Hiatt and Heidt Hit The Heights

Gregor Blanco homered in the bottom of the first off Jacob Waguespack and that was the game. Wags went five innings and gave up three hits and three walks. His strikeout and groundout totals were five apiece. Conor Fisk struck out two to offset three hits over 1-1/3 innings. Zach Jackson stranded two runners for Fisk but allowed an unearned marker in the eighth on an Andrew Guillotte error at short. Justin Shafer stranded two runners for Jackson after getting the final two outs of the inning.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had the three Bisons hits. Jonathan Davis and Reese McGuire drew a walk. Anthony Alford was 0-for-4 and Roemon Fields was 0-for-3.

Buffalo has the worst record in the International League at 4-11. Barring a miraculous turnaround, the Herd are on their way to a fifth straight losing season under their affiliation with the Jays.

The Fisher Cats scored six times in the sixth to pull out a come-from-behind win. Santiago Espinal had a three-run double and Chad Spangberger had a two-run double to sandwich a Gunnar Heidt RBI double. Spanberger had two hits and Forest Wall had a single and two walks. Nash Knight, Brock Lundquist and Ryan Hissey had base hits with Knight walking once. Kacy Clemens heard ball four once but Kevin Smith wore the golden sombrero.

Hector Perez was not fooling anyone as he gave up two doubles, a triple and five singles that resulted in four runs over three innings. He walked two, struck out five and had four outs on the ground. Ty Tice got the win with two shutout innings of one-walk ball, striking out two. Jake Fishman reeled in the save with two more goose eggs, working around a hit and two walks while whiffing one.

Another six-run inning by the Fisher Cats came in the fifth inning but they needed a two-run homer by Brock Lundquist in the sixth to complete the doubleheader sweep. Forrest Wall contributed a two-run double and Alberto Mineo had a sacrifice fly to go along with a single. Lundquist also had a walk while Gunnar Heidt singled, walked and was hit by a pitch. Chad Spanberger singled and Brandon Grudzielanek had a double. Vinny Capra went 0-for-3 and Kevin Smith turned in another 0-for-4 but at least he made contact in all four at-bats.

Tayler Saucedo surrendered three hits and two walks but kept the Thunder off the board over three innings thanks to two strikeouts and four groundouts. Francisco Rios was rocked for two triples among six hits which led to five runs (four earned) over two innings. He struck out one and walked one. Kirby Snead had the 'BSW' by allowing an inherited runner to score as well as an unearned tally but he struck out three over two frames.

The two wins puts New Hampshire back at .500 with a 9-9 record.

The D-Jays scored first when Cullen Large singled home a Norberto Obeso triple in the top of the third. That was the only hit with a runner in scoring position as Dunedin went just 1-for-13 with 11 runners left on base. Christian Williams had a perfect day at the dish with two singles and two walks. Chavez Young also had a pair of hits and stole a base. Logan Warmoth had a hit and two walks while Riley Adams had a hit and a walk. Obeso also had a free pass but Ryan Noda, Demi Orimoloye and Samad Taylor turned in 0-for-4's with a combined seven whiffs, three by Orimoloye.

Nick Allgeyer turned in another solid effort with just a solo home run allowed among two hits over six innings. The lefty struck out four, walked nobody and got eight outs on the dirt. Southpaw Dany Jimenez gave up two runs in the seventh (one earned after a Warmoth error at short) but Jimenez did not help himself either as he threw a couple of wild pitches. Brad Wilson whiffed a pair in a shutout eighth.

Dunedin drops to 11-7 on the year.

The Lugnuts blew a 5-2 lead but a sacrifice fly by Reggie Pruitt in the eighth brought home the winning run. Pruitt, Alejandro Kirk, Ryan Gold, Jake Brodt, D.J. Neal and Dominic Abbadessa all had two hits with Brodt going deep for the second straight day. Brodt and Kirk also got on board with a walk. Jordan Groshans and Nick Podkul singled and walked and John Aiello chipped in with a hit.

Josh Hiatt shutout the Cubs on three hits and three walks over five innings, striking out five. He plunked a batter but induced eight outs on the dirt. Jorge De Paula was charged with all five runs over three innings but got the win. North Vancouver, BC native Will McAffer walked the bases loaded in the ninth but struck out two to get the save.

The win was Lansing's 10th in 18 tries.

C's Plus Baseball chats with former Blue Jay and current Miami Marlin Jon Berti.