Luis Perez stated his case for a promotion with a strong start for New Hampshire and Dunedin made just enough contact at the plate to earn the only two wins in the system on Tuesday. The rest of the affiliates didn't fare as well thanks to a come from ahead loss, two extra-inning setbacks and a no-hitter.
Fresno, CA - The 51's booted an early field goal in the first inning on an RBI double by Howie Clark, an RBI single by Randy Ruiz and an error at first allowed Ruiz to score. Joe Inglett doubled home another run in the second and Aaron Matthews added an RBI single in the third to give Vegas a 5-0 lead. Davis Romero kept the Giants affiliate off the board in the first three innings by stranding a triple in the first, a double in the second, and an infield single and walk in the third. That would be the last scoreless inning for the Grizzlies, who got on the board on a Jake Wald run-scoring triple in the fourth before he was thrown out on a 9-6-5 play to end the inning. John Bowker connected for a two-run shot off Romero in the fifth to make it a 5-3 contest. The 51's would get a homer of their own off the bat of Jason Lane in the sixth but the Vegas bullpen wound up springing some leaks. Dumas Garcia, up from Dunedin to make his AAA debut, gave up a run on a triple and sacrifice fly in the sixth. He got the first two outs of the seventh but wound up surrendering another run on two singles and a walk. Lefty Bill Murphy issued another walk but did get the final out of the sixth.
The 51's had an opportunity to pad the lead in the eighth when Kyle Phillips singled and Lane drew a walk and they both advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch but the two-out rally fizzled when Angel Sanchez grounded out to end the inning. Fresno would load up the bases in their half of the eighth on a double, single and walk against Murphy and one out later; Murphy walked home the tying run. Bubbie Buzachero came out of the bullpen and "drove home" the go-ahead run with a wild pitch. A sac fly and a Phillips passed ball produced the other Fresno runs. Inglett tried to start a rally in the ninth with a leadoff double but his teammates weren't in a comeback mood as that was all they could do in their final at-bat.
Las Vegas collected 11 hits and two walks and every starter had at least one base knock. Inglett led the way with two doubles and Ruiz had a two hit night. Lane and Brett Harper reached twice with a hit and a walk with Lane going deep for his fifth homer of the year. On the mound, Romero allowed three runs in five innings on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter. He did strike out five but only got three ground ball outs.
Trenton, NJ - Lefty Luis Perez got the start for the Fisher Cats and had a strong first inning by whiffing two of the first three men he faced. The second inning proved to be more of a challenge and it wasn't entirely Perez's doing. Perez did give up a single to former Jays farmhand Noah Hall but that was sandwiched by a pair of errors by the left side of the infield. Jesus Montero reached on an error at third by Bryan Kervin and Montero got to third on a Luis Sanchez throwing error at short after the Hall single. However, Sanchez and Kervin made their next plays to keep Trenton off the board. However, the Yankees affiliate would score first on a ground-rule double by Jorge Vazquez that plated a Reegie Corona single in the third inning. The New Hampshire defence nearly betrayed Perez again in the fourth as Hall reached on another Sanchez error at short. A Perez wild pitch and a steal of third moved Hall 90 feet away from scoring. However, Brad Emaus threw out Hall at the plate on a grounder to second to kill that rally.
New Hampshire got their offence going in the fifth when Nick Gorneault singled and Brian Jeroloman reached after a throwing error at first to push Gorneault to second. Darin Mastroianni singled to score Gorneault and Jeroloman would eventually come home on a bases loaded walk by Sanchez. Perez would preserve the one-run lead by getting a double play ball in the fifth after he gave up a single and hit a batter. A single and throwing error by Perez saw another Trenton runner get into scoring position but Sanchez threw out the runner trying to advance to third on a grounder to short. Canadian Leon Boyd gave up just a walk in two innings while striking out one and getting four ground ball outs to pick up his first hold in AA ball. Danny Farquhar slammed the door shut with a three-up, three-down ninth as he struck out the final batter of the game for his fifth save. Perez gave up one run in six innings of work as he allowed five hits, a walk and hit a batter. He struck out five and recorded nine ground ball outs.
The New Hampshire pitching was outstanding and it had to be to overcome the lack of hitting and defence in this one as the hits and errors column each had a four under them. Nick Gorneault was the only Fisher Cat to reach base twice with a hit and a walk and also stole a base. Jeroloman also drew one of the three Fisher Cat walks on the night so the "BJBB Meter" is up to 36.
Daytona, FL - The Cubs scored their lone run in the first off lefty Charles Huggins as leadoff man Tony Campana walked, advanced to second on a grounder, stole third and scored on a sac fly by Brandon Guyer. Huggins gave up a double and issued another walk but he managed to strand them. He walked the leadoff man in the second but ended his outing by getting the next three hitters in order.
The D-Jays loaded the bases in the third and they wound up with three runs on a single and a throwing error from center field. Jesus Gonzalez delivered the big blow off Cubs starter Chris Carpenter to pick up two RBI. Moises Sierra landed another knockout blow with a two-run double in the fourth to plate a Brad McElroy triple and John Tolisano walk. Canadian Trystan Magnuson was the beneficiary of the offence as he gave up just a single in three innings. The only other base runner he allowed was the result of a Justin Jackson error at short. Magnuson got four ground ball outs and a strikeout before turning things over to lefty Daniel DeLucia in the sixth. He mowed down the first six men he faced before a leadoff single in the eighth but that was the only base runner he allowed as he struck out three and got four outs on the grass. Bobby Bell walked the leadoff man in the ninth but struck out the next hitter before getting a game-ending double play ball.
At the dish, Tolisano, Sierra and Gonzalez accounted for 75 percent of the Dunedin hit total with two hits apiece with Tolisano also drawing a walk. Matt Liuzza and Adam Loewen were each hitless but did draw two walks apiece. However, it was feast or famine at the plate for Dunedin as they struck out a whopping 18 times!! The worst offenders were Jackson with a sombrero and C.J. Ebarb with a hat trick.
South Bend 5 Lansing 3 (12 Innings)
Lansing, IN - Joel Carreno started this one for the Lugnuts and he scattered five singles in the first three innings against the Diamondbacks before being nicked for single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. He was burned by a two-out run scoring double in the fourth and gave up a run on a sac fly in the fifth after loading the bases twice with two singles and two walks. Carreno's best inning was his last as he retired the side in order on a ground out, pop out and strikeout. Still, he allowed 11 base runners on nine hits and two walks and his ground out/fly out mark was 5-5. Yorman Mayora relieved Carreno in the seventh and he worked a three-up, three-down inning. The Lugnuts finally rallied for a pair of runs after stretch time at Oldsmobile Park. Michael McDade doubled home a Chris Emanuele double and Justin McClanahan knocked home McDade with a base rap to tie the game at 2-2.
Marc Krauss led off the eighth with a homer off Mayora to give South Bend the lead again but Lansing responded with a Johermyn Chavez sacrifice fly that scored a Luis Fernandez walk. Mayora worked a clean ninth and was relieved by Matthew Daly, who gave up a hit in the tenth and eleventh innings but kept the Silver Hawks from scoring. Things unraveled for the Lugnuts in inning number 12 when lefty Hunter Moody came out of the pen. He plunked the first man he faced before giving up a run scoring double. An A.J. Jimenez passed ball allowed the runner to move to third and he would score the insurance run on a sac fly. Jimenez drew a one-out walk for the Lugnuts in the twelfth before a game-ending double play grounder by Fernandez.
Emanuele had one-third of the Lugnuts hit total with three while McClanahan had a two-hit performance. McDade was on base twice with a double and a walk.
Niles, OH - Markus Brisker got the ball rolling for the D-Days in the first with a leadoff single, a stolen base and came in to count on a Bradley Glenn base knock. Left-hander Evan Crawford enjoyed a good start to the ball game by retiring eight in a row and nine of the first 10 ten batters he faced before it came undone in the fourth. Crawford struck out two of the first three men in that inning but a Lance Durham error at first in between gave the Scrappers an extra out to play with and they took advantage by scoring four runs on three singles and a double. Durham belted a solo homer in the fifth to cut the Mahoning Valley lead to 4-2 but lefty Willi Mendez could not hold down the Scrappers in their half of the fifth. A single, a wild pitch, a steal of third and a Yan Gomes passed ball led to one run while a sac fly produced another after a pair of walks and a hit batter.
Glenn tried to get Auburn back in it with a two-run homer in the sixth that scored a Brisker single to make it a 6-4 game but the Scrappers scraped together a run in the bottom of the sixth against Zach Outman on a double, a sacrifice bunt and a ground out. Outman worked a one-hit seventh before turning things over to Casey Beck in the eighth but he was touched up for a run on a single and double.
Crawford did give up four runs in four innings but they were all unearned and his K/BB mark was 6-0. Auburn had just five hits, three of them from Glenn while Brisker had a hit and a walk and two stolen bases.
GCL Braves 1 GCL Blue Jays 0 - Game 1 (7 Innings)
Dunedin, FL - Three Braves pitchers combined for a no-hitter in this one. Kenny Wilson, Yudelmis Hernandez and Bryson Namba were the only G-Jays to reach base via the walk and Wilson made it as far as second with a stolen base. The Braves scored the only run of the game on a Chris Holguin balk of all things. A single, an error by Gustavo Pierre at short and a wild pitch all played a role in the inning. Before the balk, Holguin did throw out a runner at the plate. Holguin went six innings, giving up an unearned run on just three hits and a walk while striking out six and uncorking a wild pitch. He also got nine ground ball outs. Lefty Alex Pepe enjoyed a perfect seventh with two punch outs and a ground out.
GCL Braves 4 GCL Blue Jays 3 - Game 2 (8 Innings)
Lake Buena Vista, FL - Lefty Juan Hernandez shutout the Braves in the first three innings as he overcame a Gari Pena error at short and a hit batter in the first and he worked through an error by Matthew Nuzzo at third and a wild pitch in the second. He worked a 1-2-3 third inning but the Braves pounced on him for three runs in the fourth as a leadoff walk and a bunt single were preceded by a three-run homer by Layton Hiller. The G-Jays got one run back on an Oliver Dominguez RBI ground ball that scored a Carlos Perez single in the fifth. Lefty Evan Teague kept the Braves down with a perfect fifth that included two strikeouts and the Jays would tie it at 3-3 with two runs in the sixth. A Nick Zalesky sacrifice fly plated a Kenny Wilson walk and a Perez double scored another double by Michael Crouse. Lance Loftin scattered two leadoff singles to send the game into extra innings, or an extra inning in this case. Sean Griffith relieved Loftin in the eighth and wound up hitting a man and walking another. He was an out away from getting out of the inning but Hiller struck again with a walk off single to give the Braves a doubleheader sweep.
Hernandez suffered the loss despite allowing just four base runners in his four innings. He struck out four and got five ground ball outs. At the dish, Perez had two of the four hits.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Brad Glenn, Auburn
2. Chris Holguin, GCL Blue Jays
1. Luis Perez, New Hampshire
Extra Innings
* The Las Vegas Review-Journal talks to Joe Inglett about his college days and his brief call up with the Jays this season. They also chat with 51's GM Don Logan about the possibility of a new ballpark in Vegas to replace Cashman Field and shoot the breeze with Aaron Matthews and Kevin Howard.
