June 3 Minor League Report

Matt Boyd
Matt Boyd

On the day of a stellar performance by Blue Jays’ starter Mark Buehrle, the Blue Jays’ affiliates got some great starts including those from prospects Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd.

 

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Buffalo Bisons 0, Indianapolis Indians 3

 

Daniel Norris
Daniel Norris

Although Daniel Norris was excellent for the Buffalo Bisons, his opponent, Clayton Richard was able to neutralize the Buffalo Bisons’ bats, leading to a 3-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Indianapolis Indians. Norris threw seven innings and allowed all three runs on seven hits including a home run but he only walked one and struck out eight, throwing 97 pitches, 69 of them for strikes. Gregory Infante finished the game with a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out another. Despite not scoring, three Bisons had two hits each with Andy Burns (2/4), Dalton Pompey (2/4) and Sean Ochinko (2/3) accounting for three-quarters of the team’s hits. Burns stole his third base with Buffalo but Pompey was picked off and caught stealing.

Roster Notes: Scott Copeland was optioned to Buffalo after being on the Blue Jays’ roster for their double header.

Player of the Game: Daniel Norris

 

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1, Bowie Baysox 0

 

Wednesday’s action in Manchester New Hampshire featured a classic pitcher’s duel between the Fisher Cats’ Matt Boyd and Elih Villanueva. Thanks to an error charged to Bowie second baseman Garabez Rosa, Shane Opitz scored following his triple, accounting for the only run in the game. Boyd went 8 1/3 innings, throwing 103 pitches and allowing only three hits and one walk while striking out six. He retired ten batters on flyouts and got three groundouts. Blake McFarland notched his eighth save with two-thirds of an inning of work, striking out one.

The hitters did little with just four hits aside from Opitz’s triple. Dwight Smith, Jr., Melky Mesa, Kevin Nolan and Cole Garner all had singles while Mesa and Garner helped Boyd out with outfield assists.

Roster Notes: Catcher Chris Schaeffer was sent down to Dunedin.

Player of the Game: Matt Boyd

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Clearwater Threshers 6

 

Matt Dean
Matt Dean

The hard-luck Dunedin Blue Jays saw a three-run lead evaporate in the ninth inning as they let a very winnable game slip away. Luis Santos contributed a strong start with two runs against over six innings, tallying five hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Chad Girodo contributed another two strong innings of scoreless ball, bringing his ERA down to 1.38 on the season, allowing one hit and one walk with a strikeout. Justin Shafer walked the first man he faced in the top of the ninth and things unraveled from there. He allowed two consecutive singles and then uncorked a wild pitch and then gave up a double scoring two more runs to tie the game. Alberto Tirado came in but made a throwing error fielding a sac bunt, letting the go-ahead run score before he retired the next three batters to finish the inning.

The hitters put together some offense, getting multi-hit games from Roemon Fields (2/4, R), and Mitch Nay (2/4, 2B, RBI) while Derrick Loveless hit a two-run home run in the second and Matt Dean was 1/3 with a triple and a walk. Dickie Joe Thon also hit a triple, driving in a pair of runs.

Roster Notes: Catcher Mike Reeves was sent down to Lansing and Chris Schaeffer came to Dunedin from New Hampshire.

Player of the Game: Luis Santos, Mitch Nay and Matt Dean

 

Lansing Lugnuts 3, Burlington Bees 6

 

Tim Locastro
Tim Locastro

The Lansing Lugnuts’ starter Shane Dawson was hit hard in one of his only poor starts this year but he still struck out six batters in just three innings. Despite the strikeout total, he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits (including a home run) and only lasted the three innings. Dawson didn’t help his own cause, making two errors in his outing. Dusty Isaacs provided three innings of hitless (with two walks) relief, striking out three and Tim Mayza continues to put his slow start to the year behind him with three scorless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to 3.60. Since coming back from Extended Spring Training, Mayza has only allowed two earned runs in almost nine innings of work, both in his first game back up.

Tim Locastro led the way with three hits and a stolen base while scoring a run. Ryan McBroom and Crhis Carlson hit the only doubles of the game for the Lugnuts while a couple of Canadians, Mike Reeves and Justin Atkinson were both 1/3 with a walk. Anthony Alford and D.J. Davis were both 1/4 with an RBI and one strikeout.

Roster Notes: Mark Biggs was placed on the 7-day DL while C Mike Reeves went to Lansing, likely to fill the spot opened when Danny Jansen went on the DL himself.

Player of the Game: Tim Locastro

 

DSL Blue Jays 5, DSL White Sox 12

 

The DSL Blue Jays got pummeled by the White Sox, hemorrhaging runs in every inning but the fourth and seventh. Juan Nunez started and allowed three runs (two earned) in 2 2/3 innings while Yennsy Diaz took the loss with two unearned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Manuel Dominguez allowed three runs in an inning while Alvaro Galindo gave up two in 1 2/3 innings. Jose Agrinzones and Guillermo De La Cruz finished the game with 2/3 of an inning each and De La Cruz didn’t allow a hit or a run and actually stranded two runners. Incredibly, despite this deluge of scoring by the White Sox, no Blue Jay pitcher allowed an inherited runner to score.

The offense was led, once again, by Norberto Obeso who was 3/5 while right fielder Antony Fuentes was 2/4 with two RBI. Sterling Guzman, playing third base was 2/4 with an RBI and a walk while Jesus Navarro (playing both second base and shortstop) was 1/3 with a run, an RBI and a walk. Manuel Herazo (C) drove in a run with the team’s only extra-base hit, a double.

Player of the Game: Norberto Obeso and Sterling Guzman

 

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