Three wins, two losses, one serious thumping and a rainout: just another Friday night at the ballpark for the Junior Jays.
Syracuse 8 Ottawa 2
Box score
Game story
Eric Crozier must like the Great White North. In his first game north of the border as a member of the Blue Jay organization, Crozier banged out 4 hits (3 singles and a double), drove in 2 runs and scored another. Leadoff hitter Anton French continued to rip the ball, with 3 more singles and a walk, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, and another steal. Hitting out of the third spot in the order, Russ Adams had 2 more hits (an infield single and a long fly double to the centerfield wall), though he also struck out twice. DH Chad Hermansen singled twice, walked and scored 2 runs. Guillermo Quiroz did not play.
On the mound, lefty Dave Maurer made a spot start and pitched well in 4 innings, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks, striking out 1 batter. The win went to Talley Haines, who delivered 3 1-hit frames (a Chad Mottola bomb) and struck out 2. Aquilino Lopez managed to scatter 5 hits in just 2 scoreless innings, striking out 4 against no walks. The Lynx starter, John Maine, is one of the O’s top pitching prospects, but he struggled to hit his spots tonight and was nickeled-and-dimed to death (11 singles and 5 doubles for the Skychiefs).
New Hampshire at New Britain postponed
Rain; doubleheader Saturday.
Tampa 16 Dunedin 1
Box score
Oof. Two Saturdays ago, Chad Pleiness started and took the loss for the D-Jays, and I remarked at the time that he “can’t realistically be considered a big-league prospect” anymore. Many more performances like last night, and he won’t even be a Blue Jay farmhand. Pleiness was hammered for 8 runs, all earned, on 9 hits (including 2 homers) and a walk in just 2 1/3 innings, with no strikeouts. From that point, things actually got worse: Jordy Templet was beaten soundly for 4 runs (3 hits, 2 walks), retiring just 1 batter, while Tracy Thorpe was launched over the wall twice for 4 more runs in his 1 1/3 innings of “relief.” Dunedin’s best pitchers? Erik Kratz, Scott Dragicevich and Jason Waugh, who fired a combined 3 shutout innings (2 hits, 2 walks, 1 K). Maybe these guys could pitch in Toronto.
Doubles by Ron Davenport and Raul Tablado were virtually the only highlights offensively; Ryan Roberts struck out 3 times.
Charleston 6 Hagerstown 3 (5 1/2 innings)
Box score
Game story
You don’t see too many 5-inning complete games, but that’s what Danny Core produced last night. In the latest installment of his up-and-down season, Core pitched an up game by allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk in the rain-and-wind-shortened contest, striking out 6. Jermy Acey and Mike Galloway paced the offence with a single and home run apiece, while shortstop William Rivera drove in a run with 2 singles. Leadoff man Robinson Diaz doubled and walked in 4 plate trips; Joey Reiman went hitless. The win was the Alley-Cats’ tenth in a row, as they continued to gear up for the playoffs.
Auburn 11 Mahoning Valley 6
Box score
Not a good night for Casey Janssen, who was lit up in his 4 innings to the tune of 5 runs on 8 hits; at least he struck out 4 and didn’t walk anyone. A parade of relievers followed Janssen to the mound, and the most effective, Scott Roy (2 perfect innings, 1 K) got the win. Danny Hill threw another 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk.
Chip Cannon led the offence with a 2-run single and a 3-run blast in 5 plate trips. Two-hit nights for Ryan Klosterman (double-single), Brian Hall (double-single) and Aaron Mathews (triple-single) rounded out the batting success; Klosterman drove in 2 runs from the leadoff spot and swiped his 12th base of the season for good measure.
Burlington 6 Pulaski 5
Box score
The P-Jays spent all night playing catch-up, but in the end the comebacks fell shot. Down 4-1 early, they tied the score in the 3rd; down 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Nick Thomas cracked a solo homer, but it wasn’t enough. Thomas had a walk and a single on the evening as well. Shortstop Eugenio Velez doubled and singled, while first baseman/catcher Joshua Lex walked twice and scored a run. Yuber Rodriquez went hitless in 5 at-bats and took home the golden sombrero for his 4 strikeouts.
The recent struggles of teenage lefty Chi-Hung Cheng continue. Cheng’s command deserted him and he gave up 4 hits and 4 walks in just 2 2/3 inning, leading to 4 runs (3 earned) with 3 Ks. The bullpen was up and down from there: Bryan Gale threw a powerful 2 1/3 innings, allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk, no runs and 4 strikeouts as Pulaski tied the score. But Raymon Sanchez gave up the 2 go-ahead runs on 3 walks and a hit in his 1 inning, and stellar relief thereafter from Michael Rider (3 scoreless innings, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts) went for naught.
Your Three-Star Selection:
The Third Star: Anton French, Syracuse: 3 singles, 1 walk, 2 runs, 2 RBI, and his 9th SB
The Second Star: Eric Crozier, Syracuse: a 4-hit night (3 singles and a double), 2 runs scored and an RBI
The First Star: Chip Cannon, Auburn: A two-run single and a 3-run homer to lead all Jay farmhands in RBIs.
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