Buffalo were in playoff contention recently but they have hit a tough spell, losing three of their last four and they are slipping behind. They have been short of starting pitching all season and their hitters have cooled. They lost a tough game on Thursday. New Hampshire have no hope of the playoffs and were hammered. Vancouver and Dunedin are the playoff hopefuls. Vancouver are in with a good shot of the playoffs but lost in extra innings last night. Dunedin were rained out.
Buffalo 3 Worcester 4
Portland 10 New Hampshire 3
Vancouver 3 Spokane 4 - 11 innings
Dunedin Tampa 2 - suspended after one inning
This is what I noted from yesterday's games.
Worcester had just three hits to Buffalo's nine, but two of their three hits were home runs. All of the runs came off Bowden Francis who has had a very disappointing season after his brief Blue Jay cameo.
Four Bisons hitters had two hits each, Otto Lopez, LJ Talley, Nathan Lukes and Rafael Lantigua. Talley had the only extra base hit, a double. Talley has quitely been putting together a nice season, his OPS and batting average are virtually identical to Nathan Lukes. Talley doesn't have a defined defensive position and his numbers don't cut it as a DH/1B, but he is still 25 and could add more muscle and power next year.
I keep saying this but the jekyl and hyde that is Luis Quinones showed up as hyde on Thursday. He conceded seven runs in 3.2 innings and the Fisher Cats were down 8-1 after four innings.
Davis Schneider and Cam Eden each hit a solo home run. Eden and Ryan Gold had two hits each. Schneider is putting together a very nice season and finds himself hitting third in AA. Orelvis had the night off and Addison Barger was scratched a couple of nights ago. Schneider's walked three times in addition to his homer and his OPS is better than Barger and Orelvis.
Chad Dallas started for Vancouver. Dallas has had an up and down season and some of that is attributable to his walk rate. In April and July his walk numbers were 4 and 5 and his ERA in both months was under three. But in June and August his walk numbers were in double figures and his ERA was over six. He started September with a bang, pitching six shutout innings on Thursday. He allowed just three hits but he had just one strikeout.
Dunedin added a lot of this years draftees to their roster and several of them have been hitting well. But only one was promoted to Vancouver, that was 15th rounder Michael Turconi. He had hit .278 in Dunedin and was promoted either because he hit well or because Vancouver needed a shortstop. But he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He singled in the third inning and was part of a steal of home by Glenn Santiago. He singled again in the fifth and scored on a home run from Damiano Palmegiani. He is hitting .364 in a small sample. Santiago and PK Morris also had two hits each.
Three Stars
Third Star - Glenn Santiago
Second Star - Michael Turconi
First Star - Chad Dallas
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