Monday Baseball Bulletin

Ports Edged by Nuts in Extra-Innings Pitchers' Duel

The Ports failed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Modesto Nuts as Andrew Miller hit a leadoff double to left center field in the bottom of the 10th to score Freuddy Batista from second base with the winning run, resulting in a 3-2 loss on Sunday afternoon at John Thurman Field.

PREVIOUS GAMES AGAINST VISALIA

Tuesday, April 25 - The Ports jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a Colby Thomas two-run home run, his second of the season. Wander Guante coughed up the lead in the fifth as Modesto strung together a two-out rally plating three, finishing with 4.2 IP, three hits, and seven strikeouts, and eventually taking the loss as Modesto added insurance late, taking the opener 10-2.
Wednesday, April 26 - Jose Dicochea continues to shine for the Ports as he threw five innings of two hit baseball while striking out eight, a new season high. Stockton was able to manufacture their lone run across the plate on a Colby Thomas triple, eventually scoring on a Tommy Stevenson sacrifice fly in the fourth and taking a 1-0 lead. Big hits from Modesto in the ninth spelled trouble for the Ports as Modesto would go on to win in walk-off fashion 2-1.
Thursday, April 27 - Defensive miscues played costly for the Ports as Jake Garland gave Stockton another solid start going 5.2 IP and striking out four while allowing five runs, all unearned, in the Ports 5-3 loss in game three.
Friday, April 28 - After trailing 8-1 after five innings, the Ports battled back in the sixth scoring six runs to cut it to a one run deficit and eventually tying the game in the eighth on a Brayan Buelvas double scoring Clark Elliott. The two would go on to play extras with the Ports dropping game four on a walk-off hit-by-pitch and giving Modesto a 9-8 win.
Saturday, April 29 - Two big innings from the Nuts in the seventh and eighth proved to be all they needed as the Ports let a 4-0 lead slip away, falling 6-5 Saturday night.
Sunday, April 30 - Dheygler Gimenez stymied the Nuts Sunday afternoon allowing just one run in 5.2 IP with five strikeouts. Stockton took the lead in the eighth on a Luis Marinez two-RBI double. Modesto answered back in the bottom half of the eighth with a run of their own to tie it at 2-2 and eventually would go on to win in the 10th 3-2 to take a series sweep from the Ports.

TOP PERFORMERS

Clark Elliott - Elliott provides stability at the top of the lineup for the Ports as the former Wolverine has a team high .427 on-base percentage, which is also good for 10th in the California League.
Brayan Buelvas - Batting just .174 over his last 8 games going into Thursday night, Buelvas has five hits in his last four games with two home runs. Over his last four, Buelvas is 5-for-17 with 2 HR a double and 3 RBI.
Jose Dicochea - Dicochea is off to a great start, as he is unscored upon in 3 starts (13.2 IP) with 18 strikeouts. He has walked just 4 and allowed 7 hits.

SERIES PREVIEW vs. FRESNO GRIZZLIES

The Ports make their way back home to Banner Island Ballpark this week to take on the visiting Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies Single-A affiliate) starting Tuesday, May 2nd through Sunday, May 7th.

At Bat this Week

vs. Fresno Grizzlies

Banner Island Ballpark // Stockton, Calif.

Tuesday, May 2 // 7:05 P.m. PT
Wednesday, May 3 // 7:05 p.m. PT
Thursday, May 4 // 7:05 p.m. PT
Friday, May 5 // 7:05 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 6 // 7:05 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 7 // 2:09 p.m. PT

Radio Stream: https://www.iheart.com/live/fox-sports-am-1280-5236/

Twitter: @stocktonports

On Deck

vs. Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter Stadium

Tuesday, May 9 - Sunday, May 14 // Times vary

Following their six-game series against the Grizzlies, the Ports hit the road to face the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes for the first time this season. The Ports went 5-7 against the Quakes last season with the Quakes taking four out of six at Banner Island Ballpark.

Against Fresno Grizzlies

This will be the second time the the two teams have met this season after the Grizzlies took four out of six against the Ports at Chukchansi Park in early April.

The Ports have struggled against the Grizzlies since the start of 2022 going 6-30 against Fresno. Pitching has struggled against the Grizzlies as Fresno has scored 10+ runs in seven games. The power punch of the Grizzlies offense continues to roll, placing in the top three of nearly every offensive category in the California League so far this season.

The Ports will look to stay away from big innings with the high powered Grizzlies offense coming into town as. Through 20 games, the Ports have already allowed 23 innings of three or more runs for their opponents. The Ports have only gone through four games in which they have not allowed a “big inning”: Tuesday, April 11 (W), Wednesday, April 19 (L), Wednesday, April 26 (L), and Sunday, April 30th (L).

COLBY THOMAS, ON-BASE MACHINE

Ports’ outfielder Colby Thomas is off to a red-hot start to his professional career. Thomas has reached base in 17 of 18 games he has played in, putting together a triple-slash line of .271/.346/.443 while adding 2 HR and a team-high 11 RBIs. Thomas went 0-for-4 and had his 17-game on-base streak snapped on Saturday evening.

The Mercer product began his season with a 12-game hitting streak. Thomas, the A’s 2022 3rd round pick out of Mercer College, is playing in regular season games for the first time since April 2022, when he tore the labrum in his right shoulder sliding into third base during the college season. At the time of his injury, Thomas was batting .325 with 17 HR and 45 RBI while going 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts in just 42 games. Thanks to his production, he was was seeing his name surge up draft boards into potential first-round consideration. He spent the rest of the year rehabbing his injury before being cleared to play this past spring.

TURNAROUND ON THE BUMP?

While the Ports’ pitching staff has begun the season at or near the bottom of the California League in nearly every major statistical category, Stockton’s arms have performed much better of late. Over their last six games, the Ports have compiled a 3.86 ERA (as opposed to a 5.89 mark on the season), a number that is good for 4th in the circuit during that span. Ports’ opponents are batting just .221 during that stretch, a far cry from the .275 clip Stockton has allowed on the season.

WHO’S HOT

COLBY THOMAS, OF: Thomas has hit safely in 13 of 14 games so far this season, batting .302 (17-for-57) with a home run, three doubles and a team-leading 9 RBIs. The Ports’ outfielder has four multi-hit games on the season.

BRAYAN BUELVAS, OF: The Ports’ outfielder has hit safely in six of his last nine games, going 10-for-32 with 3 2B, a 3B and 2 RBI. Buelvas is batting a team-high .300 and also leads the club in SLG (.500) and OPS (.897).

Jose Dicochea - Dicochea is off to a great start, as he is unscored upon in 3 starts (13.2 IP) with 18 strikeouts. He has walked just 4 and allowed 7 hits.

About the Grizzlies

The Grizzlies are 11-10 through the first 21 games of the season coming off a series split against the San Jose Giants at Chukchansi Park.
Fresno is 30-6 against Stockton since the start of 2022.
Grizzlies (11-10) currently sit third in the California League Northern Division.
Jake Snider leads the team in average (.339).
Blake Adams leads the starting rotation with a 1.09 earned run average, 20 strikeouts, and opponents hitting just .194 against him.

ROSTER MOVES

4/24: The Ports welcomed in three new players on Monday, April 24: OF Henry Bolte, INF Bjay Cooke and C/INF Tommy Stevenson. Bolte is the highest-regarded prospect of the group; the A’s 2022 2nd round pick out of Palo Alto High School in the Bay Area is Oakland’s 11th-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline. Cooke is a two-way prospect signed out of Australia last May, while Stevenson was selected in the 19th round last season and had an end-of-season cameo with Stockton in 2022. To make room on the roster, OF Nelson Beltran, INF Darlyn Montero and C Hansen Lopez were transferred to the Arizona Complex League.

4/30: Micah Dallas was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday to open for the Aviators. The outing didn't go as expected for the former Aggie as he lasted just 1.2 IP giving up five hits, eight runs, and four walks while punching out three.

QUICK HITS

Jose Dicochea has yet to give up a run in three starts boasting a perfect 0.00 ERA in three starts (13.2 IP) with 18 strikeouts. He has walked just four and allowed seven hits.
Clark Elliott has reached bases safely in all but one game he's played compiling a .427 - good for a team high and 10th in the California League.
The Ports have made eight errors over their last three games and are tied with the Visalia Rawhide for the most errors in the league this season (36). Stockton’s fielding percentage of .951 is also the lowest in the league. The Ports have made as many as five errors in a game this season. Of the 32 runs the Ports have allowed in their series against the Nuts this week, 12 have been unearned.
With the addition of Henry Bolte last Monday, the Ports now have four of the A's top 30 prospects (Bolte - No.11, Elliott - No. 16, Thomas - No. 19, and Buelvas - No.23).

Stockton Ports Alumni Night - Saturday, May 20th

Mark your calendar as the Stockton Ports annual Alumni Night is back once again in 2023! Alumni Night is scheduled for Saturday, May 20th, 2023, at Banner Island Ballpark where the Ports will take on the San Jose Giants. Alumni will be available to sign autographs and take pictures all throughout the night - bring your gear!