It's playoff hunting season in the minor leagues. Dunedin are in the playoffs and three other teams are chasing a spot. There was mixed news for the affiliates on Friday. Vancouver won to put them a game ahead for the last playoff spot. Lansing won but five teams are within a game of that spot, they likely need to run the table. Buffalo lost are on life support.
Sean Nolin was decent for Buffalo but the hitters were held to two runs. Gustavo Pierre had a big, ninth inning, two run home run for the Fisher Cats. Lansing scored eight more runs as they are red hot right now. Brad Allen pitched well. Vancouver had a big win and Bluefield won their last game of the season.
Buffalo 2 Rochester 3
Sean Nolin started and allowed all three runs Two of the runs came on a home run, the third and winning run came around on two wild pitches. Nolin's line was 5.2 6 3 3 2 7. Brandon Morrow is allegedly in Buffalo but he did not pitch, Rob Rasmussen and Ryan Tepera held Rochester at bay.
The Bisons got off to a good start, Dalton Pompey and Anthony Gose singled. But Gose was caught stealing and Cole Gillespie got out, although Pompey did score so Buffalo were held to one run. AJ Jimenez drove in the second run in the fourth. Gillespie was the only hitter with 2 hits.
New Hampshire 4 New Britain 3
New Hampshire trailed 3-2 headed to the ninth and that was when Gustavo Pierre hit his first AA home run, a 2 run shot to put the Fisher Cats ahead. KC Hobson drove in the other two runs, one on a double and one on a groundout. Hobson was the only hitter with two hits.
Mike Lee went seven innings and was tagged for the three runs.
Dunedin at Brevard County - postponed, rain
Doubleheader on Saturday
Lansing 8 Dayton 1
Lansing are finishing strong after a disappointing season. Brad Allen gave up a run and a hit in the first inning but then didn't allow another hit through six innings.
The Lugnuts loaded the bases many times on Friday and they found ways to bring in runs without hits. Four runs scored on groundouts with errors, two on sac flies, one on a regular groundout. Just one run was singled in. Chris Schaeffer had three hits. Jason Leblebijian and DJ Davis each had two.
Vancouver 4 Eugene 2
Jonathon Wandling made the spot start and did well, he just allowed two runs in 5.2 innings. Michael Kraft and Phil Kish were solid at the back of the bullpen.
Richard Urena doubled in the first run, Mike Reeves singled in Urena. Franklin Barreto was hitless but he drove in the third run with a ground out. Ryan McBroom homered in the ninth to provide some insurance. Roemen Fields and Tim Locastro each had two hits.
Pulaski 2 Bluefield 5
Bluefield finish the season on a winning note. Grayson Huffman started and pitched four shutout innings. In four starts for the Jays he pitched 11 innings, allowed 11 hits 7 walks and had 11 K's. He only gave up one run despite the high'ish WHIP, he was good at leaving runners on base. Carlos Ramirez pitched 2 innings in relief and finishes with a 2.62 ERA, not bad for a player who was an outfielder in Lansing to start the season.
The Jays scored all five runs in the fourth inning, Jesus Gonzalez finished it with a 2 run home run. Kevin Garcia had three hits, Gonzalez, Rolando Segovia and Lane Thomas had two hits each. Thomas finishes the season hitting .323 for Bluefield, having hit .260 in the GCL. Josh Almonte also finished the season with a BA over 300. Thomas was a fifth round choice this year but has hit much better than that. I decided to compare Thomas to all the high school hitters selected in the first round this year:
DOB 2014
Name (M/YR) Level BA OPS K Rate
Nick Gordon 10/95 Appy .297 .705 19%
Alex Jackson 12/95 Complex .274 .801 31%
Derek Hill 12/95 NYPL/Complex .204 .599 24%
Cole Tucker 07/96 Complex .267 .724 21%
Michael Chavis 08/95 Complex .269 .772 28%
Braxton Davidson 06/96 Appy/Complex .226 .691 28%
Lane Thomas 08/95 Appy/Complex .281 .767 25%
Thomas stacks up well with all those hitters. His BA is top tier, as is his OPS. His K rate is middle of the pack. Thomas is one of the oldest of these seven though.
3 Stars
3rd star: KC Hobson
2nd star: Brad Allen
1st star: Gustavo Pierre
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