All four minor league teams were active yesterday and most teams had some fresh blood suiting up after a series of roster moves. Despite the movement, three of the four teams lost on Friday.
Buffalo Bisons 7, Louisville Bats 9
The Buffalo Bisons dropped their season opener after looking to “Johnny Wholestaff” for the start. Newly returned Austin Bibens-Dirkx made the start and allowed three runs on five hits (including a solo home run) and one walk over four innings. Luis Perez was hit hard, allowing six runs in 1 2/3 innings although two of those came after Greg Infante was in the game to put out the fire. Colt Hynes and Steve Delabar each fired an inning of scoreless baseball.
Kevin Nolan and Melky Mesa both made their Buffalo debut for 2015 by getting two hits and a walk apiece (Nolan had a double as one of his hits) while Andy Wilkins (2/5, 2B) and Chris Colabello (2/5) had two hits each as well. Colabello is fresh off his Player of the Month and Player of the Week awards for the International League.
Roster Notes: Andrew Albers was promoted to Toronto while Daniel Norris was optioned to Buffalo. Austin Bibens-Dirkx came back from New Hampshire. Some late breaking news came down sending Dalton Pompey and Andrew Albers down to Buffalo with Ezequiel Carrera and Scott Copeland coming up to Toronto.
Player of the Game: Kevin Nolan and Melky Mesa
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1, Binghamton Mets 2
Matt Boyd had another excellent start, holding the Mets to just four hits over 5 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Cory Burns, relieving him, allowed both runs on four hits to take the loss and Greg Burke pitched a scoreless eighth. The offense was pretty silent with a solo home run by Ryan Schimpf taking care of the scoring. K.C. Hobson added a triple and a walk while Matt Newman had a double.
Roster Notes: Tiago Da Silva joins the Fisher Cats as Austin Bibens-Dirkx returns to Buffalo.
Player of the Game: Matt Boyd
Dunedin Blue Jays 4, Clearwater Threshers 2
Jeremy Gabryszwski earned his first win of the season thanks to a 6 2/3 innings outing in which he gave up just six hits and one walk. Matt Dermody allowed two runs in two innings and Jimmy Cordero picked up the save with 1/3 of an inning’s worth of work. The offense was fairly quiet but Matt Dean was 1/3 with a walk and a two-run home run (and two strikeouts) while Mitch Nay had two singles and Jorge Saez pushed his batting average to .293 with a pair of doubles.
Roster Notes: Tiago Da Silva moves up to New Hampshire while Dickie Joe Thon and Justin Shafer come up to Dunedin.
Player of the Game: Jeremy Gabryszwski
Lansing Lugnuts 1, Bowling Green Hot Rods 6
Starlyn Suriel wasn’t bad but he allowed three home runs against the Bowling Green Hot Rods to take the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits in six innings. Mark Biggs allowed another two runs over three innings despite racking up four strikeouts. Newly activated Jonathan Davis completed the “Soul Patrol” (with D.J. Davis and Anthony Alford) and went 3/4 with a stolen base but was caught stealing while Tim Locastro was 2/3 and was hit by a pitch. Ryan McBroom was on twice with a double and a walk while Anthony Alford had a single and a walk with an RBI.
Roster Notes: Jonathan (J.D.) Davis and Boomer Collins were activated from the DL.
Player of the Game: Jonathan Davis
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