The Blue Jays pulled out a win against the Brewers to close their road trip and I got to see 19-year-old Dominican righty Miguel Castro throw for the Lansing Lugnuts on the road in West Michigan (just outside of Grand Rapids). I’ll have a separate post up later with my thoughts. There was also some significant minor league movement in the Jays’ system and I’ll touch on that with each team’s report.

 

 

Buffalo Bisons 5, Rochester Red Wings 4

 

Brad Mills had a solid game for the Bisons, throwing six innings and allowing just two runs on five hits (including a home run) with five strikeouts. Darin Mastroianni hit his fifth home run of the year while newly acquired Matt Hague was 3/4 with two runs and two RBI. George Kottaras was on base three times with two singles and a walk and Cole Gillespie was 2/4 with a triple. Kevin Pillar was out of the lineup with a minor injury but he’ll be back in a couple of days.

Roster Notes: Dalton Pompey was officially assigned to Buffalo (he didn’t play) and 3B Andy LaRoche was placed on the DL. Matt Hague was activated.

Player of the Game: Matt Hague

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 8, Trenton Thunder 2

 

The Fisher Cats had a great day all around with P.J. Walters throwing seven shutout innings, allowing only six hits with six strikeouts. Scott Gracey allowed the only two Thunder runs in the ninth inning. Jon Berti had a career night, going 3/4 with two triples and a home run, driving in four runs. Andy Burns (1/4) and Brad Glenn (1/4) also each hit home runs for the Fisher Cats.

Roster Notes: 3B Gustavo Pierre was promoted to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Dunedin and Dalton Pompey was promoted to Buffalo.

Player of the Game: Jon Berti

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7

 

The Lakeland Flying Tigers got out to a 3-0 lead over the first two innings and stretched that out to 5-2 by the end of the fourth against starter Ben White who went six innings, allowing those five runs on 10 hits. The Blue Jays, driven by Toronto’s Marcus Knecht, always manged to stay close, closing the gap to 5-4 in the fifth and tying the game up in the bottom of the seventh. Tony Davis lost the team’s momentum in the top of the ninth, allowing two runs to score and the game finished with Lakeland on top. Knecht ended up 4/5 with two doubles, a home run and all five of the D-Jays’ RBI. Peter Money also had two hits and two walks, scoring three times. Mitch Nay went 0/3 with a walk and three strikeouts in his Dunedin debut.

Roster Moves: Gustavo Pierre was promoted to New Hampshire and Mitch Nay arrived in Dunedin from the Lansing Lugnuts.

Player of the Game: Marcus Knecht

 

Lansing Lugnuts 0, West Michigan Whitecaps 2

 

I was lucky enough to be at the game in West Michigan that turned out to be an incredible pitching duel between Lansing’s Miguel Castro and 22-year-old Austin Kubitza of the West Michigan Whitecaps. Look for another post about that game but needless to say, Castro was outstanding, going seven innings and allowing just three hits (one was a bunt back to him that he kind of bobbled) and one walk with three strikeouts. Matt Dermody got into trouble in the bottom of the eighth and couldn’t escape the jam, allowing a two-run single to Javier Betancourt. The Lugnuts only had five hits on the night so the offense wasn’t up to snuff.

Roster Notes: Mitch Nay was promoted to Dunedin and Dickie Joe Thon was activated off the DL.

Player of the Game: Miguel Castro

 

Vancouver Canadians 1, Boise Hawks 4

 

The Canadians weren’t able to get much going offensively against the Boise Hawks on Wednesday, mustering only four hits including a solo home run from Ryan McBroom who leads the team with nine. McBroom added a single for a 2/4 night. Ryan Borucki started and allowed four runs (two earned) over four innings while Matt Smoral was very strong over the last four innings, allowing only one hit and two walks while striking out five.

Player of the Game: Ryan McBroom and Matt Smoral

 

Bluefield Blue Jays: Scheduled Off Day

 

GCL Blue Jays 1, GCL Yankees2 2

 

Kramer Champlin made another appearance with the GCL Jays and struck out four in two innings of work. Jake Brentz took over for four no-hit innings after that, walking two and striking out a pair. Francisco Diaz took the loss, giving up two runs on three walks and two hits in the bottom of the eighth inning. On offense, the team didn’t get much for their eight hits including two doubles from Nathan DeSouza (a good Canadian boy). Juan Tejada also had two hits including a triple.

Player of the Game: Nathan DeSouza and Jake Brentz

 

DSL Blue Jays 8, DSL Brewers 0

 

In a stellar all around game, the Blue Jays did everything to beat the Brewers. Edward Olivares was 5/5 with two RBI while Enmanuel Moreta was 3/5 with a double and four RBI. Luis Sanchez went five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and Erick Hurtado finished it off, allowing one hit but walking three with two strikeouts.

Player of the Game: Edward Olivares

 

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August 21 Preview

 

Buffalo Bisons (69-61)

 

Daniel Norris makes his first (and, according to Shi Davidi, his last) home start of the year, taking on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Thursday. It appears that the Blue Jays are doing with Norris what they did with Aaron Sanchez: they’re moving him to the bullpen to a) limit innings and b) prepare him for a possible call up to Toronto where he’ll work out of the pen. This one’s at 7:05 PM on MiLB TV.

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (63-66)

 

The Fisher Cats charge towards .500 with newly returned Scott Copeland on the hill against the Trenton Thunder at 7:05 PM on MiLB TV.

 

Dunedin Blue Jays (74-54)

 

Roberto Osuna is looking to get in the groove for the Dunedin Blue Jays as they play the Lakeland Flying Tigers at home at 6:30 PM.

 

Lansing Lugnuts (56-69)

 

The Lugnuts return home to play the South Bend Silver Hawks with another newly returned player, Jeremy Gabryszwski, on the mound at 7:05 PM. I’ll be in attendance and it’ll be the third time this year I’ll have seen Gaby on the mound.

 

Vancouver Canadians (38-27)

 

The Vancouver Canadians send Daniel Lietz tot he mound as they host the Boise Hawks at home at 10:05 PM ET.

Bluefield Blue Jays (27-32)

 

Bluefield has an unannounced starter on the mound as they host the Kingsport Mets 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!

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All photos are copyright Blue Jays from Away (2013-2014) and may not be used without permission.