Former USC second baseman Kevin Melillo celebrated Independence Day by belting a home run in his first game with his new team, the Stockton Ports, and he has not stopped showing the Athletics that the promotion was well deserved.

Since being bumped up to the higher Class A California League from the Midwest League on Monday, Melillo is batting .455 in five games (through Friday). In each game he has scored and had at least one extra-base hit. He has driven in at least one run in four of the five games.

With three home runs — he had eight in 78 games at Kane County — his slugging percentage is an eye-popping 1.000.

Transactions. Former Gamecock third baseman Brian Buscher was sent down to Class A San Jose from Class AA Norwich on Tuesday. ... Former Clemson catcher Steve Pyzik, who went 4-for-8 in two games for Class AA Mississippi, was sent down to Class A Myrtle Beach on June 29. ... Former USC outfielder Mike Curry announced his retirement July 1. He had been with the Devil Rays’ Class AA affiliate in Montgomery. ... The Marlins released Peter Bauer, a former Gamecock pitcher, on July 3. He had been on the Class AAA Albuquerque roster.

Noteworthy. Three position players with ties to the state saw action on the mound this past week. Former Gamecock Brian Triplett, Class A Lexington’s third baseman, gave up a run in the ninth inning of a 14-5 loss to Lake County in the South Atlantic League on July 3. On the same day in the independent Northern League, Sioux Falls third baseman Kyle Kmiecik, a Southern Wesleyan alum, surrendered two runs in three innings of a 15-2 loss to St. Paul. And Tuesday, right fielder Kevin White, a Presbyterian College alum and Spartanburg native with Richmond of the independent Frontier League, pitched a hitless, scoreless ninth inning, striking out two. He nearly got the win, but the Roosters’ comeback fell short in an 8-7 loss to Chillicothe. ... Former USC pitcher Aaron Rawl was the last Batavia pitcher on the mound of Thursday’s marathon battle at Auburn in the New York-Penn League. He pitched a perfect 20th inning, striking out two, before the game was suspended — at 1:02 a.m. Friday — tied at 5. The teams will resume the game Aug. 14. ... Former Clemson outfielder Henri Stanley hit five homers in three days for Class AAA Las Vegas in midweek Pacific Coast League wins against Fresno.

Injury updates. Clemson alumnus Michael Johnson played first base for Class A Lake Elsinore on Tuesday, his first game in six weeks since he aggravated his broken hand. ... Two more former Tigers, pitcher Ryan Mottl and outfielder Billy McMillon, are done for the season because of shoulder injuries. Mottl, who pitched in one game for Atlantic City of the independent Atlantic League, injured his shoulder in April. McMillon, with the Red Sox’s Class AAA affiliate in Pawtucket, has been on the disabled list since spring training with a partly dislocated left shoulder. ... Former Clemson catcher Lou Santangelo has been out of Class A Lexington’s lineup since June 14 with a sore right shoulder. ... Pitcher Bryce Florie, a Charleston native in the Marlins organization, was expected to join a roster this summer but has suffered a setback in his recovery from last summer’s Tommy John elbow surgery. A timetable for his return has not been set.