Sacramento River Cats & SF Giants Press Clips sunday, JULY 9, 2017

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com Haft 2 Cueto to start in place of Cain, Williamson replaces Slater on roster San Jose Mercury Baggarly 3 Giants lose and their 26-game

1 Sacramento River Cats & SF Giants Press Clips sunday, JULY 9, 2017 Article Source Author Page Sacramento sweeps doubleheader against Rainiers River Cats Arnold-Gordon 1 Giants fall short of picking up Samardzija MLB.com Haft 2 Cueto to start in place of Cain, Williamson replaces Slater on roster San Jose Mercury Baggarly 3 Giants lose and their 26-game deficit is their largest in July since 1902 San Jose Mercury Baggarly 4 FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM GIANTS TOUGH LOSS TO MARLINS NBC Sports Bay Area Pavlovic 6 Miami Marlins beat SF Giants 5-4 at AT&T Park SF Gate Tafur 7

2 Sacramento River Cats Sacramento sweeps doubleheader against Rainiers By Evan Arnold-Gordon West Sacramento, CA - The Sacramento River Cats (35-53) took both games of their doubleheader from the Tacoma Rainiers (45-43) Saturday night at Raley Field. The River Cats won game one - a resumption of April 7th's suspended game before shutting out the Rainiers 3-0 in game two It took 93 days for the River Cats and Rainiers to complete their Opening Day matchup, but Sacramento got the win and officially started their 2017 campaign 1-0. Centerfielder Justin Ruggiano paced the offense in game one, launching a three-run homer in the third. After Tacoma tied things up in the fifth inning against starter Andrew Suarez, left fielder Chris Shaw took the lead back with a solo home run. Sacramento tacked on two more runs in the eighth to put the game away 6-3. Derek Law, who was with San Francisco when this game officially started, closed it out for the save. In game two, right-hander Dusten Knight led the way for Sacramento, keeping the Rainiers offense off the board while tying a career-high by throwing 5.2 innings. Knight set a new season-high with six strikeouts and allowed two free passes and two singles. Behind him, second baseman T.J. Bennett backed his strong performance with a solo home run for the first run of the game. Juan Ciriaco and Juniel Querecuto each collected an RBI in the 3-0 victory and right-hander Tyler Rogers picked up his team-leading third save this season. Sacramento will finish their four-game set with Tacoma tomorrow afternoon before heading into the All- Star Break. Right-hander Jose Flores (0-0, 0.00) will be on the hill for the River Cats. It will be righty Christian Bergman (6-0, 3.28) for the Rainiers. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. (PT) and the game can be heard live online at rivercats.com and on the air on ESPN Postgame Notes Suarez steps up: Andrew Suarez set a new season-high by throwing 104 pitches (66 strikes) the lefthander earned his first win at Raley Field tonight after not allowing a home run in his first three starts, he has now allowed three over his last two outings. Ciriaco continued: Juan Ciriaco extended his hitting streak to a team-leading six games went 3-for-6 over the two games and is hitting.524 (11-for-21) over his streak. Touch 'em all: Sacramento smacked three homers tonight currently sit 11th in the PCL with 80 home runs this season 30 have come at home and 50 have come on the road. 1

3 MLB.com Giants fall short of picking up Samardzija By Chris Haft SAN FRANCISCO -- Jumping on Jeff Samardzija, the San Francisco Giants' sharpest starting pitcher of late, the Miami Marlins scored twice in the first inning and received a home run from Justin Bour to prevail, 5-4, on Saturday. Samardzija, who won his previous two starts and issued only three walks in his previous 12 outings, yielded Christian Yelich's RBI double and Marcell Ozuna's run-scoring single in the first inning. Bour, a lifetime.394 hitter against the Giants, belted his 20th home run in the fourth. The Marlins recorded 10 hits, extending their streak of games with at least 10 hits to seven. The streak is the second longest in Marlins history behind 15 such games in J.T. Realmuto, Ozuna and Yelich each had two hits Saturday. And with Bour's blast, the Marlins now have three players with 20 or more homers. "You look from top to bottom and you can't really pick and choose a spot where a pitcher could take a break," Bour said. "This is a very solid lineup so it's just good to be a part of that. We're able to put runs up in a hurry [with homers]." That provided sufficient support for Chris O'Grady, the Marlins' 27-year-old right-hander who became the 11th pitcher in franchise history to win his Major League debut. He lasted 5 1/3 innings, surrendering three runs on five hits. "He stayed off the barrel of the bat," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. The Giants narrowed the difference to a single run in the ninth and had the tying and winning runs on base when Marlins closer AJ Ramos struck out Hunter Pence to end the game. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Posey probability: San Francisco's 2017 All-Star, Buster Posey, started the Giants' rally in the sixth inning with an improbable double -- with a hit probability of 2 percent by Statcast. The double looped into shallow right field before dropping just out of reach of Marlins first baseman Bour. Brandon Belt followed with a double of his own, Jae-Gyun Hwang walked and Brandon Crawford scored Belt on a groundout, completing what Posey started. "Buster hit that ball that dropped down the line on us, which was a little unfortunate," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. Marlins mute Giants: Kyle Barraclough furthered the Marlins' chances for victory by recording a scoreless seventh inning despite issuing a leadoff walk to pinch-hitter Kelby Tomlinson. Barraclough didn't allow a ball to be hit out of the infield, coaxing groundouts from Denard Span, Joe Panik and Pence. QUOTABLE 2

4 "Not who I was expecting to get my first strikeout against, that's for sure. -- O'Grady, on striking out Posey in the first inning for his first Major League K SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Stanton's double in the fifth was the hardest-hit ball at AT&T Park since Statcast debuted in It clocked in with a mph exit velocity, which is Stanton's second hardest hit of the year; both have been doubles. Coincidentally, Stanton owned the previous best in San Francisco at when the Marlins visited in WHAT'S NEXT Marlins: Before the Marlins host the Majors' stars in Miami, they wrap up the first half in Sunday's 4:05 p.m. ET finale. Jose Urena makes his first career start against the Giants. Giants: San Francisco ends its frustrating first half with a 1:05 p.m. PT encounter Sunday against Miami at AT&T Park. Right-hander Johnny Cueto, forced to skip his previously scheduled outing at Detroit with an inner ear infection, will replace Matt Cain as San Francisco's starter. SJ Mercury News Giants notes: Cueto to start in place of Cain, Williamson replaces Slater on roster By Andrew Baggarly SAN FRANCISCO Attention major league scouts: here s a programming note. Johnny Cueto will start in place of Matt Cain in Sunday s conclusion to what has been a stunningly awful first half of Giants baseball. Cueto missed his turn Thursday in Detroit because of an inner ear infection, but was cleared to return after throwing a side session and taking a few swings in the cage. By starting him in place of Cain against the Marlins, the Giants will give scouts one more outing to evaluate Cueto s current stuff and health in the weeks leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. The club has not revealed its position in regard to Cueto, who can opt out of the final four years (and a guaranteed $84 million) of his contract to become a free agent after this season. But given their record since the All-Star break last year, they are expected to be open-minded as they seek to patch together their roster in the hopes of contending again next season. 3

5 Cain is 3-8 with a 5.58 ERA that would rank as the worst among NL starters if not for teammate Matt Moore. The Giants placed outfielder Austin Slater on the 10-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Mac Williamson from Triple-A Sacramento. No MRI results were available yet on Slater, who came up lame while running down the first base line in the eighth inning Friday night. He aggravated a sore hip that bothered him a week earlier, but the club described his current issue as a right groin injury. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he would mix in Williamson, who hit.161 with one home run in a 10- game stint earlier this season. He was hitting.238 with a.300 on-base percentage, 11 doubles, nine home runs and 32 RBI in 49 games for Sacramento. SJ Mercury News Giants lose again, and their 26-game deficit is their largest in July since 1902 By Andrew Baggarly SAN FRANCISCO For once this season, the Giants suffered no shortage of offensive highlights to entertain their fans Saturday night. Unfortunately for them, the best ones came in between innings of their 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. Barry Bonds used to put on a heck of a show, didn t he? The Giants installed Bonds on their Wall of Fame Saturday afternoon and took advantages of breaks in the action to replay some of his greatest hits on the scoreboard at AT&T Park. This first half, on the other hand, will go down as one of the greatest misses in their history. The Giants offense produced in drips and drabs and yet Jeff Samardzija drowned in shallow water yet again after giving up four runs in seven innings. Hunter Pence struck out with the tying run at third base to end it, and combined with the surging Dodgers walk-off victory, the Giants now trail in the NL West by a staggering 26 games. They have never entered the All-Star break facing such a deep deficit in franchise history. The last time they trailed by more after the conclusion of games on July 8, there was no All-Star Game. There wasn t air travel or Twitter, either. It was 1902, the Giants stood 27 ½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates and the world was a much larger place. No wonder the crowd at China Basin took such delight in cheering Bonds when he threw out a first pitch, or watching videos of him crushing baseballs into McCovey Cove. It s either nostalgia or something else to numb the brain from a season. 4

6 Giants manager Bruce Bochy lamented the add-on run the Marlins scored in the ninth when George Kontos bounced a wild pitch past Buster Posey. But Bochy really stewed over the offense s early struggles against Chris O Grady, a right-hander making his major league debut. To me, that was the most frustrating part of the game, Bochy said. We couldn t do much against their starter. He kept the ball off the barrel. Believe it or not, the Giants have outscored opponents in the seventh inning or later. But they aren t grabbing early leads; they ve been outscored in the first inning, and over the first five. That s something that must change in the second half. As Bochy noted, getting early leads means facing the soggy end of an opposing bullpen, as opposed to constantly trying to mount late rallies against top setup relievers and closers. It s not easy. There s no magic wand for this, except let s focus better early in the ballgame, Bochy said. These are things we ve talked about. Johnny Cueto will take the mound for the Giants on Sunday as they conclude the unofficial first half. They are playing for pride now, and for the hope of some positive momentum as they seek to be relevant again next season, and both goals will be unmet without a much better second half from a rotation that has not delivered the goods this season. The best thing to say about Samardzija s two-run first inning is that it was half as bad as Matt Moore s four-run first inning a night earlier. Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna drove in runs and three of the first four batters collected hits. Samardzija once again had his major league-best strikeout-to-walk ratio on his side. He fanned five and only walked Dee Gordon leading off his seventh and final inning. He has struck out 93 and walked just four over his last 13 starts. But Justin Bour hit a solo home run in the fourth, and Ozuna s single scored Giancarlo Stanton in the fifth. Stanton, who is the nearest thing to step into AT&T Park since Bonds vacated the scene, spent most of batting practice hitting drives off the base of the oversized soda pop bottle in left field. The Giants held him inside the ballpark once the game began, but he scored his run in the fifth after reaching on a double that came off his bat at 117 mph. The Giants offense came up a step short on one critical play in the sixth inning and one hit short of completing a comeback in the ninth. Brandon Belt doubled and scored on Brandon Crawford s two-out single to left field in the fourth inning. The Giants got two more in the sixth after All-Star catcher Buster Posey doubled and scored on Belt s double. Jae-gyun Hwang walked and Belt scored on Crawford s nubber to the right side. But Gordon helped to minimize the rally by making a barehand pickup and Crawford s toe couldn t find the front of first base ahead of Bour securing the ball in his glove. Gorkys Hernandez popped out to strand the tying run at third base. 5

7 The Marlins added a run in the ninth against George Kontos, who threw a wild pitch with a runner on third. It proved critical because it left the Giants requiring one more hit as they rallied in the bottom of the inning The Giants got the tying runs on base in their last at-bat after Crawford walked and Conor Gillaspie hit a one-out single in the ninth off Marlins closer A.J. Ramos. Denard Span struck out and Joe Panik followed with an RBI single that also advanced pinch runner Mac Williamson to third. But Pence struck out to end it. CSN Bay Area FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM GIANTS' TOUGH LOSS TO MARLINS By Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO Giancarlo Stanton had AT&T Park buzzing 90 minutes before first pitch Saturday when he hit a couple of batting practice homers to the Coke bottle. The Giants never quite brought the excitement back to their side. They fell behind early and lost to the Marlins 5-4. The tying run was left on third in the ninth. Jeff Samardzija took his 10th defeat of the season s first half. On the other side, lefty Chris O Grady picked up his first career victory. Here are five other things to know... - The Giants gave up two runs in the first inning, which is much better than the four they allowed in the first inning Friday. - Stanton s fifth-inning double left the bat at mph. It was the hardest-hit ball against the Giants in the Statcast era. The previous record was a mph single in 2015, hit by Stanton. - The Rally Lights came on with two in scoring position and one out. Brandon Crawford grounded out and Gorkys Hernandez popped up. It s like you people aren't even reading my tweets. - Jeff Samardzija walked one and struck out five. He has 14 consecutive starts of zero or one walk. - Ichiro got a nice ovation when he pinch-hit in the ninth. The 43-year-old put down a sacrifice bunt and the runner scored two batters later on a wild pitch. 6

8 SF Gate Miami Marlins beat SF Giants 5-4 at AT&T Park By Vic Tafur Years from now, there will be a lot of Jeff Samardzija Shark Snow Globes available at garage sales. OK it might be months from now. The globes were handed out to thrill-seeking Giants fans Saturday night, and after a few shakes, they had to sit and watch the right-hander pitch. That can be very frustrating, as The Shark pumps impressive 95 mph fastballs that are sometimes returned even faster. The Miami Marlins cruised at AT&T Park for a second straight night, rapping out eight hits for four runs in the first five innings and holding on for a 5-4 win. The Giants scored one in the ninth on a walk to Brandon Crawford and singles by Conor Gillaspie and Joe Panik, but Hunter Pence struck out to end the game. Samardzija fell to 4-10, with a 4.58 ERA. He also walked his first batter since June 16 only his fourth free pass in his past 13 starts (as opposed to 12 home runs). He wasn t quite as sharp, but he s so competitive, he gave us seven innings, manager Bruce Bochy said. He s such a horse. He gave us a chance to win. Justin Bour launched a home run deep into the center-field bleachers in the fourth inning, but that wasn t even the hardest-hit ball of the evening. It might have even been third, if you count the screamer that Martin Prado hit off Samardzija s backside in the sixth inning. The winner was Giancarlo Stanton, who in the fifth inning, made Giants left fielder Gorkys Hernandez look like a third baseman the way he reacted to a line drive. There was loud crunk as opposed to a crack and Hernandez no sooner responded to the sound than he leaped in vain at the ball rocketing by him. Think he missed it a little bit, Samardzija deadpanned. Statcast had the ball traveling 118 mph off Stanton s bat, the hardest-hit ball against the Giants since the high-speed tool was introduced to stadiums in The previous record was held by Stanton, the hulk who delighted the crowd in batting practice by driving balls off the Coke bottle beyond the left-field seats. That was before Samardzija was shook up and the sharks started circling. Wait, that s the snow globe. But it s also representative of Saturday s game, as he gave up two runs in the first inning. Dee Gordon singled, Christian Yelich doubled and Marcell Ozuna singled them both home to give Chris O Grady a nice cushion in his major-league debut. The left-hander was having his dream come true, only three months after the Angels cut him when he was in Double-A, five years after drafting him. O Grady credits finally finding a grip that worked for a 7

9 change-up, after nine years of trying. That and right-hander Edinson Volquez going on the 10-day disabled list with left knee tendinitis. He had a grip on the Giants through the first three innings, but would have trouble with, of all people, left-handed hitters Brandon Belt and Crawford. Belt hit a double to left-center in the fourth, and would score on an opposite-field single to left by Crawford. That made it 3-1, and after Stanton s missile led to a run in the fifth, the Giants cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Buster Posey doubled when Ozuna couldn t make a diving catch down the rightfield line, and Belt got him in with another double, this one to left. Belt would score on an infield dribbler by Crawford. The Marlins added an insurance run in the ninth on a George Kontos wild pitch. Early, we didn t hit a lot of balls hard, Bochy said. We just came up short in the end. 8

ORGANIZATIONAL REPORT Wednesday, May 24, 2017

ORGANIZATIONAL REPORT Wednesday, May 24, 2017 TEAM LEVEL RECORD LAST GAME STREAK/ LAST 10 Sacramento River Cats Triple-A 17-27; 11.0 GB 4th Place W, 6-2 Vs. Memphis W1, 4-6 Richmond Flying Squirrels Double-A