Four of the six affiliates sang the bullpen blues Monday night. Buffalo almost did and Bluefield hummed a few bars but did not have to break out into full song. New Hampshire and Vancouver had the night off.


Buffalo 7 Norfolk 4

Norfolk, VA - Here's hoping the parent club will follow suit for the next three games. The Bisons drew first blood against the Orioles affiliate with a pair of runs in the third inning. Kevin Pillar doubled home an Adron Chambers single and Pillar would score on a Ryan Schimpf sacrifice fly. An RBI single by Kevin Nolan and a two-run safety by Mike Nickeas in the sixth inning made it 5-1 Buffalo. Chambers belted a home run to start the ninth and Andy LaRoche brought in another run with a ground ball. Chambers and Pillar had three hits each with Pillar getting two doubles. Nolan, Brett Wallace and Jared Goedert all had two-hit nights.

P.J. Walters (4-2) lasted six strong innings by rolling back the Tide to just one run on four hits and two walks. He struck out four and divided his 12 outs in play evenly on the ground and in the air. Ryan Tepera worked a shutout seventh with just one hit. Rob Rasmussen pitched a scoreless eighth but was rung up for three runs on five hits in 1.1 frames. Bobby Korecky was called in to get the last two outs. He gave up two hits but he struck out two to get his 19th save.


Palm Beach 5 Dunedin 1

Dunedin, FL - Matt Boyd did his job against the Cardinals, pitching seven solid innings of one-run, three-hit ball with eight K's and zero walks. Seven of his 10 outs in play were on the ground. He set down the last eight hitters he faced and 11 of his last 12. Griffin Murphy (2-1) got the first hitter he faced but three singles and a home run to the next four batters put this one out of reach. He walked one and struck out one in his two-inning outing.

A Pierce Rankin RBI double plated the only Jays run in the fourth to even up the game at 1-1. Ian Parmley went 2-for-4 with a stolen base while Nick Baligod was 1-for-3 with a walk and a swipe. Emilio Guerrero, Gustavo Pierre and Jorge Saez also had base hits.


Fort Wayne 4 Lansing 3

Fort Wayne, IN - Brad Allen met the minimum guidelines of a quality start with three runs allowed over six innings against the Padres affiliate. Two of the runs were the result of two homers. That was among seven hits in total but his peripherals were outstanding as he struck out eight without walking anyone and five of his eight outs in play did not leave the diamond. Francesco Gracesqui (1-2) gave up a gopher ball in his two innings of work. He gave up four hits and a walk but struck out three.

The Lugnuts scored the first run of the game when Dickie Joe Thon doubled and eventually scored on an error in the third inning. David Harris tripled home a run in the fourth and scored on a Derrick Loveless ground ball to give Lansing a brief 3-1 lead. Mitch Nay had the only multi-hit game by going 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Jason Leblebijian singled, walked twice and stole a bag. Loveless went 1-for 5 while swiping a pillow. D.J. Davis and Justin Atkinson also joined the hit parade. Matt Dean was 0-for-2 with a walk.


Bluefield 11 Burlington 7

Burlington, NC - Bluefield had to overcome a four-run deficit and a blown lead in extra innings to finally pull this one out against the Royals. The Jays first run came on a passed ball in the second inning. Rolando Segovia provided the second run with a poke over the wall in the fifth to give Bluefield a 2-1 advantage. They got the bats to get going to erase a 6-2 deficit when Rowdy Tellez connected for a three-run homer in the eighth. A Richard Urena double tied the game in the ninth but Kevin Garcia was thrown out at home to eventually send the game into overtime. Sean Hurley was thrown out at home trying to score from third base on a ground ball in the tenth but the Jays pushed across the go-ahead run with a Lydell Moseby bases-loaded walk. Josh Almonte would give Bluefield the lead for good by leading off the 12th inning with a home run. Another Moseby RBI walk brought in an insurance and two more runs would score on a wild pitch and a throwing error by the Burlington pitcher. Tellez, Almonte and Austin Davis all had three-hit nights. Segovia got aboard three times by walking twice. Urena was 2-for-7.

Francisco Rios was reamed for six runs in 4.1 innings that included a homer among his eight hits. He struck out four and walked nobody. Matt Smoral also pitched 4.1 innings but his work was of the shutout variety as he pitched a one-hitter with three walks and six K's. Chase Wellbrock (1-2) gave up a run on two hits but lasted 2.1 frames with a 4-0 K-BB total. Dusty Isaacs had a 3-1 K-BB ratio in his one inning to give Bluefield hurlers an impressive 17-4 strikeout/walk tally.


GCL Yankees2 3 GCL Blue Jays 2

Dunedin, FL - Guess what? Another bullpen meltdown! Hansel Rodriguez pitched the first two innings and was hacked for a run on a hit and two walks while striking out two. The pitching star in this one was Angel Perdomo. The lefty put up four shutout innings of four-hit ball with an 8-2 K-BB total. Francis Eduardo coughed up the lead by serving up a solo homer in the seventh and was victimized by an unearned run in the eighth after a Yeltsin Gudino error at short. He struck out a pair in his two innings of relief. Brandon Hinkle worked a one-hit ninth.

Edwin Fuentes drove the offence for the Jays in this one. His fourth inning home run tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth and his sacrifice fly in the sixth gave them the lead. Dave Pepe had a base hit, a base on balls and a hit by pitch. Fuentes, Deiferson Barreto, Lane Thomas and Juan Tejada all put notches in the hit and walk columns. Barreto, Tejada and Freddy Rodriguez stole one base apiece.



DSL Tigers 7 DSL Blue Jays 5

San Pedro de Macoris, DR - Here's another one that got away from the Jays in the late going after holding leads of 4-1 and 5-3. An Edward Olivares bases-loaded single resulted in Olivares clearing the bases and scoring himself after a fielding error by the Tigers center fielder. Olivares was only credited with one RBI. The other Blue Jays run came in the seventh when Luis Dominguez managed to score from third base after a rundown that involved Rodrigo Orozco who was picked off at first. Dominguez and Miguel Almonte both doubled and were hit by a pitch. Bryan Lizardo singled and walked. Jesus Severino and Francisco Rodriguez were 1-for-4.

Kelyn Jose was jilted for a pair of unearned runs over four innings on two hits and three walks but he struck out eight. Luis Gomez gave up another run over two innings on four hits and a walk but whiffed a pair. Jefry Martinez walked one, plunked one and struck out one over one-plus innings. Pedro Diaz (2-1) could not strand two inherited runners and was dinged for two of his own runs on four hits, including a home run. He hit a batter but he did strike out three in his two innings.


Monday's Linescores


*** 3 Stars!!! ***


3. Matt Boyd, Dunedin - A 1.07 ERA and 72-15 K-BB total in 58.2 innings with the D-Jays.


2. Adron Chambers, Buffalo - Hitting .303 against right-handed pitching and .316 with runners on base.


1. Rowdy Tellez, Bluefield - Five multi-hit games in his last six contests and an .885 OPS in his last 10.


3 Stars images from MiLB.com.


Tuesday's Schedule & Probable Starters

DSL Blue Jays @ DSL Tigers, 10:30 am ET - TBA.
GCL Blue Jays @ GCL Yankees2, 12:00 pm ET - TBA.
Buffalo @ Norfolk, 12:05 pm ET - Raul Valdes (4-3, 3.60).
Dunedin @ Lakeland, 6:30 pm ET - Jeremy Gabryszwski (NR).
Bluefield @ Burlington, 7:00 pm ET - TBA.
New Hampshire @ Erie, 7:05 pm ET - TBA.
Lansing @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 pm ET - TBA.