The affiliates posted a .667 winning percentage based on a 4-2 record Monday night. Two teams had to be ecstatic that their offence reached double digits in the run column and the opposition was held to two runs or less in every game except one.
Jerry Gil has strung together four scoreless appearances covering 4 2/3 innings.
Sacramento, CA - The River Cats pushed their division lead over the 51s back to 4 1/2 games again. Brett Cecil (1-1) put together a quality start by allowing just two runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings against the Athletics affiliate. The lefty plunked a batter but struck out three and totaled 11 groundball outs. Of his 102 pitches, 60 were strikes. Jerry Gil gave up one hit but struck out the side in a scoreless eighth.
The 51s matched Sacramento in the hit column with six. Jonathan Diaz and Chris Woodward supplied four of the hits between them with Diaz recording the only extra-base hit with a double. Ricardo Nanita and Kevin Howard had the other hits. Jack Cust was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Marcus Stroman improved his New Hampshire record to 2-0 Monday night. He has pitched six innings for the Fisher Cats, giving up two runs while posting a 7-6 K/BB ratio.
Binghamton, NY - Lefty Sean Nolin lasted five innings and held down the Mets to a single run on four hits and two walks. He rang up eight Ks in his Fisher Cats debut. Marcus Stroman (2-0) walked the first two hitters he faced and after a wild pitch, they scored on a sacrifice fly and a groundout respectively. The 22nd overall pick in the 2012 draft did end the frame with a punchout. John Stilson was credited with a hold as he fired two scoreless frames and struck out four to overcome a hit and a walk. Trystan Magnuson struck out one in a perfect ninth to record his third save.
New Hampshire scored all three of their runs without the benefit of a base hit. They got their first two runs in the fourth inning on a Brian Jeroloman run-scoring groundout and a catching error by the Mets first baseman. A John Tolisano bases-loaded walk in the seventh snapped a 2-2 tie. Brad Glenn was the only New Hampshire player with two hits while Sean Ochinko walked twice, once on purpose. Ryan Goins was 0-for-5 and Ryan Schimpf was 0-for-4 with two whiffs apiece.
Dunedin - Scheduled day off. The D-Jays will send Casey Lawrence (7-6, 3.68) to the hill when they visit the Tampa Yankees Tuesday night in a 7:05 p.m. start.
Eastlake, OH - Chris Hawkins laid down a bunt single in the first inning and it led to three runs as Hawkins came all the way around to score after a throwing error by the pitcher. Chris Peters completed the four-run rally with an RBI double. Gustavo Pierre went deep for a three-run homer in the fourth, his fifth ding-dong of the year. Kevin Patterson also put one over the wall in the fifth for his 16th. K.C. Hobson added a run-scoring double and Patterson lifted a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Nick Baligod, Hawkins and Pierre put up two hits each with Baligod and Hawkins also drawing a walk apiece. Peters also reached thrice with a walk and a hit by pitch to go along with his double. Shane Opitz and Aaron Munoz were both 0-for-3 but they both worked the count to ball four twice. Michael Crouse was 1-for-4.
Aaron Sanchez threw a one-hitter and plunked a hitter over four shutout frames and had a 3-3 K/BB ratio. He also recorded five groundball outs. Kramer Champlin (4-1) matched Sanchez's line almost exactly with four innings of one-hit ball and five groundouts but his K-BB total was 3-1. Ian Kadish wrapped things up with a perfect ninth.
Carlos Ramirez, rounding third after a home run July 25, had two big extra-base hits Monday night. He's hitting .324 over his last 10 games and has a five-game hitting streak.
Salem-Keizer, OR - Taylor Cole (5-0) continues to make a mockery of the Northwest League after shutting down the Giants affiliate on one hit and two walks over six shutout innings. He racked up a K an inning along with three groundouts. Southpaw Colton Turner "Overdrive" took care of business with four punchouts over two perfect frames. Tucker Donahue could not keep the shutout intact as he served up a two-out gopherball but he did strike out a pair to finish out the ninth.
Carlos Ramirez made sure Cole would get the win as he snapped a 0-0 deadlock by doubling home a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Ian Parmley would cash home Ramirez with a base hit. Jorge Flores would double home another run in the eighth. Ramirez was 2-for-5 with a double and a triple. Kellen Sweeney and Matt Newman both had a pair of hits and a base on balls with Sweeney stealing a base. Jason Leblebijian was also in on the two-hit parade while Balbino Fuenmayor doubled and walked. The base on balls was his 12th of the season, five of them have come in the last 10 games.
Bluefield, WV - The Blue Jays used the running game against the Mariners to produce the first run. D.J. Davis doubled and Jorge Vega-Rosado singled him to third before executing the double steal in the first inning. Santiago Nessy delivered a two-run base hit in the fifth before Bluefield busted it open with a converted touchdown in the sixth. Davis drove in two with a triple and came home on a Vega-Rosado sacrifice fly. Nessy singled home another run before Eric Arce connected for a three-run homer, his seventh of the year. Nico Taylor was 3-for-5 with two doubles. Emilio Guerrero, Davis, Vega-Rosado and Nessy had two hits apiece. Christian Lopes was 1-for-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch while Seth Conner salvaged an 0-for-3 night with two bases on balls. Matt Dean had a pinch-hit walk while Jacob Anderson was 0-for-4.
Alonzo Gonzalez (1-0) supplied six shutout innings in his Bluefield debut. The southpaw shipwrecked the M's on two hits and two walks while whiffing five and inducing eight outs on the ground. Colby Broussard finished up with three innings of two-run, four hit ball. He gave up a homer and uncorked a whopping three wild pitches but he collected five Ks with no walks and three groundouts for his first save.
GCL Tigers 4 GCL Blue Jays 0
Dunedin, FL - Yeyfry Del Rosario (1-4) wasn't exactly hit around but wound up surrendering a pair of runs in the first inning. He plunked the leadoff batter, balked him to second and allowed a run-scoring double. A wild pitch and a balk resulted in the second run. After that, Del Rosario settled down by retiring the last 10 hitters he faced as he pitched four innings and struck out five. He walked no one and got four groundball outs. Lefty Chase De Jong was burned by a leadoff walk that eventually came around to score on a single in the fifth. He lasted two innings, struck out a batter and produced three outs on the grass. Mark Biggs overcame two hits and struck out a batter in a scoreless frame. Tim Brechbuehler was hurt by an error by third baseman Gabriel Cenas, leading to an unearned run on a hit and a walk in the eighth inning. Justin D'Alessandro worked a three-up, three-down ninth.
The G-Jays had just two hits - a Jesus Gonzalez double and a Dennis Jones single. Gonzales also helped throw a runner at second on a 9-6-2 putout. Dawel Lugo and some guy named Jose Bautista each managed to work a walk. Bautista was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
DSL Blue Jays - Scheduled day off. They play the DSL Brewers in San Pedro de Macoris Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Brett Cecil, Las Vegas. Cecil has composite record of 4-2 with a 3.03 earned run average with New Hampshire and Las Vegas this season.
2. Sean Nolin, New Hampshire. Nolin is a combined 9-0 with a 2.19 ERA with 98 Ks in 91 1/3 innings, mostly with Dunedin.
1. Taylor Cole, Vancouver. His ERA is now down to 1.02.
Extra Innings...
The Buffalo News, among many others, believes the Blue Jays will be affiliated with the Triple-A Bisons in 2013. RantSports.com also shares its thoughts on the potential partnership.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has articles on Australian infielder Luke Hughes and the retiring Chris Woodward.
Canadians catcher Dan Klein talks to The Vancouver Province about his admiration for the late Gary Carter.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20120820202239717