JB: Dantzler, Fields, Hassan, Heidt, Maese, Wandling

L.B. Dantzler with 2-for-4 with a double and a home run, knocking in three runs for class-A Dunedin. 

August 18 Minor League Report
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away

Tuesday was a rough day for the Blue Jays’ affiliates, losing seven of the club’s nine scheduled games but a couple of players are continuing to swing hot bats.

Buffalo Bisons 3, Rochester Red Wings 4
The Bisons mounted a late charge but still fell one run short of Rochester. Alex Hassan continues to swing a hot bat, going 2/4 with a walk and two RBI while Caleb Gindl, seeing some rare action, was 2/4 with a run. Jeff Francis allowed all six runs over four innings while Bobby Korecky allowed just three hits and a walk over two innings and Ben Rowen was perfect in his two innings of work.

Roster Notes: As expected, the Blue Jays purchased the contract of Ezequiel Carrera from Buffalo.

Player of the Game: Hassan and Gindl

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1, Reading Fightin Phils 8
Conner Greene’s second start in Double-A wasn’t as good as his first as the 20-year-old allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings despite six strikeouts. Chad Girodo was his usual stingy self, allowing just one hit over 2 1/3 innings, striking out two and Dustin Antolin allowed a run over the last inning, taking the loss.

Roemon Fields had two of the club’s five hits, stealing two bases, scoring a run and driving one in. Melky Mesa hit a double and drove in a run and Jorge Flores hit his first home run of the year, going 1/3.

Player of the Game: Fields

Dunedin Blue Jays 4, Clearwater Threshers 9
The Blue Jays got off to a great start against Clearwater but the Threshers scored nine runs that were unanswered until the bottom of the ninth inning to cruise to a 9-4 win. Alonzo Gonzalez allowed five runs on nine hits over five innings while Matt Dermody allowed a run in two innings, striking out two without walking anyone. Chris Smith struck out a pair of the three batters he faced and Colton Turner, making his FSL debut, allowed three runs in his one inning.

L.B. Dantzler was the offensive leader with a 2/4 game, hitting a double and a home run, driving in three of the Blue Jays’ four runs. Christian Lopes was 2/4 with two runs and Anthony Alford was 1/4 with a walk.

Roster Notes: Sean Reid-Foley was sent down to the Lansing Lugnuts and Colton Turner was promoted to Dunedin. Newly signed Derek Blacksher was assigned to Dunedin while Shane Dawson was put on the temporarily inactive list and Mitch Nay was put on the DL.

Player of the Game: Dantzler

Lansing Lugnuts 4, Lake County Captains 7
Playing a close game over the first eight innings, a play not made and then a big home run let Lake County run away with the win despite being outhit by the Lugnuts. Jon Wandling was strong, allowing just four hits and three walks, resulting in two runs (one earned) over seven innings. Phil Kish was charged with the final five runs (four earned) over two innings.

Michael De La Cruz led the offense with three hits, hitting a double and driving in two runs. D.J. Davis continues his strong season with a two-hit game, joining Richard Urena (2/5, R), and Josh Almonte (2/4, 2B, 2 R, SB) in the multi-hit club.

Roster Notes: Danny Jansen was activated off the DL while Juan Kelly was sent down to Vancouver. Sean Reid-Foley came back to the Lugnuts and Colton Turner was promoted to the Dunedin Blue Jays.

Player of the Game: De La Cruz and Wandling

Vancouver Canadians 11, Tri-City Dust Devils 7
The Canadians saw the continuation of some hot hitting as they trounced Tri-City 11-7. Gunnar Heidt hit his second home run of the year, going deep in his second consecutive game, going 2/4 with a walk, driving in two and scoring twice. Juan Kelly, freshly sent back to  Vancouver, continued hit hot hitting, going 1/2 with a three run blast in the first inning while also walking twice. Andrew Guillotte also hit a home run, driving in a pair. Ryan Metzler (2/4, BB, 3 R) and Ryan Hissey (2/5, 2 RBI) also had two hits each.

Francisco Rios allowed four runs in his four innings while Brandon Hinkle and Sean Ratcliffe each allowed a run in two innings. Andrew Case pitched a scoreless ninth but gave up a hit and walked two with one strikeout.

Roster Notes: C Juan Kelly was sent down to Vancouver from Lansing.

Player of the Game: Heidt

Bluefield Blue Jays 2, Bristol Pirates 6
For a game with only six hits overall, Bristol managed to score far more runs than the Blue Jays,  taking advantage of three errors and nine walks issued by the pitching staff. Starter Luis Sanchez walked fove of those batters, allowing four runs (two earned) over 4 1/3 innings. Zak Wasilewski allowed an unearned run in 2/3 of an inning, walking two himself. Joe Claver allowed one batter to reach base on an error but didn’t allow a hit or a walk. Matt Smoral came in and walked two and allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings while Zach Rodgers finished the game by striking out the only batter he faced. Rodrigo Orozco was 1/3 with a walk.

Player of the Game: None

GCL Blue Jays 4, GCL Tigers 1
Justin Maese, 2015 third-round pick, continues to show himself better than his GCL competition, going six innings and allowing just one run on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts. Griffin Glaude finished off the first game of the double header, striking out two of the three batters he faced. Juandy Mendoza led the offense, going 3/3 with two RBI and a run. Lance Jones drove in two runs with a triple, going 1/2.

Player of the Game: Mendoza and Maese

GCL Blue Jays 0, GCL Tigers 2
The GCL Blue Jays were two-hit in the second half of the double header and Cliff Brantley had both of those hits. Hansel Rodriguez had a great game for the Blue Jays but his two-run, four-hit outing, with six strikeouts, was wasted.

Player of the Game: Rodriguez and Brantley

DSL Blue Jays 3, DSL Padres 8
The DSL Padres finally kept the Blue Jays’ bats quiet as they got to the pitching staff for eight runs. Wilfri Aleton allowed four runs (three earned) over four innings while Alvaro Galindo allowed an unearned run over three innings, walking three and giving up two hits with three strikeouts. Luis Mendoza allowed the last three runs (two earned) over two innings, giving up three hits and one walk but with three strikeouts. The batters had just five hits with Norberto Obeso driving in two runs with a single. Sam Buelens was 1/4 with a run and Ronald Concepcion was 0/1 with three walks.

Player of the Game: None

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