June 7 Minor League Report/June 8 Preview

 

Dan Johnson
Dan Johnson about to get a handshake from manager Gary Allenson after hitting a home run.

 

I’ve been down in Buffalo so I only heard the Jays’ game on the radio but I hope people weren’t calling in to Wilner’s show saying that the sky is falling. Seriously. Three losses in like 19 games is pretty damn good.

 

 

Buffalo Bisons 3, Syracuse Chiefs 6

 

If you were following me on Twitter, you would have learned two very important things about last night’s game in Buffalo. 1: It was Star Wars Night and I have to say that the Bisons do it right with R2D2 inspired uniforms and a whole live/pre-recorded new Star Wars story that involved none other than some of the Bisons mascots, Buster, Chip and, of course, Celery. 2: Aaron Laffey knows how to get batters out. He made the Bisons look silly over and over, except for Dan Johnson who plugged a solo home run and almost got the Herd within one run by just missing a three-run blast in the bottom of the ninth.

 

Darth Vader sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
Darth Vader sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”

 

Kyle Drabek wasn’t bad but he wasn’t great either, making a few bad pitches here and there and allowing three runs on six hits and two walks in five innings with thre strikeouts. Esmil Rogers threw three innings and, with the exception of a few batters here and there, was excellent, striking out six and not walking a man (although he drilled one with a 94 mph fastball). Mike Zagurski was not good at all, walking two and allowing two runs (one earned) in 1/3 of an inning. For the hitters, Dan Johnson was 2/3 with a double and a home run and was one of the only hitters who really hit the ball squarely against Laffey. Andy LaRoche and A.J. Jimenez each hit doubles.

Roster Notes: OF Brad Glenn was activated off the DL. Reports (h/t to Amy Moritz) were that he had some lower back tightness. Brett Carroll goes back on the DL and RHP Shawn Hill was sent down to New Hampshire to fill their need for another starter.

Player of the Game: Dan Johnson

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 0, Erie Sea Wolves 5

 

Shawn Hill
Shawn Hill

The aforementioned Shawn Hill made the start in New Hampshire but might have been suffering jet lag, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. John Anderson had one of his best outings of the year, throwing 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts. The offense only had six hits, two each by Jon Berti (who was picked off first base), Jorge Flores (who was also picked off) and Pierce Rankin.

Player of the Game: Pierce Rankin and John Anderson

 

Dunedin Blue Jays 4, St. Lucie Mets 2

 

Daniel Norris picked up his fifth win of the season with another strong start for the Dunedin Blue Jays. He allowed two runs on four hits and two walks but struck out seven. The bullpen bent but didn’t break, allowing the Mets to threaten in the sixth and seventh but managed to shut the door thanks to strong work under pressure from Chad Girodo, Wil Browning and Tony Davis. On the offense, Dwight Smith, Jr. and Dalton Pompey led off the top of the lineup with a pair of hits and a walk each. Smith had a single and a double while Pompey had a single, triple and stolen base. K.C. Hobson went 2/3 with a single, double and a walk and drove in three runs, bringing his total to 51 RBI on the season.

Player of the Game: K.C. Hobson, Dalton Pompey and Daniel Norris

 

Lansing Lugnuts 10, Great Lakes Loons 12

 

It was a wild one in Lansing that saw 22 runs and 11 innings but it was the Great Lakes Loons who came out on top in the end, taking advantage of five Lugnuts errors that made all but four of the Loons’ runs unearned. Matt Dermody was tagged for the first five runs (three earned) through five innings while Phil Kish gave up seven hits and three unearned runs over three innings. Griffin Murphy allowed a run over two innings while Scott Silverstein, tagged with the loss, walked four but all three of his runs were unearned over 2/3 of an inning. Derrick Loveless made two errors but also threw out Josmar Cordero twice at the place. He went 0/6 with two strikeouts. Having big offensive games were Dickie Joe Thon who went 3/4 with two RBI, L.B. Dantzler was 3/5 with a double, a walk and an RBI, Dawel Lugo was 3/6, pushing his batting average to .300. Matt Dean went 2/4 with a double, two walks and three runs scored while Mitch Nay was 2/5 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and three RBI. Jason Leblebijian hit two doubles (2/5), scored and drove in a run.

 

Matt Dean
Matt Dean

Player of the Game: Since there were too many great offensive performances to decide, I deferred to the Lugnuts’ crew who named Matt Dean their ‘Nut of the Night.

 

DSL Blue Jays: Info not available

 

 

June 8 Preview

 

Buffalo Bisons (29-30)

 

The Bisons send Aussie righty Liam Hendriks to the hill to face an undetermined starter for the Syracuse Chiefs for a 1:05 PM game on Sunday afternoon in beautiful downtown Buffalo!

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (24-37)

 

The Fisher Cats are still somewhat short-handed and face the Erie SeaWolves and starter Wilsen Palacios (3-2, 5.47 ERA). Once again, there hasn’t been an announced starter for the 1:05 PM game but it should be Aaron Sanchez‘s day to start, going by the rotation. In fact, if Sanchez doesn’t start today, I would wager that something is out of the ordinary with the studly right-hander because tomorrow is an off day for the Fisher Cats which means that he would be able to start again until Tuesday.

 

Dunedin Blue Jays (42-19)

 

The D-Jays have a big series starting today at 1:00 PM against the Lakeland Flying Tigers that could go a long way to deciding the division champion for the first half of the season. The D-Jays have a 3.5 game lead over Lakeland with eight games to go (h/t to Tyler Murray and his tweet this morning) and send Kendall Graveman to the hill (5-1, 3.26 ERA) against Edgar De La Rosa (2-4, 3.04 ERA) for this match.

 

Lansing Lugnuts (28-33)

 

Ever the contrarians, the Lansing Lugnuts will start their game in the two o’clock hour (2:05 PM) with Shane Dawson (2-2, 3.68 ERA) against Jordan Hershiser, the son of former Dodgers’ great Orel Hershiser, who is just getting his season under way with only one hit allowed, three walks and six strikeouts in five innings.

 

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