Friday was a 1-3 day for the Blue Jays’ minor league affiliates. Buffalo got some help from some relatively young blood while someone in Lansing is making his case that he doesn’t belong there and should move up a level. The Fisher Cats couldn’t quite catch up and the D-Jays bats were stymied by the Manatees.
Buffalo Bisons 5, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 1
Andy Burns made his Triple-A debut playing second base and he contributed to the Buffalo Bisons’ 5-1 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs with a 4/4 game that included a double. Sean Ochinko, another of the younger Bisons had a big game of his own with a 3/4 match, hitting a double and driving in a run. Chris Dickerson drove in a pair with a double and a walk.
Randy Wolf picked up his second victory of the season with five innings of one-run ball, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out three. Rob Rasmussen picked him up with two perfect innings while Steve Delabar and Greg Infante threw an inning apiece without giving up a run.
Roster Note: P Scott Barnes was put on the DL and RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx was activated.
Player of the Game: Andy Burns and Sean Ochinko
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3, New Britain Rock Cats 4
The Fisher Cats came up just short after getting behind the Rock Cats 4-1, scoring a pair in the seventh but weren’t able to make up the deficit. Casey Lawrence lost his second of the year, allowing all four Rock Cats runs over six innings. Luis Perez and Blake McFarland finished the game off with a perfect inning apiece.
Catcher A.J. Jimenez made his first appearance of the season, going 1/4 but making an error on a throw, showing some rust. Kevin Nolan and Shane Opitz had two hits each including a double while Matt Newman was 1/3 with an RBI and a walk. Jake Fox also had a double and drove in a run.
Roster Note: RP Arik Sikula was activated off the DL.
Player of the Game: Kevin Nolan and Shane Opitz
Dunedin Blue Jays 0, Brevard County Manatees 4
The Dunedin Blue Jays failed to score for the second consecutive night as they fell to the Brevard County Manatees 4-0. Newly signed Luis Santos allowed all four runs in 4 2/3 innings on seven hits (including two home runs) and two walks while strikin gout four. Jimmy Cordero struck out a pair over 1 1/3 innings while Brady Dragmire picked up three strikeouts in two perfect innings. The offense only managed six hits including two by David Harris.
Player of the Game: Brady Dragmire and David Harris
Lansing Lugnuts 4, Great Lakes Loons 5
The Lansing Lugnuts played their second extra-inning game in a row, this time going 11 frames before ultimately losing 5-4 to the Great Lakes Loons. Chase Mallard made a very strong start, throwing six innings, allowing just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out two. Chase Wellbrock followed but allowed three runs in the bottom of the seventh to allow Great Lakes to tie up the game before the game went into extras and Mark Biggs was tagged with the loss, allowing a run in 1 1/3 innings.
The offense was generally quiet with the exception of Dickie Joe Thon (Premium members can visit this post for a scouting report on Thon). Thon, playing left field in this game, continues to make his case for a promotion to Dunedin after a 4/5 game that included a home run, pushing his batting average to .409 on the season. Richard Urena went 2/5 with an RBI and Rowdy Tellez hit a sac fly and a double while getting plunked in his first at bat for watching and celebrating his game winning home run from Thursday night’s game a little too much. Danny Jansen hit his first home run of the season but it was his only hit in five at bats. Ryan McBroom was also 1/5 with a double.
Roster Note: LHP Colton Turner was placed on the DL and RHP Chase Wellbrock was activated.
Player of the Game: Dickie Joe Thon
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