Syracuse, NY - The Nationals lit up Casey Lawrence (2-4, 3.86) in the first two innings to earn the victory. There was an unearned run in the first after an Andy Burns error at short to start the game and two more unearned markers took place in the second after Lawrence botched a sacrifice bunt. The damage was done on four hits and two walks but Lawrence flipped the switch after that by setting down the last 13 hitters in a row for a six-inning complete game that featured two strikeouts and nine groundouts.
The Bisons' only run came in the form of a Darrell Ceciliani home run in the second that briefly tied the game at 1-1. A.J. Jimenez had a pair of hits while Burns singled and Dalton Pompey walked. Chris Colabello was 0-for-3.
Buffalo 4 Syracuse 0 (Game 2)
Syracuse, NY - The Herd managed to split the doubleheader and get back above the .500 mark. They rumbled to a 2-0 lead on a Matt Dominguez double in the first to plate a Darrell Ceciliani single and a Chris Colabello walk. Erik Kratz doubled in the second and would later come in to score on a Jio Mier fielder's choice. Mier would drive in Kratz again with a base knock in the fourth. Kratz had two singles and a walk. Andy Burns and Jesus Montero both went 1-for-3 but Dalton Pompey was 0-for-4.Pat Venditte pitched four innings and worked around five hits by striking out four with zero walks. Aaron Loup (3-0) navigated his way around a pair of hits by striking out the side in the fifth. Dustin Antolin struck out one in the sixth but gave up a hit and a walk in the seventh. Ryan Tepera came in to strand those runners with a 1-2-3 seventh for his 16th save.
New Hampshire 6 Akron 4
Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats fell behind 3-0 in the first but managed the score the next six runs to beat the Cleveland affiliate. RBI singles by Rowdy Tellez and Jason Leblebijian helped New Hampshire cut into the Akron lead in the first before Emilio Guerrero belted a two-run homer to score a Derrick Loveless base hit in the fourth. Roemon Fields padded the lead with a bunt single in the sixth and a double in the eighth. Tellez, Guerrero, Loveless, Fields, Christian Lopes and Ryan Lavarnway all had two hits with Lopes adding a walk. Dwight Smith Jr. was 1-for-4 but Shane Opitz was 0-for-4. Loveless, Guerrero and Tellez all stole bases.Jeremy Gabryszwski (6-8, 4.71) recovered from a shaky first inning to get through five frames in which he gave up four hits, two walks and a hit by pitch. He struck out four to go along with three groundball outs. Murphy Smith gave the infielders more work in two innings with five groundouts to go with a strikeout in two perfect frames. Chris Smith gave up a run on two hits but struck out two over the final two frames for his eighth save.
Fort Wayne 6 Lansing 3
Fort Wayne, IN - The Lugnuts had a pair of one-run leads early before falling to the Padres affiliate. Andrew Guillotte singled in the first and raced home on a Max Pentecost triple with the game's first run. Pentecost would double home an extra-base hit by Jake Thomas in the third to regain the lead for Lansing. John La Prise would drive in the final run in the sixth with a double to score Ryan Hissey, who took one for the team. Justin Atkinson joined Pentecost in the two-hit club with a pair of singles. Guillotte and La Prise were on base twice after drawing walks.
Justin Maese (1-1, 3.22) was jolted for four runs (three earned) in 5-1/3 innings on nine hits, including a two-run home run. He struck four, walked nobody and induced a half-dozen groundball outs. Daniel Young walked one and struck out one to get through the sixth. Tom Robson was roughed up for two runs on three hits but had a 4-0 K/BB total over two innings.
Bluefield 5 Burlington 0
Burlington, NC - Juandy Mendoza's two-run single gave the Jays a 2-0 first-inning lead and that was more than Yennsy Diaz (3-3, 4.67) would need as he trumped the Royals with six shutout innings of two-hit ball, walking one and striking out eight. Diaz finished with a flourish, retiring the last 10 hitters he faced to earn a Game Score of 78. Five of his nine outs in play were on the ground. Andrew Deramo worked a 1-2-3 seventh before giving way to Chris Hall, who walked one and struck out one in the eighth. Connor Eller turned in the same pitching line as Hall in finishing up the ninth.After Mendoza's two-run knock, Levi Scott doubled in a run in the third before Matt Morgan and Javier Monzon went yard in the sixth and eighth innings respectively. Nick Sinay had an eventful day with a hit, a walk, two hit by pitches and a stolen base. Scott and Reggie Pruitt both had a hit and a walk. Pruitt and Monzon also swiped a base apiece. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sat this one out.
GCL Blue Jays 3 GCL Tigers East 0
Lakeland, FL - The Jays had just three hits but still won thanks in large part to Lane Thomas. He launched one over the wall to lift the Jays to a 1-0 lead in the first before putting his legs to more strenuous use in the seventh when he singled, stole second and third before coming home on a wild pitch. Alfredo Bohorquez brought in a run the painful way by taking one for the team with the bases loaded in the second. Ryan Gold had the other hit after replacing Owen Spiwak, who walked all three times in his plate appearances. Jon Berti and Jesus Navarro both walked with Berti also stealing a bag. Miguel Almonte was hit by a baseball.Wilfri Aleton (3-1, 1.43) tamed the Tigers over 5-2/3 shutout innings on three hits and a walk. He struck out four and recorded six outs on the ground for a Game Score of 70. William Ouellette stranded a runner for Aleton in the sixth and pitched 2-1/3 innings of one-walk ball. Jared Carkuff took no guff from the Tigers, save for a hit, in a scoreless ninth for save number seven.
DSL Blue Jays 10 DSL White Sox 3
Boca Chica, DR - The Jays broke a 2-2 tie with a five-run fourth to upend the Pale Hose. Aldo Ovando, Andres Guerra and McGregory Contreras all ran the count to ball four before racing home on a double by Jonelvy Molina. Luis De Los Santos brought in the other two runs with a single in the fourth. Molina brought in the Jays' first run with an RBI groundout to the mound in the second and De Los Santos delivered a run in the third with a double. After a run-scoring wild pitch in the seventh, Contreras tripled home a Guerra walk before coming home on a Molina base hit. The quartet of De Los Santos, Ovando, Contreras and Molina all had two hits. Contreras walked twice but Guerra did the ball four stroll three times.Luis Mendoza's (2-5, 2.82) line was a complete game three-hitter that saw him walk three, plunk one and whiff six. One of the three runs was unearned after a pair of errors by Ronald Concepion at second base. Mendoza gave the infielders a lot of work with 13 groundball outs, resulting in a Game Score of 79.
Tuesday's Linescores
Northwest League 11 Pioneer League 5
Cavan Biggio contributed a key triple in the Northwest League's victory over the Pioneer League.
Ogden, UT - Three members of the Vancouver Canadians helped the Northwest League defeat the Pioneer League. Cavan Biggio had a two-run triple to put the Northwest League ahead for good and went 2-for-3. Patrick Murphy got the win despite giving up four runs on four hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth but two of the runs were unearned. Javier Hernandez was 0-for-1 after entering the game behind the dish in the seventh.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Erik Kratz, Buffalo
2. Luis Mendoza, DSL Blue Jays
1. Yennsy Diaz, Bluefield
And finally, your random blast from the past Blue Jays minor leaguer.
