Holy Moly! What a game. I wish I could have watched it all but I had to leave around the 14th inning to go umpire a couple games of my own! Big shout out goes to Stephen Chadwick Jenkins (a.k.a. Chad) for his heroic six scoreless innings.
Buffalo Bisons 3, Durham Bulls 0
Game one of the double header was all Daniel Norris as the 21 year old announced his presence with authority (bonus points to those who get the reference), absolutely dominating in his first Triple-A start. Norris needed only 82 pitches to get through six innings and allowed just two hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts. Watching on MiLB TV, I thought that Norris was favouring his slider over his curve (he used the curve more in his start last Sunday in New Hampshire) and his changeup was dynamite, especially when paired with his fastball that reached 96 mph on occasion on the TV radar readings. Sergio Santos earned the save with a 1-2-3- ninth, striking out two. Jared Goedert and Jonathan Diaz each had two hits, both getting a single and a double and driving in a run.
Player of the Game: Daniel Norris
Buffalo Bisons 0, Durham Bulls 1
There were only seven hits combined in this pitchers duel and Raul Valdes was strong, allowing just three hits in 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. Unfortunately, Alex Colome was excellent too and Kevin Pillar had two of the team’s four hits.
Player of the Game: Raul Valdes and Kevin Pillar
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3, Akron RubberDucks 9
Casey Lawrence had a rare poor outing allowing seven runs to the RubberDucks over five innings. The offense was mostly quiet but Jack Murphy and Andy Fermin each had two hits including a solo home run.
Player of the Game: Jack Murphy and Andy Fermin
Dunedin Blue Jays: Postponed due to rain
Lansing Lugnuts 2, West Michigan Whitecaps 3
While the Blue Jays played 19 innings of baseball on Sunday, the Lugnuts played 11, losing in the end to the Whitecaps 3-2. Miguel Castro made the start and was much more successful in this start, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings with four strikeouts. Roberto Espinosa, Brady Dragmire and Phil Kish pitched multiple innings before Kish allowed the final run to score. Mike Reeves had his first good game in quite a while, going 3/4 with a double while Justin Atkinson and D.J. Davis each had two singles. Davis had a rough game otherwise, committing an error and getting caught stealing.
Player of the Game: Mike Reeves and Miguel Castro
Vancouver Canadians 7, Tri-City Dust Devils 11
The Dust Devils scored five runs in the ninth inning, blowing the doors off of a late come back that the Canadians had mounted. Starter Ryan Borucki struck out six over the course of five innings but he allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. Matt Smoral made his Vancouver debut and allowed three runs over 2/3 of an inning and the damage was limited thanks to Andrew Case who came in with the bases loaded to get out of the inning. On the offensive side, every starter had a hit and Boomer Collins (2/4, BB, RBI), Alexis Maldonado (2/4, R), Franklin Barreto (2/4, 2B, SB, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Tim Locastro (2/4, SB, 2 R) all had two hits each.
Player of the Game: Franklin Barreto, Boomer Collins, Alexis Maldonado and Tim Locastro
Bluefield Blue Jays 5, Princeton Rays 4
The Blue Jays scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to a walk-off, two-run single by Angel Rojas to win the ballgame. Rojas was 2/3 with a double and a walk while Sean Hurley was 2/4 with a home run. Playing in his first game in Bluefield, Lane Thomas was 1/4 with a home run and drove in two runs. Joey Aquino started and allowed two runs (one earned) over four innings while Oscar Cabrera walked five and allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings. Chase Wellbrock continues to own the Appy League with 2 2/3 hitless, walkless innings (he did hit a batter) with four strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 0.44 on the season.
Player of the Game: Sean Hurley and Angel Rojas
GCL Blue Jays: Scheduled Off Day
DSL Blue Jays: Scheduled Off Day
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August 11 Preview
Buffalo Bisons (64-57)
Only one game for the Bisons today as they come home to face the Norfolk Tides. Scheduled starter Brad Mills is actually going to be joining the Blue Jays so we’ll have to see who gets the call at 7:05 PM on MiLB TV.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (58-63)
Scheduled Off Day
Dunedin Blue Jays (69-49)
The D-Jays play a double header against the Tampa Yankees and send Jeremy Gabryszwski to the hill in game one with Jesse Hernandez throwing in game two. The action all starts at 5:00 PM.
Lansing Lugnuts (53-65)
Scheduled Off Day
Vancouver Canadians (32-23)
Vancouver’s starter is undetermined as they continue their home series against the Tri-City Dust Devils at 10:05 PM ET.
Bluefield Blue Jays (23-27)
Francisco Rios is scheduled to start for the Bluefield Blue Jays at home against the Danville Braves at 7:05 PM.
The GCL and DSL Blue Jays are both in action today.
Who are these players? Find out in The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook, now available as an ebook at Smashwords.com for $7.99 US. It’s coming soon to Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo and other fine retailers. You can purchase and preview the book at our Smashwords.com page! If you like us here,“like” us on Facebook!
All photos are copyright Blue Jays from Away (2013-2014) and may not be used without permission.