Toledo 4 Buffalo 2
Melky Cabrera was apparently in town, but did not play. He will play tomorrow in Buffalo apparently and not in Toronto. Nonetheless, a few familiar faces made appearances tonight out of the bullpen. Sergio Santos struck out the side and then declared himself ready to pitch in Toronto. Santos fails to see that a guy who says it feels “foreign” having guys on-base and pitching from the set position perhaps may not be ready for the big time. I digress… Jeremy Jeffress made his second appearance after not pitching for two months. He too pitched a scoreless inning, striking out a batter. Brad Lincoln followed and pitched a scoreless inning himself, striking out two batters. No word whether the two felt ready to be back in Toronto. Eugenio Velez had two hits and Kevin Pillar had a first inning triple. Anthony Gose, on the other hand, was caught stealing for the eleventh time this year. That puts his stolen base percentage at a miserable 50%. Is he not supposed to be refining his skills?
New Hampshire 2 Trenton 9
Deck McGuire was only hit around a little. He allowed three earned runs on six hits in six innings of work. He struck out four and walked two. He got out of there before the real damage was done as the Yankee affiliate put up six runs in the seventh and eighth. Brad Glenn had a tidy three hits and A.J. Jimenez doubled and walked twice. The Fisher Cats were 2-13 with runners in scoring position and as a team walked eleven times to six strikeouts. Disappointing that they were only able to put up two runs with that many base runners. One would think that a team riding an eight game win streak would be able to cash some of these guys in, but alas sometimes good things must come to an end.
Fort Myers 1 Dunedin 0
J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez were outpitched by Taylor Rogers. Rogers one-hit the Dunedin Blue Jays, which means Dunedin has been no-hit once and one-hit twice in the last two weeks. Good news, Sanchez reportedly hit 100mph tonight, pitching well over four innings of work. He struck out six, walked two, allowed two hits, and was also hung with the loss as he yielded the games’ only run. Rehabbing J.A. Happ, making his triumphant return to the mound pitched even better. He went five innings, allowing just three hits, walking no one, and striking out seven. I imagine depending on how things go here after the all-star break that Happ may be back in the rotation soon.
Lansing 8 Clinton 2
Lansing turned around an early lead to take this one by a score of 8-2. Emilio Guerrero started the comeback in the fifth with a three run homerun. His efforts were topped and then some the following inning as the Lugnuts put up a five spot. A Seth Connor bases loaded clearing double did most of the damage. Daniel Norris gets the start tomorrow night.
Eugene 2 Vancouver 10
Six runs in the third basically put this game to bed. The Canadians batted around and were helped out by two of the five errors Eugene would commit on the night. Dickie Thon homered an inning later and would also steal a base on the night. Jordan Leyland and Justin Atkinson both had two hits, with Leyland homering. On the mound, Jeremy Gabryszwski picked up the win pitching five and two-thirds of two run baseball. Gabryszwski has been a solid pitcher to date and will be one to follow next year in full season ball as we’ll see how his low strikeout and walk numbers play.
Burlington 13 Bluefield 3 Game One
Bluefield is in the midst of a three straight doubleheaders. The early game saw the Bluefield squad play out a game that was rained out on July 11, 2013. Adonys Cardona got hit around a bit through his four innings. He allowed seven hits and three earned runs, walking just the one to four strikeouts. The real damage game against the bullpen as relief pitcher Joe Lovecchio was shelled in his two-thirds innings of work. Justin D’Alessandro did not fare too well either. With the sticks, Dawel Lugo had two hits including a triple. Lugo, in my mind, is hitting a respectable .266 as an eighteen year-old. The lack of errors is also nice to see. Mitch Nay had a hit and a walk, and D.J. Davis had a hit in four trips. Derrick Loveless has cooled a bit and went 0-3.
Burlington 2 Bluefield 4 Game Two
A solid start of five shutout innings from Tom Robson paced the Bluefield Blue Jays to a doubleheader split. Robson allowed just two hits and struck out two. As has become common in Robson’s very early professional career, the majority of his outs were on the ground. He recorded a 12-1 ground ball to fly ball ratio. Him and Jeremy Gabryszwski seem to have that going for them, which is nice. D.J. Davis had two hits to continue his hot hitting ways. He also walked and stole a base, but was also thrown out. I’d like to see him run a bit more. Jonathan Davis had the only extra base hit tonight, but made it count as his double in the fifth scored two runs.
GCL Tigers 9 GCL Blue Jays 7 Game One
This was a makeup for a rained out game on July 1, 2013. Safe to say 2013 draftee Daniel Lietz wished this game remained rained out. Lietz started and yielded eleven hits in two innings of work. Lietz received little help from the defense in this one as an error in the first allowed two unearned runs to score and an error in the second allowed another four unearned runs to score. In all, Lietz allowed eight runs only two of which were earned. At the plate, Josh Almonte left the game in the first after being hit by a pitch. Thomas Collins III went 3-4 and Gabriel Cenas had three RBIs.
GCL Tigers 2 GCL Blue Jays 3 Game Two
Lloyd’s kid aside, better fielding and better pitching in the second game propelled the Baby, Baby Jays to victory. Connor Greene pitched well and was followed by Matt Smoral who had his best outing of his professional career. Yes, for Smoral, two innings pitched, two unearned runs, a hit, a walk, and four strikeouts has been the $2 million man’s best outing so far. Pessimism aside, Smoral is going to take time. I look at someone like Alex Meyer of the Twins as what we can expect from a development and performance standpoint. Meyer had ERAs of 5.73 and 7.06 his first two years of college, and then put up solid numbers his Junior year. Usually those first round college guys go straight to High-A their draft year and then are in AA the following year and getting a cup of coffee in September. Meyer, on the other hand, didn’t pitch professionally his draft year, split the following season between full season A ball and High-A and is now in AA. So using Meyer as a reference point, Smoral is pretty much on schedule.
Franklin Barreto had a nice game going 2-3 with a double and a triple. Rehabbing Moises Sierra went 0-2, but knocked in a run. Edwin Fuentes had two hits and Dan Jensen had two RBIs.
DSL Blue Jays 1 DSL Brewers 1 Suspended in the Ninth
I’m going to report on this one even though it’s been suspended due to rain after nine innings. The report: nothing really happened. The two clubs combined for two runs on eleven hits. Richard Urena had a hit and a walk, and Blue Jays starter Daniel Rodriguez went five and a third, allowing the one run on six hits, a walk and four strikeouts. It’s almost like the Latin guys are on a completely different program as Rodriguez, who is seventeen, is throwing five, six innings every time out there while the guys who get drafted throw an inning here and there, or have some guy piggy backing with them until he’s old enough to drink in the US.
Three Stars
3. Aaron Sanchez
2. Tom Robson
1. J.A. Happ
