That is an unusual headline for a minor league update. Jose Bautista homered in his first rehab game in Dunedin but the Jays lost thanks to some poor pitching. Anthony Alford also homered in that game. The other rehabbers, in Buffalo, could not help the Bisons win. Chris Colabello looks like he will be staying in Buffalo with five strikeouts. Dalton Pompey had three hits. Conner Greene got the win for New Hampshire. Angel Perdomo had one bad inning and it cost Lansing. Vancouver lost while Bluefield and the GCL Jays both won.
Norfolk 5 Buffalo 4
Chris Leroux had been one of Buffalo's most reliable starters but he has gone "off the boil" recently. He gave up all five of Norfolk's runs in this game and now in four July starts his ERA for the month is 7.71. He was hit around for six hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. Matt Dermody did come on in the middle of the sixth and the first batter he saw singled to let a couple of Leroux's runs score. Danny Barnes punched out three of the four hitters he faced. Dustin Antolin worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
Dalton Pompey had three hits and was at the centre of the first two runs scoring. Pompey doubled to lead off the first and scored when Darrell Ceciliani singled. Pompey singled in the second to score Tony Sanchez. Buffalo's other two runs came in the eighth. Ceciliani scored on a David Adams double and Domonic Brown scored on a passed ball. That passed ball put Adams at third with one out but neither Sanchez nor Alexi Casilla could bring the run home. Pompey's third hit was a single in the ninth but he was stranded. Chris Colabello had a "mare", 0-5 with 5 K's. Ryan Goins was 1-5.
Reading 2 New Hampshire 4
New Hampshire were down 2-0 before they came to bat but they came from behind for the win. Conner Greene was on the mound and he surrendered a two run home run in that first inning. Greene went six and he did not have a 1-2-3 inning. Usually there was just one base runner, but the sixth was a challenge. A single, an error and a walk loaded the bases with one out. But Greene was able to get a pop up and a strikeout to escape. Greene was done after that sixth inning with 101 pitches thrown. He ended with five K's, it was a good, but not great, start.
The Fisher Cats started on their comeback right away. Dwight Smith delivered a sac fly in the bottom of the first to score Roemen Fields and make it a 2-1 game. Jason Leblebijian added a two run home run in the third. It was one of two hits on the day for Leblebijian who now has an OPS of .883 in AA. Leblebijian is 25 years old and it has to be pointed out that this batting in AA is an outlier on his career. It could be a sign that he has learned something new but caution is warranted. Ian Parmley walked in the sixth against Mark Leiter. Parmley went to steal second and scored thanks to two throwing errors on the play, one by the catcher and one by the centre fielder. John Stilson worked a two inning save.
Charlotte 8 Dunedin 5
Its good to have Jose Bautista in your lineup but you need pitching too. Justin Shafer was not good, five runs in 5.2 innings and neither was Brad Allen, three runs in 3.1 innings.
The Jays hit three home runs. The first one came off the bat of Jose. Anthony Alford hit a solo home run in the second. Gunnar Heidt added a two run shot in the third. But that was as good as it got. Heidt was the only Jay with two hits. Bautista was 1-3 with a K.
Clinton 3 Lansing 0
Angel Perdomo had a rough first inning. He loaded the bases with two singles and a hit batter. He did get to two outs but a double cleared the bases. From there Perdomo settled down until the fifth when he needed a play at the plate to keep it to three runs. Perdomo was pulled after five and 91 pitches. He did have five K's. Ryan Cook pitched well in relief for three innings.
The Lugnuts had eight hits, Andrew Guillotte, freshly back from Dunedin, had two as did Max Pentecost and the hot Connor Panas.
Vancouver 2 Spokane 7
There were few positives in this game. JB Woodman had two doubles, his third multi-hit game in the last week. He seems to be getting settled. Yeltsin Gudino did have a hit but after a bright start his average is down to .157. Rodrigo Orozco did not have a hit and his average is down to .250.
The Canadians used six pitchers. Mike Jackson was the best, he struck out the side in his one inning. Matt smoral was at the heart of an ugly inning. he came on for the seventh and gave up a lead off single followed by two walks. He was yanked in favour of Nick Hartman who allowed all three runners to score through a hit batter, a walk and a wild pitch. Smoral's ERA is now 13.97.
Bluefield 8 Bristol 1
This game was tied at one after five innings but the Jays scored seven runs over the last four innings. The Pirates were generous, they made five errors leading to six unearned runs. The Jays scored eight runs with only seven hits, all singles. Reggie Pruitt scored three runs with two hits. Nick Sinay walked three times and scored twice. Nash Knight was 2-4 with 3 RBI. Vladdy was 1-4.
Denis Diaz went six innings and the one run off him was unearned, Jesus Severino at short made two errors. Jose Nova pitched a shutout inning that was unusual. It started single, double, wild pitch, walk. The key was that the lead-off hitter was thrown out trying to stretch the single. Nova escaped what was not a good inning for him. Brayden Bouchey pitched the last two.
GCL Braves 0 GCL Blue Jays 1
After their first loss of July on Tuesday, the Jays returned to their winning ways on Wednesday. However this was a tight affair with the Jays held at bay for most of the contest. The Braves held the Jays to just two hits through six innings. Bo Bichette led off the seventh with a single. With one out he stole second base. Joshua Palacios singled to centre but Bichette was thrown out at home. Then Palacios was picked off to end the inning. Two hits, two outs on the bases for the Jays. It looked like deja vu in the eighth. Antony Fuentes led off with a single and was sacrificed to second. Manuel Herazo singled to centre but again the centre fielder for the Braves threw out the runner at home. Herazo advanced to second on the throw home. DJ Daniels then singled the centre and it was third time lucky for the Jays, Herazo was able to score. Daniels was the only hitter with two hits, it brought his average up to .105. 2016 is a learning experience for the new draftee from high school.
Joel Espinal was the star on the mound for the Jays. He went seven innings with just three hits allowed. He had six K's and one walk. His ERA is down to 0.62. That's pretty good for the 19 year old Dominican.
3 Stars
3rd star: Dalton Pompey
2nd star: Denis Diaz
1st star: Joel Espinal
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