade Deadline” results, and a big move for Marco Luciano, a great catch by Tyler Fitzgerald, and what is in San Jose’s shoes all of a sudden?

Well, the Giants made no deadline trades…well, no real deadline trades.  They did make a trade with Seattle for struggling OF A.J. Pollock and utilityman Mark Mathias, who is headed to Sacramento.  It’s not a real deadline trade because it was struggling players with a PTBNL or cash considerations going back to Seattle.  For Farhan Zaidi, that’s just a Tuesday.

Seriously, though, in Mathias, they got: 1.) A utilityman; 2.) From Seattle; 3.) Recently DFA’d (by Pittsburgh on June 25th), and 4.) From the Bay Area originally (born in Santa Clara, went to school in Fremont).  Combine that with Pollack being a 5.) Former Dodger, and you hit a Farhan Zaidi cliché bingo.

But the bigger news is this: The Giants sent Marco Luciano back to Sacramento, to work on playing at second base.

Moving off of shortstop has long been expected of Luciano, and the truth is that he’s struggled defensively, especially after his struggles with back injuries.  We’ll see if second base is any easier on the back for him.  After four games, Luciano went 3-for-11 with a double, and one walk to five strikeouts in the bigs.

AAA: Reno 5, Sacramento 1

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Top Sacramento Performances:

  • Kai-Wei Teng had a huge game as a strikeout machine, striking out a season-high 12 in 5.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit and two walks, throwing one wild pitch and committing an error.  It’s been an up-and-down season for Teng, who has had great games and rough ones.  After eight games in Sacramento, he has a 3.38 ERA with 45 strikeouts to 22 walks in 34.2 innings. 
  • Heliot Ramos led the the River Cats offensively on a generally weak day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run for the team’s only run.  That’s his eighth home run in 40 games at Triple-A, and tenth overall including his rehab time in San Jose.  Ramos’ Triple-A numbers sit at .298/.347/.550.
  • Center fielder Bryce Johnson went 1-for-4, but made his biggest contribution in the field, as he took a home run away from Reno’s Tristan English in the 8th inning.  Johnson is hitting .301/.371/.507 at Sacramento after 33 games.
  • Right fielder Wade Meckler made his Double-A debut, going 0-for-2 with two walks.  Before his promotion to Sacramento, Meckler was hitting .336/.431/.450 over 39 games.
  • Thairo Estrada made his rehab debut, going 0-for-3 while playing five innings in the field.  Estrada has missed just about a month, last being seen on the field on July 2nd.  He was hitting .272/.327/.434 as a big leaguer before the injury.

Other Notable Lines:

  • 3B Armando Alvarez: 1-3, 1 K, 1 2B (9)
  • C Joey Bart: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K
  • 1B David Villar: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 E (4)
  • RP Randy Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

AA: Altoona 1, Richmond 0

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Top Richmond Performances:

  • Carson Seymour led the team on the mound with the start, striking out nine in 5.0 innings, allowing only one hit.  Seymour’s now got 73 strikeouts to 32 walks in 82.2 innings, and had a 3.81 ERA.
  • Reliever Ben Madison threw two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.  Madison has allowed six runs in his last three games (5.2 innings), but this lowers his Double-A ERA to 4.15 after seven games, with 15 strikeouts to 12 walks in 13.0 innings.
  • The only Richmond hit was by Shane Matheny, who went 1-for-4 with a double.  That’s his tenth double in 39 games at Richmond, with a line of .230/.352/.415.

Other Notable Lines:

  • CF Vaun Brown: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 SO
  • RP Mat Olsen: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
  • RP Jose Cruz: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

High-A: Tri-City 1, Eugene 0

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Top Eugene Performances:

  • Trevor McDonald made his return to High-A with a mostly successful game, going 3.0 innings, and allowing only one unearned run on three hits and a HBP, while striking out six.  McDonald made just one appearance at the level back on May 6th, then missed two months before putting up a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 innings of rehab at the ACL.
  • The majority of the innings went to Daniel Blair in relief with 4.0 innings, striking out six and allowing no runs, on two hits and one walk.  After a rough debut in Eugene, where he allowed 13 runs in his first two games (7.2 innings), he’s now had two games with 4.0 shutout innings each.  His High-A ERA is at 7.47 after four games with 16 strikeouts to nine walks in 15.2 innings.
  • Shortstop Aeverson Arteaga led the offense, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.  Arteaga now has 21 doubles to go with three triples and 14 home runs, with a batting line of .229/.308/.425.
  • Third baseman Luis Toribio was the other Emerald going 2-for-4 with two strikeouts and two singles.  Toribio hit .266/.420/.500 in July, and started off August the right way, with a pair of hits.  Overall, he’s hitting .233/.356/.422 on the season.

Other Notable Lines:

  • 1B Sean Roby: 1-4, 2 K
  • DH Jared Dupere: 1-4, 2 K, 1 SB (10)
  • RP Brett Standlee: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Low-A: San Jose 6, Inland Empire 3

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Top San Jose Performances:

  • Center fielder Turner Hill went 3-for-5 with a double, and got his 20th steal of the season.  After 45 games, his batting line is .283/.367/.350 with 12 doubles, and no other extra-base hits.  He has 20 steals in 24 attempts.
  • Third baseman Anthony Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a double and a strikeout, and got a steal of his own.  That gives him nine doubles, with a triple and three home runs.  His batting line sits at .232/.296/.361, with four steals in six attempts in 39 games.
  • The best pitcher was reliever Tyler Vogel, who struck out five in 2.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits and no walks.  Vogel has a 4.44 ERA with 58 strikeouts to 26 walks in 46.2 innings.
  • San Jose has been running wild the past two games.  Between Sunday and Tuesday, San Jose stole 14 bases on 18 attempts, and got picked off twice.  The two caught stealings on Tuesday were caught at home plate.  

Other Notable Lines:

  • C Onil Perez: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 2 SB (20), 1 CS (2)
  • 2B Jose Ramos: 0-3, 1 R, 1 K, 2 SB (28)

ACL: ACL Giants Black 6, ACL Reds 2

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Top ACL Giants Black Performances:

  • 3rd round pick and DH Cole Foster had the big hit, going 2-for-5 with his first pro home run.  After three games, he was 4-for-14, with a double and a home run, with no walks and six strikeouts.
  • First baseman Guillermo Williamson went 2-for-3 with two walks and a double, his eighth of summer.  After 41 games, Williamson has eight doubles and eight home runs, with 26 walks to 46 strikeouts, with a batting line of .290/.416/.534.
  • 17th round pick catcher Drew Cavanaugh went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.  He’s 3-for-6 after two games, with a walk and a strikeout.
  • Mikell Manzano struck out five in 3.0 relief innings, allowing one run on one hit and one walk, with a home run allowed.  Overall, he’s got a 3.12 ERA after five games, and has 16 strikeouts to two walks in 8.2 innings.

Other Notable Lines:

  • LF Damon Dues: 1-5, 1 R, 1 K
  • 3B Charlie Szykowny: 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SB (2)
  • SP Ljay Newsome: 2.0 iP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP
  • RP Christian Avendano: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HBP
  • RP Trent Harris: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

ACL: ACL D-Backs Black 4, ACL Giants Orange 3

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Top ACL Giants Orange Performances:

  • Third baseman Javier Francisco had the biggest hit, going 1-for-3 with a home run, his sixth of the summer.  Francisco now has six home runs and six doubles, with 23 walks to 23 strikeouts, and a .270/.427/.539 batting line.
  • Center fielder and 7th round pick Scott Bandura was 1-for-3 with a walk.  After three games, Bandura is 4-for-9 (.444) with one home run, and three walks to four strikeouts.
  • Left fielder Estanlin Cassiani was 2-for-3 with two singles.  Cassiani is on a 7-game hitting streak, going 11-for-28 (.393) in that span.  Cassiani is hitting .276/.333/.358 overall.

Other Notable Lines:

  • RF Bryce Eldridge: 1-3, 2 K
  • 2B Ramon Peralta: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 K
  • SP Carlos Lopez: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
  • RP Lisander De La Cruz: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
  • RP Cody Tucker: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

DSL: DSL Guardians Blue 6, DSL Giants Black 2

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Top DSL Giants Black Performances:

  • Shortstop Keiberg Camacaro had the biggest hit by the team, going 1-for-4 with a triple, and two strikeouts.  That gives Camacaro three triples, to go with three home runs and five doubles, but he’s hitting just .198/.335/.357 on the summer.
  • Third baseman Wueslly Lespe went 2-for-3 with a double.  After 29 games, Lespe has just two doubles and a home run for extra base hits.  He’s got 28 walks to 29 strikeouts, with a batting line of .232/.460/.304.
  • Starting pitcher Jose Bello went 4.0 innings, allowing just an unearned run on one hit and three walks, with three strikeouts.    Bello has a 3.55 ERA after nine games, with 39 strikeouts to 10 walks in 33.0 innings.

Other Notable Lines:

  • DH Dennys Riera: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B (9)
  • C Diego Gonzalez: 2-3
  • RP Larry De Jesus: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

DSL: Suspended

Notes:

  • This game will be completed on August 9th.