The affiliates went two up and two down Tuesday night, highlighted by a pair of double-digit efforts in the run column.
Toledo 5 Buffalo 4 (11 Innings)
Buffalo, NY - The Herd were down 3-0 but Brett Carroll singled home the first run and scored on a Darin Mastroianni home run in the third inning. Dan Johnson gave Buffalo the lead with a lead-off home run in the fourth, his 11th of the season. Mastroianni, Carroll and Jonathan Diaz were in the two-hit club. Matt Tuiasosopo had a base hit and a base on balls and A.J. Jimenez was 1-for-5. Kenny Wilson was 0-for-3.
Liam Hendriks was not his usual dominant self but made it through eight innings, surrendering four runs to the Tigers affiliate including a three-run bomb by Hernan Perez. In total, Hendrix gave up six hits but matched that with six strikeouts and did not walk anyone. Bobby Korecky brought his earned run average down to 0.27 with two shutout frames of one-hit ball while whiffing a pair. Ryan Tepera (2-2) gave up the winning run in the 11th on two hits but had one strikeout. Buffalo manager Gary Allenson was ejected after the winning run crossed the plate. The Bisons are now a game below .500.
New Hampshire 10 Bowie 2
Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats fell behind 2-0 but rattled off 10 unanswered runs for the victory. Jon Berti started a six-run rally in the third with an RBI triple before Ryan Schimpf brought him home with a double. RBI singles by Hector Gimenez and Mike Crouse sandwiched a two-run double by Kevin Nolan to put New Hampshire ahead by four. The Cats added more four more runs in the seventh, highlighted by a Schimpf solo home run and Jonathan Jones run-scoring double. Jones had three hits and Schimpf added a walk to go with his two extra-base knocks. Berti and Gimenez also had two-hit games. Crouse stole his seventh base of the season.
Aaron Sanchez (2-4) had a decent outing, pitching five frames of two-run ball against the Orioles affiliate. He scattered five hits and two walks and struck out seven. All six outs of his in play were on the ground. Sanchez threw 84 pitches, 50 for strikes. Lefthander John Anderson supplied some stellar relief by walking just one hitter over three shutout frames and racking up four K's. Four of his five outs were recorded on the ground. Arik Sikula struck out the side in a one-hit ninth.
Dunedin 14 Jupiter 2
Jupiter, FL - The D-Jays also obliterated the opposition after spotting them a 2-0 lead. Derrick Chung plated the first run with an RBI groundout in the sixth. That was followed by a two-run single by Nick Baligod, who came in to score on a Kellen Sweeney double. Then Dunedin exploded for 10 runs in the seventh. The big swings came from K.C. Hobson, who belted a three-run homer and Dwight Smith Jr., who hit a ground-rule double to score a pair. Three D-Jays reached base four times apiece. Baligod and Sweeney had three-hit games with Baligod getting a walk and Sweeney getting hit by a pitch. Smith Jr. had two hits and two walks. Hobson had a walk to go along with his dinger. Dalton Pompey and Marcus Knecht also made a dent in the hit column with Knecht taking one for the team. Chung was also plunked to give Dunedin three hit batsmen.
Kendall Graveman (4-1) hung around just long enough to get the victory, pitching six innings and yielding a pair of runs to the Marlins affiliate on five hits and two walks. He struck out three and nine of his 13 outs remained in the infield. Southpaw Efrain Nieves had a shutout seventh in spite of a couple of hits. Justin Jackson finished up with two scoreless innings with two hits allowed and two punch-outs.
DSL Yankees2 6 DSL Blue Jays 0
San Pedro de Macoris, DR - The first three Jays hurlers all threw one-hitters. Venezuelan lefty Juliandy Higuera (0-1) walked just one hitter over the first two frames but surrendered a pair of runs in the third on a triple and wild pitch. He walked a pair but also struck out four. William Zambrano was burned for three runs in 1.1 innings with a 3-2 strikeout-walk total. Luis Gomez stranded a runner for Zambrano and pitched 3.2 shutout innings, hitting a batter but striking out two and collecting eight ground ball outs. Pedro Diaz matched the hits allowed total of his fellow hurlers combined as the Yankees strung together three hits for a run in the ninth.
Francisco Rodriguez had two hits and a walk while Bryan Lizardo had a walk and a hit by pitch. Rodrigo Oroczo singled and stole a base. Enmanuel Moreta, Luis Dominguez and Eddy Alcantara had the other hits. The Jays were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Tuesday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Nick Baligod, Dunedin - Hitting .324 over his last 10 contests.
2. Aaron Sanchez, New Hampshire - Only two homers allowed in 59.1 innings.
1. Ryan Schimpf, New Hampshire - Has 25 extra-base hits to push his OPS to 1.011.
Wednesday's Schedule & Probable Starters...
DSL Blue Jays @ DSL Yankees2, 10:30 am ET - TBA.
Bowie @ New Hampshire, 10:35 am ET - RHP Scott Copeland (4-5, 4.47).
St. Lucie @ Dunedin, 6:35 pm ET - RHP Taylor Cole (4-2, 2.31).
Toledo @ Buffalo, 7:05 pm ET - RHP Radhames Liz (NR).
South Bend @ Lansing - 7:05 pm ET - RHP Jeremy Gabryszwski (3-2, 3.71).
Extra Innings...
Toledo 5 Buffalo 4 (11 Innings)
Buffalo, NY - The Herd were down 3-0 but Brett Carroll singled home the first run and scored on a Darin Mastroianni home run in the third inning. Dan Johnson gave Buffalo the lead with a lead-off home run in the fourth, his 11th of the season. Mastroianni, Carroll and Jonathan Diaz were in the two-hit club. Matt Tuiasosopo had a base hit and a base on balls and A.J. Jimenez was 1-for-5. Kenny Wilson was 0-for-3.
Liam Hendriks was not his usual dominant self but made it through eight innings, surrendering four runs to the Tigers affiliate including a three-run bomb by Hernan Perez. In total, Hendrix gave up six hits but matched that with six strikeouts and did not walk anyone. Bobby Korecky brought his earned run average down to 0.27 with two shutout frames of one-hit ball while whiffing a pair. Ryan Tepera (2-2) gave up the winning run in the 11th on two hits but had one strikeout. Buffalo manager Gary Allenson was ejected after the winning run crossed the plate. The Bisons are now a game below .500.
New Hampshire 10 Bowie 2
Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats fell behind 2-0 but rattled off 10 unanswered runs for the victory. Jon Berti started a six-run rally in the third with an RBI triple before Ryan Schimpf brought him home with a double. RBI singles by Hector Gimenez and Mike Crouse sandwiched a two-run double by Kevin Nolan to put New Hampshire ahead by four. The Cats added more four more runs in the seventh, highlighted by a Schimpf solo home run and Jonathan Jones run-scoring double. Jones had three hits and Schimpf added a walk to go with his two extra-base knocks. Berti and Gimenez also had two-hit games. Crouse stole his seventh base of the season.Aaron Sanchez (2-4) had a decent outing, pitching five frames of two-run ball against the Orioles affiliate. He scattered five hits and two walks and struck out seven. All six outs of his in play were on the ground. Sanchez threw 84 pitches, 50 for strikes. Lefthander John Anderson supplied some stellar relief by walking just one hitter over three shutout frames and racking up four K's. Four of his five outs were recorded on the ground. Arik Sikula struck out the side in a one-hit ninth.
Dunedin 14 Jupiter 2
Jupiter, FL - The D-Jays also obliterated the opposition after spotting them a 2-0 lead. Derrick Chung plated the first run with an RBI groundout in the sixth. That was followed by a two-run single by Nick Baligod, who came in to score on a Kellen Sweeney double. Then Dunedin exploded for 10 runs in the seventh. The big swings came from K.C. Hobson, who belted a three-run homer and Dwight Smith Jr., who hit a ground-rule double to score a pair. Three D-Jays reached base four times apiece. Baligod and Sweeney had three-hit games with Baligod getting a walk and Sweeney getting hit by a pitch. Smith Jr. had two hits and two walks. Hobson had a walk to go along with his dinger. Dalton Pompey and Marcus Knecht also made a dent in the hit column with Knecht taking one for the team. Chung was also plunked to give Dunedin three hit batsmen.Kendall Graveman (4-1) hung around just long enough to get the victory, pitching six innings and yielding a pair of runs to the Marlins affiliate on five hits and two walks. He struck out three and nine of his 13 outs remained in the infield. Southpaw Efrain Nieves had a shutout seventh in spite of a couple of hits. Justin Jackson finished up with two scoreless innings with two hits allowed and two punch-outs.
DSL Yankees2 6 DSL Blue Jays 0
San Pedro de Macoris, DR - The first three Jays hurlers all threw one-hitters. Venezuelan lefty Juliandy Higuera (0-1) walked just one hitter over the first two frames but surrendered a pair of runs in the third on a triple and wild pitch. He walked a pair but also struck out four. William Zambrano was burned for three runs in 1.1 innings with a 3-2 strikeout-walk total. Luis Gomez stranded a runner for Zambrano and pitched 3.2 shutout innings, hitting a batter but striking out two and collecting eight ground ball outs. Pedro Diaz matched the hits allowed total of his fellow hurlers combined as the Yankees strung together three hits for a run in the ninth.
Francisco Rodriguez had two hits and a walk while Bryan Lizardo had a walk and a hit by pitch. Rodrigo Oroczo singled and stole a base. Enmanuel Moreta, Luis Dominguez and Eddy Alcantara had the other hits. The Jays were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Tuesday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Nick Baligod, Dunedin - Hitting .324 over his last 10 contests.
2. Aaron Sanchez, New Hampshire - Only two homers allowed in 59.1 innings.
1. Ryan Schimpf, New Hampshire - Has 25 extra-base hits to push his OPS to 1.011.
Wednesday's Schedule & Probable Starters...
DSL Blue Jays @ DSL Yankees2, 10:30 am ET - TBA.
Bowie @ New Hampshire, 10:35 am ET - RHP Scott Copeland (4-5, 4.47).
St. Lucie @ Dunedin, 6:35 pm ET - RHP Taylor Cole (4-2, 2.31).
Toledo @ Buffalo, 7:05 pm ET - RHP Radhames Liz (NR).
South Bend @ Lansing - 7:05 pm ET - RHP Jeremy Gabryszwski (3-2, 3.71).
Extra Innings...
- Congratulations to Derrick Chung, Dalton Pompey, Dwight Smith Jr., K.C. Hobson, Daniel Norris, Taylor Cole and Arik Sikula. They have been named to the Florida State League North Division All-Star team.
- The Buffalo News runs down all the injury woes the Bisons are dealing with.
- LansingLugnuts.com has interviews with D.J. Davis and Jason Leblebijian.
- DunedinBlueJays.com has a conservation with Jesse Hernandez.
- MiLB.com has a feature on Dwight Smith Jr.
- The Bluefield Daily Telegraph says Fred McGriff will be in town later this month.
