Three out of the four Blue Jays’ minor league squads in action won their games and now, only the Lansing Lugnuts still have a losing record although they’re making a run for .500!
Buffalo Bisons 1, Louisville Bats 2
The Buffalo Bisons lost a heartbreaker on Sunday. After taking a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning, Gregory Infante loaded the bases and John Stilson allowed two of those runs to come in to end up losing the game. The offense managed six hits and it was a Chris Getz double that drove home Ricardo Nanita to plate the team’s only run. Despite WalkZilla visiting Ricky Romero, he bent but didn’t break, throwing five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and six walks while striking out four. Interestingly, the Bisons’ pitching staff walked 12 batters but the hitters didn’t take one over the entire game.
Player of the Game: Ricky Romero
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4, Reading Fightin’ Phils 2
The Fisher Cats went above the .500 mark thanks to a great start from Casey Lawrence and some slugging from Kevin Nolan who recently came back to the Fisher Cats. Lawrence was very solid, throwing 6 2/3 innings and getting tagged with just two runs on five hits and a walk. Nolan went 2/4 with a double, a triple and two RBI and another new addition, Mike McDade, went 2/3 with a double and an RBI.
Player of the Game: Kevin Nolan
Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Clearwater Threshers 4
The Dunedin Blue jays keep finding ways to win as they got just enough offense to beat the Threshers. Ben White started and allowed all four runs on nine hits and one walk. Dalton Pompey was the story on offense. The day after receiving his Gold Glove award, he showed off a terrific bat, pushing his batting average to .371 by going 3/4 with a single, double and a triple, scoring once and driving in a pair.
Player of the Game: Dalton Pompey
Lansing Lugnuts 6, Bowling Green Hot Rods 5
The Lugnuts are also inching back up to the .500 level, thanks to their 6-5 win over the Hot Rods. Derrick Loveless is now leading the team in batting average (at .340; listen to his interview on Podcast 24) after a 2/2 game with a single, double, walk, stolen base, sac fly, run scored and RBI. Jason Leblebijian is also showing a lot of spark with the bat (and pushing Dickie Joe Thon to the outfield on some nights thanks to his defense), hitting two doubles and going 2/4. Justin Atkinson also had a pair of hits and a walk for the Lugnuts. Jeremy Gabryszwski made the start and was hit fairly hard, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks with just two strikeouts in five innings. Phil Kish earned the win with three innings of three-hit, one-run (unearned) ball while striking out four and Griffin Murphy earned the save with a scoreless inning. Note: Podcast 23 also has interviews with Phil Kish and Lason Leblebijian.
Player of the Game: Phil Kish and Derrick Loveless
April 28 Preview
Buffalo Bisons (11-10)
The Bisons continue their homestand against the Louisville Bats this evening at 6:05 pm with a game on MiLB TV. Chad Reineke, a 32-year-old veteran, goes for the Bats. He’s got a 5.82 ERA in five games (just one start), having thrown 17 innings with four walks and 13 strikeouts. Kyle Drabek hasn’t done much better in his four starts, amassing a 5.03 ERA and getting slugged for 28 hits (including five home runs) in just 19 2/3 innings with six walks and 14 strikeouts.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (11-10)
The Fisher Cats remain at home to take on the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Trenton Thunder. The Fisher Cats haven’t announced their starter yet (although it should be Aaron Sanchez‘s day to pitch) while Zach Nuding will be on the mound for the Thunder. Nuding has made four starts and the big Texan has a 2-0 record with a 3.00 ERA and excellent peripherals (six walks, 24 strikeouts in 24 innings) so far. Catch the game on the (internet) radio with Tom Gauthier and Bob Lipman at 6:35 PM ET.
Dunedin Blue Jays (18-5)
The D-Jays head to Tampa to take on the Yankees and their 13-10 record. Jesse Hernandez (1-1, 3.94 ERA) takes the ball for the Blue Jays against an unannounced starter for the Yanks. Hernandez, 25, has had mixed results so far this year. He has been excellent at times but has also been hit hard over the span of a couple of innings. The positive is that he’s been able to recover from poor innings and keep his team in the game. This game’s a 7 PM start on the internet and radio.
Lansing Lugnuts (10-12)
The Lugnuts head to Dayton, Ohio to take on the Dragons and will have a tough pitching match up today. The Dragons have left-handed Venezuelan Ismael Guillon, 22, who has been excellent thus far in his third go-round in the Midwest League. Guillon has a 1-0 record with a 1.16 ERA and is coming off a scoreless, seven-inning, two-hit, 11-strikeout performance in his last start against South Bend. The Lugnuts counter with the piggybacking duo of Chase DeJong and Adonys Cardona. De Jong has had two good outings in a row and has lowered his ERA to 4.61 and is averaging just under a strikeout per inning. Cardona has yet to make an appearance without giving up a run and his last appearance had his season-high strikeout total (five) but also had his season-high run and hit totals (2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). Listen to the game on the internet and radio with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and Trey Wilson on the call.
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