So.... this happened

And in his 2nd @SKVolcanoes career PA, @_HunterBishop_ goes yard with a no-doubter to Interstate 5. pic.twitter.com/GH5lcFsNVY — Max Price (@MrMaxPrice) July 18, 2019

HIGHLIGHTS: Bryce Johnson reached base for 18th straight game; Heliot Ramos reached base 5x; Hunter Bishop homered in SK debut; Marco Luciano doubled, tripled; Luis Matos had four hits, two doubles.

Sacramento won at Salt Lake Bees (Angels), 8-5

The RiverCats powered their way to another victory over the Bees, getting three longballs, including Mike Gerber’s 19th of the year. Gerber and Levi Michael broke a 4-4 tie in the 7th with homers that gave Sacramento the lead for good.

Sacramento relied on a couple of recent arrivals to make the lead standup. Rule 5 draftee Travis Bergen started a new rehab assignment — say, glad to see he recovered so quickly from that oh so convenient physical setback he had! — though in truth I’m not sure he ever went away. And Sam Wolff joined the team after rehabbing in Scottsdale. Wolff secured the victory with a save in his first PCL appearance since 2017 in Round Rock (while still with the Rangers). That was a breakout 2017 season for Wolff before he tore his flexor tendon and ended the year in surgery and rehab (a familiar refrain for his star-crossed career). Hopefully Sam stays healthy and gives the Giants another solid arm option in AAA.

The victory secured a series win over Salt Lake (they’ll try to take 4 of 5 today) and moved Sacramento up 3 games over Fresno in the PCL Pacific Northern Division.

Richmond won at Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies), 6-5

winning their series, 2-1

Somehow I managed not to put a jinx on Bryce Johnson yesterday by talking him up! I’m not sure what to do with this information. I brag on a guy and he gets three more hits? Unheard of!

Another day, another hit for @BryceJohnsonSF!



Hitting streak: 7️⃣ games

On-base streak: 1️⃣8️⃣ games pic.twitter.com/FPsf4Vj2YZ — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) July 17, 2019

The Squirrels had a serious “keep the line moving” offense going on getaway day. Swinging early and often, they piled up 15 hits — including 12 singles — and went 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position to sneak out of town with a 6-5 win.

A lot of the damage came early as each of the top 6 hitters in the order had at least one hit by the end of the 2nd inning. Ryan Howard was 2 for 2 by the end of the 2nd and would end up with 3 hits in the game, breaking an ice cold 1 for 27 stretch. Howard is hitting just .200 for the season and a brutal .186 in the Eastern League. Mario Mendoza himself might be disappointed by that line. Howard did, however, help get Melvin Adon out of a serious situation in the 9th.

Easy as 6️⃣-4️⃣-3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/G2Fb0rj5LL — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) July 17, 2019

While Adon naturally gets a lot of attention at the back of the Squirrels pen, he’s not the only high octane arm out there putting up an impressive year. Tyler Cyr’s return from surgery is putting him right back on a major league course. As with Wolff, the key for Tyler is to stay healthy.

Tyler Cyr has a 0.96 ERA in his last 13 appearances since June 5. Fastball has been up as high as 99 mph. And this all coming off last year's surgery following an olecranon fracture in his right elbow. #SFGiants https://t.co/V3Yuc8iMqN — Trey Wilson (@treywilson757) July 17, 2019

San Jose lost to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers), 7-5 in 11 inn

Heliot Ramos now with enough plate appearances to qualify for the California League leaders. Ranks fifth in AVG (.302), third in slugging (.523) & second in OPS (.904). Leads #SJGiants with 12 home runs in only 59 games (hit 11 HR in 124 games w/Augusta last year). — Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) July 17, 2019

That seems good! Ramos celebrated by picking up three more hits last night against the Quakes and reaching base two other times via a BB and a HBP. Ramos and Joey Bart helped San Jose get out to a big lead with back to back two-out RBI hits in the 4th inning. Bart’s one hit was a big one, bashing a two-out double off the wall that scored two runs.

Joey Bart stays hit for @SJGiants mashing a two out RBI double pic.twitter.com/NNnuCkEWAF — Roger Munter (@rog61) July 18, 2019

Jake Wong had his finest start with San Jose, setting a career high with 7 Ks and allowing just 2 ER over 5.2 innings of work.

And yet for all the good individual accomplishments, the Giants still couldn’t secure a W. After Wong and Peter Lannoo let the lead slip away, the Giants provided some thrills coming back to tie the game in the 9th inning when Manuel Geraldo drove in Sandro Fabian. Fabian, like Ramos, had a three hit night as he continues to be scorching hot since rejoining San Jose.

But Brandon Van Horn made a crucial mistake getting thrown out trying to advance to 3b on a grounder to the SS for the first out of the 10th inning, and San Jose was unable to score a run in either extra inning. Joey Marciano’s bout of wildness handed the Quakes two runs in the 11th, leading to another agonizing loss.

Augusta beat Charleston RiverDogs (Yankees), 4-2

winning their series, 2-1

Ah the ol’ Celebrity Guest Star gambit! Always gives a little ratings boost when a show starts tiring. Augusta’s TBD last night turned out to be none other than Logan Webb, who apparently is allowed to do “rehab” work outside of the complex league and will be joining the Greenjackets for a bit as he tunes up for his return to Richmond. In fact, a pretty reliable seeming source dropped by to give us the exact schedule:

2 "rehab" games in Augusta then first official game back in Richmond on the 28th — Erik Webb (@ErikWebb18) July 18, 2019

Webb got his work in, looking perfectly at ease among the A ball hitters, spotting his 93-95 mph fb consistently at the knees and working a lot on his secondaries.

Logan Webb threw an easy 5 innings in @GreenJackets last night. Fitting a 94-95 mph fb at knees and getting a lot of reps in with a dandy breaking ball which naturally befuddled A ball hitters pic.twitter.com/SSN0nm1YxQ — Roger Munter (@rog61) July 18, 2019

On the other side of the bill, the Yankees #11 prospect Luis Medina looked to be showing off for the assembled scouts as he came out scorching. He struck out Mikey Edie and Anyesber Sivira on six pitches to open the game and came fairly close to an immaculate 1st inning as he struck out the side. However, Frankie Tostado flipped the switch on Medina to open the 2nd, coming within a couple of feet of his elusive 13th HR.

Frankie Tostado hits a booming triple off NYY Luis Medina pic.twitter.com/vIwKtlvO7d — Roger Munter (@rog61) July 18, 2019

Augusta would ride the middle of the order to the win as Tostado, Diego Rincones, and Jose Layer all had two-hit games. Layer has awoken somewhat this month. He has six multi-hit games in his last 14 and is batting .327 in July after entering the month below the Mendoza line. Albeit that average comes with a .687 OPS. Still, improvement!

Augusta is still hanging around in the race, just a game back of 1st place. But every day the transaction wire seems to stack the odds against them as once again individual success is denuding the team of pitching options. Still, congratulations are due!

ROSTER NEWS: Jesus Tona and Luis Amaya have been promoted to Class-A Advanced @SJGiants



- Tona led the South Atlantic League with 16 Saves



- Amaya had a 1.95 ERA this season.



Congrats Jesus and Luis! pic.twitter.com/DnWSYLInWP — Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) July 17, 2019

Salem-Keizer beat the Spokane Indians (Rangers), 7-2

The first day of the new look Volcanoes offense proved a success, as the team kept up its high-scoring ways and they even got contributions from the pitching staff in a solid win.

1st and 2nd rounders Hunter Bishop and Logan Wyatt made their low A debuts together, collectively reaching base six times. Bishop stole the show, singling in the first and then blasting a solo shot in his second AB. Adding these two to a lineup featuring Franklin Labour, Ricardo Genoves, and Alexander Canario (3 RBIs and 0 Ks yesterday) should ensure the scoreboard keeps on whirling throughout the summer.

The easy victory over Spokane coincided with a Hillsboro loss to put SK back into sole possession of 1st place with just five games to go in the 1st half. Time to put the pedal to the medal here. Secure the playoffs and play with house money the rest of the way!

In Salem-Keizer, they have signage to help the outfielders know where to find outs. pic.twitter.com/iK5fgGBz4Y — Jared Ravich (@JaredRavich) July 18, 2019

AZL Giants Orange beat AZL Cubs1, 8-5

AZL Giants Black beat AZL Reds, 7-0

Marco Luciano keeps on bashing and thrilling our collective hearts. The 17 year old doubled, tripled, and walked in yet another Team Orange victory. He’s batting a cool .341/.448/.705, third best in the league in both SLG and OPS (and the two guys ahead of him are both in their 20s). He did let teammate Conner Cannon pass him in HRs last night though — better work on that Marco!

In other youngster news, Luis Toribio doubled and walked three times, George Bell had a three hit night, and PJ Hilson didn’t strike out!

Patrick Ruotolo finally made his 2019 debut out of the Giants Black bullpen. Ruotolo has been battling shoulder soreness this year. Good to see him back on a mound! He followed an excellent start for Freddery Paulino who threw 6 shutout innings. This was just Paulino’s second start of the year, though he’s been throwing a lot of long (5 inning) relief efforts.

DSL Giants lost to DSL Tigers2, 7-6

Have we established yet that Luis Matos is having a strong age 17 season? He’s had as many games with 3 or more hits this year (4) as games in which he’s gone 0 for 4. He’s been hitless just six times this year and that includes a game in which his only PA resulted in a HBP. He’s had two or more hits in more than half of his games this year. It’s really pretty incredible to just keep reciting these numbers!

The home run power has probably evaporated for the year — as happens pretty regularly with the young kids in the midst of their first everyday experience. He hasn’t hit a HR since June 25, and yet he’s still fifth in the DSL in SGL (.588) thanks to his nearly daily doubles. Yesterday he hit two, giving him 16 now for the year. In fact, half of the team’s 12 hits were two-baggers yesterday.

Yoniel Ramirez was the pitcher of record on the losing end, giving up the 9th inning run that decided things. But let’s take a closer look at Matos’ All Star mate.

Giants signed RHP Yoniel Ramirez (17Y, Dominican Republic) to an international free agent contract. Ramirez played for the Dominican Republic team as a position player in the 2017 Junior RBI Baseball World Series. — GPT (@giantsprospects) June 1, 2018

The position player conversion pitched 2+ innings for his fourth straight outing and struck out 3 for the second straight time. While the 18 year old’s numbers would have a hard time being more pedestrian (3.97 ERA, 19 Ks in 22.2 IP) the All Star nod is a pretty good indication that there’s something about this young arm that’s caught people’s attention. Let’s keep an eye here. Spidey sense is tingling.

Today’s Scheduled Starters:

Sacramento (Brandon Beachy) @ Salt Lake (Patrick Sandoval)

Richmond (TBD) vs. Erie (Spenser Watkins)

San Jose (Jose Marte) vs Rancho Cucamonga (Josiah Gray)

Augusta (Seth Corry) vs. Greensboro (Steven Jennings)

Salem-Keizer (Jesus Ozoria) vs. Spokane (TBD)

AZL Giants Orange (Wilkelma Castillo) vs. AZL Mariners (TBD)

AZL Giants Black (TBD) @ AZL White Sox

DSL Giants (Jason Bonilla) @ DSL Tigers2 (TBD)

Brandon Beachy is actually listed as the scheduled starter today for both Richmond and Sacramento — which would be quite a feat! I’m guessing that won’t happen. Lots of good arms take the mound for the system today, with Seth Corry’s continued progress being probably the most anticipated. Getting Jose Marte on track would be a great development though. He matches up against Josiah Gray for the second time in a week — last time didn’t go too well for the San Jose hitters.

Many many exciting things to look forward to as the talent level of the system is on the rise. Things are looking up!