SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Drew Thorpe has won all three of his Double-A starts, Bryan Woo earned his second Major League victory, Brooks Lee has hit safely in 15 of his 18 Triple-A games so far and Nick Torres has powered Laguna into the semifinal round of the Mexican League playoffs.
In addition, Mitch Haniger has come off the injury list and Andrew Alvarez has struck out nine in his first two Double-A appearances on the mound.Bryan Woo earned his second MLB win on Monday,
tossing a shutout over six innings
Thorpe, 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA in 18 starts at Hudson Valley in his first professional season, was elevated to Double-A Somerset on August 8 and has allowed just two walks with 30 strikeouts over 21 innings en route to his 3-0 start.
In his first start for the Patriots, Thorpe pitched eight scoreless innings against Binghamton on August 11, allowing two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts in the 9-0 win en route to Atlantic League pitcher of the week honors. He struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings in a 22-3 win over Reading on August 18 and improved to 3-0 by allowing one run and two hits over 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts in an 8-1 win over Hartford last Friday.
Woo came off the 15-day injury list August 22 and gave up just one run and three hits over four innings in a no-decision versus the Chicago White Sox that evening. On Monday, he earned his second Major League win against the Oakland Athletics with six scoreless three-hit innings and five strikeouts as the Mariners earned a 7-0 shutout.
Woo matched his longest outing of the season with just 69 pitches. He is 2-3 with a 4.15 ERA in 13 starts with eight no-decisions. The Mariners won five of Woo's no-decisions, blew a lead in another and were tied in the remaining two before losing them.
Seattle tied a club record with its 20th August win and has moved into first place in the American League's West Division standings by winning four straight games and 12 of its last 13.
Torres, who hit .338 in 83 regular-season games at Laguna, sports a .364 average in the Mexican League playoffs, leading the Vaqueros into the semifinals against Dos Laredos. The best-of-seven series started Tuesday.
Torres went 10-for-21 in a six-game series against Monterrey and 6-for-23 in five games versus Tijuana. He finished the regular season 19th in the Mexican League in hitting, eighth in doubles, 22nd in home runs, 14th in hits and 11th in RBIs.
Lee is hitting .253 for Triple-A Saint Paul with four doubles, a triple, one home run and 12 RBIs in 18 games. He has singled twice three times and singled and doubled versus Indianapolis on August 19.
Lee hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games (30-for-72, .417) at Wichita and was first in the Texas League in doubles seventh in RBIs, fifth in hits and 27th in home runs before he was promoted to Saint Paul on August 3.
Alvarez, 7-4 with a 2.61 ERA in 21 games at Wilmington, was promoted to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on August 17 and has appeared in two games (one start, one in relief) so far, losing both despite nine strikeouts over 10 2/3 innings.
Haniger had been on the 60-day injury list since June 14 after he was hit by a pitch and fractured his forearm at St. Louis. The San Francisco Giants outfielder has played five rehab games at Sacramento with one hit and was activated Wednesday. San Francisco plays a four-game series at San Diego this weekend.
Meanwhile, Mark Mathias has been placed on the 60-day injury list with a right shoulder strain and will not play the rest of the 2023 season.
The Giants picked up Mathias in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on August 6. He was 2-for-11 in four games with the Sacramento RiverCats and 2-for-10 in five games with San Francisco prior to the injury.
Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Mathias has played for five Major League organizations, including stops with five Triple-A teams and four in the Big Leagues He did not play in any Mariner games in his brief time in Washington state.
Cal Poly has had as many as six former players in the Major Leagues this year, a record for the program.
In addition to Haniger, Woo and Mathias, Erich Uelmen pitched one inning for Philadelphia on May 19 against his former team, the Chicago Cubs. Spencer Howard has pitched three games for the Texas Rangers and Justin Bruihl, who pitched 21 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers before he was traded to the Colorado Rockies earlier this month, has pitched in seven Rockies games so far.
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