A quick transaction note to start off your Tuesday.

Transactions:

OF Aaron Bond: AZL -> A+

SHP Pat Venditte: AAA -> A+

San Jose placed OF Sandro Fabian on the 7-day IL.

Sacramento activated SHP Pat Venditte from the temporarily inactive list — GPT (@giantsprospects) August 27, 2019

Sandro Fabian was hit by a pitch on Sunday, so it looks like he’ll be missing the stretch run for San Jose. There’s no report I’ve seen yet on his injury, so we’ll see if he might be ready for the playoffs or not.

Highlights: Joey Bart had a 4-hit game; Mauricio Dubon hit a home run for Sacramento; Kai-Wei Teng remains hot in Augusta.

Even with Johnny Cueto on the mound, Sacramento can’t take that step forward to clinch the division, even facing the second place team they would clinch above.

Cueto went 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits, two of which were home runs, as he continues his return from Tommy John surgery. Cueto did not walk anyone, but he only struck out three. Cueto has struck out 15 with just one walk in 15.1 innings of relief over four innings, but he’s been given up a lot of hits in the higher levels. Carlos Torres worked after Cueto, but gave up five runs in 2.2 innings. In 14 innings with Sacramento, he’s allowed 14 runs on 19 hits and five walks.

Mauricio Dubon hit his fourth home run as a River Cat, and is now batting .323/.391/.485 since the trade. The 25-year old is likely just days away from making his San Francisco debut once the 40-man roster expansion happens.

With Dubon, it’s gone pic.twitter.com/q2MwvukfMA — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 27, 2019

Chris Shaw also picked up a single. In 70 games at Sacramento, he’s batting .294/.348/.570.

At least one fun moment came from this game, with Cristhian Adames hitting a triple, and taking advantage of the pitcher to take a straight steal of home.

Playoff Position: First Place, 7.0 games ahead of Reno. Elimination number of 1 with seven games left.

Joey Bart had a huge game for Richmond, the latest in hoping that this is the game where Bart finds his stroke and gets hot.

Bart collected four hits, including his first double with Richmond in his 16th game, to jump his batting average from .208 to .259 in one game. Bart has been putting together hits more recently, and is 10-for-29 (.345) with two home runs and a double over his last seven games. He did add another strikeout, though, and has 17 strikeouts against five walks in 16 games.

We're all tied up! @JBart9GT knocks a double to score @BryceJohnsonSF and this game is knotted up 2-2 in the 6th pic.twitter.com/EnkhpQV91V — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 27, 2019

eliot Ramos also had a nice game, although not as hot. With Ramos’ two doubles, that gives him five in 18 games for Richmond, and 23 overall between Richmond and San Jose.Ramos is batting .217/.307/.377 in Richmond after this game.

✌️ bags and ✌️ runs @HeliotRamos drives a two-run double to extend the lead to 7-4 pic.twitter.com/fCC98TJx4n — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 27, 2019

Bryce Johnson got his first multi-hit game since August 13th. After a hot start in July at Richmond, he’s batting .249/.332/.370 over 54 games since coming up to Double-A.

Sean Hjelle had his best start since his promotion, in his fourth game. With two runs allowed in five innings, he dropped his Richmond ERA from 8.22 to 7.08, although he allowed a season-high four walks in doing so. In Augusta, he now has 19 strikeouts against eight walks in 20.1 innings. Garrett Williams allowed a pair of runs in relief. This was his first appearance of the season without a strikeout.

Playoff Position: Out.

Heath Quinn hit his second home run in three days as he begins to come alive late in the season for San Jose. Quinn is batting .283/.362/.446 in 45 games in San Jose, and in addition to his home runs, he’s walked five times in the last six games, with seven strike outs.

Meanwhile two players continued what they started on Sunday. Courtney Hawkins followed up his three home runs on Sunday with another home run, his 18th of the season for San Jose. Hawkins is batting .261/.319/.494 on the season at the level. Shane Matheny picked up a pair of hits following his 4-hit game on Sunday. He’s now batting 8-for-27 (.296) in seven games at San Jose.

Jose Marte bounced back from giving up a season-high six earned runs to allow just one unearned run. Marte had78 home runs with 40 walks in 71.1 innings of work.

Playoff Position: First place in the Wild Card, 1.5 games ahead of Modesto with seven games remaining.

Kai Wei Teng (Augusta, acquired in Dyson trade) continued his strong season today: 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 9 K’s. He doesn’t turn 21 until December, and has a 1.23 ERA since joining the #SFGiants organization. — Jeff Young (@BaseballJeff1) August 27, 2019

20-year old Kai-Wei Teng is on quite a roll for the GreenJackets. Teng now has three straight starts without allowing an earned run, and has struck out nine in back-to-back starts. The Taiwanese pitcher now has 28 strikeouts and six walks in 22 innings with the GreenJackets. Overall, he has a 1.49 ERA with 77 strikeouts and 20 walks in 72.2 innings.

Kai-Wei Teng, in the 1st was 93-95, 90-93 since. A lot of fastballs up, which tunnels well with the slider (81-84). The slider flashed 55 but was pretty inconsistent. Also throws a change and a curve.



Medium frame and strong. Short, fast arm. Medium effort.#SFGiants — John Calvagno (@SALNotes) August 27, 2019

With Teng pitching like this, the GreenJackets didn’t need much offense, but they got the offense anyway. Jacob Gonzalez hit his ninth home run, his second in as many days. That breaks Gonzalez’s previous season-high of eight in Augusta last season. At this point, Gonzalez has a batting line that’s just a little better than last year (.229/.304/.352, vs. .227/.296/.331).

Tyler Fitzgerald had the only multi-hit game for Augusta. He’s batting .240/.321/.280 in 13 games with Augusta since his promotion. Sean Roby hit his second double at Augusta, extending a 4-game hitting streak. He’s batting 5-for-15 (.333) with one double, one triple and two home runs in that span.

Playoff Position: Tied for first place with seven games left.

The Volcanoes got five hits from the top of the order, but it wasn’t nearly enough in this game.

Jeff Houghtby had his fourth 3-hit game of the season, but recently he’s been struggling. He was 5-for-59 (.085) in his last 17 games before this game. Houghtby is batting .243/.345/.397 on the season.

Alexander Canario had a pair of hits with his eighth home run in 46 games at Salem-Keizer. He raised his batting average back up to .300. Canario is batting .386 over his past ten games with two home runs and five doubles.

The Volcanoes pitching staff only managed to strike out three as a group in this loss. Jordan Scott made his first start of the season, only getting one strikeout in 3.2 innings. For Scott, he has just 12 strikeouts in 16.2 innings as a Volcano, after he struck out 25 in 19 innings in the AZL.

Playoff Position: In, as first half division champions.

In the finale for these guys, the Black team won a close pitcher’s duel.

21-year old George Bell had the game’s decisive runs with his third home run of the season, which knocked in both runs. Bell, in his second pro year, struggled and regressed, batting just .149/.200/.213 in Salem-Keizer before returning to the AZL. He hit .234/.333/.394 with the GIB this season.

Garrett Frechette spent much of the last week of the season picking up single hits, as he did in five of his last six games. The 18-year old hit .290/.364/.366 in his pro debut, with 11 walks and 35 strikeouts in 39 games. Jairo Pomares also had a single, giving him a 4-game hitting streak. Pomares hit .368/.401/.542 in the AZL, although the potential for him to return to Salem-Keizer is there.

Bryce Fehmel finishes a nice run in the AZL, though one might expect that from a college senior. Still, he finishes with a 1.29 ERA across seven appearances, with 14 strikeouts and no walks in 14 innings of work.

Playoff Position: Out.

The Orange guys may just be coastin into the playoffs, in a game which featured many mid-game replacements. Edison Mora had two of the team’s three hits, as well as two stolen bases. That raises his batting line to .250/.325/.303 with 11 steals in 13 attempts. He hit .156/.224/.178 in the AZL last season.

Luis Matos had his first game without a hit in the AZL, although he did leave the game after only two at-bats. He did get his first strikeout in the AZL in his fifth game.

Blake Rivera continued his rehab, giving up a run without giving up a hit. The run came around thanks to a sacrifice fly. Rivera has a 18.00 ERA in two rehab appearances in the AZL. Maybe he’ll stick with the team for the playoffs, or perhaps he’ll go back to Augusta for one more appearance, or maybe they’ll let him get ready for 2020. Caleb Kilian went three more scoreless innings, and in 12 innings has only allowed one unearned run. He’s struck out 11 with two walks and six hits allowed.

This was the end of the regular season for the AZL. The Orange Guys were the runaway top seed in the league, and thus have earned a first round bye. The first round games are on Tuesday. The Orange team will then play on Wednesday in the Semifinals, and the Championship Game will be Thursday.

Playoff Position: In and top seed for the playoffs.

Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento (TBA) vs. Reno (TBA) 7:05 pm PDT

Richmond (Caleb Baragar) at Erie (TBA), 7:05 pm EDT

San Jose (TBA) vs. Visalia (TBA), 7:00 pm PDT

Augusta (Seth Corry)at Greenville (Brayan Bello), 7:05 pm PDT

Salem-Keizer (TBA) at Eugene (TBA), 7:05 pm PDT

And let’s finish up with one of the weirder…sorry, maybe I should say stranger promo videos I’ve seen this season.

Listen up - lifeguard on duty



Something weird is coming to Raley Field...https://t.co/0RVBy9QZn9 pic.twitter.com/aKEvDTQlmJ — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 26, 2019

In the end, it looks like they’re more interested in celebrating cheesy ’80’s culture than one of the more interesting thriller series we’ve seen. Then again, maybe Sacramento will finally turn their history with the Giants upside down and actually clinch a playoff spot.