While the McCoven met up in San Francisco, San Jose gave away one of the most interesting bobble-related giveaways this season, adding to their “Churros” identity.

I really have to say, that’s pretty cool, and very unique. And it was far more interesting than much of the going ons at the upper levels.

(Sorry that the box scores look different and bigger today. Minor League Baseball has changed their sites and removed the old box scores we used.)

Highlights: Steven Duggar hit a grand slam; Marco Luciano hit his 7th home run; Franklin Labour hit his 11th home run and 2nd triple; Connor Menez struck out eight in six innings.

Austin Slater is in the Major Leagues because the Giants felt Steven Duggar needed some more seasoning in Triple-A. Well, on the same day that Austin Slater hit his first career Grand Slam, Steven Duggar hit the second of his career. (His first was back in July 20th, 2017, as a San Jose Giant.)

Duggar’s 7th inning home run was his second since returning to Sacramento seven games ago. It also ended up being the difference in the game. Duggar is batting .308 in Sacramento, and has gotten at least one hit in every game he’s started since his return, and walked in his one pinch hit appearance.

That helped a nice start by Conner Menez stand up. Menez struck out eight in six innings, and shut out Reno, after he’d given up four runs in each of his last two appearances. Menez got back to the high strikeout stuff he had been wowing fans and reporters with in Mid-June, and now has 46 strikeouts in 29.2 innings in Sacramento, and 116 in 89.1 innings total this season.

Elsewhere in the lineup, Joey Rickard continued went 2-for-2 before being lifted in a double-switch with his first triple of the season. Rickard is 9-for-19 (.474) with five doubles, a triple and a home run in 14 games with Sacramento since being claimed off waivers.

Okay, this game just doesn’t measure much talking about.

Johneshwy Fargas’ two hits were the main part of this game, as he broke a 3-game hitless streak and a run where he was 2-for-15 (.133). Fargas also got his fifth double, which nudges his slugging percentage (.331) closer to his on-base percentage (.333). He did not, however, even attempt a stolen base.

Brandon Beachy took the start and the loss, allowing five runs on six hits and four walks. It was Beachy’s second straight bad start, as his ERA has jumped from 3.93 to 5.76 over his last two starts. Nine of his 19 walks on the season have come over the two starts, which have covered 8.2 innings of work.

This game changed in the ninth, as Garrett Cave blew the save after recent taking up a closing role on the team.

Cave allowed five runs in just two thirds of an inning, his third save opportunity of the season and in a row. Cave struggled as a starter this season, with a 6.88 ERA in five starts this year. He’s posted a 4.11 ERA in 13 relief appearances as he moved into a ninth inning role with the start of July.

The blown save wasted a good start by Jake Wong, who’s begun to piece things together after a rough stretch. Although he didn’t get a lot of strikeouts, he’s lowered his ERA from 5.01 to 4.40 over his last two starts. He’s still giving up a lot of hits, but he’s doing better at scattering and stranding them now.

Heath Quinn picked up a pair of hits, breaking a rough streak in which he’d gone 2-for-19 (.105) over his last five games. He got his third double in his 11th game at San Jose as he works his way back from injury. David Villar had his second 2-hit game in a row, and his batting average of .274 is as high as it’s been since the second day of the season.

If you’re looking for Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos, they are in Cleveland preparing for today’s Futures Game. They should be back in the San Jose lineup later this week.

It was a rough day for Augusta on both sides of the plate.

Frankie Tostado had his first multi-hit game in the last nine, fighting back after his batting average has slipped from .274 to .256. Tostado’s double, his 13th of the season, was his first extra-base hit since June 28th. Jacob Gonzalez also had a pair of hits, his second such game in the last three. Gonzalez also picked up his 19th double in his 78th game this season, and is one off his total from last season in Augusta (over 122 games).

Keith Weisenberg took the start for Augusta, his fourth of the season for Augusta. His four walks are his highest total since June 10th. Weisenberg has a 3.86 ERA in Augusta over ten games since joining the organization as a free agent in late May. He had a 10.31 in seven appearances for the Braves organization in High-A earlier this season.

Matt Seelinger took the loss with four runs allowed in relief. He also allowed three runs in his last appearance which has sent his ERA from 1.42 to 4.86 with the GreenJackets.

There wasn’t a lot of good pitching to talk about in this one.

Franklin Labour was once again the star for the Volcanoes. Labour hit his 11th home run of the season, as well as his second triple, as part of a three hit night for the Volcanoes. Labour continues to lead the league in home runs and overall OPS (1.207), and is tied for fourth in batting average at .333.

Second in the league in home runs is Volcanoes first baseman Tyler Flores, who hit his sixth of the season and third in the last four days. The 23-year old had a .296/.392/.390 batting line in the AZL last season, and is batting .259/.333/.531 this season. Harrison Freed had his third 2-hit day in his last six games, raising his batting average to .256.

The game also saw Alexander Canario pick up a hit. He’s 3-for-22 in his first five games at Keizer. And Tyler Fitzgerald made his Volcanoes debut after three in the AZL, going hitless but drawing two walks. In four pro games, Fitzgerald has yet to strike out but has three walks.

To put the briefest of touches on the pitching, Luis Moreno took the start and was hit hard. He gave up 11 runs, nine earned, while failing to finish two innings. Impressively, he didn’t give up any walks for the second straight start.

Team Black just barely edged the better of the two Cubs squad.

The biggest hit came off the bat of Dilan Rosario, whose 3-run home run is his fourth of the season. The 6th round pick came into the organization with a better reputation for defense than hitting, and while Rosario is batting just .195 through 11 games, half of his eight hits have been home runs, and two more were doubles.

Jairo Pomares now has a streak of three 2-hit games as the 18-year old continues to hit well in the AZL. Pomares also has four walks and nine strikeouts in 51 at-bats. He’s batting .392/.436/.569 in his first 12 games. Garrett Frechette had his second straight 2-hit game to bump his batting average to .294.

28-year old Keyvius Sampson got the start as he pursues his return to the U.S., making his third of the season, extending himself to a season-high three innings, and having his best start by far. Sampson had a 4.68 in Korea in 2018, after having a 5.92 ERA in 2017 across two teams in Triple-A. 19-year old Randy Rodriguez had his second straight game without allowing a baserunner, going 3.1 innings over the two with five strikeouts.

Marco Luciano opened his Saturday with his seventh home run of the season, and extending his hit-streak to seven games. The 17-year old is just having a mind-blowing start to his season, and continues to get hotter and hotter, with four home runs in that seven game stretch. He’s batting .383/.479/.833 in 15 games to start the season.

Connor Cannon kept on Luciano’s heels, with a solo shot in the ninth inning and his fourth home run in the last five games. The 21-year old was a power threat for UC Riverside but struggled with injuries. He’s picked up the power stroke so far in the AZL. Catcher Rodolfo Bone also added two hits, but he’s spent almost the entirety of the start of the season batting under .200.

Wilkelma Castillo made his fourth start of the season, easily his roughest. He had only allowed a single run in any of his first three games, before allowing five in less than four innings in this one. Sam Wolff continued his rehab, his third game at the level. He’s allowed a run in each of those outings.

This was one of the least offensive games in the DSL this season. As usual, Luis Matos was one of the stars, going 2-for-4 and the only Giants hitter with multiple hits. Matos nows has going five consecutive games with multiple hits. Over that time, Matos has gone 13-for-25 (.520) over the run, and is batting .358/.410/.624 in 26 games this season.

Marvin Brown took the start, his first start of the season. He walked three while striking out just one, giving him 15 strikeouts and five walks in 15 innins this season. He has a 2.40 ERA across eight games, including this one start. 17-year old Estiven Encarnacion worked three scoreless innings, allowing just a single hit. He walked no one, but still has a 15:12 K:BB line in 18.2 innings this season.