Sacramento River Cats & SF Giants Press Clips Monday, July 31, 2017 Article Source Author Page River Cats leave Baby Cakes battered in 6-2 win River Cats Arnold-Gordon 1 River Cats celebrate Farm-to-Fork Capital with tomato jerseys, food drive Sac Bee McGough 1 Hwang credits Wotus for improving defense MLB.com Haft 2 Series in Los Angeles shows how wide the gap is between Giants, Dodgers NBC Sports Bay Area Pavlovic 3 Giants could have a quiet trade deadline SF Gate Schulman 4 Giants notes: Ryder Jones gets a temporary call-up, The Mercury News Baggarly 5 but his opportunity is coming soon
River Cats leave Baby Cakes battered in 6-2 win By Evan Arnold-Gordon / Sacramento River Cats West Sacramento, CA - The Sacramento River Cats (45-62) offense pounced on the New Orleans Baby Cakes (40-67) early, scoring four runs in the first inning as they took game two of the series 6-2 Sunday evening at Raley Field. San Francisco Giants closer Mark Melancon got the start for the River Cats, facing the minimum in his one inning by inducing an inning-ending double play after allowing a walk. In the home half of the first, Sacramento jumped on New Orleans starter and former Giants' left-hander Mike Kickham for four runs in an inning that including five hits - two for extra bases - and two stolen bases. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval gave the River Cats their first run of the ballgame by driving in Wynton Bernard with a sacrifice fly in the four-run first. Mac Williamson, Chris Shaw, and Trevor Brown each knocked in a run in the frame, as well. Sacramento struck again in the fourth as first baseman Ryan Lollis drove in a pair with two outs to put the game away. Sacramento will send right-hander Jose Flores (0-1, 4.03) to the hill tomorrow. New Orleans will counter with left-hander Justin Nicolino (4-4, 3.55). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. (PT) and the game can be heard live on the air on ESPN 1320 and online at rivercats.com. Postgame Notes Melancon: Right-hander Mark Melancon made his first career start this evening played in his first game since June 27 with San Francisco threw 15 pitches (eight strikes). Sandoval: Third baseman Pablo Sandoval collected his first RBI with the River Cats finished 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly now batting.263 in six games with the club. Gomez: Right-hander Roberto Gomez took over for Melancon in the second and allowed one unearned run over five innings surrendered four hits and fanned six Baby Cakes hitters his five innings were a season-high by a Sacramento reliever this season earned his third win tonight. Bernard: Centerfielder Wynton Bernard was 3-for-5 with a walk had three of the team's 10 hits this was his fifth three-hit game this year also stole two bases. Lollis: First baseman Ryan Lollis registered his second straight game with two RBI leads the club with 13 RBI this month. River Cats celebrate Farm-to-Fork Capital with tomato jerseys, food drive BY MICHAEL MCGOUGH / Sacramento Bee Sacramento or Sacratomato? The River Cats chose the latter when they hosted the New Orleans Baby Cakes on Saturday night, donning jerseys and hats that featured a cartoon tomato. The tomato wears its own green hat with a 1
fork on it, helping celebrate what the organization called Sactown Grown Night, an appreciation of Sacramento s farm-to-fork efforts. The team also held a food drive at Raley Field, taking donations that benefited the Sacramento Food Bank. The River Cats beat the Baby Cakes 4-3. Pablo Sandoval went 2 for 3 with a walk after enduring an 0-for- 9 stretch. The city s status as America s Farm-to-Fork Capital has been a contentious storyline for Sacramentans since April, when the slogan was painted on the Freeport water tower, controversially replacing City of Trees. The alternate uniform made for another interesting look for Sandoval, who wore Christmas gear during his debut last Saturday with the San Jose Giants. Hwang credits Wotus for improving defense By Chris Haft / MLB.com LOS ANGELES -- Obtained primarily for his offensive prowess, Giants third baseman Jae-Gyun Hwang lately has distinguished himself on defense, particularly during this weekend's series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. For example, Los Angeles had Austin Barnes on first base with one out in the fifth inning of Friday's series opener. Hwang dove to backhand Enrique Hernandez's tricky ground ball, which easily would have gone for an RBI double had it scooted by. Hwang not only held the runner, but also made a strong throw to first base for an out. Saturday, Hwang moved to first base and used his quick wrists to snap a fifth-inning throw to shortstop Brandon Crawford that started a 3-6-3 double play. Speaking through interpreter Mark Min-Hyung Kim, Hwang atributed much of his improvement to bench coach Ron Wotus, who also supervises San Francisco's infielders. Hwang said that Wotus' tutelage has helped him "create efficiencies" by improving subtleties such as footwork. Wotus also helped Hwang improve his defensive stance. "I used to keep my hands low and relaxed, thinking that keeping my arms relaxed would help me move faster," Hwang said. "Working with Ronnie, I realized that being in an athletic stance, as if I were to run when I'm on base, would be my fastest move." Woth noting Two players from Triple-A Sacramento, infielder-outfielder Ryder Jones and catcher Tim Federowicz, were on hand to join the Giants' 25-man active roster in case first baseman Brandon Belt (left wrist) or catcher Nick Hundley (possible concussion symptoms) had to be placed on the disabled list. 2
Belt, who missed the previous two games, returned to the lineup on Sunday night against the Dodgers. Hundley did not start. Series in Los Angeles shows how wide the gap is between Giants, Dodgers By Alex Pavlovic / NBC Sports Bay Area LOS ANGELES Every win counts the same, but there are times where that celebration feels like something bigger, like a sign of things to come. The Giants rode that vibe for half a decade, and they could do nothing but watch late Sunday night as it engulfed Dodger Stadium. The best team in the National League won on a walk-off double in the bottom of the eleventh inning from a rookie making his MLB debut. Their home ballpark shook before the tying run even reached the plate. The noise was deafening as the Dodgers piled atop Kyle Farmer and ripped his jersey off. In the visiting dugout, the Giants quietly gathered their things and headed for another unhappy flight. They are on a different planet than the Dodgers right now, a fact made blatantly clear over three games this weekend. Everything is going right for them, manager Bruce Bochy said. It s just the opposite for us. It s been that way for four months. The Giants, after a 3-2 loss, are an astounding 34 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. The Giants expect to be quiet before Monday s trade deadline, keeping the same group intact and hoping to make subtle changes in the offseason. This series made you wonder, though: What s the point? When will the Giants ever be able to compete with this group of Dodgers again? In the clubhouse, some are surely wondering the same. Heads drooped after the series finale, and guys talked of pressing on and continuing to play hard. But there s a talent gulf, and it was clear over a weekend of baseball. The Dodgers swept the series without Clayton Kershaw throwing a pitch. They relied on 23-year-old Corey Seager and 22-year-old Cody Bellinger to spark the offense. They will get better. Other young players filled the box score. Enrique Hernandez, 25, made a throw that kept the Dodgers in the game. Yasiel Puig, still just 26, drove in the tying run in the ninth after a couple of defensive lapses by the Giants. There s much more on the way. It is what it is, Madison Bumgarner said of the deficit. I try to be a realist. That s just what it is. I try to keep this thing simple. Come in and try to win today. That s the only thing that s going to turn it around, is winning. In Bumgarner, the Giants at least have heavy artillery to face the other way. He was his old self Sunday, throwing seven shutout innings. Bumgarner said he did not lobby to move up a day and face the Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball. But I wasn t going to turn it down, he said. That s for sure. To get a chance to go against the Dodgers, especially with them going as good as they are, it worked out (well). Bumgarner once again showed up under the bright lights, and perhaps he represents the best-case scenario. It s hard to see the Dodgers losing the division next year or anytime soon, but perhaps the 3
Giants can go that old Bumgarner-Wild-Card way once again. They intend to compete in 2018, and that seems the likeliest way. At the moment, it s hard to even see that happening. For all the good things the Giants did this weekend even in three losses they have not been able to carry that intensity over into other series. It s why they re 6-7 against the best team in baseball and 34-59 against everyone else. This is something new for pretty much everybody here, Joe Panik said of all the losing. It is endless, and it s often painful. Conor Gillaspie was a step slow getting to Chase Utley s grounder in the ninth and Sam Dyson didn t pay attention to Utley at first. Soon he was on second, and soon after that the game was tied. Two innings later, having used Dyson and Hunter Strickland, Bochy turned to Albert Suarez. I would have gone with Albert every time there, he said. He s throwing well. He had good stuff, hitting 95 (mph). I was confident with him out there. He s got great poise and good stuff. It didn t matter in the end. Farmer s double ended it, and now the Giants have to figure out how to pick themselves up and be competitive against others. We better, Panik said. We re blessed to be playing in the major leagues and everyone here has to bring that energy and resiliency. We have to bounce back. We ve got (56) games left. We need to bring it. Giants could have a quiet trade deadline By Henry Schulman / SF Gate LOS ANGELES - Eduardo Nuñez played his second game with the Red Sox on Saturday night and hit two home runs in a 9-8 victory against the Royals, which ended on his RBI groundball. As a Giant, Nuñez hit just eight homers in 484 at-bats with the Giants. "We've got to let Carl (Kochan), our strength coach know that," manager Bruce Bochy joked. The Giants had hoped the Nuñez deal would be just the start, but it could be the end, at least before Monday's 1 p.m. nonwaiver trade deadline. Throughout the day Sunday the Giants did not appear close to any deals. Last-minute trades happen. The Giants already finished their leg work on potential acquisitions in the majors and minors, so they could swing a deal quickly if one arose. But the Giants' problem is two-fold: a lot more sellers than buyers (with the Twins joining the sellers list Friday) and a market focused on front-end starters and back-end relievers. Johnny Cueto might have been part of the former, along with Oakland's Sonny Gray and Texas' Yu Darvish, had he not developed lingering blisters. In the bullpen, Sam Dyson has made himself attractive with his shutdown work for the Giants, but there were no indications the Giants were shopping him. 4
One source suggested the Giants bullpen will remain intact Monday. But nobody can predict how things will swing in the final hours if teams that lose out on closers turn pivot to setup men (such as Hunter Strickland) as secondary targets. If the Giants want to swing a bigger trade that helps reshape their roster for 2018 and beyond, they might need to wait until the winter, when far more teams are involved. Taxi squad: The Giants brought Triple-A catcher Tim Federowicz and infielder/outfielder Ryder Jones to Los Angeles in case they needed to place Nick Hundley (concussion symptoms) or Brandon Belt (wrist sprain) on the DL. But Hundley passed a concussion protocol and Belt reported enough improvement in his wrist to get back into the lineup Sunday. Jones got hot in Sacramento after he was optioned. He got hit on his right hand in his first game back, missed two games, then went 13-for-33 in his next eight. He hit one homer Friday night and two more Saturday. Bochy said Jones will get more big-league at-bats this year, if not this week. The 23-year-old has been playing right field for the Rivercats, a new position. "It's the same as left, just a different angle," Jones said. "I've felt pretty comfortable in the outfield of late, for sure." Sorrow: First-base coach Jose Alguacil is in mourning after his 88-year-old grandmother died in Venezuela on Saturday. He told a harrowing tale Sunday. Unrest in the streets tied to a national election prevented the funeral home from coming to get his grandmother from his mother's house. Alguacil would have gone to Venezuela to be with his mom, but he just mailed his passport back to get it renewed. He wants to bring his mom on the United States, but getting a visa will be difficult in the current climate. New guy: Shaun Anderson, one of the pitchers acquired in the Nuñez deal, made his San Jose Giants debut on Friday and allowed five runs (three earned) in 5 1/3 innings. He retired 10 of his first 11 hitters, the other reaching on an error, before the fourth inning got away from him.... Mark Melancon is expected to pitch the first inning for Sacramento on Sunday evening in his first rehab game. The New Orleans starter is former Giant Mike Kickham.... ESPN is considering another Dodgers-Giants game in Los Angeles for Sunday Night Baseball. It would be Sept. 24. Giants notes: Ryder Jones gets a temporary call-up, but his opportunity is coming soon By ANDREW BAGGARLY / The Mercury News LOS ANGELES On the eve of the trade deadline, the Giants welcomed two new players to their clubhouse. No, they didn t make a trade. And it turns out they didn t even activate the players. 5
Infielder Ryder Jones and catcher Tim Federowicz arrived from Triple-A Sacramento as insurance that the Giants didn t end up using. Catcher Nick Hundley passed a concussion test and got through batting practice with no issues two days after taking a foul tip to the mask. And first baseman Brandon Belt is ready to return after missing the previous two games because of a sore left wrist. Belt not only got through BP with no issues, but lefthanded practice pitcher John Yandle said it was the best that Belt had ever hit him. Jones might return to Triple-A Sacramento, but he won t be down there for long. He is blistering the ball for a 419 average over his last eight games (13 for 31), including a home run on Friday and two homers on Saturday. As you might recall, Jones returned to Sacramento after he was hit by a pitch on the right wrist and spent 10 days on the big league disabled list with a contusion. Then, on his first game back with the River Cats on July 18, he was hit by a pitch on his left wrist. It was in my fourth at-bat, he said. They were going to pull me after three atbats, but I asked for one more. I saw it was a lefty coming in and I wanted to see one. Jones wanted to get over the jitters of facing a lefty, since it was a left-hander the Pirates Felipe Rivero who put him out of action with an inside pitch on July 1. That didn t work out so well. At least his second contusion wasn t nearly as serious. He only missed two games, and then settled into a hot streak in short order. Jones, who went 1 for 21 in his big league stint, said his time with the Giants taught him the importance of quieting down his hands. He eliminated some movement in his swing, rested his bat on his shoulder and widened his stance a bit. See the ball a split second longer, and go from there, he said. Jones also has played some right field since returning to Sacramento, in addition to the left field he played earlier in the season. It will be interesting to see if the Giants seek to rest Hunter Pence more often over the final two months as they seek to learn about some of their younger players. Wherever he ends up playing, Jones will get more time in the big leagues this season. Manager Bruce Bochy made that much clear. At some point, he ll be getting some at-bats up here, Bochy said. This is a big day for Korean baseball fans. The Giants Jae-gyun Hwang will get to face the Dodgers Hyunjin Ryu. They are best friends and have played against each other since they were teenagers. If you missed it on Friday, Hwang was asked what tips he would offer his teammates about competing against Ryu. Don t look at the face, said Hwang, as reporters laughed. 6