Buffalo, NY — The Bisons are back at the .500 after a second straight loss to the Pirates affiliate. Andrew Albers (2-6, 3.71) was annihilated for eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and two walks. One of the hits was a grand slam by Gorkys Hernandez. Albers had four strikeouts but posted a Game Score of 21. Luis Perez permitted the other two runs to score on two hits and a wild pitch but struck out four in three innings. Rob Rasmussen worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
Luke Scott's first homer as a Bison tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning. Chris Dickerson had a three-run double in the sixth and the other run came in on a double play ball hit by Ryan Schimpf in the ninth. Scott, Dickerson and Andy Burns all had two-hit performances. Dioner Navarro had a double in three at-bats and Jonathan Diaz had the other hit. Schimpf drew the only walk. Matt Hague, Brad Glenn and Munenori Kawasaki were a combined 0-for-12. Sean Ochinko was 0-for-1 filling in for Navarro behind the plate. The Bisons made four errors in this one, two by Dickerson in center, one by Burns at third and one at short by Diaz.
Reading 10 New Hampshire 1
Manchester, NH — The Fisher Cats find themselves a game shy of .500 after dropping the series opener to the Phillies affiliate. Joel Piniero (0-2, 7.13) was jolted for six runs over six innings on nine hits and a walk. Two of the runs were unearned. He struck out two, walked one and had a Game Score of 35. Of Piniero's 15 outs in play, 13 were on the ground. Jimmy Cordero was jilted for a three-run homer that was one of three hits allowed. He walked one and struck out a pair over one inning. Cory Burns did not get away unscathed as he gave up a run on three hits in the eighth. Blake McFarland pitched a one-hit ninth while striking out a couple.
Shane Opitz provided the only New Hampshire run with a home run in the fourth inning. Opitz and Ronald Torreyes finished with two hits apiece. A Daric Barton double and a Dwight Smith Jr. single were the only other notches in the hit column. Jorge Flores and Ian Parmley drew the only walks. Kevin Nolan and Pierce Rankin were 0-for-4 while Christian Lopes was 0-for-3.
The Fisher Cats had three fielding miscues, one by Nolan at third and two by Opitz in right field. Rankin had a passed ball.
Jupiter 4 Dunedin 3
Jupiter, FL — Jeff Hoffman (0-1, 7.71) suffered his first professional loss at the hands of the Marlins affiliate. He worked around a pair of singles and a hit by pitch in the first two innings with one of the singles being erased trying to steal second by catcher Jorge Saez. The East Carolina alumni started the third inning with two strikeouts — both looking — but five straight singles led to three runs. He struck out the final batter of the inning to strike out the side. He ran into more trouble in the fourth as he allowed a fourth run that came as a result of two singles, a walk and a stolen base. Hoffman got one more out but allowed another hit before leaving the game in the fifth. In total, Hoffman was hammered for four runs on 10 hits, a walk and a hit by pitch in 4-1/3 innings while striking out four for a Game Score of 30. Five of his seven outs in play were on the grass. Matt Dermody stranded a Hoffman runner and pitched 1-2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball while striking out one. Matt Smoral walked one and struck out one in a scoreless frame. Phil Kish also put up a zero in the eighth while whiffing one.
Dunedin scored the first run of the game when a Roemon Fields leadoff walk came in to score on an Alex Hassan ground out. Hassan drove in the other two runs with a single in the eighth. He also threw out a runner at the plate from left field. Dawel Lugo and Dickie Joe Thon put up a two in the hit column with Lugo stealing a base. Fields doubled and stole two bases along with his walk. Matt Dean and Mitch Nay both earned bases on balls. L.B. Dantzler, Derrick Loveless and Saez had 0-fers on the night.
Bowling Green 8 Lansing 4
Bowling Green, KY — Chase De Jong (4-4, 3.45) was not helped by his defence in this one. Miscues by Richard Urena at short, Rowdy Tellez at first and Anthony Alford in center field led to four unearned runs on De Jong's pitching line. The other run was a solo homer. In total, De Jong was donged for seven hits and plunked a batter but had a K/BB total of 4-0 and a Game Score of 47. Jose Fernandez stranded a runner for De Jong and gave up just one hit while striking out one in 1-1/3 scoreless innings. Dusty Isaacs was roughed up for three runs on four hits in the eighth with one strikeout.
D.J. Davis led off the second inning with his second home run of the season that evened the score at 1-1. Rowdy Tellez had an RBI double and Danny Jansen picked up an RBI single in the eighth as part of a three-run eighth. Tim Locastro, Davis, Urena and Alford all had two-hit games with Locastro also getting hit by a pitch and stealing a base. Locastro was 1-for-2 stealing bases but Davis was 0-for-1. Chris Carlson had a double but Ryan McBroom and Gunnar Heidt came up empty in their four at-bats.
Defensively, Alford threw out a runner at second base and two double plays were turned.
Tuesday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Roemon Fields, Dunedin
2. Tim Locastro, Lansing
1. Luke Scott, Buffalo
Wednesday's Schedule / Probable Starters
Indianapolis @ Buffalo, 1:05 pm ET — Daniel Norris (1-2, 3.27)
Dunedin @ Jupiter, 6:35 pm ET — Murphy Smith (2-2, 4.64)
Reading @ New Hampshire, 7:05 pm ET — TBA
Lansing @ Bowling Green, 7:35 pm ET — Jesus Tinoco (0-3, 4.19)
Extra Innings
The Daily Gazette from Schenectady, New York has a story on local products Jeff Hoffman and Murphy Smith.