One of the youngest (read: born during the strike year) Jays minor-leaguers earned the first star as the farm went 4-2.
Las Vegas 2 at Tacoma 4
Hey, Las Vegas can't always score a ton of runs. They can, apparently, always produce a lot of base-runners though. The 51s accumulated 10 hits and three walks but were only able to turn those into a pair of runs against Erasmo Ramirez and the Rainier Wolfcastles (band name?). You could say the base-runners really got erasemoed!
Chad Beck, getting just the second AAA start of his career, struggled with his command, walking five over his 5.2 innings. He also left some pitches in the zone, giving up seven hits and all those base-runners led to four runs. Winston Abreu and Sean Henn kept it close but the usually-prolific offense couldn't muster a comeback.
Darin Mastroianni did his thing, singling thrice and stealing a base, and David Cooper did his, singling and walking while not striking out. Brett Lawrie was 0-4.
New Hampshire - no game scheduled
St. Lucie 1 at Dunedin 9 (7 innings)
Just a good old-fashioned blowout. The D-Jays must've been inspired by José Bautista and Edwin Encarnación's fishing haul.
Dunedin got homers from Ryan Goins (#3), Brad Glenn (#20) and Brian Van Kirk (#10) and a solid performance from Andrew Liebel (6 IP, 1 ER) to seal the victory. Van Kirk added two singles for the only three-hit day, but most of the lineup got in on the action - only Sean Ochinko and Jon Talley didn't tally a base knock.
Lake County 6 at Lansing 3
Lansing got on the board early by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first, but Tyler Powell, getting just his second start of the season, couldn't hold the lead. The righty allowed six runs while retiring just seven batters, and though the bullpen did an admirable job (particularly Sam Strickland: 4.2 IP, 1 H 4 K) keeping the Captains to just those six runs, the offense didn't have much left in the tank.
Torontonian Marcus Knecht led the offense with a single and a triple and two RBIs, while Carlos Perez and Jake Marisnick walked twice apiece and scored all three runs between them.
Vancouver - no game scheduled
Bluefield 4 at Kingsport 3
Bluefield and Kingsport combined for 25 hits but were inefficient with those hits, combining for a mark of 6-32 with RISP, so this game only featured seven runs. Fortunately, Bluefield came out on the right end of a 4-3 score thanks in part to out-walking their opponents 5-1 and some fine bullpen work from Myles "Robert" Duvall (2 IP, 1 H, 2 K) and Ian Kadish (1 IP, 2 H, 2 K).
Center fielder Kevin Pillar and right fielder Eli Boike set the tone at the plate, each smacking two hits while walking once. Gustavo Pierre watch: 1-1, BB.
The start went to Ajay (which comes from Andrew Jay, seriously) Meyer, who hurled four innings and allowed two unearned runs while K'ing five.
GCL Braves 1 at GCL Jays 7
Perhaps inspired by their state-al (how do you say provincial for the USA?) counterparts, the GCL Jays beat up on the Braves, coming out with an easy 7-1 victory. 1994-born(!) Adonys Cardona was excellent in hurling four innings of two-hit ball, allowing just an unearned run and striking out six, and the bullpen was just as good in shutting out the G-Braves the rest of the way.
On offense, well, where to begin? Eric Arce had three hits including a triple and drove in two, Yudelmis Hernandez homered and walked, and Ronald Melendez singled, doubled and drove in two. Every regular reached base at least once.
DSL Jays 5 at DSL Tigers 3
Three Stars!
3. Brian Van Kirk - 3 hits, HR
2. Andrew Liebel - 6 IP, 1 ER
1. Adonys Cardona, 4 IP, 0 ER, 6 K
More Stuff!
Hitters and Pitchers of the week. In the latter, Mitchell Taylor of Bluefield was honoured for his six-inning one-hitter with nine strikeouts. John Parker:
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 1 HBP, 2 BB, 9 K
The left-handed Taylor has given up just four runs on 18 hits in his last 26 2/3 innings, capped by his six one-hit frames at Burlington on Friday night. Both the six innings and nine strikeouts were high marks in his brief eight-game pro career. The 19-year-old allowed just two Royals to reach second base as the Blue Jays won, 7-1, in 11 innings.
The awesome Minors Moniker Madness is back. Baby Jays represented include The Great Balbino and Callix Crabbe. Favourites (according to yours truly) include Bob Stumpo, Rougned Odor, Jetsy Extrano, Taiwan Easterling, Michael Goodnight, Cameron Greathouse and Junior Lake.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20110801230910359