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Two Canadian lefties had 11-1/3 shutout innings between them but only one found the win column as the other lost a no-hit bid and the game in the span of three batters. The other highlight involved a former first-round pick having an electrifying game at the plate and on the basepaths. In total, the affiliates picked up a split of their six games on Tuesday that included wins in the back-end of two doubleheaders.


Pawtucket 1 Buffalo 0 (Game 1 - 7 Innings)

Pawtucket, RI
— Bisons starter Andrew Albers (1-2) had a no-hitter going after six innings, walking just two batters. Travis Shaw ended the no-hit bid with a double to start the seventh and scored on a Matt Spring single one out later to give the PawSox the walk-off victory. Albers struck out four and had eight outs on the ground to give him a Game Score of 67.

Unfortunately for Albers, Sox starter Brian Johnson was a little bit better against the Buffalo bats as he held them to two hits and a walk in a complete game effort. Sean Ochinko and Jonathan Diaz had the base hits and Munenori Kawasaki heard ball four. Ochinko was thrown out at the plate in the second on an 8-6-2 putout after trying to score from first base. Ezequiel Carrera, Andy Burns, Matt Hague, Chris Colabello and Andy Wilkins were a combined 0-for-15 at the top of the order.


Buffalo 3 Pawtucket 1 (Game 2 - 7 Innings)

The Bisons offence finally broke through with three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Chris Dickerson and Andy Wilkins. Munenori Kawasaki started the rally with a single and a stolen base. Dickerson and Matt Hague had three hits apiece with Hague drawing a walk for a perfect day at the dish.

Scott Copeland
(2-0) was nicked for a one run on four hits while walking just one over six innings. His strikeout and groundout totals were six apiece and his Game Score was 65. Bo "The Hammer" Schultz nailed things down with a one-two-three seventh for his third save.


Trenton 4 New Hampshire 3

Trenton, NH
Taylor Cole (0-1) was given a two-run lead before he threw a pitch but he gave it right back on a two-run homer by Eric Jagielo. That was among the four runs and 10 hits the Yankees affiliate picked up against Cole in 5-2/3 innings. On the positive side, he struck out five, walked nobody and got seven outs on the ground. Greg Burke stranded a runner and struck out a batter with only a hit by pitch to blemish his 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Blake McFarland worked a one-hit eighth.

The Fisher Cats got their runs early and late with Melky Mesa mashing a two-run double in the first inning and Jack Murphy got the other run in on a fielder's choice in the ninth. Ryan Schimpf popped up to short with runners at first and second to end the game. Mesa, Dwight Smith Jr. and Kevin Nolan had two-hit games.


Daytona 3 Dunedin 0 (Game 1 - 7 Innings)

Daytona, FL
— The first game between the newly-named and affiliated Daytona Tortugas was one to forget for the visiting Dunediners. The Reds affiliate got to Jays starter Brad Allen (0-2) for three runs on four hits and three walks over five innings. Allen struck out six but he allowed a home run and had trouble shutting down the running game with batterymate Jorge Saez as the Tortugas were 3-for-3 against that tandem. Chad Girodo overcame a hit and a stolen base by striking out two in a scoreless sixth.

Dunedin had their chances to score in the first two innings. Roemon Fields singled and stole third base after being balked to second base in the first. Derrick Loveless singled, moved to second on a Saez walk but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a Michael Saunders single. Matt Dean had the other hit for the D-Jays. Saez and Mitch Nay both had walks.


Dunedin 6 Daytona 1 (Game 2 - 7 Innings)


Like their Triple-A counterparts, the Dunedin offence broke their goose egg in the back end of the doubleheader. Mitch Nay's two-run single got things rolling in the first inning and it turned out to be all the D-Jays would need. Sacrifice flies by Romeon Fields and Dawel Lugo, a Derrick Loveless groundout and a wild pitch produced the other runs. Matt Dean had two hits and Fields had the other as Dunedin got good mileage out of their four hits in total.

Jayson Aquino
(1-1) had just an unearned run on his ledger over 5-2/3 innings. The lefty scattered five hits and two walks while striking out a pair. Eight of his 12 outs in play were on the ground. Wil Browning stranded a couple of runners and struck out three in 1-1/3 scoreless innings for his fourth save.


Lansing 8 Fort Wayne 1

Lansing, MI
— It was just a 1-0 Lansing lead after five innings before the Lugnuts ratcheted things up with seven runs in the next two innings. D.J. Davis drove in four runs with an RBI double and a three-run triple but he was cut down at the plate in his attempt for an inside-the-park grand slam. Davis was also hit by a pitch and stole a base. Rowdy Tellez had a two-run double, Danny Jansen plated home another with a single and Dickie Joe Thon grounded home the first run of the game in the first. Tim Locastro was 3-for-4 with a stolen base and Anthony Alford had two hits and a walk. Thon, Richard Urena and Justin Atkinson had a hit and a walk apiece.

Shane Dawson (1-1) spun a one-hitter through five innings, striking out seven with no walks and a Game Score of 72. The Alberta lefty also got six of his eight outs in play on the grass. Starlyn Suriel surrendered the only run in his 3-1/3 innings of work, scattering three hits and striking out one. Five of his six outs put into play did not escape the infield. Phil Kish wrapped things up by retiring the final two hitters of the game, both on ground balls.


Tuesday's Linescores


*** 3 Stars!!! ***


3. D.J. Davis, Lansing


2. Scott Copeland, Buffalo


1. Shane Dawson, Lansing



Wednesday's Schedule & Probable Starters

New Hampshire @ Trenton, 10:35 am ET — Casey Lawrence (0-2, 4.38)
Buffalo @ Pawtucket, 12:05pm ET — Randy Wolf (2-0, 0.90)
Dunedin @ Daytona, 7:05 pm ET — Luis Santos (0-1, 6.30)
Fort Wayne @ Lansing, 7:05 pm ET — Chase Mallard (0-0, 3.27)
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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
whiterasta80 - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 06:45 AM EDT (#299740) #
Was Davis penalized for getting thrown out? I would think that two hits, a walk, a sb, and 4 rbis would normally merit first star.
Mike Green - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 08:40 AM EDT (#299743) #
Davis was thrown out twice as a baserunner, and went 1 for 2 stealing bases.  His talent is still very raw.  It is good that he is striking out a little less (but still too much) and walking a little more.  He needs to spend a whole season in Lansing to get grounded. 
whiterasta80 - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 11:34 AM EDT (#299753) #
Didn't know he also had a CS. He really has to cut those down. Its just inexcusable for someone with his speed to be under 80% success at that level.
Mike Green - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 11:49 AM EDT (#299754) #
If this picture tells a true story, Dawson has thickened up quite a bit in the lower half of his body.   That's probably a good thing.  In any event, he's ready for a promotion to Dunedin anytime, given his age and his performance in Lansing over 12 starts this year and last. 
uglyone - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 11:53 AM EDT (#299755) #
so good to get Alford playing on a normal prospect track finally!

in his brief 26gm, 112pa milb "career" so far he's shown a natural feel for the strikezone (12.5bb%), power (.153iso) and speed (11 for 11 in sb), with reportedly legit CF calibre defense. that's an exciting package already.

what i'm looking at for him to truly turn into a bluechip prospect is an improvement in that hit tool - his .245avg and 29.5k% are not a great start in that department, and those are the two numbers of his i'll be following closely. if he can get his avg up to say .280 or better and get his K% down closer to 20, he starts to look like a really, really good prospect.



uglyone - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 11:56 AM EDT (#299756) #
Nice to see Dawson keep going too. I thought he had a chance to crack our top 10 prospect lists prior to injury. Always liked him better than "big-arm" projects like tirado labourt robson.
uglyone - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 12:21 PM EDT (#299759) #
some (fringy) love for Boyd: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-five-baseballs-most-compelling-fringe-prospects-41/
eudaimon - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 02:59 PM EDT (#299769) #
What do people think of Albers? He's 29, but he's doing well so far this year and his 2013 with the Twins wasn't bad at all, outside of his low K rate.
dan gordon - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 03:18 PM EDT (#299772) #
Albers was 22 when he was drafted, then had TJ surgery the next year and missed 2 years, so he really didn't get started until he was 25. After that he started putting up some pretty good numbers in the minors for 2011-2013 before his 10 starts with the Twins in 2013. Last year he was in Korea. His K/BB ratios have been extremely good, 4.2 times as many K's as BB's for his minor league career. Put up a 4.05 ERA in those 10 starts for the Twins. Only 7 walks in 60 IP, but only 25 K's. I don't see any reason why he couldn't be a pretty good major league reliever, or maybe a serviceable starter for the back end of a rotation.
China fan - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 03:23 PM EDT (#299774) #
The Bisons won again today, and they're now sporting the best record (9-4) in the International League.  A decent start from Wolf (6 innings, 7 hits, one walk, 5 strikeouts, 3 runs) but the real star was Chris Colabello who had 4 hits, including his 3rd home run of the season.  Colabello's OPS now stands at .932 this season.  Far too early to make any conclusions, of course, but he could still be a useful option for the Jays this year if they need a DH or a fourth OF or back-up 1B.

Recall that Colabello had a brilliant start for the Twins last season, setting a team record for RBIs in April (beating Kirby Puckett's record).  Then he slumped badly for the rest of the season, but it was later revealed that he had a thumb injury for most of the season, which had hampered him.  The optimistic scenario is that he's now recovered fully from the thumb injury and he might be able to regain some of the form that he flashed in April 2014.  That's perhaps over-optimistic, but he might be worth watching as the Buffalo season progresses.
Mike Green - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 03:43 PM EDT (#299777) #
What dan gordon said.  Albers would be my choice after Estrada and Hendriks for a rotation spot, if needed.  He walks very few and was decent in his one major league go-round in 2013.  If you put him in front of a good defence, he probably will not get tarred and feathered.
jester00 - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 03:57 PM EDT (#299780) #
I think my choice would be giving Scott Copeland a shot.  He's been a groundball machine his whole career (2.52 GO/AO), and seems to have taken a nice step forward over the past year.  I'd be ok giving him his shot, should do well in front of our defence if he can pound the ball down.
China fan - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 04:00 PM EDT (#299781) #
If you look more closely at that "decent" season by Albers in 2013, it actually consisted of two brilliant games at the beginning (he allowed no runs in his first 17 innings) and then a series of 8 mostly bad games in which his ERA was a terrible 5.70 and the opposition was crushing him to the tune of a .846 OPS.  So arguably the league just caught up to him and he wasn't really that good.

On the other hand, it's also true that he kept his walks very low, even in those mediocre eight games -- he allowed only 6 walks in 42.2 innings in those 8 games.  And his poor ERA was largely a product of a perhaps unlucky .338 BAbip in those 8 games.  So there might still be something there.  I agree that he's worth watching and could be depth option at some point.

cybercavalier - Wednesday, April 22 2015 @ 05:28 PM EDT (#299791) #
/* Is Andrew Albers in optimism Canadian J. A. Happ ? (for fun, can this relation be written in computing similarity function, that is */

IF Extrapolation (Albers' current performance, 3 years) == (J. A. Happ's current performance)
THEN (Albers to active roster)
/* Does extrapolation function exist ?*/

/* For Colabello */
IF (M. Saunders coming back healthily)
THEN (Goins to AAA) AND (Saunders to active roster)

ELSE IF (M. Saunders coming back healthily) AND (Colabello keeps up his performance) AND  ( (Travis struggles a bit) OR (Pompey struggles a bit) )
THEN (Goins to AAA) AND (Saunders to active roster) AND ( (Travis to AAA) OR Pompey to AAA)

ELSE IF (M. Saunders coming back healthily) AND (Colabello keeps up his performance) AND (Travis struggles a bit) AND (Pompey struggles a bit) )
THEN (Goins to AAA) AND (Saunders to active roster) AND (Travis to AAA) AND (Pompey to AAA)
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