Matt Downs News

Wednesday 07 Oct 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 11:42PM SAN JOSE, CA The San Jose Giants finished 2009 atop the California League after a record-setting regular season and a Championship Series sweep of the High Desert Mavericks.

Highlights on the final day of the regular season for the Giants ' full-season affiliates : Josh Mazzola homered, doubled twice, and singled; Matt Downs and Thomas Neal also had four hits each; Brett Pill had three hits, including a big fly; and Garrett Broshuis , Paul Oseguera, and Andrew Reichard combined to allow just 1 R and 6 H in 18.0 IP in ...

And...the lights go out on Augusta's playoff hopes. The lowlight from today's minor leagues: Augusta loses.

Randy Winn finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and Ryan Sadowski turned in six scoreless innings as San Francisco downed Milwaukee, 7-0, in the finale of a three-game series from Miller Park.

Error, error: The Grizzlies fielded errors on two of the first four batters in the bottom of the fourth to ignite Tacoma's six-run rally.

Knockout blow: Fresno starter Kevin Pucetas, a Pacific Coast League all-star, didn't make it out of the first inning.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Hate me because I'm way late . Highlights that you missed on Wednesday's nice day of pitching: That Bumgarner kid threw seven shutout innings allowing just four hits and one walk; Clayton Tanner threw seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out six; Betcha didn't ...

In a pathetic attempt to escape from the lack of RISP hitting Edgar Renteria -powered day of We're In This, it's PLAYOFF days in the Giants system.

Some highlights from the Giants ' Farm System: RafRod has a perfect day, going 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and four RBI; Cameron Lamb, in what could be his last start of the season, throws five shutout innings with three hits and two walks against six strikeouts, getting his fourth win of the season; Steve Hammond does something odd - six ...

Key inning: Fresno broke open a close game in the eighth inning. Number 4 hitter Joe Borchard tripled to right, scoring Jake Wald from third.

Highlights from the Giants ' farm: Buster Posey and Conor Gillaspie each homered while having a couple hits; Matt Downs had four hits; Ben Copeland and Josh Mazzoa each had three hits; Ari Ronick had 0 ER in 6.0 IP; and in short-season ball Chris Gloor had a career high 7 K in 5.0 scoreless IP.

Key moment: Tacoma broke open a 3-1 game in the fifth with a four-run outburst that ended starter Steve Hammond's shaky outing.

Several big highlights from the Giants ' farm: Joe Borchard , Matt Downs , and Eddy Martinez-Esteve each reached in all five of their plate appearances, with Bochard doing so on five hits; and Thomas Neal had 2 HRs, Other lines that would usually be deemed highlight-worthy but maybe are just honorable mention tonight: Kevin Frandsen and Ryan ...

Crucial moment: Grizzlies No. 3 hitter John Bowker knocked his 15th homer with a three-run shot in the bottom of the first inning for a rare Fresno lead after the first frame.

Grizzlies 8, River Cats 4 Key inning: In the fifth, Matt Downs hit an RBI triple to score Jesus Guzman, and Ben Copeland knocked Downs home on a single to give the Grizzlies a couple of insurance runs and make the score 7-2. Big hitters: Downs bashed two doubles and a triple as he went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

Grizzlies 6, Redhawks 3 Quality, not quantity : The Grizzlies were outhit 10-5, and so what? Just as important as hits on this night were Kevin Frandsen's two walks -- the first preceding Buster Posey's two-run homer in the first, and the second setting the stage for John Bowker's two-run homer in the fifth, giving Fresno a 4-3 lead.

Former Alabama All-American catcher Alex Avila got a shock on Tuesday when he was promoted to the Detroit Tigers.

Following the Giants' 13-0 win over the Astros, the team optioned infielder Matt Downs to Triple-A Fresno to make room for infielder Rich Aurilia, who was activated from the bereavement list.

Losing control: With the bases loaded, the game tied at 6-6 and one out in the bottom of the eighth, Las Vegas 51s reliever Edward Buzachero threw a wild pitch that allowed Ryan Rohlinger to score.

Grizzlies 5, Sky Sox 3 Key moment: Giants utility man Rich Aurilia, in his first of two rehab games with Fresno, made his second at-bat a productive one.