August 16 Minor League Report/August 17 Preview

Scott Copeland
Scott Copeland

 

Blue Jays win! Blue Jays win! Okay, I shouldn’t be so excited for just a win but the Jays did get a win on the road against the White Sox with a decent enough outing from Mark Buerhle and some great hitting by Melky Cabrera and excellent work by the bullpen that included another save from Casey Janssen and 1 2/3 scoreless innings by Aaron Sanchez.

 

 

Buffalo Bisons 5, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 0

 

For the second consecutive day, a Buffalo Bisons pitcher making his second Triple-A start has demolished the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. On Saturday, it was Scott Copeland (a guy that I’ve thought was was pretty underrated since I saw him pitch in spring training) who held the Phillies’ Triple-A farm club to minimal offense, throwing seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Recent waiver claim Colt Hynes pitched a perfect eighth and Steve Delabar‘s control got him into trouble in the ninth, needing 32 pitches to strike out the side around a hit and two walks. The offense gave the club plenty to work with: George Kottaras went 2/4 with a home run and four RBI, Ryan Goins was 2/4 and Kevin Pillar pushed his batting average to .328 with a 3/4 game that included a double.

Player of the Game: Scott Copeland and George Kottaras

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 8, Akron RubberDucks 5

 

In somewhat of a weird pitching game, the Fisher Cats won over the RubberDucks 8-5. Reliever Blake McFarlands started and only went one inning before Richard Bleier came into pitch five more, allowing only one hit — a solo home run — without walking anyone and striking out five. Justin Jackson continued to struggle in Double-A, allowing three hits and two runs over 2/3 of an inning while Randy Boone stranded a pair of Jackson’s runners and allowed one run of his own in 2 1/3 innings, picking up his 10th save of the season. K.C. Hobson had a big game, going 3/4 with a double and two RBI while Andy Burns was 2/4 with a double. Matt Newman hit his 6th home run of the season.

 

Richard Bleier
Richard Bleier

Player of the Game: Richard Bleier and K.C. Hobson

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 1, Brevard County Manatees 5

 

Roberto Osuna isn’t quite his old self just yet as he allowed five runs over 3 1/3 innings (striking out four) in another start coming back from TJ surgery. Efrain Nieves provided 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief but the damage was already done. Jorge Saez had two of the club’s four hits.

 

Efrain Nieves
Efrain Nieves

Player of the Game: Jorge Saez and Efrain Nieves

 

Lansing Lugnuts 1, South Bend Silver Hawks 5

 

Inexplicably, Jeremy Gabryszwski was back in Lansing and he may have been a bit jetlagged and shellshocked from his demotion and travel from Florida. He managed to keep the damage from his 12 hits allowed down to just four runs over six innings. The offense was pretty bad, getting only four hits over the course of the game.

Player of the Game: None

 

Vancouver Canadians 5, Everett AquaSox 2

 

The Vancouver Express keeps on rolling thanks to some great pitching performances on Saturday. Daniel Lietz allowed two runs on a two-run home run but was otherwise solid, walking just one and striking out six over six innings. Alberto Tirado had one of his best outings, throwing two hitless innings and walking just one. Franklin Barreto was 2/5 with two doubles, a stolen base and an RBI while Alexis Maldonado was 3/3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run. Tim Locastro contributed as well, driving in three runs with two hits and Roemon Fields stole two bases and scored twice despite going 0/4 with a walk.

Player of the Game: Franklin Barreto and Alexis Maldonado

 

Bluefield Blue Jays 5, Princeton Rays 3

 

The Bluefield boys did just enough to pull out a win with Francisco Rios scattering 10 hits to give up three runs over six innings. Conor Fisk and Dusty Isaacs split the rest of the game and held Princeton off the board. Richard Urena was 2/3 with a walk while Rowdy Tellez had the big blow, hitting a three-run home run in the eighth inning to put the club on top.

 

Richard Urena
Richard Urena

Player of the Game: Rowdy Tellez and Richard Urena

 

GCL Blue Jays 4, GCL Braves 2

 

In the first half of a double-header that was stifled due to rain, the Blue Jays beat the Braves in a low-scoring game. Hansel Rodriguez gave up both runs in three innings but Angel Perdomo threw three hitless innings and Francis Eduardo pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the save. The club had only six hits but four of them were for extra bases including doubles from Deiferson Barreto (1/4, 2B, R, RBI), Nathan DeSouza (1/3, 2B, R) and Yeltsin Gudino (1/3, 2B, R) and a triple from Freddy Rodriguez (1/3, 3B, RBI).

Player of the Game: Angel Perdomo and Freddy Rodriguez

 

DSL Blue Jays 3, DSL Phillies 7

 

The pitching wasn’t great as the first two on the mound (Juan Nunez and Yonardo Herdenez) gave up four and three runs (respectively) over the first 5 1/3 innings. Javier Hernandez was 2/4 with a double, as was Bryan Lizardo who added a stolen base.

Player of the Game: Bryan Lizardo and Javier Hernandez

 

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August 17 Preview

 

Buffalo Bisons (68-59)

 

The Bisons send yet another rookie Triple-A pitcher to the mound today against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Kendall Graveman who, despite his 1-2 record, has only allowed three runs in 19 innings with Buffalo. This one is at 5:35 PM on MiLB TV.

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (60-66)

 

Austin Bibens-Dirkx goes for the Fisher Cats as they host the Akron RubberDucks on MiLB TV at 1:35 PM.

 

Dunedin Blue Jays (73-51)

 

Matt Boyd goes for Dunedin as they seem to be setting up their rotation for the playoffs. He’ll face the Brevard County Manatees at 5:00 PM.

 

Lansing Lugnuts (56-67)

 

The Lugnuts send Starlyn Suriel to the mound to face the South Bend Silver Hawks at 2:05 PM.

 

Vancouver Canadians (36-25)

 

Zak Wasilewski hasn’t had a great season for the Vancouver Canadians as he takes the hill with a 3-5 record and 7.04 ERA against the 21-40 Everett AquaSox at 7:05 PM ET.

Bluefield Blue Jays (27-29)

 

Bluefield has an unannounced starter on the mound against the Burlington Royals on the road at 6:00 PM.

 

The GCL and DSL Blue Jays are both off today.

 

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