Toronto Blue Jays third basemen are 0 for their last 45, after the 0-for-6 effort yesterday. Edwin Encarnacion has become a peripheral figure who may find playing time on the field hard to come by. Nix has gone through a rough stretch since returning from the DL. Toronto’s .170 average from third basemen ranks last in baseball and they’ve contributed 3 homers and 15 RBI. Meanwhile, Las Vegas continues to enjoy the Brett Lawrie show.
Tacoma 8 @ Las Vegas 14 – Boxscore
Lawrie was one of many 51’s to have a big night at the plate, as the team exploded for 14 runs on 20 hits. Lawrie was 4-for-6 with a double, two home runs, four runs and 4 RBI. Adam Loewen also had four hits, going 4-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI. Travis Snider, David Cooper and Danny Perales each had three hits. Snider was 3-for-5 with three runs, a double, a walk and 2 RBI. Cooper had a two-run homer, drew a walk and scored twice. Perales also scored twice, drove in two, walked and added a double. Ryan Budde had a double, a single and a run scored. The only 51’s to go hitless were Chris Woodward and Dewayne Wise, whose 0-for-6 lowered his average to .353.
Brett Cecil started for Las Vegas and went 7.1 innings with a 110-pitch effort. He allowed nine hits and walked a pair. Tacoma scored 6 runs off Cecil, five earned and the other scoring on a Loewen error. Cecil struck out four. Winston Abreu threw a scoreless 0.2 innings and Sean Henn pitched the ninth, surrendering a couple of runs in the process.
New Britain 0 @ New Hampshire 4 – Boxscore
A day after combining for 30 hits and 18 runs, the two teams scratched out 11 hits and four runs. Joel Carreno and Frank Gailey combined to throw a two-hitter. Carreno went 7 strong innings and surrendered two singles. He issued three free passes, but struck out 11. Of the nine batters retired on balls in play, Carreno retired six on ground balls. Southpaw Frank Gailey made his first appearance in Double-A and pitched two hitless innings, walking one and striking out a batter. Yangervis Solarte and Chris Parmalee had the hits for New Britain, while Mark Dolenc was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
The Fisher Cats scored three in the first and didn’t look back, adding a run in the third on an Anthony Gose solo shot to take a 4-0 lead. The three runs came on four singles and a sacrifice fly, as Darin Mastroianni and Adeiny Hechevarria started the game with singles. Gose struck out, but then Mike McDade singled in Mastroianni and Moises Sierra cashed Hechevarria. After a Travis d’Arnaud walk, Ricardo Nanita hit a sacrifice fly, scoring McDade. Mastrianni, Hechevarria and McDade each had two hits, with Mastroianni hitting a triple. Nanita hit a double later in the game and d’Arnaud added a pair of walks. John Tolisano and Craig Stansberry each went hitless.
Dunedin 9 @ St. Lucie 6 – Boxscore
A trio of D-Jays each had three hits, as Justin Jackson, Ryan Goins and Sean Ochinko each played a role in lifting the offence. Jackson was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and a walk. Goins was also 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run and 2 RBI. Ochinko had a pair of doubles and an RBI. Kevin Ahrens and Brad McElroy were each 1-for-4 with an RBI, with Ahrens adding a walk and three strikeouts, while McElroy scored a run and counted an RBI. Brad Glenn was 1-for-5 with a double and RBI, while Brian Van Kirk was 1-for-3 with a run and a pair of a walks. Jon Talley had two hits, including a solo homer. Kenny Wilson was the only Dunedin batter without a hit, but he contributed to the attack with two walks and a run. Despite counting 9 runs, the Jays didn’t hit well with runners in scoring position, going 4-for-16 with 12 left on base.
Unheralded, at least in Toronto’s farm system, pitching prospect Chad Jenkins started the game, allowing eight hits and two runs. He gave up five runs, only three earned because of a Ryan Goins error, and also struck out five. He earned the win and improved to 3-5 with a 2.79 ERA. Anton Loup came in and over 0.2 innings, surrendered a run on two hits. He made way for Wes Etheridge, who is doing a good impersonation of someone who is not named Frank Francisco. Etheridge came in with a runner on base and didn’t allow him to score. He then threw a scorless ninth inning to pick up his sixteenth save.
Lansing 3 @ Bowling Green 2 – Boxscore
The Lugnuts were outhit 9-7, but the Hot Rods went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11, enabling Lansing to pull out the narrow 3-2 victory. Lefthander John Anderson made his second start of the season and he still has not allowed a run this year. He went 4 innings, allowing four hits and two walks. Misaul Diaz came on in relief of Anderson and he allowed a run over 3 innings. Diaz struck out five and allowed two hits. He’d pick up the victory, his first of the season. Danny Barnes threw a scoreless eighth and Ross Turnbull picked up his 12th save, although he allowed three hits and a run in the ninth.
Marcus Brisker led off the game with a triple and was immediately driven home by a Carlos Perez sacrifice fly. In the fifth, Bryson Namba walked and advanced to second on a Gustavo Pierre ground out. Brisker walked, bringing up Carlos Perez. Perez singled, driving home Namba, but he was thrown out trying to advance to second on what seems like it might be a baserunning mistake, as the right-fielder threw to the first baseman, who threw to the shortstop to get Perez. In the sixth inning, Marcus Knecht hit a solo homer; his fifth of the year. Knecht also worked a pair of walks during the game. KC Hobson was 1-for-4, as was Gustavo Pierre, while Jonathan Jones had two singles in Lansing’s only multi-hit effort. Namba, Michael Crouse and Kevin Nolan all went hitless.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Justin Jackson, 3-4, 3 R, 2B, BB, 4 TB
2nd Star – Joel Carreno, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 11 K
1st Star – Brett Lawrie, 4-6, 4 R, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 11 TB
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