JB: Almonte, Barnes, Burgos, Dean, Knight, Kottaras

Danny Barnes struck out five in three innings of relief for double-A New Hampshire. Photo: Jay Blue.

August 31 Minor League Report
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
In six games on Monday, the Blue Jays’ affiliates were 2-4 including a Game 1 loss for the GCL Jays in the first game of the league finals.

Buffalo Bisons 4, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 6
Danny Dorn made his Bisons debut, hitting a double and driving in a run on a sac fly and Ryan Schimpf had a two RBI double but the Bisons lost 6-4 to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Scott Copeland had a rare poor outing, giving up six runs on 11 hits including, even more rarely, two home runs. Greg Burke threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball while Colt Hynes and Bobby Korecky combined for a scoreless ninth with Korecky stranding the bases loaded.

Andy Burns and George Kottaras each had two hits with Burns hitting a double and scoring and Kottaras coming around to score. Matt Hague was 1/3 with a walk and a run.

Roster Notes: Ty Kelly was sent outright to Buffalo.

Player of the Game: Kottaras and Burns

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6, Portland Sea Dogs 9
The Fisher Cats allowed one to get away, carrying a two-run lead into the ninth before ultimately losing to the Portland Sea Dogs. Luis Perez allowed four runs as the starter, going five innings while Danny Barnes was outstanding in three innings of relief, pitching to the minimum and striking out five. Greg Infante was charged with a blown save and a loss, allowing five unearned runs on five hits in the ninth.

Dwight Smith, Jr. was 2/4 with a double and a walk, scoring twice while Jack Murphy also had two hits and two RBI. Derrick Chung was 1/2 with a double and two walks and K.C. Hobson drove in two runs.

Roster Notes: Jack Murphy was activated off the DL and Wil Browning was promoted to New Hampshire while Scott Barnes was placed on the DL.

Player of the Game: Smith, Jr. and Barnes

Dunedin Blue Jays 10, Tampa Yankees 6
The Blue Jays sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and scored eight of them, taking the lead and beating Tampa. Despite four errors by the Yankees, only three runs were unearned. Matt Dean has been getting hot and went 3/5 with an RBI, two runs and a stolen base. L.B. Dantzler drove home three runs with a 2/5 night, hitting a double and scoring a run. Christian Lopes drove in a pair and walked twice while Anthony Alford walked twice and scored one, adding a stolen base. Derrick Loveless also had two hits and a walk, picking up an RBI and a run.

Derek Blacksher allowed eight hits and three runs over 4 1/3 innings while Lendy Castillo threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Griffin Murphy gave up three runs (two earned) in just a third of an inning before Brady Dragmire finished off the game, earning the win with 1 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, striking out two but allowing one of Murphy’s inherited runners to score.

Roster Notes: Wil Browning was promoted to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and Luis Santos was activated off the DL.

Player of the Game: Dean and Dantzler

Lansing Lugnuts 9, Fort Wayne TinCaps 11
In a game that saw 29 hits, 20 runs and five errors, the Lugnuts came up on the right side of two of those columns but fell short in the only one that mattered, dropping a pitched battle that saw both clubs score in bunches. Josh Almonte had a career day, missing the cycle by a home run and going 4/4 with two singles, a double and a triple, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Chris Carlson (2/5, BB, RBI, R), Richard Urena (2/5, R), Jason Leblebijian (2/5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI, R), D.J. Davis (2/6, 2 R) and Michael De La Cruz (2/5, 2B, RBI, R, SB) all had two-hit games.

Tom Robson made the start and didn’t have his command, walking four batters and allowing four runs in 2 2/3 innings, leaving the bases loaded for Mark Biggs, who allowed the TinCaps to clear them. Biggs allowed four runs of his own on six hits in 2 1/3 innings while Jose Fernandez also pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up just two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Phil Kish allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings, taking the loss.

Player of the Game: Almonte

Vancouver Canadians
Scheduled Off Day

Bluefield Blue Jays 4, Burlington Royals 2
Despite just five hits for the offense, the pitching staff was up to the task of holding Burlington to just two runs in a win for the Blue Jays. Miguel Burgos gave up a home run and four other hits to surrender two runs with two walks and four strikeouts in six innings. Zak Wasilewski threw two scoreless innings and was followed by Jackson Lowery who gave up two hits in his inning of relief to earn the save.

Christian Williams had the big hit, going 1/4 with a triple and two RBI while Freddy Rodriguez was 1/2 with an RBI and a run.

Player of the Game: Williams and Burgos

GCL Blue Jays 2, GCL Red Sox 3
The GCL Blue Jays dropped the first game of their best-of-three series against the GCL Red Sox, giving away the game in the bottom of the ninth. Denis Diaz allowed just one run through five innings, striking out four and walking one while Nate Abel kept the Sox off the board for 2 1/3 innings. The normally solid Mike Estevez gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits over the last 1 1/3 innings for the loss. Nash Knight (2/4, 2B, R) and Juandy Mendoza (2/4, RBI) had multi-hit games while Lance Jones added a double.

Player of the Game: Diaz, Knight and Mendoza

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