Words to that effect may have come out of the mouth of Brett Lawrie. They may also have been muttered by the Blue Jays organization and the fan base Tuesday night. Sportsnet's Shi Davidi says the Langley, B.C. native was hit in the hand by a pitch during his first at-bat by Tucson Padres hurler Anthony Bass at Cashman Field. It appeared the Jays had planned to call Lawrie up in time for Friday's game in Baltimore but that plan now appears to be out the window.In case anyone cares how the affiliates did Tuesday night, it was not a banner evening as four of the five affiliates joined the parent club in the loss column. At least they were not totally screwed.
Tucson 4 Las Vegas 1
Las Vegas, NV - The Padres put up runs in the third, fourth, fifth and seventh innings. The 51s scored their run in the third.
Batting - Danny Perales (3-4) provided 30% of the Las Vegas hit total. Manny Mayorson (2-5) had an RBI double while David Cooper (2-4) and Chris Woodward (2-4) also had multi-hit games. Travis Snider and Ryan Budde went 1-for-4 with Snider getting a double. Brett Lawrie (0-0, HBP) reached base the painful way and was replaced by Craig Stansberry (0-3). Adam Loewen (0-4) and Jason Lane (0-4) had goose eggs in the hit column. No 51 managed to draw a walk.
Running - Woodward stole his first base of the year and Perales collected his second against former Jays catcher Guillermo Quiroz.
Pitching - Lefty Willie Collazo met the quality start guidelines by allowing three earned runs in six innings but he took the loss to fall to 1-1. He allowed 10 base runners on seven hits, two walks and hit a batter. He racked up three strikeouts and seven of his 13 outs in play were of the ground ball variety. Lefty Clint Everts pitched the final three innings and surrendered a run on three hits (one of them a home run) while also matching Collazo in the K column with three. Also like Collazo, more than half of his five outs in play (3-2) were on the grass.
Defence - Dude! Budde made an errant pick off throw and was unsuccessful in throwing out the lone base stealer who tested him with Everts on the mound.
Harrisburg 4 New Hampshire 2
Harrisburg, PA - The Nationals affiliate scored the first run of the game in the fifth but the Fisher Cats tied it in the eighth. The Senators drilled a trey in their half of the eighth and that was enough to withstand another New Hampshire run in the ninth.
Batting - Moises Sierra (1-4) cranked his eighth home run of the season. Anthony Gose (1-4) had the only other extra-base hit with a double. Mark Sobolewski (2-3) had the only multi-hit game for New Hampshire while Travis d'Arnaud (0-2) reached base on ball four twice. Darin Mastroianni (0-2) plated the other run with a sacrifice fly and drew a walk. Ricardo Nanita (0-3) also got aboard once via the base on balls. Callix Crabbe (0-2) had a sacrifice bunt but Adeiny Hechavarria (0-4) and Mike McDade (0-4) had nights to forget as they each struck out twice.
Running - John Tolisano pinch-ran for Sobolewski in the eighth but did not score.
Pitching - Henderson Alvarez pitched six strong innings but received a no-decision. His game WHIP was less than one as he surrendered just one run on four hits and a walk. He rang up five Ks and seven of his 11 outs in play stayed on the green. Alvarez had a stretch of retiring 12 of 14 batters. Lefty Evan Crawford was saddled with the loss (1-2) as he was burned for two unearned runs in 1 1/3 innings on one hit, one walk and a hit by pitch. B.J. LaMura allowed both of his inherited runners to score along with an unearned run of his own in 2/3 of an inning after allowing a hit and a walk.
Defence - Crabbe enjoyed seven errorless innings at second base. The eighth inning was another story at another position. Crabbe moved over to third after Sobolewski was replaced by a pinch-runner and he made fielding and throwing errors on consecutive plays. Behind the plate, d'Arnaud was 0-for-3 in trying to nail base stealers with Alvarez (once) and Crawford (twice) on the hill. On the bright side, Mastroianni gunned down runners at second and at home from left field.
Palm Beach 3 Dunedin 1
Dunedin, FL - The Cardinals put up single runs in the fifth, sixth and ninth while the D-Jays could only score once in the sixth.
Batting - Two singles and seven walks was all the Dunedin offence could put up. Kevin Ahrens (1-3) singled and walked and Brad Glenn (1-4) had the other base knock. Jon Talley (0-3) had a walk and an RBI. Kenny Wilson (0-3) and Brian Van Kirk (0-1) each drew a walk and were hit by a pitch. Justin Jackson (0-3), Sean Ochinko (0-3) and Ivan Contreras (0-3) drew bases on balls. Brad McElroy went 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting appearance. A.J. Jimenez was 0-for-4 but he and McElroy were the only D-Jays not to strike out. Talley had two of the nine whiffs.
Running - Wilson nabbed his 15th stolen base of 2011. Chris Hopkins pinch-ran for Ochinko but did not score.
Pitching - Nestor Molina was one out short of an official quality start as he gave up two runs (including a solo homer) on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and all nine of his outs in play were on the ground but still took the loss to fall to 5-3. Chad Beck stranded the two runners he inherited from Molina. He plunked a batter and struck one out over 1 1/3 shutout innings. Dumas Garcia gave up a hit and a walk while striking out a pair over a scoreless inning. Scott Gracey was also burned by the long ball as he gave up a run on two hits. Still, the groundout/flyout total from the Dunedin pitchers was an impressive 13-3.
Defence - Jackson mishandled a ball at short and Glenn did the same in right field. The Cardinals were 1-for-1 in base stealing against Jimenez and Beck.
Lansing 8 Peoria 4
Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts put up a quick six in the first inning and kicked the extra point in the fourth. The Cubs affiliate put up a desperation trey and converted a free throw at the foul line in the eighth. Lansing tacked on an insurance run in their half of the eighth to just to make sure this one wound up in the win column.Batting - The Lugnuts hit the ball on the screws 10 times and sent three of them over the fence. The home run trio were Bryson Namba (2-3), Kevin Nolan (2-4) and Carlos Perez (1-4). All three drew a walk with Namba collecting three RBI, Nolan driving in two and Perez plating one. Markus Brisker (2-4) reached base four times, including a triple and two walks from the leadoff spot. Marcus Knecht (2-4) had a double and Michael Crouse (1-3) had a walk. Gustavo Pierre (0-3) heard ball four once, which is more than K.C. Hobson (0-4) and Lance Durham (0-5) could say. Durham's sombrero and Crouse's half-sombrero accounted for six of the Lugnuts 11 strikeouts. Knecht and Hobson were the only ones to avoid strike three.
Running - Brisker stole his 12th base of the year and Nolan got his first.
Pitching - Daniel Webb supplied six shutout innings by scattering six hits and two walks. He struck out four to improve his record to 4-4. His groundout/flyout mark was 7-3. Webb got a break to end the first inning when a batted ball hit a base runner at first. He retired 8 out of 10 batters during one stretch. Marcus Walden was victimized for all four runs on four hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. Steven Turnbull stranded a runner for Walden and struck out two over 1 1/3 scoreless frames for save number 13 on the campaign.
Defence - Hobson and Pierre teamed up to deliver a 3-6 double play. Perez threw out a runner trying to steal second with Webb on the mound.
DSL Angels 5 DSL Blue Jays 0
Dominican Republic - The Angels scored all of their runs in the odd-numbered innings with two of them coming in the first.
Batting - Cesar Barazarte (1-2, BB, HBP), Tonguar Perez (1-3, 3B), John Delgado (1-4, 2B) and Angel Rojas (1-4) had all of the Jays hits. Gabriel Cenas (0-3, BB) was the only other Jay to get on base but he struck out twice. Mauricio Nagahashi (0-4 but a good Irish name!), Alvaro Blanco (0-3), Luis Martin (0-3) and (where in the world is...) Kervin Santiago (0-3) could not reach base. Gabriel Quintana was 0-for-1 off the bench.
Running - Barazarte was thrown out trying to steal second.
Pitching - Edgar Manaure had a manure time of it on the mound by getting just four outs. He yielded two runs on a hit, three walks and hit a batter. Manuare also uncorked a wild pitch but he also struck out a pair. Luis Zerpa stranded both runners he inherited but he gave up a run in 2 2/3 innings. He did the opposite of Manuare by allowing three hits and a walk but he also struck out a couple. Lefty Ericdavis Marquez was nicked for a run on one hit while whiffing a batter in his one inning of work. Eyerys Guerrero finished up with the final three innings and allowed a run on two hits but punched out four batters in the process.
Defence - Santiago was 0-for-4 in throwing out base stealers. They were split evenly with Manuare and Zerpa on the hill. Cenas and Blanco converted a 5-4 double play.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Henderson Alvarez, New Hampshire
2. Bryson Namba, Lansing (image provided by Gerry!)
1. Markus Brisker, Lansing
Extra Innings...
- The New Hampshire Union Leader says the month of May was the best ever in franchise history for the Fisher Cats.
- Shi Davidi files this promising report on Dustin McGowan.
- The Lansing State Journal profiles two Lugnuts, catcher Jack Murphy and reliever Danny Barnes.
