Jay Blue: Alford, Fields, Fishman, Jones, Lawrence, Lizardo, Thomas

Anthony Alford homered for class-A Dunedin. Photo: Jay Blue. 

July 22, 2016 Minor League Report
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
The Blue Jays’ affiliates only had three wins on Friday, losing five to their minor league opponents.

 
Buffalo Bisons 1, Gwinnett Braves 7
The Bisons bats were silent, coming up with five hits and just one run in a 7-1 loss to the Gwinnett Braves that involved a meltdown by Pat Venditte who took the loss. Casey Lawrence had another solid start for the Bisons, giving up one run (on a solo home run) on four hits and just one walk with four strikeouts in seven innings. Venditte had a 1-2-3 eighth inning but fell apart, giving up a triple, double, two singles and a walk around a strike out before being yanked from the game for Bobby Korecky, who allowed three consecutive hits before getting out of the inning and finishing the game with a double play. Venditte was charged with five runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. Korecky was charged with the sixth run in the inning.

Domonic Brown drove home the only run of the game for the Bisons as they scattered five singles and five walks.

Player of the Game: Casey Lawrence

Roster Notes: Aaron Loup and Andy Burns were sent down from Toronto and Jose Bautista was added to the Bisons roster to continue his rehab assignment. Dustin Antolin was designated for assignment to make room on the Jay’s 40-man roster as Marco Estrada was activated off the DL and Franklin Morales was activated, ending his rehab stint.

 
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5, Trenton Thunder 2
The Fisher Cats followed up their loss on Thursday with a win on Friday, getting a strong outing from Shane Dawson. Dawson allowed just one run on six hits, walking five and striking out two in five innings. Brady Dragmire (1 IP, 2 H), Wil Browning (1 IP, 2 H), Tim Mayza (1 IP, 1 R, 3 BB) and Chris Smith (S, 1 IP, 2 K) each threw an inning of relief.

Roemon Fields was 2/4 with an RBI, a run and two stolen bases to bring his season total to 32 while Ryan Lavarnway (2/4, RBI) and Emilio Guerrero (2/3, R) had two hits each. Christian Lopes was 1/4 with a double and an RBI but Ryan McBroom was 0/4 in his first taste of Double-A.

Player of the Game: Roemon Fields and Shane Dawson

Dunedin Blue Jays 3, Jupiter Hammerheads 9
Dunedin lost its second in a row to the Jupiter Hammerheads, 9-3, despite a home run from Anthony Alford. Alford was 2/3 (the only Blue Jay to register two hits), hitting a solo home run and taking a walk. L.B. Dantzler and Josh Almonte each hit a double with Almonte driving in a pair of runs.

Francisco Rios was hit hard, giving up seven runs on nine hits with two walks and only one strikeout in 4 1/3 innings. Alonzo Gonzalez stranded two runners in the fifth, finishing the inning and Starlyn Suriel took over, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits in two innings with three strikeouts. Adonys Cardona finished the game, walking one and striking out one in one inning.

Player of the Game: Anthony Alford

 
Lansing Lugnuts 3, Clinton LumberKings 7
The Lugnuts scored two runs early but the club was behind from the second inning onwards in a 7-3 loss to the Clinton LumberKings. Tayler Saucedo allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in five innings with five strikeouts in what wasn’t particularly bad start. Dan Lietz threw three one-hit innings, striking out three before Jackson Lowery got into trouble in the ninth, getting charged with three runs in 2/3 of an inning before Daniel Young gave up a hit before finishing the game.

The Lugnuts had eight hits including a single and a triple from Jake Thomas who drove home a run. Ryan Hissey and Ryan Metzler each had a double.

Player of the Game: Jake Thomas

Vancouver Canadians 5, Eugene Emeralds 8
In an afternoon game in Vancouver, the Canadians had a win in hand heading into the top of the ninth inning but the Eugene Emeralds scored three times in the ninth and then three more times in the 11th to emerge with an 8-5 win. T.J. Zeuch started the game for the Canadians, throwing three scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Geno Encina followed his lead, throwing three innings of one-hit ball, striking out three. Griffin Glaude allowed two runs (one earned) in the seventh before Evan Smith came on to strand the bases loaded. Smith pitched a scoreless eighth but gave up two singles and a double to the first three batters of the ninth before coming out of the game. Jackson McClelland gave up a sac fly and hit a batter and then the Canadians got the lead runner at the plate before a single brought home the tying run. McClelland threw a scoreless 10th but Nick Hartman gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk in the 11th to take the loss.

Bryan Lizardo was the class of the club on offense. Lizardo was 3/4 with a single, a double and a triple, scoring twice and taking a walk, but he also made an error. Joshua Palacios was 2/5 with a double and a walk in his first game with Vancouver and J.B. Woodman was 2/5 with a walk.

Player of the Game: Bryan Lizardo

Roster Notes: Lance Jones was sent down to the Bluefield Blue Jays.

 
Bluefield Blue Jays 12, Burlington Royals 5
Bluefield got a big, 12-5 win against the Burlington Royals on a night where the club’s top prospect, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. sat out. Hansel Rodriguez got the win, throwing 7 2/3 innings with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts. The flamethrowing Kelyn Jose threw 2/3 of an inning, allowing two runs on two walks and two hits with a strikeout and Chris Hall finished the game, walking one and striking out one in 2/3 of an inning.

Bradley Jones hit a solo home run and was on base four times, adding a single, two walks and two stolen bases while Levi Scott was on base three times, hitting two singles, driving in a run, taking a walk and scoring three times. Nash Knight (a.k.a., “Mash” Knight) pushed his league-leading batting average to .421 with a 2/4 game, hitting a single and a double while walking twice and driving in a pair of runs. Ridge Smith also had two hits, going 2/5 with two RBI and a run. Jesus Severino was on three times, going 1/3 with two walks and two runs, while driving in a run. Cam O’Brien was 1/3 with two walks and a run.

Player of the Game: Bradley Jones

Roster Notes: Joel Espinal was promoted to the Bluefield Blue Jays from the GCL and Lance Jones was sent down to Bluefield from Vancouver.

GCL Blue Jays 4, GCL Yankees East 8
What looked like another sure victory for the GCL Blue Jays turned into a loss as the bullpen collapsed and allowed six runs in the top of the ninth, allowing the Yankees East to win 8-4. The collapse wasted a solid start from Dany Jimenez who went five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Jake Fishman provided three perfect innings of relief, striking out five before Orlando Pascual became the architect of disaster, allowing six runs (all earned) on four hits and two walks in the ninth to blow the save and take the loss.

Bo Bichette was out of the lineup for the Blue Jays after leaving in the second inning of Wednesday’s game. Javier Monzon hit his second home run of the year, driving in two runs while David Jacob had two hits, driving in a run and scoring one.

Player of the Game: Jake Fishman and Javier Monzon

Roster Notes: Alvaro Galindo was promoted to the GCL Blue Jays and Joel Espinal was promoted to Bluefield.

DSL Blue Jays 6, DSL D-backs 1
Luis De Los Santos and Yhordegny Kelly led the DSL Blue Jays’ offense in a 6-1 over the DSL D-backs on Friday. De Los Santos was 3/5 with two runs and an RBI while Kelly was 3/5 with two doubles and two RBI. Yorman Rodriguez drove in three, going 2/4 with a double, a stolen base and two runs and Victor Figuereo was 2/4 with a double and a run.

Jose Dominguez went seven innings for the win, allowing one unearned run on six hits with seven strikeouts. Luis Mendoza went two innings, allowing a hit and a walk to finish the game.

Player of the Game: Jose Dominguez

Roster Notes: Alvaro Galindo was promoted to the GCL.

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