As the Jays kick-off a short trip to Seattle, which will be their only trip to the Pacific Northwest this year, and hope for a mini-sweep, the farm teams completed a mini-sweep of their own, as an off-day and a postponement meant that there were only two games in the system last night and Toronto’s affiliates won both.

It was a .500 night on the farm.  The bad news saw a rehabbing Jays pitcher get rocked as well as an extra innings loss.  On the flip side, the only affiliate on the road picked up a win and a couple of Canadians carried the big lumber in a walk-off victory.

There were only two games on the minor league schedule on Monday night, but we can still say it was a perfect night.

Only three games on Sunday but that doesn't mean there wasn't good news for Jays fans.

Saturday was ike Friday, three affiliates won, Las Vegas being the only loser, and Adam Calderone was the hitting hero again.  Calderone drove in the first three Fisher Cat runs in support of Kyle Drabek.  Drabek was matched up against Casey Kelly, one of Boston's top prospects.  Drabek pitched seven shutout innings for the win.

Henderson Alvarez had to face Jimmy Rollins as well as the rest of the Clearwater side and he pitched six shutout innings and kept Rollins off the bases.  Jon Tolisano had three hits including a home run.  Dunedin and Clearwater also finished a game suspended earlier in the season and Dunedin won that one too.  Adeiny Hechavarria hadone hit in each game and so far is hitting the ball on the ground most of the time.

Lansing were down 3-0 in the eighth but came back to win.  Brad Mills had a rough start and Las Vegas were blown out.

Adeiny Hechavarria made his debut Friday night and went 1-5, his only hit was an infield hit.  But Dunedin did win as did New Hampshire and Lansing.  Ryan Tepera and Luis Perez had good starts and Adam Calderone carried the offense for the Fisher Cats.  Calderone had half the teams hits, scored half the teams runs, and drove in half of the runs too.  Las Vegas were blown out as Bobby Ray, Jesse Carlson, Merkin Valdez and Jeremy Accardo all had a rough game.

All the affiliates other than Las Vegas won.  Lansing blew a lead in the eighth inning but came back to win in the 13th.  Adam Calderone with two home runs and Bobby Bell with seven good innings led New Hampshire to victory.  Dunedin won despite Chuck Huggins not having his best start.  Mike McDade led the hitters with four hits including a home run.

It wasn’t quite an episode of Too Many Molinas, but Las Vegas played host to a game that featured relatives facing each other and one of them delivering the game-changing hit. New Hampshire won big off a top Canadian prospect and a former Blue Jay. Fine relief in Florida prevented Dunedin from nearly blowing a sizeable lead and Lansing saw an impressive pitching performance that nearly gave the outfielders an entire evening off.

The Jays affiliates managed a winning night by going 2-1 that included a shootout, an extra innings win and a game postponed due to the G20 Summit.  I'm not buying one word of this "postponed due to rain BS". However, the best news of the night came from the mound in Dunedin.

The farm split their four games on Monday night, and this week we take an in-depth look at New Hampshire's season-to-date.

Well you should.  Because he threw a shutout today.

It was an ugly night on the farm.  Las Vegas went down early and couldn't mount any kind of comeback.  New Hampshire kept it close until the fifth when the floodgates opened.  Dunedin, like New Hampshire, kept it close, but couldn't win as Henderson Alvarez was a bit shaky again.  Lansing took a 4-0 lead to the bottom of the ninth and lost thanks in part to two errors.

 

New Hampshire trailed 5-0 after seven innings and they had only one hit in the game.  But they exploded for seven runs in the eighth and won.  The win masked a rough start by Zach Stewart.  The Lugnuts racked up 16 hits to support Chad Jenkins on their way to a win.  Las Vegas and Dunedin were losers Friday.

Ryan Schimpf had four hits to lead the Lugnuts to the win.  The pitchers allowed only one hit, Evan Crawford pitched five shutout innings.  Dunedin also won with Sean Shoffit delivering the big hit and Chuck Huggins pitching well.  New Hampshire lost a close one while Las Vegas were blown out.

There was a split on the farm last night, with the middle two affiliates losing while Las Vegas and Lansing won their games. Las Vegas was powered by the top of their lineup and patience, while Lansing made their few opportunities count. Meanwhile, New Hampshire and Dunedin could not get the big hit and combined to strand 27 runners on base.