Buffalo Charlotte 8
Buffalo's first four batters reached base and it looked good for a positive result for the Bisons but they trailed by two runs after two. Dalton Pompey led off with a solo home run. Darrell Ceciliani followed with a double and singles by Matt Dominguez and Chris Colabello made it 2-0. But Scott Diamond wasn't hitting his spots. Charlotte had six hits in the first two innings and five of them were for extra bases. Pompey, single, and Ceciliani, double, brought it back to a one run game in the third but Diamond gave up four more in the fourth to make it a five run differential. AJ Jimenez hit a two run home run in the sixth.
The top four hitters who led off the game with hits, ended with two each. Bobby Korecky provided four shutout innings, just one hit conceded.
Altoona 11 New Hampshire 5
The Fisher Cats signed John Straka from independent league and he didn't make a good second impression. In his first start he gave up three runs but on Sunday it was eight runs in less than two innings. The three relievers did OK but the damage had been done.
Dwight Smith tried single handedly to mount a come back. He was 3-4 with a triple and a home run and three RBI. Jon Berti and Jason Leblebijian had two hits each. Richard Urena was 1-4 and Rowdy Tellez 0-4.
Dunedin 12 Lakeland 7
Dickie Thon homered his first two times up. After that he was hit by a pitch, struck out, hit by a pitch, struck out. One hit by pitch for each homer. Kevin Pillar didn't homer but he was twice hit by pitches too. He was pulled from the game in the seventh after going 2-2. Max Pentecost was 2-5 with two K's. Matt Dean also had two hits.
Conor Fisk didn't have to be great and he wasn't. He did go six innings and gave up four but on the good side the punched out nine. Justin Shafer pitched two perfect innings in relief. He seems to be moving between the rotation and the bullpen these days.
South Bend 2 Lansing 3
Lansing were outhit 12-5 but they made their hits count. It helped that South Bend left 13 runners on base. In the fifth inning a lead off walk, a single and two wild pitches led to the first run. In the sixth, the Lugnuts loaded the bases with no outs. A sac fly scored the second run. Then the runners tried for a double steal and when the catcher threw it away Lane Thomas came home with what turned out to be the winning run.
Ryan Borucki went five shutout innings. He did give up five hits, one walk, and had six K's. Tom Robson put on six base runners in two innings but just allowed one run. Jackson Lowery also pitched two innings and had four base runners and he too just conceded the one run.
Boise 7 Vancouver 0
There was not much to report on in this game. The Canadians were outhit 11-4 but theu could not do what Lansing did. Rodrigo Orozco had two hits. Josh Palacios stayed semi-hot with a hit.
Patrick Murphy started, he gave up four runs in five innings on eight hits.
Bluefield 7 Danville 4
A five run seventh was the difference. The Jays scored their seven runs with just seven hits. Vlad Jr had two of the hits including his eighth home run, a two run shot. Vladdy had another RBI for three on the day. Juandy Mendoza also went deep for the Jays. Lance Jones had the big hit in the seventh, a bases loaded and bases clearing, double.
Osman Gutierrez was another pitcher who was OK but not great. He was charged with all four runs in six plus innings. Three of those runs came in the seventh when he was tiring. Stuart Holmes and Angel Alicia provided hitless relief over the final three innings.
Three Stars
Third Star - Dwight smith
Second Star - Vlad Guerrero Jr
First Star - Dickie Thon
Of note on Saturday Rowdy Tellez hit his 17th home run. Max Pentecost played his first game for Dunedin and homered in his first at-bat. He had two hits. Danny Jansen had two as well in the same game. Jon Harris had a not so good start, five runs scored off him in six innings. In Lansing, Angel Perdomo used 37 pitches in the first inning and was pulled. It continues to be an up and down season for Perdomo. Josh Palacios continued his torrid August. He was 3-4 with a triple. His OPS in August is well above 1000, 1067 after Saturdays game. In the GCL, Chavez Young had three extra base hits. The 39th round pick this year is 11-18 over the last four games and has raised his average from .048 to .308.
On Friday Casey Lawrence had an excellent start for Buffalo. Bo Schultz blew the save and took the loss next inning. In AA, Richard Urena, Jon Berti and Roemen Fields had three hits each. Shane Dawson had one of his best starts of the year, a three hitter over six innings. In Dunedin, Ryan McBroom had three hits and Francisco Rios took the loss out of the bullpen. It is Rios' second straight bullpen appearance, the Jays are likely limiting his innings. Palacios, Yelstin Gudino and Bryan Lizardo each had two hits for Vancouver.