How do you handle a Monday?

Told the little guy I’d give him a ball if I got one so I had to keep my promise pic.twitter.com/1dhUV6J4fA — Dylan Nielsen (@DylanNielsen7) August 20, 2019

Good deeds always help.

Highlights: Joey Bart hit his 2nd Double-A Home Run; Jacob Heyward had a walkoff grand slam.

Perhaps coming off a Reno hangover, Sacramento came home with a weak offensive effort.

Mike Gerber was the leader, with his 37th double and 26th home run of the season, the latter of which accounted for Sacramento’s only run of the day. Gerber now has a nice batting line of .317/.378/.597 for the season in Sacramento.

Sweet MAMA pic.twitter.com/NXabAM2i1p — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 20, 2019

Aramis Garcia lost an 8-game hitting streak in Sunday’s game, but he came back with two more hits. He’s raised his batting average 20 points since the start of that streak, going from .252 to .272.

Starting the game for Sacramento was Chase Johnson, for his first Triple-A start of the season. Johnson has been working almost entirely in relief, making a total of 32 relief appearances this season, with just three total starts (two in Richmond). He has a 4.40 ERA overall across all three levels he’s been in.

Kyle Barracough got into his third game since being claimed, and for the first time didn’t allow a run. Barraclough has allowed seven earned runs across just two innings worth of work. Melvin Adon bounced back from giving up three earned runs in his last appearance, stranding two runners to have a scoreless inning.

Playoff Position: 1st Place, 7.0 games up. Magic Number is 8 with 14 games left.

It was a wild finish to a nice game by Richmond, and the ending game thanks to pinch-hitter Jacob Heyward.

After banging up his knee the other day, Jacob Heyward entered as a pinch-hitter in the tenth and clocked a walk-off grand slam with Kirk Gibson's son, Cam, chasing it back to the wall. https://t.co/qnF99A6wli — Trey Wilson (@treywilson757) August 20, 2019

(Okay, that’s another good way to handle a Monday.)

Heyward came in to pinch hit in the tenth inning with the bases loaded and the game tied. All he needed was a single, but he went ahead and hit a grand slam instead, which still got the job done. It gave Heyward his tenth home run of the season, and put him just two home runs off his career high total from last season in San Jose.

Joey Bart broke a 4-game hitless streak in the first inning, by hitting his second Double-A home run. Bart’s batting average had slid to .172 before this game, but he’s back over .200 after the 2-hit day.

Here's that blast from Bart, his second of the month. pic.twitter.com/WAeE6uHhpF — MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 19, 2019

Heliot Ramos also broke a 3-game hitless streak and got back over .200 with two hits, but did it without a home run.

Ryan Halstead was back in the rotation for his fourth start, and for the first time made starts back-to-back. Halstead has a 2.12 ERA in four starts this season, while he has a 4.17 ERA in 27 relief appearances with Richmond.

Playoff Position: Out.

San Jose and Augusta had scheduled days off

San Jose Playoff Position: T-2nd place, 7.5 GB. Elimination Number is 7 with 14 games left.

Augusta Playoff Position: 2nd place, 1 GB with 14 games left.

The Volcanoes got four runs off of home runs, but it wasn’t enough to pull out this win. Harrison Freed got his fifth run in the Northwest League, and sixth of the season overall for the college slugger. The 2-for-3 day breaks a 3-game hitless streak. But Freed also has five walks over his last five games, including one today, which gives him 10 walks in 31 games. Kwan Adkins got his third home run of the season in his 39th game. Adkins has picked up a little steam recently, going 5-for-12 with a home run and double.

Hunter Bishop was 2-for-3, and it wouldn’t have been him without also picking up a walk. Bishop has 38 walks against 39 strikeouts on the season, and is batting .229 with a .438 on-base percentage. Marco Luciano got his third double with the Volcanoes, batting .194/.306/.290 in eight games with the Volcanoes.

Prelander Berroa had his toughest game since coming to the Giants organization in the Sam Dyson trade. Berroa now has nine walks to just seven strikeouts in 10.1 innings as a Volcano, after having a 37:16 K:BB ratio before the trade.

Playoff Position: In as First Half Division Champion.

The Black team lost despite a big day from 3rd round pick Grant McCray.

The 17-year old finally uncorked his first professional home run in his 43rd game. That went along with his fourth multi-hit game in a row, and fifth in his last six games, and two more steals to give him 14 in 26 attempts. The third round pick has really come on strong recently, and has raised his OPS from .625 to 734 over his last six games.

Cole Waites was on the mound for the start, but his struggles continued. Amazingly, even giving up two earned runs in three innings, his ERA still dropped from 7.15 to 6.91. Waites does have 21 strikeouts to 11 walks in 14.1 innings. Sonny Vargas got pounded in relief, with seven earned runs on his record in two innings. Despite giving up four walks to five strikeouts, Vargas has a 54:18 K:BB ratio in 49.2 innings.

Playoff Position: Out.

It was a big eighth inning for the win for the Orange in the playoff hunt. And it was 22-year old Aaron Bond coming through with the pinch hit on his rehab assignment. Bond was put up to pinch hit in the eighth with the bases loaded, and hit a triple to lead a 5-run inning. Bond has struggled on his rehab, batting .222/.333/.370 in 16 games at the AZL.

Abdiel Layer picked up his ninth double and third triple on the season, and is now batting .287/.342/.507 in 35 games with the Orange. Layer has hits in ten of his last eleven games, and has been coming on strong recently, which is part of the reason he’s moved into the cleanup spot in the Orange batting order.

Nick Morreale had his fourth scoreless appearance, working primarily as a starter. Morreale has 19 strikeouts against eight walks in 19.2 innings this season, although at 22, he is a bit old for the league.

Playoff Position: 1st place, 3.5 games ahead. Elimination Number is 3 with 5 games back.

With Luis Matos out, Jose Peralta was the offensive leader. The 18-year old second baseman had his second 3-hit game in his last four appearances. Peralta is in his second season at the DSL, and is batting .281/.396/.384 over 60 games. Outfielder Carlos Cuevas hit is third home run of the season, and second in the last four, but is still batting just .157 on the season.

Marvin Brown didn’t allow a run in his start, the first without any runs allowed since July 19th. Brown’s ERA was 4.03 after that last start, but he’s shot up and is at 4.74 now.

Playoff Position: Out. Way out.

Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento (TBA) vs. Albuquerque (Tim Melville), 7:05 pm PDT

Richmond (Brandon Lawson) vs. Erie (Matt Manning), 6:35 pm PDT

San Jose (Johnny Cueto) at Modesto (Austin Hutchison), 7:05 pm PDT

Augusta (Adam Oller) vs. Asheville (Ryan Felter), 7:05 pm EDT

Salem-Keizer (TBA) vs. Boise (TBA), 6:35 pm PDT

Augusta sits one game out of first place, and first place Asheville is coming to town for a three game series. This week will be a big part of where the SAL playoffs go and how Augusta might end up. Meanwhile, Johnny Cueto is up for another rehab start. Should be a fun Tuesday.