A new Blue Jay eclipsed Vlad Jr. in the news coming out of Buffalo with 12 strikeouts in his first start. Jacob Waguespack made a good first impression. New Hampshire continued to score runs but their pitching and defense were terrible. Dunedin stole a win, Lansing won too. Vancouver lost, Bluefield won both ends of a doubleheader. The GCL Jays lost, the DSL team split a doubleheader.
Buffalo
Buffalo lost 6-4. Newly acquired Jacob Waguespack made a good first impression with 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. He was charged with four runs, two of those on a home run in the sixth. In the seventh he left with two runners on, one a single and another on an error. He was replaced by Craig Breslow and Conor Fisk who combined to let in four runs, two of Waguespack's and one each.
Buffalo scored two in the fifth with one hit. After a hit batter and a walk, Anthony Alford singled in a run and a second scored on a wild pitch. In the seventh Tim Lopes and Jonathan Davis went back to back with home runs. It was Davis's second in as many nights. Davis was 1-3 with a walk and still is hanging in with the best average on the team. Vlad Jr doubled off the wall, walked, and was 1-3.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire lost 20-8. Jordan Romano has pitched well this year. He did have a wobble mid-season but had recovered from that. He had another wobble on Thursday. Richmond scored seven off Romano but only two were earned because of errors by Bichette and Biggio. Each time Romano had a chance to get out of it but gave up a big hit. Nick Hartman, Zach Jackson and Dusty Isaacs all were hit around and gave up runs too. Isaacs totally lost the plot in the top of the ninth, he walked four, along with three hits, and didn't get an out. Catcher Ryan Hissey had to come on in relief but didn't provide much.
Max Pentecost had three hits and two RBI. Over the last week Pentecost is hitting .500. Can he carry that through to the end of the season? Harold Ramirez and Gunnar Heidt had two hits each. Bo Bichette was 1-5 with a double. Cavan Biggio also had a double and two walks.
Dunedin
Dunedin won 2-1 in ten innings. Rodrigo Orozco manufactured the win. He started the tenth inning as the designated runner on second. He went to steal third and the catcher threw the ball into left field, winning run scores. Orozco drove in the other Jay run, he doubled to drive in Kacy Clemens. The Jays had eleven hits. Ivan Castillo had three, Clemens, Alberto Mineo and Kevin Smith had two each.
As you might guess from the score, this was a pitching battle, the ERA leader in the league started for Lakeland versus Patrick Murphy who leads the league in ERA since June. Murphy went six shutout innings, three hits, seven K's. Ty Tice picked up the win.
Lansing
Lansing won 8-6. Ryan Noda had cooled off for a while but is heating up again. He hit his 14th home run, a three run shot. Chavez Young and Samad Taylor had two hits and an RBI each.
Matt Gunter gave up four runs in five innings but picked up the win. Brayden Bouchey pitched well in relief and got his second save.
Vancouver
Vancouver lost 7-4 to a strong Hillsboro team. Jose Espada started and was charged with five runs.
The C's had eight hits. Otto Lopez had two doubles, Jake Brodt also had two doubles, Bryan Lizardo had two hits, one double, and two RBI. Of the eight C's hits, seven were doubles.
Bluefield
Bluefield swept a doubleheader. The Jays won game one 9-2. Rafael Lantigua was 2-3 with 3 RBI. DJ Neal hit his first home run of the season, a two run shot. Hagen Danner was the DH and picked up two hits to bring his average up to .296. There were some questions about his bat after last season but he is hitting better this year. Troy Watson started and did not allow a hit in four innings. His ERA is 1.29
The Jays won game 2, 6-1, holding Bristol to just two hits. Adams Cuevas went four innings, one hit allowed, a solo home run. Nicholas Medina pitched two hitless innings while Grant Townsend gave up the second hit in his one inning of work. Rafael Lantigua added two more hits to pump his average up to .379. Dominic Abbadessa also had two, one a triple. Alejandro Kirk homered.
GCL Jays
The GCL Jays lost 5-4 in ten innings. Warnel Valdez, who hit his first home run yesterday, was 3-5 with four RBI. He drove in all the Jays runs. He is hot. Gabriel Moreno was 1-3 with two walks. Moreno had not walked until three days ago, he now has four walks, he has struck out seven times. Jordan Groshans did not play, again. Rafael Monsion went five innings with six K's. He did concede three runs on five hits. Monsion now has a 4.09 ERA as one of the Jays bonus babies.
DSL Jays
The DSL Jays split a doubleheader. Jhon Solarte was 3-3 with two runs scored in the first game. Ronald Govea started and won the game. Govea is now 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA. He has pitched well for the Jays but his strikeout numbers are not high, but he is still 17. In game 2, the Jays were held to five hits and two runs. Solarte drove in both runs with a 1-3 game. Adrian Hernandez took the loss by allowing three runs in five innings.
3 Stars
3rd star: Jacob Waguespack
2nd star: Wernel Valdez
1st star: Rafael Lantigua
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