There is an old saying in baseball that hitters are going to hit. It basically means that some hitters just know how to hit and can do so in any situation. Otto Lopez is going to hit. After hitting well everywhere before this season, he hit .330 in New Hampshire and now he is hitting .333 in Buffalo. It seems safe to assume that Lopez will hit in the major leagues. It might be good for the Jays to pick a position and let Lopez become proficient in it.
Lopez helped Buffalo to yet another win. Zach Logue pitched well. Maximo Castillo pitched just as well for New Hampshire as Tanner Kirwer and Vinny Capra went deep. Vancouver lost a back and forth game. Dunedin had just one hit through seven innings but pulled out a 2-0 win.
Rochester 3 Buffalo 6
New Hampshire 7 Harrisburg 0
Vancouver 7 Everett 9
St Lucie 0 Dunedin 2
FCL Phillies 10 FCL Blue Jays 7
This is what I noted from yesterday's games.
Forrest Wall and Otto Lopez , at the top of the order, did a lot of the damage. Wall was 2-2 with a walk and a sac fly. He scored two runs. Meanwhile Lopez was 2-4 and drove in two runs. Lopez is hitting .333 after his promotion to AAA. Kevin Smith got off to a slow start this season but started hitting and finally got his average to .300 on July 29. But he has hit under .150 in August and his average is now down to .278. Josh Palacios was back in the lineup for the Bisons.
Zach Logue pitched six shutout innings, five hits, no walks, five K's. Marcus Reyes, just up from NH, gave up all three runs. Kyle Johnston, who the Jays acquired at the 2019 trade deadline, pitched another clean inning. He has been lights out since moving to the bullpen.
Vinny Capra hit a three run home run in the first inning. Tanner Kirwer walked in the first and scored on Capra's home run. He singled in a run in the second inning and hit a two run home run in the fourth. Jordan Groshans didn't get a hit but he did walk four times.
Maximo Castillo threw six shutout innings, five hits, one walk, five K's. Castillo has a 9-3 record in 17 games. His season has been somewhat up and down, his WHIP is 1.45 but his FIP is over 5. His June and July were better with WHIP's of 1.17 and 1.29. I would say the jury is still out on Maximo, however he is still just 22. Of note Johnny Barbato, who is usually a starter, pitched out of the pen and struck out five of the six hitters he faced.
Paxton Schultz allowed four runs in four innings, and the bullpen gave up five. Despite being down 4-0 the C's scored five to take a 5-4 lead. But that bullpen let the lead go.
Eight of the C's hitters had a hit, six scored a run and five drove in a run. Luis De Los Santos, Spencer Horwitz and Sebastian Espino had two hits each.
The D Jays were no-hit through five innings, Hugo Cardona doubled in the sixth to break it up. Midway through the eighth inning the score was 0-0 even though the Jays were being out-hit 7-1. Harry Ray led off the eighth with a single, Mac Mueller walked and then with two outs Steward Berroa singled in both runners. Berroa promptly stole his 37th base of the season.
The Jays used five pitchers. Naswell Paulino started but only pitched one inning. Michael Dominguez lived dangerously through 3.2 innings but escaped unscathed.
Three Blue Jays hitters in the FCL gave up six home runs to the Phillies. The Jays did not homer. Rikelbin De Castro was 2-3 with a walk and a triple. His average is getting back close to .200. It has not been a good season for the 18 year old but maybe he can finish strongly in the last month of the season.
Three Stars
Third Star - Maximo Castillo
Second Star - Zach Logue
First Star - Tanner Kirwer
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