Andy La Roche had five RBI's to lead Buffalo to victory. Kevin Pillar and AJ Jimenez also had good games. Casey Lawrence pitched very well again and New Hampshire won. Emilio Guerrero hit a game winning home run in the eighth and Ian Parmley had a walk-off throw to cut down the tying run at the plate to end the game. The GCL Jays won in extra innings.
Lansing were held to just one hit. My notes from my visit to Lansing are at the bottom of this report. Jairo Labourt was shaky in from of Alex Anthopoulos, Vancouver lost. Bluefield lost a close one.
Lehigh Valley 7 Buffalo 9
Andy LaRoche had 5 RBI's with a home run and a double. Brad Glenn hit a 2 run home run. Kevin Pillar had three hits, Kevin Nolan and AJ Jimenez had two hits each.
PJ Walters lasted five innings with four runs allowed. Chad Jenkins was roughed up in relief, he was yanked once three runs came in. Bobby Korecky had to come on for the save.
New Hampshire 5 Harrisburg 3
Casey Lawrence was outstanding yet again. In eight innings the two runs he allowed were unearned. The Senators managed four hits off Casey in those 8 innings. Mickey Storey pitched the ninth for the save.
KC Hobson had three hits. Dalton Pompey was 1-3 with a triple and a walk.
Charlotte 1 Dunedin 2
Dunedin were outhit 10-3. All three runs in the game came on solo home runs. For the Jays Gustavo Pierre hit one in the sixth and Emilio Guerrero supplied the game winner in the eighth.
Ben White started and pitched seven innings. Arik Sikula came on for the save and almost blew it. Ian Parmley threw out the tying run at the plate for the final out of the game.
Lansing 0 Peoria 1
This game was scoreless until the bottom of the eighth. Chad Allen went seven shutout innings. I saw Allen pitch last weekend in Lansing. His fastball sits 92-93 and he commands it well, up, down, in and out. However his off speed pitches are below average.
Lansing had just one hit, by DJ Davis. Alonzo Gonzalez and Roberto Espinosa combined to give up the winning run in the eighth.
Hillsboro 6 Vancouver 3
AA was in town to see Jairo Labourt pitch. Labourt was nervous, he started the game walk, wild pitch, hit batter, walk but then got a double play and a K to limit the damage to one run. Labourt settled down in the second but wildness dogged him all night. He walked five in 4 innings, hit two and ended with four runs allowed. Dan Lietz followed and pitched three innings. In his third inning he conceded two runs.
With AA in town the two hottest hitters, Franklin Barreto and Max Pentecost, took oh-fer's. Everyone else had a hit.
Danville 4 Bluefield 3
Bluefield entered the ninth down by one run and they proceeded to load the bases with two outs but Dan Jansen lined out to short. Jansen did have two hits in the game. Rowdy Tellez led the way with three hits, raising his average to .241. Richard Urena also had two hits.
The starter for the Jays was Francisco Rios who was hit around a bit and conceded three runs on six hits in three innings. Matt Smoral went four innings with five K's and one run allowed.
GCL Jays 3 GCL Pirates 1 - 11 innings
The Jays and Pirates were tied at 1 until the 11th. In the top of the 11th the Jays got two walks and Anders De Aza singled, followed by two errors and the Jays had the 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the 11th the Jays returned the favour by walking three hitters but Francisco Diaz struck out the final hitter. De Aza had two of the Jays six hits.
Nick Wells, 18 year old, pitched five innings, one run, two hits, 2 K's. Connor Greene, one year older, also went five innings, no runs, three hits, 7 K's.
3 Stars
3rd star: Emilio Guerrero
2nd star: Casey Lawrence
1st star: Andy La Roche
I was in Lansing last weekend for two games. It is tough to scout players based on two games so here my comments. Only six hitters played both games, six other hitters played one game.
Matt Dean looked like the most advanced of the hitters. He does have power even though he is not a huge guy. The bar for first basemen is high so it hard to forecast Dean will make it but he is ready for Dunedin next season.
Mitch Nay had a tough series. He is very patient and controls the strikezone well. He does need an approach to the fastball away. In two at-bats he stuck out his bat with two strikes and hit an easy grounder to second. He does have an up the middle approach. Defensively Nay made one nice diving play where he was able to jump up and get the out at first. He had another difficult play down the line where he was slow getting the ball to first. Call it undecided. Nay does have a big frame, the knock on him is the lack of power but if he hits the weight room the home runs should come.
You can tell Dawel Lugo is trying to learn better plate control. He does have good hand/eye coordination so he can hit most pitches. In one at-bat, with the count at 3-2, he fouled off a couple of breaking balls at shoulder height then took a knee high fastball just barely off the outside corner for the walk. The big question for Lugo is where will he play defense? Again, small sample size, but Lugo looked to me to be a step short of a major league shortstop. Lugo has a bigger face, it looks like baby fat. What does that mean? As a 19 year old will Lugo firm up his body and grow into maturity. Or will Lugo fight his weight through his career. If I had to bet I would say Lugo would end on second base.
Dickie Thon played both games and in game two he was hitting the ball all over the field. He looks to have a nice short stroke.
DJ Davis reminds me of Anthony Gose and not just because they are both african-american centre fielders. Both are fast runners. Both hit lefty. Both have questionable plate discipline. Both have big power. However Gose does have the better arm and Gose is also taller than Davis. Davis hit a walk off home run in the Sunday game. He hit it to just left of centre-field, over the 410 foot sign and it hit about 15 feet up the batters eye. Davis was in a slump when I got to Lansing and it showed in his play, he was generally timid in the field and at-bat. I didn't see Davis do much in the field.
Chaz Frank is an undersized lefty outfielder. He reminded me of Matt Newman and Nick Baligod.
Jeremy Gabryszwski started the Sunday game. Gabby throws two fastballs, one at 86-88 and a sinker at 83-85. He throws a change-up at 80-82. Gabby also has a slider that doesn't move much. If we put all four pitches together you get a pitcher who throws four very similar pitches with various speeds and each one moves a little more than the other. I don't see this reportoire working at AA or higher.
