Even though two affiliates had the night off, two other clubs made up for it by having doubleheaders. The highlight of a 4-4 Monday was the continued dominance of a Vancouver hurler, who continues to make Northwest League hitters more nervous than Josh Brolin.
Las Vegas 4 Round Rock 1
Jonathan Diaz reached base three different ways and stole a base in Round Rock Monday night.
Round Rock, TX - The 51s got a first-inning run thanks to a Mike McDade RBI single. A throwing error in the fifth led to Las Vegas' second run before Ricardo Nanita provided some much-needed breathing room with a two-run homer in the eighth. Nanita was 3-for-4 while McDade, Mike McCoy and Mark Sobolewski had two-hit nights with Sobolewski earning a walk. Jonathan Diaz had a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch. Diaz and McCoy each stole a base while Jack Cust had a single in five trips to the plate but also had a hat trick.
Sean O'Sullivan (12-5) kept the Rangers affiliate down to a single run on five hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. He recorded two strikeouts and six groundouts. Jesse Chavez got the final 13 outs for the save and his only blemish was plunking a batter. He struck out three over his 3 1/3 frames.
New Hampshire - Scheduled day off. The Fisher Cats are in Erie Tuesday to begin a three-game series.
Dunedin - Scheduled day off. The Jays travel to Brevard County for a three-game set Tuesday.
West Michigan 6 Lansing 3
Lansing, MI - The Tigers affiliate did the bulk of their damage to lefty Justin Nicolino (7-4) in the first inning by using five singles to score three runs. Nicolino was victimized by an unearned tally in the fourth. Over five frames, four runs came home on six hits but Nicolino struck out three and got four groundouts. Aleson Escalante walked three batters and had a run charged to him over two-thirds of an inning. Lefty Tyler Ybarra stranded two of three Escalante runners on one hit and one strikeout over 1 1/3 scoreless frames. Ian Kadish struck out the side but had an unearned run cross the dish on a hit and a walk. Kramer Champlin pitched a shutout frame with one strikeout.
The Lugnuts compiled all three of their runs in the fifth with a Chris Peters groundout and a Chris Schaeffer two-run homer, his first of the season. Schaeffer, Gustavo Pierre and Nick Baligod all had two-hit games with Baligod adding a walk. K.C. Hobson and Andy Fermin each had a base hit and a base on balls. Kevin Patterson tripled while Port Moody, BC's Michael Crouse and Chris Hawkins singled.
Vancouver 5 Tri-City 1
Carlos Ramirez drove in a key insurance run with a triple Monday, his third of the season.
Pasco, WA - The C's won their seventh in a row by taking advantage of some shaky defence by the Rockies affiliate. Two errors led to the first two runs before Carlos Ramirez capped off the three-run rally in the second inning with a run-scoring triple. Kellen Sweeney connected for a two-run homer in the fourth, his fourth of the year. Jason Leblebijian had a double and a single. Jorge Flores walked and stole a base and Dan Klein drew a free pass.
Javier Avendano (5-1) overcame a leadoff single by setting down the next nine hitters in a row. He was nicked for a run in the fourth but lasted six innings by scattering four hits and a walk. He struck out 10 and got three outs on the ground. Zack Breault of Amhertsburg, Ontario blanked the Dust Devils over two frames and Bryan Longpre worked a one-hit ninth with a punchout.
Bristol 6 Bluefield 2 (Game 1- 7 Innings)
Bluefield, WV - The White Sox scored three times off Kevin Comer (3-2) on two hits, two walks and two hit by pitches over 4 2/3 innings. Two of the runs were unearned after a Jorge Vega-Rosado error at second started the three-run uprising in the third. Comer did strike out three. Lefty Shane Davis of Belmont, Ontario also had two unearned runs on his ledger thanks to errors by Vega-Rosado and Dickie Thon at short. The three runs came on five hits over 2 1/3 innings. Davis did strike out a pair with no walks.
The Jays only runs came in the sixth inning on a Thon single and a Dwight Smith Jr. groundout. Thon and Jordan Leyland had a single and a base on balls each. Vega-Rosado and Seth Conner also made hit the hit column while Jacob Anderson walked once. Dennis Jones also stole a base.
Bristol 9 Bluefield 1 (Game 2 - 7 Innings)
Bluefield, WV - Justin James (2-1) took the loss despite four frames on one-run ball on just three hits and impressive K-BB and GO-FO ratios of 5-0 and 6-0 respectively. Colby Broussard was bombed for five runs on five hits and two walks and struck out only one over two-thirds of an inning. Lefty Joe Spano did strand both of Broussard's runners but was knocked around for three runs (two earned) on two hits and three walks over two-thirds of a frame. Both outs he recorded came on strikeouts. Denny Valdez stranded two of three Spano runners in his 1 2/3 scoreless frames. He plunked a batter and walked one but struck out a pair.
Eric Arce broke up the shutout with a leadoff homer in the seventh. Dickie Thon and Christian Frias accounted for the other hits and Thon stole a base. Seth Conner took one for the team and Matt Dean received a ball four blessing from the home plate umpire.
GCL Blue Jays 6 GCL Yankees 3
Dunedin, FL - The G-Jays managed to cross the plate in the fifth inning when Dawel Lugo and Derrick Loveless hit back-to-back triples. Loveless would score on a Josh Almonte groundout. Brian Jeroloman and Emilio Guerrero cashed in two more runs in the inning with a single and double respectively. Lugo drove in a pair of runs in the ninth with a single. Lugo, Jeroloman and Guerrero had two-hit games and Guerrero stole a base. D.J. Davis walked twice and was 1-for-2 in the stolen base department. Will Dupont, Surrey, BC's Justin Atkinson and Guelph, Ontario's Shaun Valeriote rounded out the hit parade.
A solo home run was the only damage the Yankees could do against lefty Jairo Labourt over his four innings as he posted a K-BB total of 5-2. Southpaw Ryan Borucki (1-0) was the winning pitcher despite two runs on three hits over two innings but he struck out three without walking anyone. Brady Dragmire got a hold for striking out one during a perfect inning. Tim Brechbuehler also picked up a hold by surviving a hit and two walks over a scoreless frame in which he struck out a batter. Chuck Ghysels overcame a plunked batter by striking out two over a shutout ninth to collect his fourth save.
DSL Blue Jays 7 DSL Brewers 5 (Game 1 - 9 Innings)
San Pedro de Macoris, DR - A two-run single by Andres De Aza gave the Jays a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Rolando Segovia drove in the next two runs with an RBI single and double in the fifth and seventh innings. Andres Sotillo snapped a 4-4 tie with a two-run base knock in the eighth and Leudy Garcia brought in an insurance run with a base hit in the ninth. Segovia had three hits and Garcia had two hits and a walk. Cesar Barazarte and Gustavo Perinan had two hits apiece.
Lefty Alejandro Solarte gave up four runs on three hits and a walk over 4 1/3 innings with one of the runs being unearned. He struck out three and got six outs on the ground. Miguel Castro (3-2) held the Brewers to a run on three hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings. He rang up five Ks and induced two groundouts. Manuel Lopez issued just one walk and struck out two over two shutout frames for his third save.
DSL Brewers 3 DSL Blue Jays 2 (Game 2 - 7 Innings)
San Pedro de Macoris, DR - The Brew Crew scored a pair of runs off left-hander Jose Fernandez over three frames. One of the runs was unearned on three hits but his K-BB total was 6-0. Greylor Conde (1-3) saw the winning run cross the plate on one hit and two walks over his lone inning of work. Wilmin Lara scattered two hits and a walk over three scoreless frames and matched Fernandez's K total with six.
The Jays runs came on an Angel Rojas double and a Cesar Barazarte sacrifice fly in the first. Luis Martin was 2-for-3 and Rolando Segovia had the other base hit.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Ricardo Nanita, Las Vegas. His batting average is up to .304 thanks to a .353 clip over his past 10 contests.
2. Sean O'Sullivan, Las Vegas. O'Sullivan is 7-1 with a 2.16 earned run average since joining Las Vegas and has limited hitters to a .213 batting average.
1. Javier Avendano, Vancouver. Avendano has compiled a 60-16 K/BB total in 53 innings with the C's and is 5-1 with a 1.63 ERA.
Extra Innings...
The Las Vegas Review-Journal highlights hometown hero Mike McDade.
MLB.com takes a look at pitchers Chad Jenkins and Deck McGuire.
MLive.com has a profile on Lugnuts outfielder Michael Crouse and in case you missed it, Lansing and Toronto have extended its Player Development Contract to 2014.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20120806234028706