May 18 Minor League Report/May 19 Preview

 

Shawn Hill
Shawn Hill

 

I picked one heck of a day to visit Buffalo and see the Bisons rack up a convincing victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. I also saw Ernie Whitt, a childhood idol of mine, who’s a roaming instructor with the Phillies who was in Buffalo.

 

 

Buffalo Bisons 7, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 1

 

The Bisons found their bats on a beautiful, mostly sunny day in Western New York, slamming 16 hits against Lehigh Valley pitching and chasing starter David Buchanan after the first inning. All nine Bisons had at least one hit with Darin Mastroianni leading the way with three while Ryan Goins, Brad Glenn, Matt Tuiasosopo, Brett Carroll and Mike Nickeas all had two. Jared Goedert had the only home run while Dan Johnson had two more walks to go with his single. On the mound, Shawn Hill, fresh off the birth of his second daughter on Friday, was excellent on the mound, throwing seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball, walking two and striking out five. The bullpen was spectacular, getting an inning each from Rob Rasmussen and Ryan Tepera. Both men struck out all three batters they faced.

 

Ernie Whitt
Ernie Whitt

Player of the Game: Shawn Hill

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 8, Binghamton Mets 9

 

In a wild game, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats ended up losing a game they fought hard to come back and tie. Binghamton was out to a 6-0 lead that was 7-2 at the seventh inning stretch but the Fisher Cats came back to tie, scoring five runs in the seventh thanks to some bad pitching (RBI walk and HBP) and a three-run double by Gabe Jacobo. The Mets went back out in front with a run in the eighth but the Fisher Cats rallied again, thanks to a sac fly from Andy Burns that scored a Jonathan Jones double, tying the game at eight runs apiece. From then until the 14th inning, there was no scoring but Binghamton got a one-out double followed by two singles off of lefty Tony Davis and the Fisher Cats didn’t have an answer. Starter Casey Lawrence got hit around but Dustin Antolin, Scott Gracey and Randy Boone were very solid, allowing just one run in 6 1/3 innings until Davis came back out for the 14th.

The hitters put together 14 hits with two apiece from Jon Berti, Andy Burns, Gabe Jacobo and Matt Newman (in his first Double-A game) while Jonathan Jones went 3/5 with a walk. Jacobo’s four RBI played a big role in the game while Burns drove in a pair and took a walk.

Player of the Game: Gabe Jacobo

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Bradenton Marauders 4

 

The Dunedin magic continues with the Blue Jays rallying in the bottom of the ninth to score three and walk off with a victory over the Bradenton club. Taylor Cole, the team’s reigning strikeout king started the game and was very solid, striking out seven in six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks. Marcus Knecht had the game-winning hit, driving home a pair with his single with two on, adding to his single and double from earlier in the game. Dwight Smith, Jr. had two hits (a single and a double) as well as two walks and scored twice. Dalton Pompey, returning to the lineup after to games off, went 0/3 but walked twice. Nick Baligod had another two hits and a walk for the Blue Jays.

 

Marcus Knecht
Marcus Knecht

Player of the Game: Marcus Knecht

 

Lansing Lugnuts 4, Dayton Dragons 3

 

With another walkoff victory, the Lansing Lugnuts came off the field in the bottom of the ninth with a win despite being outhit by the Dragons 14-5. In the Lugnuts’ case, it was two fielding miscues that led to the win with Justin Atkinson reaching on an error, going to third on a Santiago Nessy single and scoring on a passed ball. Derrick Loveless had the only extra-base hit of the game, a double. Jorge Saez was on base three times with a single and two walks while Santiago Nessy had a walk to go with his crucial hit in the ninth. Matt Dermody was solid but managed to get out of a lot of scrapes, allowing just one run on eight hits and a walk. Scott Silverstein earned the win after 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief but he did allow one of Brady Dragmire‘s runs to score.

 

Santiago Nessy
Santiago Nessy

Player of the Game: Jorge Saez and Santiago Nessy

 

 

May 19 Preview

 

Buffalo Bisons (22-18)

 

The Bisons send Chad Jenkins to the mound for a Victoria Day matinee at 1:05 PM on MiLB TV. Jenkins is making his first start in Buffalo in a month (last one was April 19) and he appeared just three days ago, allowing two runs on three hits in one inning of work.

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (15-26)

 

The Fisher Cats haven’t announced their starter for the first game of a double header with the Reading Fightin’ Phils that starts at 5:05 PM. This game is on MiLB TV. Game 2 has Aaron Sanchez scheduled to start (although he could conceivably start game 1).

 

Dunedin Blue Jays (31-11)

 

The Blue Jays send Ben White to the hill while continuing their home stand against the Bradenton Marauders and 24-year-old Pat Ludwig. White has been very strong, putting up a 3.00 ERA with a 1.29 WHIP and 21 strikeouts in 42 innings. This game goes at 6:30 PM ET.

 

Lansing Lugnuts (21-21)

 

The Lugnuts are glad to see the Dragons leave town and are now facing the Bowling Green Hot Rods with Jeremy Gabryszwski facing off against Chris Kirsch. Gaby has been one of the most consistent starters for the Lugnuts and has thrown at least six innings in five of his last six games.

 

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All photos are copyright Blue Jays from Away (2013-2014) and may not be used without permission.