The Lansing Lugnuts had a day off while the Fisher Cats emerged as the only winner in the Jays’ system thanks to some timely hitting and solid pitching.
Buffalo Bisons 0, Norfolk Tides 1
On an extremely cold Tuesday night in Buffalo, Randy Wolf brought the (metaphorical) heat, burning through the Norfolk bats until the Tides got to the Bisons’ bullpen in the ninth inning to score a run. That run proved to be enough as the Bisons bats were as frigid as the weather. Wolf was excellent, particularly with runners on as he went seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and three walks, striking out five. Luis Perez allowed two hits in his 2015 Buffalo debut but Ryan Tepera was tagged for the loss despite stranding two of Perez’s runners. Tepera allowed two base runners in the ninth on a hit and an error (charged to him) before Colt Hynes allowed one of them to score. The offense was quiet although Ezequiel Carrera and Andy Wilkins had two hits each and Andy Burns hit the club’s only double.
Roster Notes: Jonathan Diaz was promoted to Toronto.
Player of the Game: Randy Wolf
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7, Trenton Thunder 5
Mike Lee didn’t have his best start for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats but he was bailed out by the offense as they turned it up to a new level towards the end of the game. Lee went six innings and allowed five runs on nine hits with two strikeouts but gave up two home runs. The bullpen got the job done thanks to an inning from Greg Burke and two perfect innings from Matt West (striking out a pair) to earn the save.
Jon Berti served as a spark plug, getting three hits but the big blow came from Melky Mesa who hit a home run in his second consecutive game, going 3/4 and scoring twice. Matt Newman also went yard with his third home run of the season while Jake Fox drove in a pair, going 1/3 with a double and a walk.
Player of the Game: Melky Mesa and Jon Berti
Dunedin Blue Jays 1, Daytona Tortugas 9
Luis Santos was cruising to his best start as a Blue Jays before he hit a speed bump in the sixth inning. After five innings with just one run allowed, Santos walked the first batter, allowed a single and a double to follow and was pulled from the game. Unfortunately, Jimmy Cordero wasn’t able to stop the bleeding as he allowed all three runners to score and allowed four more runs by the Tortugas before he was able to get out of the inning. Cordero clearly lost focus after allowing a two-run double and striking out the next two batters. He walked a man, brought in a run on a balk and allowed a single and a home run before getting out of the inning on a fly ball. Alberto Tirado was excellent, striking out a pair in his inning while Alonzo Gonzalez managed to wiggle out of his inning (allowing two hits and a walk) without giving up a run. Brady Dragmire gave up three hits and a run in the ninth.
The offense was quiet with just five hits including two (a single and a double) from David Harris. The club as a while, struck out 12 times in the game.
Player of the Game: David Harris
Lansing Lugnuts 3, Lake County Captains 1
The Lansing Lugnuts came back off their off-day refreshed and raring to go as Conner Greene probably threw his best outing of the young season with five innings of one-run, five-hit ball without a walk and four strikeouts. Greene gave up the run on a solo blast by Taylor Murphy in the fifth inning. Chase Mallard was also excellent in relief, throwing four innings and allowing just one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.
While the offense only had six hits, they came from two each by Anthony Alford (2/5, 2B, RBI), Richard Urena (2/5) and Gunnar Heidt (2/3, 2B, BB). Tim Locastro scored twice and drove in a run after walking and getting hit by a pitch.
Roster Notes: With Alonzo Gonzalez moving up to the Dunedin Blue Jays, Colton Turner was activated off the DL.
Player of the Game: Conner Greene and Chase Mallard
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