July 8 Minor League Report
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
The minor league affiliates had a 5-4 day but played a ton of innings thanks to two extra-inning games in the Gulf Coast League. The day featured a few good performances from some prospects in the lower ranks of the organization.

Buffalo Bisons 5, Rochester Red Wings 6
Rochester got a measure of revenge on the Bisons after getting hammered on Tuesday 15-1. The Red Wings were down to the Bisons 5-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning when they got to reliever Greg Infante, loading the bases with no one out before Jose Martinez walked and Danny Ortiz singled to walk off with the victory. Todd Redmond was the starter for Buffalo and he pitched five solid innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Miguel Castro relieved, giving up a run after two walks and a double in the sixth inning before retiring the side. He came out for the seventh and gave up a single before Rob Rasmussen came in. Rasmussen allowed Castro’s runner to score on a double but managed to shut the door after that. Greg Burke went 1 2/3 innings of one-hit ball to get the game to the ninth inning, after which Infante let the game get away.

The offense got ten hits with four Bisons in the multi-hit department: Melky Mesa (2/5, 2B, R), Caleb Gindl (3/5, R, 2 BB), Matt Hague (2/4, 2B, RBI, R) and Sean Ochinko (2/4, 2B, 2 RBI). Luke Scott contributed with a two-run double.

Roster Notes: Ryan Schimpf was promoted to Buffalo and Jeff Francis was placed on the temporarily inactive list.

Player of the Game: Hague and Ochinko

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7, Trenton Thunder 3
Casey Lawrence earned his eighth win of the season and the Fisher Cats moved their record a game above the .500 mark with a 7-3 win over the New York Yankees’ Double-A affiliate. Lawrence went seven innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Colt Hynes went two scoreless innings in relief without allowing a hit and just giving up one walk with two strikeouts.

The offense only had nine hits, taking advantage of three Trenton errors. Dalton Pompey was 2/4 with a run and Kevin Nolan was also 2/4 with a run and an RBI while Dwight Smith, Jr. added a two-run double.

Roster Notes: Ryan Schimpf was promoted to Buffalo and Andy Fermin was reinstated from the DL.

Player of the Game: Lawrence

Dunedin Blue Jays 6, Daytona Tortugas 1
Getting a spot start from Alonzo Gonzalez, the Blue Jays got some great pitching and solid hitting from the top of the order to put away Daytona. Gonzalez was excellent, allowing only a solo home run to come around to score among four hits with no walks and three strikeouts over four innings. Alberto Tirado stretched out to three excellent innings in relief for the win, giving up a hit and two walks with five strikeouts. Arik Sikula earned the save with two more innings of scoreless ball, giving up a hit with two strikeouts.

On the other side of the ball, four of the top five hitters in the order accounted for all but one of the club’s 11 hits. Christian Lopes was 3/5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs while Mitch Nay was 3/4 with an RBI. Anthony Alford was on base four times with a 2/3 game that included a double and two walks with three runs and a stolen base out of the leadoff spot while Rowdy Tellez, another recent call up from Lansing was 2/4 with a double, two RBI and a run.

Roster Notes: Dickie Joe Thon was placed on the temporarily inactive list.

Player of the Game: Lopes and Alford

Lansing Lugnuts 1, Great Lakes Loons 0
The Lugnuts won again but the high-powered offense of the first half looks more and more like a memory (that’s now hanging out in Florida). Justin Shafer was outstanding, throwing seven scoreless innings with just three hits and no walks allowed, striking out two and getting ten ground ball outs. Colton Turner threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball while Carlos Ramirez pitched the final 2/3 of an inning to earn his third save of the season. The offense had just five hits including two singles and an RBI from Alex Maldonado, playing third base. Jason Leblebijian was 1/3 with a walk and Mike Reeves walked twice.

Roster Notes: Austin Davis was promoted to Lansing along with Juan Kelly while Justin Atkinson was sent down to Vancouver and Shane Dawson was placed on the temporarily inactive list to allow him to play in the Pan-Am Games.

Player of the Game: Shafer

Vancouver Canadians 4, Eugene Emeralds 8
The Canadians fell to 8-13 after losing again to Eugene on Wednesday night. Clinton Hollon took the loss, giving up three runs over five innings but he only allowed four hits and two walks while striking out nine. Michael Kraft allowed five unearned runs (in addition to the inherited runner charged to Hollon) over 2/3 of an inning. Turner Lee went 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball but allowed his two inherited runners from kraft to score. Bob Wheatley finished the game with a perfect eighth, striking out two.

Lane Thomas had a great offensive game, going 2/5 with two doubles, an RBI and a run but he made a throwing error at second base. Gunnar Heidt drove in two but also made an error.

Roster Notes: Juan Kelly and Austin Davis were promoted to Lansing while Justin Atkinson returned to Vancouver.

Player of the Game: Thomas and Hollon

Bluefield Blue Jays 4, Danville Braves 7
Danville hit Nick Wells hard, ending the Blue Jays’ winning streak, dealing them a 7-4 loss. Wells was shelled for a home run among six hits and four runs over 3 2/3 innings. Stuart holmes went 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run while Josh DeGraaf allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Zach Rodgers finished the game with 1 2/3 innings, allowing DeGraaf’s inherited runner to score but not allowing a runner of his own to score. The Blue Jays only had five hits including a home run by Matt Morgan who drove in two RBI.

Player of the Game: Morgan

GCL Blue Jays 4, GCL Pirates 3
The GCL Blue Jays got far more than they bargained for in their double-header with the GCL Pirates, playing 27 innings of baseball rather than the scheduled 14. Game 1 resulted in a 15-inning, 4-3 win for the Blue Jays thanks to some stellar relief. Osman Gutierrez allowed three runs (one earned) over three innings with four hits and three walks allowed and three strikeouts. John Kravetz went three scoreless innings, allowing three hits while Gunner Eastman went five innings in relief, allowing four hits and a walk, striking out four. Hunter Barnett went 1/3 of an inning but Ryan Cook, who earned the win, went 2 2/3 innings, walking three and giving up two hits with two strikeouts. Mike Estevez earned the save with an inning of relief, allowing a hit.

On the offensive side, the Blue Jays only had nine hits, getting two singles, two walks and a stolen base from Kalik May. Lance Jones hit a double and took a walk while Nash Knight was 1/5 with two walks and a run. Coming in later in the game, Bryan Lizardo was 1/2 with a double.

Player of the Game: May and Eastman

GCL Blue Jays 3, GCL Pirates 4
Game 2 featured a reversal in the score, with the GCL Pirates coming out on top with a walk-off win in the bottom of the 12th inning. Kalik May added another two hits in and a walk in the second game, hitting a triple and stealing two bases. Ryan Hissey had four hits, including his first professional home run, a stolen base and a walk while Reggie Pruitt was 2/4 with a run and two stolen bases.

On the mound, Jose Espada had another excellent game, going four scoreless innings with three hits and one walk against, striking out three. Juan Meza allowed three runs over 1 1/3 innings while Justin Maese inherited the bases loaded and allowed two of Meza’s runners to score but didn’t have any of his own runners score in 1 2/3 innings to mark the 18-year-old third rounder’s professional debut. Nate Abel went four scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks with two strikeouts before Jonathan Torres allowed the winning run to score in 1/3 of an inning to finish the game.

Player of the Game: Hissey

DSL Blue Jays 9, DSL White Sox 0
The DSL Blue Jays had a fantastic game all around, getting a one-hitter from their pitching staff as well as scoring nine times against the DSL White Sox. Guadalupe Chavez went five innings, giving up just one hit and striking out seven in his best outing yet. Joel Espinal pitched three innings, allowing one walk and striking out three while Alvaro Galindo threw the final inning of the game.

The offense took eight walks in addition to their nine hits and got multi-hit games from Kevin Vicuna (2/5, RBI), Norberto Obeso (2/3, 2 R, BB, SB) and Cristian Peguero (2/3, 3B, BB, 2 RBI, R). Francisco Rodriguez was 1/3 with a walk, a double and a sacrifice fly.

Player of the Game: Chavez

 

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