The Jays front office might have had a sinking feeling yesterday, the big club lost in a controversial way, while it was a 1-6 day on the farm, with the only win coming in the last game of the day. There were few survivors from the disasters that befell the minor league affiliates yesterday. Syracuse led 5-4 after six innings and lost; Dunedin led 6-0, and 6-4 heading into the ninth and lost. New Hampshire led 2-1 going into the seventh when New Britain scored two and then the heavens opened to end the game. Lansing lost two games and managed to have a walk and three singles in an inning without scoring. Pulaski lost the first game on a late home run but salvaged the nightcap. Auburn were saved from a possible loss by fog and David Bush does not look ready to face major league hitters.
Norfolk 10 Syracuse 8
David Bush was hoping this would be his last AAA start but this start did not deliver a strong signal that he is ready. The first three batters of the game singled to load the bases and a bases loaded walk scored a run, but Bush struck out the next two hitters and escaped further damage. Bush gave up solo home runs in the third and fourth, a run on two hits in the sixth and two more runs on two hits and an error in the seventh. Bush's final line was 7 IP, 11 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 6 runs, 5 earned.
The Chiefs hitters were doing some damage on their own account. John-Ford Griffin had a two run home run in the first, Chad Mottola homered in the fourth, followed by a Gabe Gross single and a Julius Matos double. In the sixth Gross and Matos again combined to score a run to give the Chiefs a 5-4 lead, but Bush allowed 2 runs in the seventh to make it 6-5 Norfolk and Spike Lundberg gave up four more in the eighth. Syracuse scored three more in the eighth and ninth but fell short.
Gross, Mottola and Matos had 3 hits each, Griffin had 2. Box ScoreNew Hampshire 2 New Britain 3 - 7 innings - rain
The Fisher Cats held a 2-1 lead until New Britain scored two in the bottom of the seventh, whereupon the skies opened and the game was called once New Britain had taken their first lead of the game. The Fisher Cats scored in the first inning, Ryan Roberts tripled and scored on a sac fly by Clint Johnston. Alex Romero tied the game with a RBI single in the third off Josh Banks. The Fisher Cats took the lead again in the fourth on doubles by Roberts and Rob Cosby. Pitching and defense were the order of the day until Banks put runners on second and third with one out in the seventh. Banks was pulled with a typical start, 6.1 IP, 7 hits, zero walks, with 2 strikeouts. Brad Mumma came on to make his AA debut, with the infield in, and got two ground balls, to second and first, but in both cases the run scored on a fielders choice at home. New Hampshire had 3 hits in the game, Roberts was 2-3 with a double a triple, and scored both runs.
Box ScoreDunedin 6 Vero Beach 7 - 10 innings
David Purcey started and had a typical Purcey start. Purcey pitched 4.2 innings with the good being eight K's and only two walks, but Purcey allowed eight hits and four runs, two earned. Vero Beach scored two runs in the third on back to back doubles, following a two out error; and two more in the fifth on three hits.
Meanwhile Dunedin jumped out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to David Smith and Adam Lind. Smith hit a two run home run in the second, Lind hit his own two run shot in the third, followed by a two run double by Smith also in the third. The 6-4 score held until the bottom of the ninth when Brian Reed hit the lead off batter and then gave up a game tying home run. Milton Tavarez came on in the bottom of the tenth, hit a batter, walked a batter and allowed a single for the winning run.
Smith went 2-4 with four ribbies and Lind went 3-5 to get his batting average back over .300.
Box ScoreLansing 5 Fort Wayne 7 - completion of suspended game
Lansing 4 Fort Wayne 5
Game one was suspended Saturday in the third with Lansing trailing 4-3. Jordan Timm came into the game to replace yesterdays starter AJ Wideman and pitched well, 5.1 innings, three hits and one walk with three runs allowed but only one earned. The offense were held to eight hits and only one extra base hit. Eric Nielsen went 3-5 with 2 ribbies, Christian Snavely had two hits, scored two runs, and Ryan Klosterman also had two hits.
In the regularly scheduled game Po-Hsuan Keng had a shaky start, he walked the first two hitters, uncorked a wild pitch, allowed three hits and only got out of the inning thanks to a caught stealing. In the second inning Keng allowed another run on a walk and two singles and again Joey Reiman picked off a runner to end the inning. That was enough of that and Jordy Templet came on to start the third and pitched very well, four shutout innings with only two hits.
Offensively, in the third inning Lansing performed the unusual feat of having three singles and a walk but failing to score thanks to a double play. The Lugnuts scored a run in the first thanks to a single by Christian Snavely and a double from Charlie Anderson. Lansing added another in the second through a Ryan Klosterman double and a single by Eugenio Velez. Anderson homered in the fifth and Klosterman singled in the sixth and scored on an error. Snavely, Anderson and Klosterman each had two hits.
Box Score - suspended gameAuburn 0 Brooklyn 3 - suspended after 4 innings due to fog
Eric Fowler started and gave up three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five. Auburn were held off the board with three hits, two more by Ryan Patterson.
Box ScorePulaski 1 Bristol 2 - game 1
Pulaski 6 Bristol 4 - game 2
In game 1 Dennis Bigley pitched four good innings only allowing one run on four hits and a walk. Jacob Butler homered in the top of the sixth to tie the game but Bristol homered off Hector Delgadillo in the bottom of the sixth to give them the win. Pulaski had five hits in the game.
Butler homered again in the second game, a 2 run shot in the third inning to tie the game at 2 but Pulaski trailed 3-2 going into the sixth. The Jays scored four in the sixth and it was a team effort as three singles and four walks contributed to the runs, not forgetting a ground out to score a run, something the Jays could have used yesterday. Connor Falkenbach picked up his first pro save. Reidier Gonzalez started for the P_Jays, pitching 5 innings with five hits, two walks and five K's. Wesley Stone led the Jays hitters going 3-4 to keep his batting average over .300, pretty good for a high school pick. Jacob Butler went 2-3 with the home run.
Box Score - game 1Your Three Star Selection
Third star - Jacob Butler 2 home runs
Second Star - Ryan Roberts, double, triple and scored both runs
First Star - David Smith, drove in four runs
Standings Update
Syracuse record is 48-47. The Chiefs are tied for third, six games back of Buffalo.
The Fisher Cats are 49-45, and are in second place, a half game back of Portland.
Dunedin are 15-8, good for first place, one and a half games ahead of Lakeland.
The Lugnuts are 10-12, and are fourth, two and a half games back of two teams.
Auburn are 12-12, tied for second place, a half games behind Jamestown.
Pulaski are 11-14, in third place, five games behind Danville.
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