This is the end, my only friend.

But no. It’s not. There’s more Minor Lines to come! As Kevin detailed so well yesterday, we have playoff series aplenty lying in front of us. And yesterday, San Jose completed the set, becoming the fifth affiliate to clinch the playoffs this year, a remarkable comeback for a system that was completely shut out of post-seasons in 2018. And speaking of comebacks...

Impressive turnaround for the #SJGiants in the second half to reach the playoffs.



Hector Borg took over as manager with the club 41-54 and 5 1/2 games out in the wild card. Giants went 25-19 the rest of the way and clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the reg season. — Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) September 3, 2019

Sacramento beat El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 8-4

finishing the year 73-67

Jacob Heyward, you’re on the board pic.twitter.com/IOVsALlot2 — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 2, 2019

Newcomers offered up some early power for Sacramento but it was an old vet who provided the kill shot in a 8-4 closing day victory. The RiverCats got HRs from Richmond imports Jacob Heyward and Zach Houchins, who helped fill the roster out after the Sept. 1 call ups to San Francisco. But Catcher Ronnie Freeman, backup to the promoted Aramis Garcia for much of the year, provided the big stick, banging out four hits including a three-run triple that salted away a comeback victory for the RiverCats.

If you aren’t Ronnie Freeman then whats the point pic.twitter.com/BL97cwttk0 — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 2, 2019

Steven Okert started his second game in four days — a modern Old Hoss Radbourne! The “opener” outing was the 200th appearance for the Sacramento franchise’s all-time leader in games pitched.

After getting beat up for 7 ER back on August 24, Melvin Adon finished up the year with three scoreless appearances in which he allowed just 1 hit and 1 BB while striking out 6 in 3 IP.

So ends the regular season, and for the first time since the Giants came to town (and first time in modern memory for a Giants’ AAA affiliate) the end of the regular season isn’t the end. How ‘bout that.

Final out of the regular season for the @AviatorsLV!



Next stop, Sacramento for some playoff action then they’ll play games 3-5 of the series with the @RiverCats starting on Friday night.



Averaged over 9,200 fans a game! #MiLB pic.twitter.com/ckUVszySM4 — Jesse Merrick (@JesseNews3LV) September 2, 2019

Richmond beat Bowie BaySox (Orioles), 7-1

finished the year 55-84

Richmond finished the year with a flourish — winning their final three games of the year and finishing above the 30 games below .500 line. Nice work! Those three wins, or at least two of them, are all the more impressive when you consider that they came against an opponent who was desperately trying to clinch a playoff spot, and needed to win just one time in the final three games to do so. Bowie ended up clinching Sunday night anyway, thanks to an Erie loss in Akron (the two teams ended up tied after yesterday’s action but Bowie held the tiebreaker).

Caleb Baragar finished up his excellent 2019 with 5 shutout innings and 6 Ks. After a short stint in San Jose to start the year, Baragar ended up throwing 120 innings in the Eastern League with a 3.45 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 120 innings.

Dominance by the All-Star @CalebBaragar to close his solid season



5.0 IP

2 H

0 R

1 BB

6 SO pic.twitter.com/ughWsOAziW — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) September 2, 2019

Baragar got great support for the offense giving its final farewell to the home fans. Jalen Miller got things going with a run scoring double before Richmond started flexing its longball muscle.

That was fast. @Jalen_Miller4 doubles in @BryceJohnsonSF and we’re leading 1-0 in the first inning pic.twitter.com/guvUfrPDTg — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) September 2, 2019

In the 4th, the Squirrels got back to back home runs from unusual sources. Brandon Van Horn hit his first HR in 130 AA ABs this year and that was followed by an even more unexpected blast from Jose Layer who had moved up from Augusta to give the team coverage after Jacob Heyward headed to Sacramento. It was Layer’s lone hit in 7 ABs with Richmond.

BACK-TO-BACK



Jose Layer cranks his first Double-A home run and we’ve got a 4-0 lead in the fourth pic.twitter.com/Qlc5paeRR9 — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) September 2, 2019

But all of that was prologue to the real highlight of the game (Bury the Lede alert!). The one highlight that will be shared on social media came courtesy of the 19 year old, who we’ll be seeing in the AFL in a couple of weeks (when he’ll be 20!).

This ball was DESTROYED.



A 417-foot blast for @HeliotRamos pic.twitter.com/MZwhyptgF8 — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) September 2, 2019

Yep, that’s the keeper. Ramos didn’t have quite the same fun time in AA that Joey Bart did, but he showed off the tools that have us all drooling while being the first teenager in Richmond’s history. He ended the year with a bomb to keep us warm for the winter, his 16th HR overall for the year. And for good measure, he pulled off the Combo Meal with his 2nd steal in AA. Across the two levels, Ramos’ final numbers were .290/.369/.481. Barring an unforeseen promotion for the AAA playoffs (VERY unforeseen as word is neither Ramos nor Bart will be joining Sacramento for the playoffs), that’s the last we’ll see of Heliot until AFL action starts on Sept. 18.

San Jose beat Stockton Ports (Athletics), 7-1

finishing the year 66-73

The Giants took the field on the final day of the season with an odd half-game lead, the result of an early season cancellation that was never made up (by rule now in the Cal League, games that are postponed in the first half of the season must be made up before the first half of the season is over). So they knew that with a win they were into the playoffs, but a loss put them in danger of falling out on the final day.

With that scenario, it was a huge relief for San Jose to get two big swings of the bat right out of the gate. First from Diego Rincones, who drilled his 2nd home run since joining San Jose and 7th overall for the year in the bottom of the first. Power has been one of the big question marks for Rincones’ development. He’ll need to progress on that front next year to really advance as a corner bat.

Diego Rincones put the @SJGiants on the board in yesterday’s “win and you’re in” game to get in the Cal League playoffs pic.twitter.com/uZWZnSuu99 — Roger Munter (@rog61) September 3, 2019

And following Diego, the Giants got yet another huge swing of the bat from the veteran who has carried them this final month, Courtney Hawkins. Hawkins went on a tear down the stretch, including 7 HRs in his final nine games, to end the year with 21 home runs for the Giants. That’s the first 20 HR season for a San Jose player since Brian Ragira way back in 2014 if you can believe it. And Hawkins wasn’t even with the team until nearly Memorial Day. Quite a performance by the 25 year old one time 1st round pick.

One time 1st round pick and Minor league vet Courtney Hawkins really carries San Jose down the stretch putting up huge numbers in August. This mammoth shot was Hawkins 21st of the year for @SJGiants First 20 HR season for Giants since Brian Ragira in 2014 pic.twitter.com/AmYOckPNKR — Roger Munter (@rog61) September 3, 2019

The game was put away by another veteran, Heath Quinn, who made Stockton pay for a couple of 5th inning errors by belting a two-out, three-run homer. Quinn’s progress has stalled since being taken with the Giants’ second pick back in 2016 (one round after MLB rookie sensation Bryan Reynolds). He’s lost portions of each of the last three seasons to continuing soft-tissue injuries and, like many others, he struggled in his first taste of AA play at the beginning of the year. But he’s been a valuable part of the San Jose team over parts of the last four seasons.

And Heath Quinn also came up big for @SJGiants down the stretch with a lot of dramatic HRs. This one salted things away. Quinn’s 39th HR w San Jose over parts of 4 seasons pic.twitter.com/UjRmJLmOkC — Roger Munter (@rog61) September 3, 2019

That was all more than enough support for Tristan Beck who (like Kai-Wei Teng in Augusta) really showed why the Giants were excited to acquire him for Mark Melancon in his short time with San Jose.

Tristan Beck in the biggest game of the season for the #SJGiants comes through with another outstanding start. Worked a career-high seven innings and allowed only one run. 7 hits, 2 walks & 6 strikeouts.



Beck finishes regular season with a 2.27 ERA in six starts for San Jose. — Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) September 2, 2019

And then it was time for the celebration. The fifth and final playoff team for the organization waited until the last possible day. They face a big challenge against the Visalia Rawhide coming up in the Best of 5 first round. They’ll play two at home before heading to Visalia for the final three, so getting off to a good start is important.

Playoff ticket has been punched, now it’s time to get yours! Click the link to get your tickets today. https://t.co/kiXdM58bNV pic.twitter.com/7lBYASiSrX — San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) September 3, 2019

Augusta beat Columbia Fireflies (Mets), 6-5

finished the year 77-61

Augusta showed their moxy one final time in the 2019 year, coming back from a 5-0 deficit in a post-celebration day game when nobody would have thought twice about them checking out for the day.

Sean Roby with another big hit for @GreenJackets tying up the final game of the year pic.twitter.com/1dqftbJ7La — Roger Munter (@rog61) September 3, 2019

Sean Roby hit a two-out, bases loaded double to bring the Greenjackets back in the 5th inning to tie the game 5-5. And in the following inning, Jacob Gonzalez finished up a big last day of the year by hitting his career high 10th HR of the year to give the team the win.

Jacob Gonzalez with a big final day of the season including his career best 10th HR pic.twitter.com/dxG9G2CyZk — Roger Munter (@rog61) September 3, 2019

Though it’s been a disappointing year for Gonzalez, he finished with his best stretch of the year going 12 for 29 over the final week with two doubles and three homers. Gonzalez saw a bit of an uptick in offense following Roby’s arrival, after which Gonzalez was released of 3b duties and rotated between LF, 1b, and DH.

The Greenjackets also got a welcome return on the final day of the year as former rotation stalwart Blake Rivera saw his first action in Augusta since July 1. Next stop: the playoffs!

Salem-Keizer lost to Eugene Emeralds (Cubs), 6-1

finishing the year 46-30

Well, the Volcanoes more or less snoozed their way through the final regular season game of the year, but they did get in a lot of work for the guys in the pen.

Jairo Pomares showed some signs of adjusting to the level as he had his second two-hit game in a row with a double in each. Jairo also showed off the gun, throwing out a runner at 3b.

The NWL loses a little luster with the lack of Hunter Bishop and Marco Luciano, but we still have more season to look forward to with Pomares and Luis Toribio and, of course, Alex Canario, which is exciting enough!

Playoff Series Openers (all series start Wednesday):

Sacramento vs. Las Vegas Aviators

San Jose vs. Visalia Rawhide

Augusta vs. Lexington Legends

Salem-Keizer @ Hillsboro Hops

For now all of these are TBD as nobody has yet announced their starters, though it seems like Kerson Castro, Kai-Wei Teng, and possibly Matt Frisbee are lined up to start opening games.

A programming note — my plan is to put up a Minor Lines for every day that any playoff games take place from here on out. That means we’ll be dark tomorrow and then back on on Thursday. And then we’ll keep it going until the last drop of champagne (hopefully) gets spilled. Good luck to all our contenders!