JB: Barnes, Davis, Dominguez, Fields, Heidt, Hynes, Kotchman, Lake

OF Junior Lake doubled and homered as the triple-A Buffalo Bisons beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Photo: Jay Blue.

April 18, 2016 Minor League Report
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
Two wins and two losses were the order of the day for Monday as the Bisons and Dunedin Blue Jays won and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats lost a heartbreaker in 15 innings.

Buffalo Bisons 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 6
It was a good, old-fashioned slugfest at the ballpark in Scranton as the Bisons finally found their bats, scoring nine times on 15 hits to beat the RailRiders 9-6. Dalton Pompey and A.J. Jimenez (making his first appearance of the year) were the only starters held hitless as each of the other seven batters in the lineup had at least two hits. Casey Kotchman and Junior Lake had big blasts as each had two hits including a double and a home run. Kotchman added a walk and scored twice with one RBI while Lake was 2/5 with two RBI and two runs. Matt Dominguez had three hits, hitting a double and taking a walk while driving in four runs. Jio Mier and Domonic Brown had two singles each while Jesus Montero was 2/4 with two doubles and a walk, driving in one. Andy Burns also had a double and a single, adding a walk.

Drew Hutchison had the start for Buffalo and while he didn’t give up a walk and struck out six through six innings, he also gave up five runs on 10 hits. Chad Jenkins allowed two hits in an inning without giving up a run while Chad Girodo blew the save but took home a win, giving up a run in his inning. Ryan Tepera got the save despite walking two in the ninth inning, striking out one.

Player of the Game: Matt Dominguez, Casey Kotchman and Junior Lake

Roster Notes: Humberto Quintero was released and A.J. Jimenez was activated.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3, Hartford Yard Goats 4
The Fisher Cats lost another close game, dropping to a 4-6 record after a 4-3 loss in 15 innings to the Hartford Yard Goats. Jeremy Gabryszwski had another strong start, throwing 6 1/3 innings of three run (two earned) ball, allowing six hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Wil Browning finished the seventh inning and despite not allowing a hit or walk, allowed one of the two inherited runners to score via a batter reaching due to an error and a runner coming in via a sacrifice fly. Colt Hynes stepped in and threw three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit with six strikeouts while Danny Barnes matched him with three more innings of no-hit ball, striking out five. Daniel Schlereth pitched one scoreless inning but in his second inning, he allowed the Yard Goats to score the winning run in the top of the 15th.

The Fisher Cats scattered 16 hits and seven walks over the game’s 15 innings but couldn’t score more than three times. Roemon Fields had two doubles and a stolen base, going 3/8 with a run. Jon Berti (2/7, 2B, BB), K.C. Hobson (2/7, 2B), Shane Opitz (2/7), Ian Parmley (2.7) and Jorge Flores (2/5, 2B, BB, SB, R) also had two hits each. Rowdy Tellez hit his second home run of the year, a solo shot, and walked twice.

Player of the Game: Roemon Fields, Danny Barnes and Colt Hynes

Dunedin Blue Jays 10, Palm Beach Cardinals 3
Tom Robson had his best start of the year while the Dunedin bats stayed hot and the Dunedin Blue Jays defeated the Palm Beach Cardinals 10-3. Robson worked five strong innings and allowed only one run, despite giving up three hits and three walks, striking out four. Brad Allen allowed two runs in two innings on four hits while Tim Mayza dropped his ERA to 1.17 with two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk with three strikeouts.

Richard Urena (3/5, 2B, RBI, 2 R), Jason Leblebijian (3/5, R, RBI) and Jonathan Davis  all had three-hit games with Davis falling just a triple short of the cycle, scoring three times and driving in three runs with his single, double and home run. Emilio Guerrero continued to be hot coming off the DL, going 2/5 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs and David Harris was 2/4 with two RBI.

Player of the Game: Jonathan Davis

Lansing Lugnuts 1, Fort Wayne Tincaps 7
The Lugnuts opened their new series with the Fort Wayne Tincaps with a 7-1 loss. Starter Ryan Cook left the game after one batter in the fifth inning due to an injury and had given up six runs (five earned) on five hits and four walks in four innings, in stark contrast to his previous outing in which he allowed only one hit in six innings. Daniel Lietz followed him and allowed his inherited runner to score, also allowing one more run in his two innings, giving up two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Starlyn Suriel shut the door, facing the minimum over two innings, picking up two strikeouts while lefty Colton Turner went 1-2-3 in the ninth.

The offense only put together five hits, getting twof rom Gunnar Heidt who was 2/3 with a walk and a double. Juan Kelly also added a double while Jacob Anderson and Carl Wise added singles (with Wise driving in the club’s only run).

Player of the Game: Gunnar Heidt

Roster Notes: Jonathan Harris was placed on the Temporarily Inactive list and Austin Davis was activated off the DL.

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