Charlotte 1 Buffalo 6
I know all the chatter now is for Marcus Stroman to be called up, but if Stroman deserves a call-up then so does Liam Hendriks. Hendriks has been dominant so far this season and that continued tonight where he pitched seven innings of one run ball. Hendriks even picked off two runners at first. For the season Hendriks has walked just one batter. Hallelujah for strikes! At the plate Kevin Pillar was the standout performer with two hits and three RBIs.
Trenton 3 New Hampshire 4 Game One
Two games down, up, over (wherever you may be) in New Hampshire. Matt Boyd bounced back from a rough first inning in his AA debut where he allowed two earned runs. He went four innings and kept his team in the game. I was curious where his pitch counts were down in Dunedin and how the Jays were approaching him as a college senior. Tonight he threw ninety pitches. It looks like the reins are off Boyd. Homers by Andy Burns and Brad Glenn and two RBIs from A.J. Jimenez paced the offence.
Trenton 2 New Hampshire 1 Game Two
Michael Crouse homered, but the Fisher Cats only mustered three hits in game two. Shawn Hill was solid though. He pitched a doubleheader complete game going the seven innings and allowed just three hits as well. The damage though was done in the fifth by a chain of three hitters who went walk, triple, and single to score the Yankee affiliate’s two runs.
Lakeland 7 Dunedin 1
Taylor Cole shut out the Tigers affiliate over four and two-thirds innings of work. He struck out seven. The bullpen blew it. Dalton Pompey continued his torrid start with two more hits, a walk, and an RBI. The Dunedin squad were 1-11 with RISP.
Lansing 9 Dayton 6
The game really didn’t start for Lansing batters until the second inning after Aroldis Chapman got his inning of work in. Matt Dean had three hits, Jorge Saez had two hits including a homerun, Mitch Nay hit his first Lansing homerun, and L.B. Dantzler hit a grandslam. One the mound Alberto Tirado had a nice start allowing just one hit. Walks will be an issue for him as he progresses. Tonight he walked just three in five innings of work. His “piggyback” partner Shane Dawson too has struggled with the walk and tonight he was poor, gifting five free passes in just an innings and two-thirds of work. In fairness to Dawson tonight was his first Lansing outing.
Three Stars
3. L.B. Dantzler
2. Shawn Hill
1. Liam Hendriks
