Derek Norris News

Fabio Castro sparkled in his first start since May 11, tossing six shutout innings and leading the Sacramento River Cats to an 8-2 victory over the host Round Rock Express on Wednesday at The Dell Diamond.

Well, last week was a big improvement over the previous week down on the farm, with the RockHounds snapping their 6-game losing streak and the Ports finally ending their epic 16-game skid.

Now that we hit the 1Q mark of the season, it would be good to see how well our top prospects are performing and what "sleepers" has open some eyes around the minors.

They went on to rout host Albuquerque 16-5 Thursday night. • Major league moment: A double from a cycle and his team up 14-5 in the ninth, Cats shortstop Brandon Hicks singled to left and stayed at first to ensure that he remained on base.

One of the great teams in the Pacific Coast League since 2000, the Oakland A's top affiliate has been a fixture at the top of the standings.

Highlight: Grant Green and Adam Rosales each drove in three runs, and starting pitcher Bruce Billings picked up his third win as the River Cats beat the Iowa Cubs 9-4 on Tuesday afternoon and split their four-game series.

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The A's have far exceeded expectations in 2012. They are 16-15, just 4.5 games behind the Texas Rangers and occupying second place in the AL West in what many analysts tabbed as a rebuilding year for the franchise.

It was the second straight night Sacramento won on a walkoff homer. • Pitching gem: River Cats starter Bruce Billings threw six no-hit innings before leaving the game with two out in the eighth inning and a 2-0 lead.

Remember him? The A's traded Gio Gonzalez last winter as the team continued their youth-movement. Image Credit: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE Each month, Swingin' A's will revisit three of the biggest trades that the A's made this past offseason.

Well, the Sacramento River Cats have been doing the one thing their parent club hasn't been doing lately namely, hitting! The A's Pacific Coast League affiliate averaged nearly 8 runs per game last week, while the big league club averaged just 2 1/2 runs per game over the past week.

Some of his throws this year have actually been to the correct side of the bag, unlike last year, though.

Winding down on the first month of the season, most of the A's top prospects are living up to or exceeding expectations.