The affiliates won four out of seven Monday night with Lansing's bats providing the highlights along with solid starting performances in Buffalo and Dunedin. The GCL Blue Jays welcomed a big bat back to their lineup. On the negative side was an extra-innings loss, a one-run setback in regulation and a blowout loss north of the border.
Buffalo 3 Lehigh Valley 2
Buffalo, NY - Casey Kotchman had a 3-for-3 night but his taking one for the team with the bases loaded in the fifth turned out to be the difference as the Herd upended the Phillies affiliate. Andy Burns put a charge into one for a home run in the first before Erik Kratz had an RBI single in the fourth. Jesus Montero was 2-for-3 with a walk. Burns had a walk to go with his dinger and Junior Lake had a base hit and a base on balls. Chris Colabello was 0-for-4.
Casey Lawrence (5-5, 3.71) blanked the IronPigs over the first four frames and managed to get through seven, allowing just two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out five and his groundball total was nine for a Game Score of 67. Ryan Tepera closed it out with two shutout innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts to notch his 18th save.
Trenton 8 New Hampshire 7 (11 Innings)
Manchester, NH - The Yankees affiliate had no trouble getting the bat on the ball against Shane Dawson as they lit him up for three home runs and six runs in total on 10 hits over 6-2/3 innings. Dawson struck out only one but did not walk anyone. Eight of his 11 outs in play were on the ground. Dr. Longball also paid a visit to Alonzo Gonzalez as he gave up a dinger over three innings while whiffing one. Murphy Smith (4-5) gave up the losing run on a hit and a walk in 1-1/3 innings.
Derrick Loveless singled in an Emilo Guerrero double for the Fisher Cats in the third. The Fisher Cats matched a four-run fifth by Trenton with four of their own on a Jason Leblebijian RBI single and a Rowdy Tellez three-run homer, his 20th homer of the season. Ryan Lavarnway sent the game into extras with a two-run double to plate a Christian Lopes walk and a Richard Urena infield single. Lopes, Tellez, Guerrero and Loveless all had two hits with Lopes walking twice and Tellez and Guerrero walking once. Urena also got a free pass. Dwight Smith Jr. and Reese McGuire were 0-for-5 and Leblebijian had the golden sombrero. Pinch-hitter Jon Berti struck out with runners on the corners to end the game in the 11th.
Dunedin 2 Tampa 0
Dunedin, FL - A run in their first at-bat and a run in their last at-bat was all Dunedin needed to beat the Yankees. John La Prise scored the first run of the game when he singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch before coming home on a Jonathan Davis double. Ryan McBroom singled home a Jorge Flores walk in the eighth. Jonathan Davis was hit by a pitch and so was McBroom. Anthony Alford reached base twice by walking. D.J. Davis walked once but Max Pentecost was 0-for-3.
Luis Santos (4-1, 3.40) slammed the door shut on Tampa for seven innings of four-hit ball with one walk. He struck out six to match his groundout total. Santos had stretches of retiring seven hitters and eight hitters in a row for a Game Score of 78. Jose Fernandez walked one and whiffed one in a shutout eighth for his 10th hold and Dusty Isaacs struck out one in a clean ninth for his fifth save.
Lansing 12 Lake County 6
Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts opened a can of whoopass on the Cleveland affiliate to keep their playoff hopes alive. Carl Wise singled home a Juan Kelly walk to open the scoring for the Lugnuts in the second inning but that was just the appetizer as Lansing exploded for 10 runs in the third. Andrew Guillotte, Joshua Palacios, Kelly and Connor Panas had run-scoring singles before Ryan Hissey changed things up with a two-run knock. A sacrifice fly by Cavan Biggio, a two-run double by Guillotte and a wild pitch helped the Lugnuts reach double digits in the inning. Panas doubled home a Kelly base hit in the sixth. Guillotte, Palacios, Kelly, Panas, Wise and Ryan Metzler all had two-hit nights. Kelly walked twice and Metzler walked once. Cavan Biggio had a hit and a walk while J.B. Woodman and Ryan Hissey also put one in the hit column. Lansing was 11-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
T.J. Zeuch had an interesting debut in the Midwest League. The former Pitt Panther surrendered five runs among seven hits and a hit by pitch and could not get any of the three batters he faced in the fourth. On the positive side, the big righty struck out seven and did not walk anyone. His other two outs were on the ground. He threw 75 pitches, 53 for strikes. Daniel Young (2-1) was called in to strand Zeuch's three baserunners in the fourth but he didn't. Young would put together three innings of scoreless ball on three hits and two walks. Jackson Lowery allowed a run on two hits with one K over two innings. Andrew Case had a perfect ninth.
Salem-Keizer 13 Vancouver 4
Vancouver, BC - The C's are playing out the string after being officially eliminated from playoff contention Friday in Everett. Dalton Rodriguez (2-7, 6.55) struck out the side in the first but that was the high point as he gave up a run in the second before serving up a three-run bomb in the third. Rodriguez went 5-2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, three walks and a hit by pitch while ringing up five. Gabe Noyalis could not strand a runner for Rodriguez and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks before finishing off the sixth. Evan Smith was hammered for a pair of two-run taters, giving up five runs and five hits over the final three frames.
D.J. McKnight had three hits, including a triple, in a losing cause Monday.
The C's scored the first run of the game when D.J. McKnight tripled and raced home on a Bryan Lizardo groundout in the first inning. A wild pitch and a throwing error in the eighth gave Vancouver three more runs in the eighth. McKnight had a three-hit night but was given the rest of the night off when Brett Wellman escaped the first base coaching box to make his first plate appearance as a pinch-hitter in which he drew a walk. Lizardo, Christian Williams, Nash Knight and Javier Hernandez also had base hits.
Johnson City 3 Bluefield 2
Bluefield, WV - The Cardinals took advantage of two Blue Jays errors to come up with a win on the road. An error by Bradley Jones at first extended the second inning for Juliandry Higuera (2-3, 3.23), who served up a two-run homer to the next batter. Another error by Javier Monzon at second led to an unearned and tie-breaking run in the sixth. Higuera allowed four hits and three walks but struck out four and induced eight groundball outs. Chris Hall escaped a bases-loaded jam to strand three inherited runners in the sixth, en route to 3-1/3 shutout innings of one-hit ball.
Matt Morgan got the Jays on the board in the second with an RBI single to score a Kalik May double. May would tie the game in the fourth with an RBI groundout to plate a Jones base hit. May and Jones had two hits while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Reggie Pruitt had one apiece. Pruitt also walked and stole a base. Nick Sinay had two swipes to run his total to 34 after being hit by a pitch. Morgan also took one for the team.
GCL Blue Jays 3 GCL Tigers West 1
Dunedin, FL - Bo Bichette picked up right where he left off. After having his appendix removed in late July, Bichette drew a walk in his first plate appearance back and wound up scoring on a David Jacob single for the first run of the game in the first inning. Bichette and Jacob teamed up again in the fifth by both doubling to snap a 1-1 tie. Bichette was replaced in the next half-inning defensively, hopefully as a precaution. Yorman Rodriguez drew a pinch-hit walk and managed to race home on a bad pick-off throw in the seventh. Jays manager Cesar Martin was ejected by the home plate umpire following a strikeout of Jesus Navarro to start the seventh. Jacob had three of the Jays' five hits. Mitch Nay had the other.
Maximo Castillo (2-3, 4.62) was the winning pitcher by going five innings and giving up just a fourth-inning solo home run. That was among only three hits he conceded. He struck out six, walked nobody and got four groundball outs. Mitch McKown pitched a clean sixth that included a punchout. Gregor Mora pitched 1-1/3 innings of one-hit, one-walk ball along with one strikeout. William Ouelette stranded both of Mora's runners but had to work around two hits and a walk to get the final five outs, two by strikeout, for his third save.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Casey Kotchman, Buffalo
2. Casey Lawrence, Buffalo
1. Luis Santos, Dunedin
Tuesday's Schedule/Probable Starters
GCL Blue Jays @ GCL Tigers West, 12:00 pm ET - TBA
Tampa @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET - Justin Shafer (4-6, 5.09)
Trenton @ New Hampshire, 6:35 pm ET - Wilmer Font (3-1, 2.31)
Bluefield @ Princeton, Completion of August 16 game + 7:00 pm ET - TBA
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Buffalo, 7:05 pm ET - Scott Copeland (3-2, 3.47)
Salem-Keizer @ Vancouver, 10:05 pm ET - Denis Diaz (1-3, 8.10)
Extra Innings
Buffalo 3 Lehigh Valley 2
Buffalo, NY - Casey Kotchman had a 3-for-3 night but his taking one for the team with the bases loaded in the fifth turned out to be the difference as the Herd upended the Phillies affiliate. Andy Burns put a charge into one for a home run in the first before Erik Kratz had an RBI single in the fourth. Jesus Montero was 2-for-3 with a walk. Burns had a walk to go with his dinger and Junior Lake had a base hit and a base on balls. Chris Colabello was 0-for-4.Casey Lawrence (5-5, 3.71) blanked the IronPigs over the first four frames and managed to get through seven, allowing just two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out five and his groundball total was nine for a Game Score of 67. Ryan Tepera closed it out with two shutout innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts to notch his 18th save.
Trenton 8 New Hampshire 7 (11 Innings)
Manchester, NH - The Yankees affiliate had no trouble getting the bat on the ball against Shane Dawson as they lit him up for three home runs and six runs in total on 10 hits over 6-2/3 innings. Dawson struck out only one but did not walk anyone. Eight of his 11 outs in play were on the ground. Dr. Longball also paid a visit to Alonzo Gonzalez as he gave up a dinger over three innings while whiffing one. Murphy Smith (4-5) gave up the losing run on a hit and a walk in 1-1/3 innings.
Derrick Loveless singled in an Emilo Guerrero double for the Fisher Cats in the third. The Fisher Cats matched a four-run fifth by Trenton with four of their own on a Jason Leblebijian RBI single and a Rowdy Tellez three-run homer, his 20th homer of the season. Ryan Lavarnway sent the game into extras with a two-run double to plate a Christian Lopes walk and a Richard Urena infield single. Lopes, Tellez, Guerrero and Loveless all had two hits with Lopes walking twice and Tellez and Guerrero walking once. Urena also got a free pass. Dwight Smith Jr. and Reese McGuire were 0-for-5 and Leblebijian had the golden sombrero. Pinch-hitter Jon Berti struck out with runners on the corners to end the game in the 11th.
Dunedin 2 Tampa 0
Dunedin, FL - A run in their first at-bat and a run in their last at-bat was all Dunedin needed to beat the Yankees. John La Prise scored the first run of the game when he singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch before coming home on a Jonathan Davis double. Ryan McBroom singled home a Jorge Flores walk in the eighth. Jonathan Davis was hit by a pitch and so was McBroom. Anthony Alford reached base twice by walking. D.J. Davis walked once but Max Pentecost was 0-for-3.Luis Santos (4-1, 3.40) slammed the door shut on Tampa for seven innings of four-hit ball with one walk. He struck out six to match his groundout total. Santos had stretches of retiring seven hitters and eight hitters in a row for a Game Score of 78. Jose Fernandez walked one and whiffed one in a shutout eighth for his 10th hold and Dusty Isaacs struck out one in a clean ninth for his fifth save.
Lansing 12 Lake County 6
Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts opened a can of whoopass on the Cleveland affiliate to keep their playoff hopes alive. Carl Wise singled home a Juan Kelly walk to open the scoring for the Lugnuts in the second inning but that was just the appetizer as Lansing exploded for 10 runs in the third. Andrew Guillotte, Joshua Palacios, Kelly and Connor Panas had run-scoring singles before Ryan Hissey changed things up with a two-run knock. A sacrifice fly by Cavan Biggio, a two-run double by Guillotte and a wild pitch helped the Lugnuts reach double digits in the inning. Panas doubled home a Kelly base hit in the sixth. Guillotte, Palacios, Kelly, Panas, Wise and Ryan Metzler all had two-hit nights. Kelly walked twice and Metzler walked once. Cavan Biggio had a hit and a walk while J.B. Woodman and Ryan Hissey also put one in the hit column. Lansing was 11-for-17 with runners in scoring position.T.J. Zeuch had an interesting debut in the Midwest League. The former Pitt Panther surrendered five runs among seven hits and a hit by pitch and could not get any of the three batters he faced in the fourth. On the positive side, the big righty struck out seven and did not walk anyone. His other two outs were on the ground. He threw 75 pitches, 53 for strikes. Daniel Young (2-1) was called in to strand Zeuch's three baserunners in the fourth but he didn't. Young would put together three innings of scoreless ball on three hits and two walks. Jackson Lowery allowed a run on two hits with one K over two innings. Andrew Case had a perfect ninth.
Salem-Keizer 13 Vancouver 4
Vancouver, BC - The C's are playing out the string after being officially eliminated from playoff contention Friday in Everett. Dalton Rodriguez (2-7, 6.55) struck out the side in the first but that was the high point as he gave up a run in the second before serving up a three-run bomb in the third. Rodriguez went 5-2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, three walks and a hit by pitch while ringing up five. Gabe Noyalis could not strand a runner for Rodriguez and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks before finishing off the sixth. Evan Smith was hammered for a pair of two-run taters, giving up five runs and five hits over the final three frames.
D.J. McKnight had three hits, including a triple, in a losing cause Monday.
The C's scored the first run of the game when D.J. McKnight tripled and raced home on a Bryan Lizardo groundout in the first inning. A wild pitch and a throwing error in the eighth gave Vancouver three more runs in the eighth. McKnight had a three-hit night but was given the rest of the night off when Brett Wellman escaped the first base coaching box to make his first plate appearance as a pinch-hitter in which he drew a walk. Lizardo, Christian Williams, Nash Knight and Javier Hernandez also had base hits.
Johnson City 3 Bluefield 2
Bluefield, WV - The Cardinals took advantage of two Blue Jays errors to come up with a win on the road. An error by Bradley Jones at first extended the second inning for Juliandry Higuera (2-3, 3.23), who served up a two-run homer to the next batter. Another error by Javier Monzon at second led to an unearned and tie-breaking run in the sixth. Higuera allowed four hits and three walks but struck out four and induced eight groundball outs. Chris Hall escaped a bases-loaded jam to strand three inherited runners in the sixth, en route to 3-1/3 shutout innings of one-hit ball.
Matt Morgan got the Jays on the board in the second with an RBI single to score a Kalik May double. May would tie the game in the fourth with an RBI groundout to plate a Jones base hit. May and Jones had two hits while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Reggie Pruitt had one apiece. Pruitt also walked and stole a base. Nick Sinay had two swipes to run his total to 34 after being hit by a pitch. Morgan also took one for the team.
GCL Blue Jays 3 GCL Tigers West 1
Dunedin, FL - Bo Bichette picked up right where he left off. After having his appendix removed in late July, Bichette drew a walk in his first plate appearance back and wound up scoring on a David Jacob single for the first run of the game in the first inning. Bichette and Jacob teamed up again in the fifth by both doubling to snap a 1-1 tie. Bichette was replaced in the next half-inning defensively, hopefully as a precaution. Yorman Rodriguez drew a pinch-hit walk and managed to race home on a bad pick-off throw in the seventh. Jays manager Cesar Martin was ejected by the home plate umpire following a strikeout of Jesus Navarro to start the seventh. Jacob had three of the Jays' five hits. Mitch Nay had the other.Maximo Castillo (2-3, 4.62) was the winning pitcher by going five innings and giving up just a fourth-inning solo home run. That was among only three hits he conceded. He struck out six, walked nobody and got four groundball outs. Mitch McKown pitched a clean sixth that included a punchout. Gregor Mora pitched 1-1/3 innings of one-hit, one-walk ball along with one strikeout. William Ouelette stranded both of Mora's runners but had to work around two hits and a walk to get the final five outs, two by strikeout, for his third save.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Casey Kotchman, Buffalo
2. Casey Lawrence, Buffalo
1. Luis Santos, Dunedin
Tuesday's Schedule/Probable Starters
GCL Blue Jays @ GCL Tigers West, 12:00 pm ET - TBA
Tampa @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET - Justin Shafer (4-6, 5.09)
Trenton @ New Hampshire, 6:35 pm ET - Wilmer Font (3-1, 2.31)
Bluefield @ Princeton, Completion of August 16 game + 7:00 pm ET - TBA
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Buffalo, 7:05 pm ET - Scott Copeland (3-2, 3.47)
Salem-Keizer @ Vancouver, 10:05 pm ET - Denis Diaz (1-3, 8.10)
Extra Innings
- The Buffalo News has a story on reliever Chris Smith.
- Not Blue Jays-related but the New York Times has a feature on the Hartford Yard-less Goats and the Washington Post looks at the hardships of playing in the minors.
- MiLB.com talks to J.B. Woodman after his promotion to Lansing and to Bluefield's Bradley Jones after his recent three-homer game.
And finally...
Your random blast from the past Blue Jays minor leaguer of the day.
