July 5 Minor League Report/July 6 Preview

Andy LaRoche
Andy LaRoche

 

The Blue Jays’ bats are still cold as Scott Kazmir tamed them last night in Oakland, resulting in a 5-1 loss for the Jays. There were several outstanding pitching performances last night in the minor leagues too.

 

 

Buffalo Bisons 6, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3

 

Aaron Sanchez had a solid start but gave up two home runs, totaling three runs in six innings with just two walks and four strikeouts. Kyle Drabek got the win with two innings of scoreless relief and Bobby Korecky picked up his 11th save. Andy LaRoche had three hits for the Bisons, one of them a double and drove in a run while Jonathan Diaz drove in a pair with a double. Cory Aldridge went 2/5 with a double and Ryan Goins was 2/4 with an RBI and a walk. Dan Johnson was also on base three times with a single and two walks.

Player of the Game: Aaron Sanchez and Andy LaRoche

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3, Trenton Thunder 1

 

Matt Boyd returned to New Hampshire with a flourish, throwing six outstanding innings, allowing just one run on a solo home run and four hits in total without walking a man and striking out nine. Casey Lawrence and Gregory Infante finished the game and Lawrence was the benefit of some late offense, earning the win. The hitters only had six hits, including three from Matt Newman who drove in the winning runs with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Jon Berti also contributed with a 2/4 game, a stolen base and an RBI.

 

Matt Newman
Matt Newman

Player of the Game: Matt Boyd and Matt Newman

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Clearwater Threshers 4

 

It was Peter Mooney‘s night to shine for the Dunedin Blue Jays, as he went 3/4 and drove in two runs, hitting a double and stealing a base. Gustavo Pierre also had two hits and all of the Blue Jays had at least one hit except for Nick Baligod. Efrain Nieves made the start, throwing four innings and allowing two runs before giving way to Tony Davis who gave up an unearned run in 2 2/3 innings. Wil Browning earned the win and Arik Sikula got his 17th save despite giving up a run in the ninth inning.

 

Peter Mooney
Peter Mooney

Player of the Game: Peter Mooney

 

Lansing Lugnuts 3, Great Lakes Loons 5

 

The Lugnuts continue to play close games, losing a tough one to Great Lakes and only getting seven hits all night. Two of those hits were home runs — solo shots — coming off the bats of Anthony Alford and David Harris. Mitch Nay drove in another run for the Lugnuts, his 43rd of the season and D.J. Davis hit a double and took a walk. Brent Powers got the start allowed three runs in three innings. Matt Dermody provided four scoreless innings and Roberto Espinosa took the loss, giving up two runs (one earned) in his two innings.

 

David Harris
David Harris

Player of the Game: Matt Dermody, Anthony Alford and David Harris

 

Vancouver Canadians 5, Spokane Indians 1

 

The Vancouver Canadians are starting to find themselves as they beat one of the best teams in the Northwest League on Saturday. Jonathan Davis launched his first home run for the Canadians, driving in two runs in the second inning to get things going. Also contributing were Ryan McBroom with two hits and two RBI and Roemon Fields with two hits (including a double), a stolen base, two runs scored and an RBI. Miguel Castro was dominant, allowing just an unearned run on two hits and a walk in five innings, striking out six. Chase Mallard provided three scoreless innings and Yeyfry Del Rosario finished the game off, striking out two in the ninth.

Player of the Game: Miguel Castro

 

Bluefield Blue Jays 0, Elizabethton Twins 1

 

In a beautifully pitched game, the Bluefield Blue Jays came up short as the Jays could only muster two hits against Felix Jorge and two relievers. One hit came from Richard Urena and Trent Miller hit a double. Jesus Tinoco was the starter for the Jays and he went six outstanding innings, just giving up a solo home run to Tanner English which held up as the only run of the game. Tinoco allowed four hits and one walk and struck out seven. Daniel Lietz added two innings of relief, giving up just two hits and striking out three batters.

Player of the Game: Jesus Tinoco

 

GCL Blue Jays 10, GCL Astros 8

 

The Blue Jays got some revenge after losing to the Astros on Friday and got some great production from the hitters. Lane Thomas was 2/4 with an RBI, playing third base while Juan Tejada was 2/5 with a triple and three RBI and also stole a base. Edwin Fuentes was 2/5 with a double and Andres De Aza also drove in three with a triple. On the mound, things started well with Grayson Huffman, the Jays’ sixth-round pick this year, throwing two perfect innings to start his professional career, striking out two. Jacob Brentz came in and got dinged for two runs in four innings, giving up three hits and three walks. Brandon Hinkle went two more perfect innings but Canadian Sean Ratcliffe got hammered for six runs in just 1/3 of an inning before Bobby Wheatley came in to stop the bleeding and pick up the save.

Player of the Game: Juan Tejada

 

DSL Blue Jays 10, DSL Brewers 8

 

The DSL Blue Jays almost let a strong start by Denis Diaz go to waste but managed to clamp down and finish with a win. Diaz went five innings and gave up just one unearned run on just two hits and no walks while striking out five. Jose Diaz allowed six runs in two innings but three were unearned. The batters managed to get 13 hits including a 3/3 day with two walks and a stolen base from Rodrigo Orozco and two-hit performances from Jesus Severino (2/5, 2 RBI), Ronniel Demorizi (2/5, 2B, RBI) and Luis Dominguez (2/4). Francisco Rodriguez was 1/4 with a walk but hit his first home run of the year, driving in three.

Player of the Game: Rodrigo Orozco and Denis Diaz

 

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July 6 Preview

 

Buffalo Bisons (46-42)

 

The Buffalo Bisons have a double header today in Rochester, facing the Red Wings starting at 4:05 PM ET on MiLB TV. The Herd send Deck McGuire to the hill for game one and Raul Valdes for the second.

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (40-45)

 

Scott Copeland will head to the mound at 1:35 on MiLB TV in the Fisher Cats’ home tilt against Manny Banuelos and the Yankees-affiliated Trenton Thunder.

 

Dunedin Blue Jays (53-32)

 

At home in Dunedin, the Blue Jays host the Tampa Yankees at 5:00 PM with Kendall Graveman on the mound. Graveman has a 6-3 record and an outstanding 2.70 ERA and he’ll face 22-year-old Dan Camarena, a lefty who has put together a 5-4 record and 2.52 ERA in 82 innings for Tampa.

 

Lansing Lugnuts (41-44)

 

The Lugnuts continue to host the Great Lakes Loons with Chase De Jong (0-5, 5.34) on the mound against Zachary Bird of the Loons (get it? Bird? Loons?). Bird will turn 20 next week and has been starting to put things together and could see a promotion before the end of the year. I saw one of his early season starts and has some excellent stuff that he’ll be throwing at the Lugnuts today.

 

Vancouver Canadians (13-9)

 

Zakery Wasilewski, who has been excellent so far this year for the Vancouver Canadians, goes against Spokane at 6:30 PM ET, putting his 2-0 record with a 2.53 ERA on the line.

Bluefield Blue Jays (6-9)

 

Bluefield is home to the Burlington Royals at 6:05 PM with an unannounced starter taking the ball.

 

The GCL and DSL Blue Jays are off today.

 

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