Columbus 10 Buffalo 3
Buffalo, NY The Bisons are back below the .500 mark after getting pounded by the Indians affiliate. Chucky took revenge on Ricky Romero as the embattled lefty pitched one inning, getting slapped around for five runs (four earned) on four hits and five walks with just one strikeout. Romero came back to the mound for the second inning but did not retire any of the seven batters he faced. Only 21 of his 48 pitches were strikes. Bobby Korecky prevented Romero's line from being even uglier by stranding the bases loaded and pitching a one-hitter over four shutout frames. His K-BB ratio was 4-0 and his ground ball/fly ball total was 4-1. Joel Carreno did not have it in his 1 2/3 innings. He yielded a home run and saw three Clippers touch home plate in 1 2/3 innings. Carreno gave up two hits and two walks but also struck out a pair. John Stilson did not have it either as he could not strand his lone inherited runner. He also surrendered a run of his own on two hits and two walks in one-third of an inning. Lefty Buddy Caryle continued the ineffective bullpen trend by getting gonged for a home run among his three hits in two innings. Half of his six outs came via the strikeout.
Moises Sierra got the Herd on the board with a sacrifice fly in the first to tie the game at 1-1. Andy LaRoche slammed a two-run homer in the fourth to pull the Bisons to within 5-3. Buffalo had just six hits and nobody had more than one. In a nice change of pace, Anthony Gose walked three times, stole a base and did not strike out once. He also threw out a runner at home from center field. Sierra had a base hit and a stolen base. Ryan Goins had the lone extra-base hit with a double. Kevin Pillar, Jim Negrych, Mauro Gomez and Munenori Kawasaki all put up a one in the hit column.
New Hampshire 4 Harrisburg 3
Manchester, NH The Nationals affiliate had a 3-0 lead before Adam Loewen went yard in the third to put the Fisher Cats on the prowl. Loewen delivered the F-Cats second run with an RBI single in the fifth. Brad Glenn tied it by putting one over the fence to begin the eighth inning. Gabe Jacobo later followed with a single and it turned out to be a little-league home run as he scored on a throwing error by the right fielder and a fielding error by the center fielder. Loewen had a three-hit night while Glenn and Jacobo had two hits apiece. Andy Burns and A.J. Jimenez were both 1-for-4.
Ryan Tepera hit a speed bump by giving up all three of his runs in the third inning. He went five innings with the three runs coming on three hits, four walks and a hit by pitch. He had zero strikeouts but seven of his nine outs were on the grass. Randy Boone (3-0) scattered four hits and a walk over three scoreless frames and had four punchouts. With the victory, Boone became the Fisher Cats franchise wins leader with 17. Scott Gracey bid the Senators good night with a perfect frame, highlighted by a strikeout, to collect his first save.
Dunedin 9 Charlotte 2
Port Charlotte, FL K.C. Hobson opened and closed the scoring for the Jays with a run-scoring double in the first inning and a solo homer to start the ninth. Nick Baligod smoked a leadoff homer in the second, followed by a Jon Berti sacrifice fly and a Peter Mooney RBI groundout. Baligod doubled in another run in the third and Matt Newman scored another one with a deep enough fly ball. Marcus Knecht doubled in a run in the seventh and Baligod drove in his fourth run of the night with a ground ball. Hobson had a four-hit performance, finishing a triple short of the cycle. Mooney had three hits and Knecht had two.
Kyle Drabek pitched 3 2/3 inning shutout innings, stifling the Rays affiliate to a hit and a walk while whiffing three. Four of his six outs in play did not escape the infield. According to @DunedinBlueJays, Drabek was averaging 94 miles per hour with his fastball. He has kept the opposition off the scoreboard over his last 10 2/3 innings. John Anderson (4-1) was not quite as effective as Drabek as the lefthander allowed two runs on three hits and two walks over 2 1/3 innings while striking out one. Lefty Tony Davis allowed Anderson's runners to score but gave up just one hit and struck out a pair over two scoreless frames. Ajay Meyer gave up a hit and plunked a batter but he struck out a batter in a scoreless ninth.
Lansing 5 Kane County 2
Geneva, IL The Lugnuts put up a three-spot in the first inning with Dwight Smith Jr. plating the first run with a ground ball. Kevin Patterson doubled in the second run and came home on an errant pickoff throw. Patterson hit a ground ball to score another run in the fifth. Smith would drive his second run of the game with a base hit in the seventh. Smith Jr., Jorge Flores and Christian Lopes shared the Lugnuts hit lead with two apiece. Flores was also hit by pitches twice to get on base four times and he added a stolen base. Patterson had two walks to get on base three times. Dalton Pompey doubled, walked and stole two bases to put his season total up to 33. Carlos Ramirez singled, walked and stole a base. Santiago Nessysingled in four trips to the plate.
Despite giving up two hits, four walks and two plunks over five frames, Taylor Cole (5-9) kept the Cubs affiliate at bay with just two runs allowed with the runs coming on a two-run dinger by Reggie Golden. He struck out two and eight of his dozen outs in play stayed in the diamond. Justin Jackson went 1 2/3 scoreless frames but allowed two hits and two walks while striking out one. Tucker Donahue saved Jackson by stranding his three runners and pitching one shutout inning with one hit and one walk. Arik Sikula recorded the four-out save, his 13th, by stranding two Donahue runners and navigating his way around a hit and a walk with the help of one strikeout.
Vancouver 4 Eugene 2
Kyle Anderson lowered his ERA to 2.49 with a solid 6 2/3 innings of work Monday night.
Vancouver, BC The C's ended the first-half of their season on a winning note with a win over the Padres affiliate, finishing one game back of Everett for the first-half division title. Lefty Kyle Anderson (4-0) had two unearned runs over 6 2/3 innings by spreading out six hits and a walk. He struck out two but compiled an impressive 13 ground ball outs. Fellow southpaw Joe Spano picked up Anderson by stranding a runner and punching out two of the four hitters he faced in a perfect 1 1/3 innings. Chuck Ghysels allowed a hit but struck out a batter in the ninth for his fourth save.
Surrey, BC native Justin Atkinson had a three-hit night to lift his batting average to .256.
Vancouver did all of their business with the bats in the fourth inning. L.B. Dantzler doubled home the first two runs. Jordan Leyland scored Dantzler with a single before giving way to pinch-runner Brenden Kalfus, who would score on a Justin Atkinson double. Atkinson had three hits while Chaz Frank, Dickie Thon Jr. and Dantzler had two apiece. Guelph, Ontario native Shaun Valeriote was 0-for-2.
Bristol 7 Bluefield 6
Bluefield, WV The Bluef-Jays flushed a four-run lead down the toilet against the White Sox in the ninth. Alberto Tirado surrendered two runs over four innings on four hits and two walks. He struck out a pair and induced six ground ball outs. Lefthander Jairo Labourt was much better in his four innings of work, allowing zero runs on one hit and one walk. He picked up 6 K's and five groundouts. Brett Barber (1-1) tried to close the door but five runs cross the plate on his watch, all of them unearned, on two hits and a walk. Two passed balls by Jorge Saez and errors by D.J. Davis in center and Dawel Lugo at short also played a role. Lefty Francisco Gracesqui could not strand his lone inherited runner after a throwing error by Saez. Gracesqui did end the inning with a strikeout.
The Jays broke out on top in the first inning on a two-run homer by Dawel Lugo to cash in a Tim Locastro triple. John Silviano went deep in the sixth to put the Jays ahead again, 3-2. Before giving all it back with his glove, Saez socked a two-run bomb in the eighth before Matt Dean stole home during a Davis walk. Locastro, Lugo, Saez and Dean all had two hits with Locastro drawing a walk and stealing a base. Davis walked twice. The Jays were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 men on base.
GCL Astros 4 GCL Blue Jays 3
Kissimmee, FL The Jays tried to chip away at a 3-0 first inning deficit when Rowdy Tellez doubled home two runs for his first professional base hit in the third. The other run came with two outs in the ninth on a Dan Jansen RBI single. Edwin Fuentes had a perfect day at the dish, going 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and a stolen base. Franklin Barretowas 2-for-4 with a stolen base and Jansen reached base twice by getting a walk. Tellez whiffed twice and also made an error at first base.
Jesus Tinoco (0-3) had the first inning hiccup but settled down to retire nine of the last 11 hitters he faced in his four innings of work. The three runs on his line came on five hits and two walks. He punched out three and racked up seven outs on the ground. Lefty Alejando Solarte pitched 3 1/3 innings and was charged with one run on four hits and a walk. He struck out a pair and recorded six ground ball outs. Fellow southpaw Jose Fernandez stranded both of Solarte's runners and got the final two outs of the eighth, thanks to a 7-2 double play started by Sean Hurley.
DSL Blue Jays 9 DSL Yankees1 8
San Pedro de Macoris, DR The Jays walked this one off in a back and forth affair. Richard Urena led off the ninth with a double and raced to third on an error by the Yankees left fielder. He would scamper home on a wild pitch. The Jays were down 3-0 before an RBI double by Juan Fuente and a two-run double by Urena in the third inning tied things up. Juan Tejada connected for a solo shot in the fourth and Fuente stole home on the front end of a double steal with Deiferson Barreto to highlight another three-run frame. Michael De La Cruz stole home as part of another double steal with Tejada in the fifth to put the Jays ahead 7-6. Juan Kelly singled in another run in the seventh to give the Jays an 8-7 lead. Urena and De La Cruz had the multi-hit games for the Jays with two apiece with De La Cruz being hit by a pitch. Fuente added two walks with his double.
Francisco Rios gave up three runs over three innings on two hits and four walks. He did strike out five but he also threw five wild pitches. Greylor Conde was whacked for four runs on six hits, with all of the runs courtesy of three long balls over four innings. On the positive side, he struck out five and walked nobody. Jairo Rosario received a blown save after he gave up a long ball over his 1 2/3 innings. He walked one and plunked one but struck out three. Pedro Diaz (1-0) prevented two Rosario runners from scoring by retiring the only hitter he faced.
Boxscores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Kyle Anderson, Vancouver Has limited Northwest League hitters to a .217 BA and has walked just seven batters in 43 2/3 innings.
2. Adam Loewen, New Hampshire Has three multi-hit games in a row and has 27 extra-base hits (13 HR, 13 2B, 1 3B).
1. K.C. Hobson, Dunedin - Brought his BA up to .200 and has 14 HR and 12 2B on the season.
Tuesday's Probable Starters...
Dunedin (47-47) Aaron Sanchez (2-4, 3.26) @ Charlotte, 6:30 pm ET.
Bluefield (19-11) Tom Robson (2-0, 1.71) @ Danville, 7:00 pm ET.
Buffalo (50-51) JA Happ (NR) vs. Columbus, 7:05 pm ET.
New Hampshire (52-48) Deck McGuire (5-8, 5.40) vs. Harrisburg, 7:05 pm ET.
Vancouver (21-16) TBA @ Spokane, 9:30 pm ET.
DSL Blue Jays (22-16) TBA @ DSL Yankees1, 10:30 am ET.
GCL Blue Jays (11-14) TBA vs. GCL Astros, 12:00 pm ET.