We had a tremendous day for starting pitchers on Friday with all three starters doing something pretty special.
Buffalo Bisons, Rochester Red Wings
Game postponed due to weather.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6, New Britain Rock Cats 0
The Fisher Cats came out of the gate dealing with Matt Boyd having a very different start to his time in Double-A in 2015 than he did in 2014. Boyd struck out nine batters in just 4 1/3 innings before a rain delay ended his night. Overall, he allowed only three hits and two walks to go along with his 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Danny Barnes followed, picking up the win and striking out four over 1 2/3 innings while Luis Perez allowed a hit and a walk in his first regular season game since 2013. Dustin Antolin and Blake McFarland retired their sides in order with McFarland striking out the side.
The offense supported it’s pitchers on Friday night, getting six runs on 13 hits but the big one came off the bat off K.C. Hobson who went 2/4 with the first Fisher Cats home run of the season. Matt Newman was 3/4 with a single, a double and a triple while Melky Mesa (2/4) and Jake Fox (2/3, 2B, 2 RBI) also had multiple hits.
Player of the Game: Matt Boyd and K.C. Hobson
Dunedin Blue Jays 0, Clearwater Threshers 2
A day after hitting three home runs, the Dunedin bats were silent as the D-Jays squandered a near-perfect outing from starter Brad Allen. Allen went five innings without allowing a hit and just gave up one walk with three strikeouts. Scott Silverstein was tagged with the loss after giving up two runs in his inning of work while Alberto Tirado threw two scoreless innings, reportedly hitting 97 mph on the radar gun while Tiago da Silva struck out two batters in his affiliated pro debut.
Despite two hits (including a double) by Michael Saunders and a pair of singles from David Harris, the hitters couldn’t get any offense going.
Player of the Game: Brad Allen
Lansing Lugnuts 3, Lake County Captains 2
The Lugnuts scored three runs early and great pitching managed to keep the Lake County Captains at by to come up with a 3-2 victory on a rain-delayed Opening Night game. Chase De Jong was the story in this one, making his season debut and striking out nine batters in just 4 2/3 innings and allowing just one run on four hits and two walks. Mark Biggs got the win but allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings of work, striking out three while Francisco Gracesqui walked two in his 2/3 of an inning. Phil Kish earned the save with 1 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out one.
The offense only had four hits, getting RBIs from Chris Carlson, Gunnar Heidt and Richard Urena.
Player of the Game: Chase De Jong
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