The Dunedin Jays have been battered by the Tampa hitters in the first five games of the series. Relief arrived today in the form of 18 year old Brazilian Rafael Ohashi making his first professional start. Supported by the bullpen it gave the Jays their first win of the season. Buffalo won thanks to their emergency started Connor Overton. Vancouver also won with New Hampshire the only loser on Sunday.
Worcester 1 Buffalo 4
New Hampshire 6 Portland 12
Vancouver 7 Tri-City 2
Dunedin 4 Tampa 1
This is what I noted from yesterday's games.
With Nate Pearson called up, the Bisons needed an emergency starter. Step up Connor Overton. Overton threw four shutout innings with six K's. It was his third career start. The bullpen took it from there with Jackson McClelland getting the win with two innings of relief.
Breyvic Valera drove in three of the four runs, one with a groundout and two on a single. Josh Palacios went 2-2 but had to leave the game after being hit on the hand by a pitch. Cullen Large was 2-4 and is hitting .400.
Zach Logue cruised through the first two innings with five K's. He gave up a lead off home run in the third but then struck out the side. At this stage seven of his eight strikeouts were swinging. With two outs in the fourth a walk and a home run made it three runs allowed. He conceded another run in the fifth before leaving and another run was added thanks to the bullpen. It definitely was a start with good and bad. Emerson Jimenez took the loss by walking four hitters in the eighth. He was followed by Connor Law who walked four as well for a total of eight walks in the inning.
Chavez Young drove in three runs with a bases loaded triple. Otto Lopez and Demi Orimoloye had two hits each. Jordan Groshans was 1-5 and is now hitting .182. Austin Martin had the day off.
The bottom of the order delivered in this game. Rafael Lantigua, batting seventh, had two hits and scored twice. Will Robertson and Andres Guerra, hitting eighth and ninth, drove in two runs each. Ryan Gold stayed hot with two hits while Tanner Morris started to heat up going 3-4.
Adasm Kloffenstein pitched three shutout inning with five K's but it took him 66 pitches to do so. I emphasize pitch efficiency because it highlights two things. First the need to throw strikes and second the ability to put hitters away. For Kloffenstein he threw 39 strikes and 27 balls. That ratio should be 2:1, he was too wild. Plus he faced 13 hitters so with 39 strikes that is exactly three strikes per hitter. He needs to get better with putting hitters away or inducing soft contact. That's all part of the learning experience. New Blue Jay Paxton Schultz followed and pitched four innings, conceding two runs. Justin Maese pitched the last two innings. He had four K's.
Rafael Ohashi threw three perfect innings and struck out the last four hitters he faced. William Gaston, Gabriel Ponce and Adrian Hernandez provided strong relief.
The Jays first two runs came via solo home runs. Addison Barger his his second and Ryan Sloniger hit his first. Miguel Hiraldo had a double.
Three Stars
Third Star - Tanner Morris
Second Star - Connor Overton
First Star - Rafael Ohashi
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