An avalanche of runs in the lower minors can't obscure some fine pitching performances in Toronto's farm system and a rare 4-0 sweep for the Young Jays.
AAA
Syracuse 2, Ottawa 0
Hitting: Bruce Aven cracked his first home run, but he’s still hitting just .190 on the young season.
Pitching: Corey Thurman is back on the beam, firing a one-hit shutout over 6 innings with 2 BBs and 6 Ks. Granted, it was against the Orioles’ AAA franchise (pity those of us in the National Capital Region who have to watch these bozos all year), but a one-hitter is a one-hitter.
AA
New Haven 10, Binghampton 7
Hitting: Gabe Gross doubled, homered and drove in five runs: his current line is .353/.463/.529. Catcher Guillermo Quiroz also homered as part of a 4-2-2-2 day, while Rich Thompson had two more hits (.338), was HBPed twice, scored two runs and stole his 7th base. Alexis Rios’s two hits dropped his average to .455.
Pitching: Bailed out by his teammates, Diegomar Markwell was fortunate to escape with a no-decision after allowing five runs on seven hits in five innings (striking out only one). Dan Jackson pitched some of his first effective innings, striking out 4 in two hitless innings to get the win. His ERA is now 6.23.
High-A
Dunedin 8, Sarasota 1
Hitting: A balanced attack was led by left fielder Ron Davenport, who doubled twice and drove in two runs. Mike Snyder continued to emerge from his slump with two hits and two RBIs. Russ Adams stole his fifth base.
Pitching: Dustin McGowan chalked up his third victory: 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 BB and 6 Ks. Reliever Ryan Houston followed with three scoreless innings, walking 2 and whiffing 5. His ERA is 1.76, but he’s given up 13 H and 11 BB in 15 IP (though with 13 Ks)
Low-A
Charleston 15, Asheville 9
Hitting: Where to begin? Mikail Jova doubled, homered and drove in 4 runs, while Rodney Medina singled twice and doubled. Every starter had at least one hit, including struggling infielder Brad Hassey, utilityman Nom Siriveaw and catcher John Schneider.
Pitching: Well, now we know Vince Perkins is indeed human: he gave up his first runs of the year, 3 runs in 6 innings (2 hits and 4 walks), striking out 5. This thrashing pumped his ERA all the way up to 0.92. Just as well, really: 0.00 ERAs have a way of getting inside your head.
Note: On Thursday, look for a month’s recap of Toronto’s four active minor-league teams through April, to be followed by weekly updates thereafter. Your humble correspondent is finding these daily updates harder and harder to hide from his corporate overlords.
AAA
Syracuse 2, Ottawa 0
Hitting: Bruce Aven cracked his first home run, but he’s still hitting just .190 on the young season.
Pitching: Corey Thurman is back on the beam, firing a one-hit shutout over 6 innings with 2 BBs and 6 Ks. Granted, it was against the Orioles’ AAA franchise (pity those of us in the National Capital Region who have to watch these bozos all year), but a one-hitter is a one-hitter.
AA
New Haven 10, Binghampton 7
Hitting: Gabe Gross doubled, homered and drove in five runs: his current line is .353/.463/.529. Catcher Guillermo Quiroz also homered as part of a 4-2-2-2 day, while Rich Thompson had two more hits (.338), was HBPed twice, scored two runs and stole his 7th base. Alexis Rios’s two hits dropped his average to .455.
Pitching: Bailed out by his teammates, Diegomar Markwell was fortunate to escape with a no-decision after allowing five runs on seven hits in five innings (striking out only one). Dan Jackson pitched some of his first effective innings, striking out 4 in two hitless innings to get the win. His ERA is now 6.23.
High-A
Dunedin 8, Sarasota 1
Hitting: A balanced attack was led by left fielder Ron Davenport, who doubled twice and drove in two runs. Mike Snyder continued to emerge from his slump with two hits and two RBIs. Russ Adams stole his fifth base.
Pitching: Dustin McGowan chalked up his third victory: 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 BB and 6 Ks. Reliever Ryan Houston followed with three scoreless innings, walking 2 and whiffing 5. His ERA is 1.76, but he’s given up 13 H and 11 BB in 15 IP (though with 13 Ks)
Low-A
Charleston 15, Asheville 9
Hitting: Where to begin? Mikail Jova doubled, homered and drove in 4 runs, while Rodney Medina singled twice and doubled. Every starter had at least one hit, including struggling infielder Brad Hassey, utilityman Nom Siriveaw and catcher John Schneider.
Pitching: Well, now we know Vince Perkins is indeed human: he gave up his first runs of the year, 3 runs in 6 innings (2 hits and 4 walks), striking out 5. This thrashing pumped his ERA all the way up to 0.92. Just as well, really: 0.00 ERAs have a way of getting inside your head.
Note: On Thursday, look for a month’s recap of Toronto’s four active minor-league teams through April, to be followed by weekly updates thereafter. Your humble correspondent is finding these daily updates harder and harder to hide from his corporate overlords.
