July 3 Minor League Report
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
The Blue Jays’ minor league affiliates went 6-2 for a great day, seeing multi-home-run games by two players in the organization.

Buffalo Bisons 8, Syracuse Chiefs 4
The Bisons scored early and often, tallying eight runs which were more than enough to defeat Syracuse for the second straight game. The bottom of the lineup came through for the Bisons with Alex Hassan falling a home run short of the cycle, going 3/3 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored. Melky Mesa, batting ninth, also had three hits, two singles and a double, while driving in a pair of runs. Matt Hague, who leads the International League in batting average at .341, had a pair of hits and drove in a run.

With Felix Doubront moving up to Toronto, Andrew Albers got the start and struck out six batters in four innings while walking just one but allowed all four runs on eight hits. Chad Jenkins earned the win with two perfect innings while Blake McFarland threw another two perfect frames before Bobby Korecky pitched a scoreless ninth.

Roster Notes: Matt Boyd was optioned down to Buffalo and Todd Redmond was designated for assignment, making room for Ryan Tepera and Felix Doubront to be called up by the Blue Jays.

Player of the Game: Hassan and Mesa

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 11, Portland Sea Dogs 4
Ryan Schimpf led the Fisher Cats to victory and set a new ‘Cats all-time home run record in the process. Schimpf was 2/5 with two home runs, a walk, three RBIs and three runs and now has 56 for the Fisher Cats in his career, taking over the lead with 56 dingers in a New Hampshire uniform. Roemon Fields had three hits, stole a base, drove in a run and scored while Dalton Pompey was 2/5 with a walk and a stolen base, Pierce Rankin was 2/5 with two RBI and All-Star Jorge Flores was 2/4 with a walk, a double, two RBI and a run but also made an error at shortstop. Ian Parmley was 1/2 with two walks and an RBI while Kevin Nolan was 1/3 with two walks, a double and three runs.

Casey Lawrence allowed all four runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts over six innings while Danny Barnes (another All-Star), fresh off the DL, struck out three in two innings of relief work. Colt Hynes finished the game with a scoreless inning of relief.

Roster Notes: Danny Barnes was activated from the DL while Luis Perez was placed on the DL.

Player of the Game: Schimpf

Dunedin Blue Jays 12, Brevard County Manatees 4
The influx of players from Lansing has invigorated the Dunedin offense and Rowdy Tellez, the Florida State League Player of the Week, was the key to a 12-4 victory on Friday. Tellez was 2/5 with two home runs and four RBIs while Richard Urena, in his first Florida State League game, went 3/5 with a double and two runs. Mitch Nay was 3/5 with a single, double and a triple as well. Derrick Loveless (2/3, BB, R), Martin Medina (2/3, RBI) and Matt Dean (2/4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R) each had two hits while Anthony Alford was 1/5 with a triple and two runs.

Luis Santos had the start and struck out seven without walking anyone over 6 1/3 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits. Alonzo Gonzalez struck out three, walked one and gave up one hit in 2 2/3 innings to finish the game.

Roster Notes: Reliever Phil Kish was sent down to Lansing.

Player of the Game: Tellez

Lansing Lugnuts 4, Lake County Captains 0
The Lugnuts got some great pitching and took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Captains to cruise to a 4-0 win after scoring early. Justin Shafer earned his third Midwest League win with five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Chase Mallard gave up just one hit and one walk with four strikeouts the rest of the way.

The offense was very quiet with Dawel Lugo coming back down from Dunedin and smacking three hits. Boomer Collins drove in a run with a triple while Justin Atkinson hit a double and Ryan McBroom had a sac fly.

Roster Notes: Phil Kish returned to Lansing while Conor Fisk went down to Vancouver.

Player of the Game: Lugo, Shafer and Mallard

Vancouver Canadians 10, Spokane Indians 6
The Canadians got some retribution for their big loss the on Thursday by putting 10 runs on the board and holding off Spokane for win No. 7 on the season. 19-year-old Lane Thomas, playing second base, had a monster game, going 3/5 and missing the cycle by a triple. He stole a base, scored three times and, with the help of a grand slam, drove in six runs. Carl Wise was 2/4 with an RBI and Juan Kelly was 1/3 with an RBI and two walks. Earl Burl also contributed with a double, an RBI and a run.

Clinton Hollon got the start and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits but didn’t walk anyone and struck out three. Jackson McClelland only got one out while Brandon Hinkle earned the win, despite allowing McClelland’s runner to score. Michael Kraft threw a scoreless seventh and Andrew Case picked up the save, giving up a solo home run over two innings of work, striking out two and walking one.

Roster Notes: Conor Fisk was sent down to Vancouver from Lansing.

Player of the Game: Thomas

Bluefield Blue Jays 2, Pulaski Yankees 4
Going down the line of minor league affiliates, the Blue Jays registered the first loss of the day for the Blue Jays, dropping a close one 4-2 to Pulaski. Despite getting 10 hits, the offense only managed to translate that into two runs, spreading the wealth through the entire batting order with only Freddy Rodriguez failing to get a hit. Rodrigo Orozco was 2/4 with a stolen base and a run, pushing his batting average to .357 while Mattingly Romanin was 2/4 with a triple and an RBI, moving his batting average to .375 on the season so far.

Nick Wells had a great start, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over five innings. The only concern in his outing was that he didn’t register a ground ball out and the other eight of his outs came via the fly ball. Gino Encina took the loss, allowing three runs in 2 2/3 innings including a two-run home run but he struck out three and only walked one. Stuart Holmes finished the game with 1 1/3 innings of two-hit ball, striking out a pair.

Player of the Game: Wells and Romanin

GCL Blue Jays 5, GCL Astros 3
The GCL Blue Jays evened their record at 5-5 thanks to some strong pitching performances and just enough offense. Luis Sanchez got the start and allowed one run on three hits and three walks in four innings with four strikeouts. Hunter Barnett threw two more innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk, earning the win, while Gunner Eastman alowed a run on three walks and two hits in 1 2/3 innings. Mike Estevez went 1 1/3 innings of perfect ball to finish the game. The offense only had eight hits including two singles by Lance Jones. Bryan Lizardo was 1/3 with two RBI and Jake Thomas and Levi Scott hit doubles and drove in a run.

Player of the Game: Lizardo, Jones, Thomas and Scott

DSL Blue Jays 1, DSL Orioles1 7
The bottom three hitters in the order had two hits apiece but a seven-hit attack overall wasn’t enough to overcome the seven-run outburst from the DSL Orioles1 squad. Wilfri Aleton was solid on the mound for the first five innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits but he struck out five and didn’t walk anyone. Juan Nunez allowed teh other four runs on seven hits in two innings of work while Jose Acosta gave up just one hit and struck out two in the final two innings.

Antony Fuentes (2/3, 3B, BB), Jesus Navarro (2/4) and Christian Peguero (2/3, RBI) combined for six of the seven hits that the Blue Jays got. Norberto Obeso had the other.

Player of the Game: Fuentes

 

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