Leonel Campos delivers a pitch. All Photos: Jay Blue

By: Jay Blue

Blue Jays From Away

The Blue Jays’ minor league affiliates had an excellent day, going 4-1 in their games with all four clubs winning (and the Lansing Lugnuts splitting a double header).

Buffalo Bisons 5, Rochester Red Wings 2

Casey Lawrence made his return to the Buffalo Bisons’ rotation after a brief call up to Toronto and was strong in his first outing, leading the Bisons to a 5-2 win over the Rochester Red Wings. Lawrence went three innings, allowing three hits but didn’t walk anyone and struck out four before Mike Bolsinger took over with 1 2/3 innings, striking out three and allowing two hits and a walk. Matt Dermody got the win, throwing 1 2/3 innings of perfect ball and striking out all five batters he faced. Chad Girodo relieved him and ran into trouble, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning. Leonel Campos earned the save with two perfect innings, striking out three.

Christian Lopes was 2/2 with two runs and Ian Parmley was 2/3 with a walk and a run, bringing his batting average to .583. Chris Coghlan, Jake Elmore and Luke Maile had an RBI each while Shane Opitz drove home two with a single in the sixth.

Player of the Game: Casey Lawrence, Matt Dermody and Leonel Campos

Roster Notes: Shane Opitz was assigned to the Buffalo Bisons from extended spring training and Ty Kelly was assigned to Buffalo after being claimed on waivers by the Blue Jays. Chris Smith and Darrell Ceciliani were put on the 7-day DL.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5, Reading Fightin Phils 3

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats got things turned around with a 5-3 win over the Reading Fightin Phils but starter Sean Reid-Foley struggled again and was pulled in the second inning. Reid-Foley threw 49 pitches over his first two innings, giving up a three-run home run in the second but walked a pair, gave up three hits and hit a batter.

Alonzo Gonzalez tossed 3 1/3 strong innings of relief, allowing two hits and one walk with three strikeouts before Tim Mayza relieved him, allowing two more hits in two innings while striking out a pair to pick up the win. Jose Fernandez earned his save, throwing two hitless innings, walking one and striking out three.

While the Fisher Cats went down 3-0 early, they managed to come back and defeat the Fightins. Everyone in the lineup got a hit except for Tim Lopes and Gunnar Heidt led the way with a 3/4 game, missing a cycle by a triple and hitting his second home run of the year, driving in three and scoring once. Emilio Guerrero had a pair of singles and scored twice while Raffy Lopez also went deep, driving in a pair in a 1/4 day. Harold Ramirez had a double and Jonathan Davis was 1/3 with a walk and an outfield assist but he also committed an error.

Player of the Game: Gunnar Heidt

Dunedin Blue Jays 11, Florida Fire Frogs 5

The Dunedin Blue Jays turned their losing ways around, defeating the Florida Fire Frogs 11-5 and escaped being swept by the Atlanta Braves’ Advanced-A club. Cavan Biggio, Matt Dean and D.J. Davis led the offense with two hits each. D.J. Davis led the offense, going 3/5 with three RBI including a bases-loaded, two-run double to open the scoring in the second inning. Leading 5-1 throughout most of the game, the Blue Jays scored two more runs in the top of the eighth and another four in the top of the ninth.

The ninth had the Blue Jays capitalizing on four consecutive walks which were followed by singles by J.C. Cardenas, D.J. Davis and Andrew Guillotte, each driving in one run. Cavan Biggio (2/6, 2 RBI, SB), Guillotte (2/6, RBI), Matt Dean (2/4, BB, 2 R) and Cardenas (2/4. BB, RBI, R) each had two hits while Lane Thomas was 1/2 with three walks, three RBI, two runs and an outfield assist. Derrick Loveless was the only hitter to go hitless but was 0/2 with three walks and three runs.

Jordan Romano was on the mound, fighting to keep the Fire Frogs off the scoreboard. He went four innings, giving up one unearned run but walked three, allowed three hits and struck out three. Romano, with 85 pitches under his belt after four innings, left the game and made way for Ryan Cook who was excellent, tossing three innings and allowing one hit while striking out four. Adonys Cardona followed with a scoreless eighth, despite allowing two hits and a walk. Andrew Case was tagged for four runs in the ninth, giving up four hits including a three-run home run.

Player of the Game: D.J. Davis, Lane Thomas and Ryan Cook

Lansing Lugnuts 4, Bowling Green Hot Rods 0

The Lansing Lugnuts pitching dominated the Bowling Green Hot Rods in the opener of their double header on Wednesday. Starter Andy Ravel picked up his first win by throwing five scoreless inning, allowing just three hits and striking out four. Lefty Tayler Saucedo finished the game with two perfect innings, striking out five for one of his best outings since joining the Blue Jays.

Seven different Lugnuts had a hit each and Bo Bichette opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning, driving home J.B. Woodman. Bichette later walked with the bases loaded, bringing home another run.

Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. didn’t have a hit but he walked and drove in a run by grounding out in the three-run fifth inning. Edward Olivares drove in the remaining run, singling to drive in Ryan Hissey in the fifth, going 1/4 while Jake Thomas and Yeltsin Gudino each went 1/2 with a run and a walk.

Player of the Game: Andy Ravel and Tayler Saucedo

Lansing Lugnuts 3, Bowling Green Hot Rods 5

In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Lansing fell behind early but the Lugnuts chipped away, coming back to tie it before the Bowling Green Hot Rods scored two in the bottom of the sixth to take the win 5-3.

Justin Maese threw a complete game, giving up all five runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk in six innings with two strikeouts. As is usual for Justin Maese, far more of his outs came on the ground with nine groundouts and four flyouts. Even four of the hits off of Maese came on ground balls.

J.B. Woodman and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. each had two hits with Guerrero going 2/3 with his second home run of the year. Christian Williams drove in a run, as did Bo Bichette, both of whom were 1/3.

Player of the Game: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

Jay Blue: Cook, Guerrero, Heidt, Lawrence, Ravel