The affiliates took three out of four Monday night. I got to witness the lone loss in person!


Buffalo 5 Gwinnett 4

Buffalo, NY — The Herd scored first thanks to a throwing error at third base in the second inning. The Braves took a 2-1 lead in the third but Luis Jimenez doubled home the tying run half an inning later before Moises Sierra's fielder's choice gave the Bisons a 3-2 lead. Andy LaRoche knocked one out of the yard to start the sixth and Jim Negrych plated what turned out to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The trio of Sierra, Negrych and Anthony Gose had two-hit performances. Gose and Negrych each heard ball four once while Sierra had a double. Mauro Gomez had a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch. LaRoche added a walk with his homer. Ryan Goins and Mike Nickeas both heard ball four once. Ryan Langerhans was 0-for-4 but helped throw out a runner at third from left field.

Todd Redmond (2-1) had a game WHIP of 1.00 thanks to five hits and one walk to limit the Braves to a couple of runs. He also struck out three batters. Mickey Storey worked a pair of scoreless innings, yielding just one hit while whiffing three. John Stilson had a shaky ninth with two runs on a hit and a walk before nailing it down for his second save.

Dunedin 6 Tampa 4

Dunedin, FL — The D-Jays won this one in spite of Brandon Morrow. The Yankees racked up three runs on five hits and a walk over two innings against the rehabbing righty. Morrow served up a homer and struck out nobody. Four of his five outs in play were on the ground. Austin Bibens-Dirkx (3-2) pitched the final seven innings and limited the Yanks to a run on two hits and two walks with six K's. Of his 15 outs in play, 12 were on the ground.

Dunedin answered a Yankee run in the first with two of their own, courtesy of a Jon Berti triple that scored a Jose Reyes single. Berti would score on an Andy Burns base rap. Down 3-2 in the second, the Jays quickly responded with three more runs thanks to a bases-clearing triple by Burns. Derrick Chung added an insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the seventh. Berti and Burns led the hit parade with three apiece with Berti earning a walk and Burns stealing a base. Reyes, Chung and Nick Baligod had two hits apiece. Mike Crouse singled and walked, Oliver Dominguez doubled and Matt Newman walked. Peter Mooney was 0-for-2 after replacing Reyes while K.C. Hobson was hitless in four at-bats.


Spokane 10 Vancouver 1

Vancouver, BC — The C's earned a failing grade in front of a full house for their home opener. The Rangers affiliate snapped a scoreless tie with a two-out RBI single with against lefthander Bobby Brosnahan (0-1) in the fourth. The Indians then erupted for eight runs in the fifth. Brosnahan only got one out in the inning and was charged with five runs on seven hits, a walk and a hit by pitch while striking out four. Tim Brechbuehler only retired one hitter, allowing two inherited runs to score on a bases-clearing triple. He surrendered four runs on three hits and three walks. Alvado Jimenez came into the game with the bases loaded and only allowed an inherited run to score. He struck out a pair over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Markus Brisker overcame a hit and a walk by striking out two over a scoreless frame. Justin James worked a shutout inning but Brandon Dorsett allowed the 10th Spokane run on two hits and two walks in the ninth but managed one strikeout.

The lone run for Vancouver came in the eighth when Nico Taylor tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Daniel Klein had a double and a single and threw out four out of six Spokane basestealers from behind the plate. Ian Parmley had a single and a base on balls. Jorge Vega-Rosado had the other base hit. Jordan Leyland worked two walks and Jason Leblebijian had one. Dickie Thon Jr. was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts while Justin Atkinson was 0-for-4 with two whiffs. Ronnie Melendez was 0-for-3.


DSL Blue Jays 14 DSL Brewers 8

San Pedro de Macoris, DR — The Jays were down 2-0 in the first inning but got on the board with a double steal as Deiferson Barreto swiped home. Juan Tejada singled home Michael De La Cruz, who had stolen second on the back end of the double steal. De La Cruz singled home another run in the third and Leudy Garcia drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Jays a 4-3 lead. The Jays busted the game open with six runs in the fourth. Richard Urena singled home the first run and a wild pitch brought in another. The big swing came from Ronniel Demorizi as he socked a grand slam. The Jays added a single run in innings five through eight on a Juan Kelly double play grounder, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a De La Cruz RBI double.

De La Cruz had three walks and two stolen bases to go along with his two hits. Barreto was 0-for-1 but drew four walks, scored four runs and stole two bases. Demorizi walked twice in addition to his grand salami. Urena and Juan Fuente singled and walked twice while Jean Almanzar singled, walked and was hit by a pitch.  Javier Hernandez had two singles, a hit by a pitch and a stolen base after pinch-running for Tejada. Garcia worked the count to ball four twice and Kelly did so once. Dean Bell was 0-for-1 and Luis Dominguez was 0-for-2.

Lefthander Wilfri Aleton pitched the first two innings and the Brew Crew got to him for three runs on three hits, including a two-run homer, and a walk. He did strike out a pair. Lefty Juliandry Higuera (2-0) pitched four shutout frames of one-hit ball, striking out four and facing the minimum 12 batters. Greylor Conde was roughed up for four runs (three earned) on five hits in two-thirds of an inning. Denis Diaz stranded two runners for Conde but did allow a run of his own on two hits in 1 2/3 innings. All five of his outs were punchouts. Jairo Rosario walked a hitter but stranded a pair of Diaz's runners with a strikeout over 2/3 of an inning to finish up.


Boxscores


*** 3 Stars!!! ***

3. Andy Burns, Dunedin — Has an OPS of 1.160 over his last 10 games and has 51 RBI this season.

2. Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Dunedin — Florida State League hitting just .177 against him and has a 52-12 K-BB total in 42.1 innings.

1. Michael De La Cruz, DSL Blue Jays — Hitting .341 with a 1.054 OPS this season.


Tuesday's Probable Starters...

DSL Blue Jays vs. DSL Tigers, 10:30 am ET.
New Hampshire — Marcus Walden (4-7, 3.58) @ Altoona, 7:00 pm ET.
Dunedin — Scott Copeland (6-2, 2.41) @ Tampa, 7:00 pm ET
Buffalo — Dave Bush (7-4, 4.23) vs. Gwinnett, 7:05 pm ET.
Vancouver - Colton Turner (NR) vs. Spokane, 10:05 pm ET.