New Orleans 7 @ Las Vegas 3 – Boxscore
The struggles continued for Brad Mills, who fell to 0-6 on the year. Mills pitched 5.2 innings and allowed 8 hits. He walked four and gave up 6 runs, all earned. Mills did throw 58 of his 98 pitches for strikes, but didn’t appear to have great control as hit Cameron Maybin and also threw a wild pitch. Bryan Bullington threw 1.1 scoreless innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts. Bill Murphy followed him out of the pen and had an interesting inning, striking out the side but allowing three hits and a run. Jonah Bayliss threw 12 of 13 pitches for strikes and struck out the side.
The 51’s were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, as aura of the Road Trip From Hell is now working its way through the minor leagues. Five of Las Vegas’s 9 hits came from Randy Ruiz and Travis Snider. Ruiz was 3 for 4 with a run and Snider was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Kevin Phillips was 1 for 4 with an RBI and he also scored a run, after singling and then scoring on Angel Sanchez’s double. Jason Lane added a double and JP Arencibia was hitless, but walked and scored.
Portland 10 @ New Hampshire 5 – Boxscore
Despite Adam Calderone’s best efforts, the Fisher Cats came up short and were doubled by the Portland Beavers. Out of the leadoff spot Calderone had three hits, including a double and a homer, and a pair of runs and a pair of RBI. Luis Sanchez was 1 for 3 with a pair of walks and a pair of RBI, as well. Those two accounted for the bulk of the offence, but New Hampshire racked up ten hits with David Cooper, Brian Dopirak, Cody Haerther and Bryan Kervin all adding hits and Brian Jeroloman had a pair of singles.
As pretty as the story was at the plate, it wasn’t nearly so nice on the field as New Hampshire made three errors that led to five unearned runs for Portland. Brandon Magee started and went 5 innings. He didn’t pitch badly, but he couldn’t scatter his hits and they came back to haunt him. Portland’s seven hits off the starter led to four runs, three earned. Nathan Starner relieved Magee and surrendered three runs. He gave up a two-run homer and the other run scored on Bryan Kervin’s second fielding error of the game. Sean Stidfole came in for the last couple of innings and allowed three runs in the ninth, all of which were unearned on third baseman Al Quintana’s error. Top prospect Lars Anderson was 3 for 5 and Aaron Bates went 4 for 4 in what Blue Jays fans hope wasn’t a harbinger for the upcoming home series.
Dunedin 1 @ Sarasota 3 – Boxscore
Dunedin could only manage a single run off Sarasota starter Jerry Gil. Manny Rodriguez walked to leadoff the fifth and Kevin Ahrens doubled him to third. However, the D-Jays almost messed up this opportunity like the parent club has been recently, as Adam Loewen popped up to short and Justin Jackson struck out. CJ Ebarb came through with a 2-out single, but Ahrens couldn’t score from second and it only cashed a single run. Ahrens was the only Dunedin player with two hits, although Jackson was 1 for 2 with a walk and now has a .348 OBP, which is quite positive considering his .239 batting average.
Kenny Rodriguez started for Dunedin and took the loss to fall to 2-2, although his ERA sits at a very respectable 2.45. Rodriguez went 6 innings, struck out five and retired 8 batters on groundballs, as compared to five on fly balls. He allowed four hits and two walks and surrendered two runs. Sarasota scored another run off Dumas Garcia before Robert Bell pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts.
Burlington 4 @ Lansing 2 (7 innings, Game 1) – Boxscore
Josh Wells’s rough start to the year continued as he lost his fifth game of the year to Burlington in the first game of a doubleheader. Wells lasted 5.2 innings and gave up 4 runs, which actually lowered his ERA to 7.71. However, the peripheral stats were not too impressive as Wells walked more batters than he struck out and also gave up 10 hits. The only plus from the start was that Wells’s stuff seemed to be sinking well, as he induced ten grounders to four fly outs. Jared Potts pitching 1.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Lansing’s only runs came in the sixth inning on a two-run homer by Brian Van Kirk that scored Tyler Pastornicky. The Lugnuts only had six hits on the afternoon and Van Kirk was the only one with a multi-hit game and his homer was Lansing’s only extra-base hit. The bottom three batters in the lineup – Balbino Fuenmayor, Antonio Jiminez and Markus Brisker – each went 1-3 with a single.
Burlington 2 @ Lansing 7 (7 innings, Game 2) – Boxscore
The second game in the doubleheader saved the Jays affiliates from a winless night. Louisiana native Chase Lirette made his third start of the season and lasted 5 innings, as he did in his previous two starts. Lirette picked up his first win of the year, as he gave up five hits and two runs. Frank Gailey and Jon Daly each pitched a scoreless inning.
The Lugnuts scored 6 runs during the last two innings to win the game with the help of two Burlington errors that led to three unearned runs. Tyler Pastornicky went 0 for 3 with a walk and Luis Fernandez was 0 for 2 with two walks and two runs. Brian Van Kark won this game of one-upmanship with three walks and a single. Yohermyn Chavez was 3 for 4 with a pair of runs and a pair of RBI. Chris Emanuele and Michael McDade each had singles. Justin McClanahan had a walk and sacrifice hit and Jon Talley had a walk. Talley also picked a runner off first base and was involved in an unusual 2-6-3-2 double play.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Kenny Rodriguez, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K
2nd Star – Adam Calderone, 3-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 7 TB
1st Star – Brian Van Kirk, 3-4, 3 R, HR 2 RBI, 3 BB, 6 TB
