First round selection David Cooper continued his assault on minor league pitchers with a 2-for-5 night with two RBI in his first game in Dunedin on Thursday night. Dunedin represents Cooper's third minor league stop already this year despite having just signed his first pro contract in June. Travis Snider, playing left field, also had a successful AAA debut, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. The Baby Jays managed to go 3-3 despite being outscored, in total, 38-19. The MLU is a joint effort today.
Charlotte 0 Syracuse 2
Brian Wolfe got the start for the Chiefs and he was dealing all night long. He struck out the side in the first, sandwiched around a single. He'd give up another single in the second, but record another k as well. In the bottom of the second, Syracuse struck, as singles by Russ Adams and Hector Luna were followed by the big blow, a Travis Snider two run double. Snider made it to third with one out but the Chiefs couldn't cash him. In the third, Wolfe allowed another single to lead off the inning, but a bad bunt, a caught stealing and a fly out quickly got him out of the inning. Wolfe would give up a walk in the fourth and a single in the fifth, but was never in any danger before being relieved by Davis Romero in the top of the 6th. Charlotte would get a runner to third on a single, a throwing error and a wild pitch, but that was as close as they came to scoring as Syracuse would hang on for the win. Rick Bauer picked up his 17th save by working a perfect ninth.
Brian Wolfe went 5, giving up 4 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts. He got six outs via the groundball versus 3 in the air, and three of the four singles he allowed were through the infield. Davis Romero allowed 2 hits and a walk with 3 k's in his 3 innings. Snider went 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI, and Curtis Thigpen, playing first, reached three times on two singles and a walk. Russ Adams also picked up two hits.
New Hampshire 2 Binghamton 8
Another game, another loss for the Fisher Cats. They had to deal with losing Travis Snider to the big(ger) club. Thats gotta hurt. This game was pretty uneventful through two, as the Fisher Cats could manage only a walk. In the top of the second Brad Mills gave up a leadoff double to Ambiorix Concepcion (I eagerly await the all Ambiorix team, Mick) but he was thrown out going for three. Mills promptly whiffed the next two batters. The good guys were unable to cash an Andrew Pinckney leadoff double in the top of the third. The bottom half of the inning was much sloppier, as Binghamton scored two on a single, a walk, an error, a walk, and a throwing error by Mills trying to get the runner at home with the bases loaded. Things would not improve from here. The Cats managed a couple of singles in the 4th, but couldn't cash them. In the bottom of the fourth, Binghamton went single to centre, fly out to centre, walk, flyout to centre, error, wild pitch, three run home run and that was all she wrote for Mills. The Mets would tack on another two runs thanks to a wild pitch and a solo home run, while the Fisher Cats got two on a double, a hbp and a walk, with Jacob Butler landing the blow with a single.
Mills went 3.2 innings, allowing 6 runs, 0 earned. He allowed 4 hits, walked 4 and k'd 3. His era in AA was lowered to 1.66. It's a crazy world. All told Jays pitchers walked nine batters. Eric Nielsen was 2 for 5, and Kyle Phillips and Pinckney both had a hit and 2 walks. JP Arencibia was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts,
I'll let Marc take it from here - Anders.
Dunedin 7 Sarasota 6
The Blue Jays pulled out a win in the bottom of the ninth after reliever Chad Blackwell allowed the Reds to come back and tie the game in the eighth inning. A.J. Wideman started the game and allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk in six innings. Jeremy Accardo worked one scoreless inning in a rehab appearance. Cody Crowell pitched the final 1.2 innings for his fourth win with Dunedin in 16 relief outings. Offensively, Chris Emanuele, Brad Emaus, David Cooper, Jesus Gonzalez and Anthony Hatch all had two hits. Cooper was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI in his first game with Dunedin.
South Bend 9 Lansing 0
David Cooper appearances to have taken all the offence from Lansing with him on his promotion, as the club managed only four hits and no runs on the night. Jonathan Baksh, Darin Mastroianni, Moises Sierra and Raul Barron each had one hit. The young, promising trio of Justin Jackson, Kevin Ahrens and John Tolisano each made an error in the field. Luis Perez continued his late-season slide and allowed five runs (just two earned) on five hits and three walks in 2.2 innings. Jimmy Dougher worked three scoreless innings and Dan O'Brien finished the game by allowing four unearned runs in 2.1 innings.
Batavia 11 Auburn 0
This one was ugly folks. The Doubledays got outhit 18-7, and nobody managed more than one hit. Joel Carreno took much of the damage, going 4 innings and allowing 5 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. Jason Monti and Justin Cryer each gave up 3 runs in relief. Let's move on.
GCL Jays 8 GCL Braves 7
Youngster Henderson Alvarez was roughed up and allowed three runs over 3.1 innings on seven hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out four. Joel Castillo pitched the next 3.1 innings and also allowed three runs. Tyler Pastornicky went 3-for-5 and ran wild on the base paths with three stolen bases, giving him 18 on the season. Jon Talley was 2-for-5 with a run scored, RBI and three strikeouts. Markus Brisker, who has shown much more polish with the bat than was expected, and Balbino Fuenmayor each had two hits. Nate Nelson slugged his second homer of the season, which was a two-run shot.
Three Stars:
3. Travis Snider, 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI
2. Tyler Pastornicky, 3-for-5 with three stolen bases.
1. Brian Wolfe, 5 IP, 4 H 0 R 1 BB 5 K
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