Columbus, OH — In the first of three morning games on the farm, the Bisons blew a 4-1 lead before pulling this one out in extras to get back over the .500 mark. With a depleted pitching staff, third baseman Ryan Schimpf was called upon to save the game in the bottom of the 11th and he did it, barely, as he got the final three outs despite walking the bases loaded. He walked the first hitter on four straight pitches, lobbing/soft-tossing his offerings around 73-75 miles per hour and was consistently missing high in the strike zone. A check-swing grounder produced the first out to get the lead runner before Schimpf walked the next two hitters. He actually got ahead of the first hitter with a called strike and a fouled bunt attempt but threw eight balls in a row. Proving first-pitch strikes are key, Schimpf got a called strike on the first pitch to the next hitter before inducing a shallow fly to center field on the next pitch. However, Chris Dickerson's high throw was well off the mark and only a leaping snare by catcher Sean Ochinko prevented the runner from tagging up and scoring. Schimpf fell behind the next hitter 3-1 but battled back to run the count full before getting another shallow flyball to center for the game's final out. So despite throwing nine of his 24 pitches for strikes, Schimpf got his first professional save.Felix Doubront got the start and pitched four innings in which he gave up an unearned run in the third on back-to-back, two-out errors by shortstop Jonathan Diaz and right field Melky Mesa. The Venezuelan lefty allowed four hits and a walk and struck out for a Game Score of 55. He got five ground ball outs and threw 54 of his 84 pitches for strikes. Gregory Infante offset a hit and a walk with two strikeouts in a scoreless fifth. Bobby Korecky kept the shutout relief going by permitting just one hit and striking out three over two innings.
Colt Hynes coughed it all up in the eighth as he did not retire any of the four batters he faced, giving up two singles and a double and saw another runner reach on an error by Schimpf. With runners on second and third, Bo Schultz (2-1, 1.86) did a good job to limit the damage to a sacrifice fly for the tying run, getting tagged with a tough blown save. Schultz scattered a hit and two walks and struck out a batter over three shutout innings.
The Bisons ran out to an early 3-0 lead with a Ochinko two-run single in the second inning and a Matt Hague RBI double in the third. Brad Glenn homered for the second straight game with a solo shot in the sixth off former Rockie Jhoulys Chacin. Jonathan Diaz delivered the game-winning run with a two-out single to score a Luke Scott double in the 11th.
Ochinko had a three-hit day that included a double. Two-hit games were turned in by Hague and Melky Mesa, who had a pair of doubles. Glenn had a walk to go along with his dinger while Schimpf doubled and walked to also get on base twice. Andy Burns singled in five at-bats and Caleb Gindl singled in his lone plate appearance before he was thrown out stealing and was replaced by Mesa in right field. Dalton Pompey was 0-for-4 but gave way to Dickerson in center field. Bisons announcer Ben Wagner tweeted Pompey left the game after taking an awkward swing during his at-bat in the seventh.
New Hampshire 6 Reading 4
Reading, PA — The Fisher Cats have the same 20-19 record as the Bisons after winning one on the road. They grabbed the lead with a two-run third inning thanks to a Jorge Flores base hit and a Dwight Smith Jr. fielder's choice. Kevin Nolan followed with a lead-off home run in the fourth. New Hampshire matched their three-run output with a three-run ninth which began with a Jack Murphy RBI single and ended with a two-run knock by Shane Opitz. Flores, K.C. Hobson and Ian Parmley led the attack with two hits apiece. Opitz also reached twice by drawing a walk. Smith and Andy Fermin were 0-for-4,Taylor Cole (2-3, 4.73) checked the Phillies affiliate to a solo home run by former Jay farmhand Gustavo Pierre over five innings. He gave up four hits and two walks but struck out six for a Game Score of 59. Scott Barnes went one-plus innings in which he issued two walks and struck out one. Wil Browning stranded both of Barnes' runners with 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief but allowed a hit and a walk. Blake McFarland stranded both Browning runners with a strikeout in the eighth but was bombed for a pair of home runs that resulted in three runs against. He did get the final three outs, including another strikeout, to pick up his sixth save.
Tampa 9 Dunedin 2
Dunedin, FL — The Yankees busted this one open by booting field goals in the third, fourth and eighth innings. Justin Shafer (1-2, 7.90) was strafed for six runs in 3-1/3 innings on seven hits, including a home run, and two walks. His groundout and strikeout totals were three apiece and his Game Score was an ugly 23. Jon Wandling allowed both inherited runners to score but threw 2-2/3 innings of two-hit ball and recorded five ground ball outs. Brady Dragmire was dummied for three more runs on four hits and a walk in two innings. Carlos Ramirez walked a pair but pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout.
L.B. Dantzler drove in both Dunedin runs with a single in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Dantzler also doubled for a 2-for-3 day at the dish. Dickie Joe Thon singled, walked and stole his second base of the year. Derrick Loveless had the other Blue Jays hit and started a 8-6-2 play to throw out a runner at home to end the fourth. Roemon Fields, Jason Lebelbijian and Mitch Nay went 0-for-4 with Nay whiffing three times. Dawel Lugo had the natural hat trick in his 0-for-3. Boomer Collins and Mike Reeves also went hitless in their three at-bats.
Lansing 7 South Bend 3
Lansing, MI — The Lugnuts won their second straight against the Cubs by jumping on them with a four-run third inning. D.J. Davis singled home the first run and Richard Urena tripled home two more before coming home on a balk. Justin Atkinson doubled home a run in the sixth before a wild pitch and a Gunnar Heidt single tacked on the other two runs in the seventh. Urena, Heidt and Josh Almonte all turned in two-hit games but Chris Carlson was the on-base leader with a single, a walk and a hit by pitch. Michael De La Cruz had a double and Ryan McBroom had a base rap. Rowdy Tellez was 0-for-3 but drew a walk so all nine Lansing hitters got aboard at least once.Conner Greene (3-2, 5.00) lit the Cubs by holding them to a run on three hits and a walk over six frames. He struck out six, split his 10 outs in play evenly between the ground and the air and put up a Game Score of 67. Tim Mayza allowed a pair of runs on five hits and a walk but struck out two and induced four ground ball outs for the three-inning save.
Tuesday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Ryan Schimpf, Buffalo
2. Taylor Cole, New Hampshire
1. Conner Greene, Lansing
Wednesday's Schedule & Probable Starters
South Bend @ Lansing, 10:35 am ET — Sean Reid-Foley (0-1, 4.87)
New Hampshire @ Reading, 11:35 am ET — TBA
Tampa @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET — TBA
Buffalo @ Columbus, 6:35 pm ET — TBA