Man, that trip to Madison and Milwaukee last week really took it out of me. Did you know that Milwaukee is pronounced "Meel-wah-kay" which is Algonquin for "the good land?" Oh, we went over that already? Okay, that was just a diversion for yet another late update. I'm not worthy! I'm scum!
However, the affiliates were more than worthy by winning three of out five. Las Vegas had the night off to go enjoy the slots.
Las Vegas - Scheduled Day Off.
Manchester, NH - Randy Boone escaped a bases loaded jam in the first and stranded runners at second and third in the second inning but the Orioles affiliate got to him in the third and fourth innings. Two singles, a walk by former Jay Eric Crozier and a double resulted in a three-run third. The BaySox used the same formula in the fourth, including another Crozier walk, and that resulted in two more runs.
Matt Hensley relieved Boone in the fifth and worked a clean frame and that led to New Hampshire getting their bats going in their half of the fifth. Adam Calderone led off with a triple against Bowie starter Ryoshei "Taka" Tanaka, Brian Jeroloman did what he does best by drawing a walk and Nick Gorneault hit a sac fly to score Calderone. Jonathan Diaz followed with his first homer of the year to score Jeroloman and that made it a 5-3 game.
Bowie added a single run in the sixth with two straight triples against Hensley. Lefty Edgar Estanga relieved Hensley and the defence prevented any further damage as Gorneault threw out a runner at the plate for a 9-2 double play. Crozier again drew a walk for his third of the game. The Fisher Cats strung together three straight singles as Scott Campbell, Brad Emaus and David Cooper all reached base but they didn't score as Campbell was thrown out at third and Emaus was gunned down at home plate. Former Brewer Dave Krynzel put the final nail in the New Hampshire coffin with a solo shot off Estanga in the seventh. Estanga lasted until the top of the ninth when lefty Bryan Dumesnil finished up with a 1-2-3 ninth that included a punch out. That was the Nanaimo, B.C. native's debut in the Jays organization after coming over from Atlanta.
Boone gave up five runs over four innings on nine hits and four walks while whiffing two. Campbell and Calderone accounted for half of the New Hampshire hit total with two apiece. Jeroloman drew a walk to put the "BJBB Meter" at 48.
Dunedin, FL - This one started off on an interesting note. Moises Sierra booted one in right field but the leadoff man made the mistake of trying to squeeze in an extra base. That forced Sierra to use his howitzer of a hose to gun down the runner at second. Bobby Bell didn't have too many problems over his six shutout innings as he allowed just two hits and two walks while racking up eight K's.
The D-Jays offence finally rewarded Bell with two runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Jonathan Jaspe to score Brad McElroy and Manny Rodriguez, who reached on a hit by pitch and an error respectively. The Phillies affiliate got one of those runs back against Trystan Magnuson with a hit by pitch, a single and a sac fly in the seventh but lefty Dan DeLucia worked a shutout eighth by issuing just a single walk. Dunedin put this one away with four runs in their half of the eighth. The big blow was a Rodriguez three-run homer to score singles by John Tolisano and Sierra. Kevin Ahrens knocked home a Jesus Gonzalez triple to account for the other run. Dumas Garcia wrapped things up with a clean ninth.
Rodriguez and Jaspe had two hits apiece and drove in five of the six runs between them. Everyone reached base once except for Adam Loewen, who went 0-for-4. Bell got the win to improve to 2-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.54.
Fort Wayne, IN - The Lugnuts went nuts as they unleashed a 15-hit attack on the Padres affiliate. Balbino Fuenmayor got Lansing on the board with an RBI single to score a Mark Sobolewski double in the second inning. Run-scoring singles by Michael McDade and Sobolewski and a bases-loaded walk by Chris House upped the Lansing lead to 4-0. McDade had another RBI single in the fourth and Fuenmayor doubled home another but McDade was cut down at the plate to stop the bleeding for the Tin Caps.
After Fort Wayne struck out the side in the fifth, the Lugnuts added another run in the sixth when Brian Van Kirk doubled home a run. Fort Wayne finally broke through against Lugnuts starter Chad Beck in the sixth with three runs on a hit batter and four singles. The Tin Caps added another against Jason Roenicke, the brother of the Jays newly-acquired reliever Josh Roenicke, on two singles and two wild pitches. However, Roenicke began a 1-3-6-3 pickoff play to catch a runner trying to steal second and he also struck out a pair. Roenicke yielded another walk in the eighth but struck out two more to end his two-inning outing. Dustin Antolin also struck out two in a clean ninth. An RBI single by Sobolewski in the eighth and a Kenneth Wilson sac fly in the ninth wrapped up the scoring for Lansing.
Beck gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings with a nice K-BB mark of 5-0. Fuenmayor had four hits and Johermyn Chavez had three hits and a walk. Sobolewski had a three-hit contest as well.
Auburn, NY - Lefty Egan Smith did not have one of his better days on the mound as he surrendered single runs in the first three innings. He only lasted 2 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on four hits, including a home run and a walk. A blog on the Auburn Citizen notes Smith left the game due to injury. The D-Days added single runs of their own in the first and third innings as Sean Ochinko homered in the first and Ochinko must have used a Jedi mind trick to bring home the other run in the third. Chris Hopkins doubled and the second baseman made an error on an Ochinko grounder that allowed Hopkins to score.
Brian Justice led the Auburn bullpen brigade in keeping the Nationals affiliate off the scoreboard with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just a hit, a walk and a hit batsman with striking out four. Toronto native Jamie Lehman pitched a scoreless frame against his former organization by overcoming a hit, a walk and a hit batter. Steven Turnbull followed by gave up just one hit and struck out two in two scoreless innings.
The Doubledays took advantage of the good bullpen work by scoring twice in the seventh on a two-out rally. Ochinko singled home a Hopkins walk with the tying run and Welinton Ramirez used the ol' jedi mind trick this time as a throwing error at third allowed a Ryan Schimpf single to score the go-ahead tally. Despite a walk in the ninth, Casey Beck nailed down the win for Turnbull to pick up the save thanks to a pair of ground balls that included a double play.
Ochinko had three of the eight hits for Auburn while Yan Gomes had two. Hopkins and Jimmy Gonzalez had a hit and a walk each.
GCL Yankees 5 GCL Blue Jays 4 (10 Innings)
Dunedin, FL - The Jays can't beat the Yankees at this level either! Of course, it doesn't help when six errors are involved!! The G-Jays scored first with a two-run second thanks to solo homers by Nick Zaleski and Bryson Namba. Namba dabba do! The Junior Evil Empire struck back with three runs in the third. A leadoff walk and a throwing error by lefty Carlos Pina put two runners while another throwing error by Gari Pena at second (his second clank of the game) allowed the first Yankee run to score. Pina then surrendered a two-run gopher ball to put the baby Jays down by one. Pina lasted four innings, giving up three unearned markers on three hits and two walks with only one strikeout. However, he had eight ground ball outs.
Nestor Molina scattered two hits and a walk over three scoreless frames with one punch out and six ground outs. That gave the offence time to score the tying run as Gari Pena and Michael Crouse hit back to back doubles in the seventh. Lefty Tyler Ybarra gave up a leadoff single but erased the runner on a bunt attempt and picked up two more ground outs to end the frame. In the home half of the eighth, the G-Jays grabbed the lead. A Zaleski leadoff walk, a sac bunt by Matthew Nuzzo, a passed ball and a Namba sac fly plated Zaleski with the go-ahead run. Again, Namba dabba do!!
Unfortunately, Pena's third error of the game helped the Junior Bronx Bombers tie the game in the ninth. Shawn Griffith gave up a single and uncorked a wild pitch before Pena's error put runners on the corners. That led to a sac fly which extended the game into the bottom of the ninth. Gustavo Pierre hit a two-out double but was left there when Carlos Perez flied out.
In the tenth, the G-Yanks took advantage of some wildness by lefty Alex Pepe by drawing three walks (one intentionally) and plating the go-ahead marker on another sac fly. The G-Jays tried to rally as Zaleski led off with a single and got to third on a pair of ground outs but Namba couldn't Namba dabba do it again as he struck out looking to end the game.
Zaleski had the only multi-hit game with two knocks but every starter did reach base at least once. Jonnathan Valdez and Matthew Nuzzo also joined Pena and Pina in the error column with a clank apiece.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Sean Ochinko, Auburn
2. Balbino Fuenmayor, Lansing
1. Bobby Bell, Dunedin
Honourable Mentions......
Manny Rodriguez, Jonathan Jaspe, Nick Zaleski, Bryson Namba, Casey Beck, Johermyn Chavez, Mark Sobolewski.
Extra Innings....
* A nice ode to playing two by the Las Vegas Sun.
* The Las Vegas Review-Journal catches up with "The Fugitive" Casey Janssen, Shaun Marcum and Travis Snider and reports that ticket sales for the 51's are still holding steady.
* The New Hampshire Union Leader has a word with Brian Jeroloman and the game story of Tuesday night's loss to Bowie.
* In case you missed it (because I did!), the Lansing State Journal caught up with "Team Venezuela" late last month.
* Recently acquired Zach Stewart gets some props from Baseball America.
