Manchester, NH — Sean Nolin (6-2) tamed the Sea Dogs for eight shutout innings, scattering four hits and two walks. The lefthander struck out nine and his groundball total was eight. Of his 98 pitches against the Red Sox affiliate, 70 were strikes. Chorye Spoone walked one and struck out one in a scoreless ninth.All five New Hampshire runs came in inning number five. Andy Burns doubled home the first two runs and Adam Loewen singled him home. Melky Cabrera capped things off with a two-run homer. Cabrera and Gabe Jacobo had two hits each, with Jacobo getting a double, a walk and a stolen base. Brad Glenn had the other Fisher Cats hit. A.J. Jimenez and Kevin Nolan were both 0-for-4. Jon Talley was 0-for-3. Brian Van Kirk, who replaced Cabrera in left, was 0-for-1.
St. Lucie 4 Dunedin 3 (Game 1 - 7 Innings)
St. Lucie, FL — Nick Baligod opened the scoring by socking a solo home run in the second inning. RBI singles by Derrick Chung and Marcus Knecht in the fifth gave Dunedin a 3-2 lead. Baligod had a walk to go along with his homer. Matt Newman added a double. Peter Mooney had a base on balls. Jon Berti, Mike Crouse, K.C. Hobson and Gustavo Pierre were 0-for-3. Melky Cabrera was 0-for-2 in this one before giving way to Knecht in left field.
The rehabbing Sergio Santos worked a clean inning to start things off for Dunedin. Aaron Sanchez gave up a solo homer in his one inning of work. The rehabbing Drew Hutchison pitched two innings in which the Mets scored a run on a hit and three walks. Hutchison also punched out a couple of hitters. Dayton Marze pitched a one-hit inning with a strikeout. Lefty Tyler Ybarra (2-2) blew the save and suffered the walk-off loss as he was charged with two runs (one unearned after a Pierre error at third) on two hits and a walk. He also struck out a batter.
St. Lucie 4 Dunedin 2 (Game 2 — 7 Innings)
St. Lucie, FL — Jon Berti did the heavy lifting for Dunedin's first run as he led off the game with a single, stole his 39th and 40th bases of the season and then came home on a K.C. Hobson sacrifice fly. Dunedin scored their next run in the second inning on an error to even the score at 2-2. Berti was the only D-Jay with two hits but Mike Crouse got on base three times with a single and two walks and he stole a base. Oliver Dominguez and Shane Opitz both singled and walked and Marcus Knecht also had a hit. Peter Mooney walked and stole a pair of bases. Hobson, Nick Baligod and Pierce Rankin all collected a base on balls to ensure every D-Jay reached base. However, they left 11 runners on base by going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Sergio Santos got just the first two outs of the game as the Mets scored twice on two hits and two walks and had zero strikeouts. Jesse Hernandez (5-7) allowed the winning run on four hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings while striking out one. Ajay Meyer worked a clean inning with one strikeout. Blake McFarland surrendered a run on two hits but struck out a pair in his one inning of work.
Lansing 10 Burlington 6
Lansing, MI — The fireworks began in the second inning when Santiago Nessy slammed a two-run homer. Kellen Sweeney followed with an RBI single and Dalton Pompey added an RBI double. Kevin Patterson put one over the wall for his 14th dinger of the year in the third inning to make it 5-3 Lugnuts. An Emilio Guerrero fielder's choice in the seventh gave Lansing more breathing room at 6-4 but the game was tied again at 6-6 a half-inning later. The Lugnuts put together another four-run frame to put it away in the eighth. Chris Hawkins singled home a pair of runs and Kellen Sweeney went deep for a two-run shot for the final buzz kill to cap off a 4-for-4 night. Nessy had the other multi-hit effort with two. Hawkins had a walk and a hit by pitch to get on base three times. Pompey also took one for the team while Jason Leblebijian reached base twice with a base hit and a base on balls. Carlos Ramirez legged out a triple. Christian Lopes was 0-for-4.Javier Avendano only lasted 3 2/3 innings against the Angels affiliate as he yielded three runs on six hits and four walks. He struck out four and his groundout/flyout score was 5-0. Justin Jackson stranded two Avendano runners and pitched 2 1/3 shutout frames of two-hit ball with one walk and two strikeouts. Tucker Donahue had his troubles in 1 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks with just one strikeout. Arik Sikula (4-0) could only strand one of Donahue's three runners and got the blown save. He did strike out three batters in 1 2/3 shutout innings while giving up just one hit.
Pulaski 7 Bluefield 6
Pulaski, WV — Jesus Gonzalez doubled in the Jays first run in the third inning. They added two more in the fifth on a D.J. Davis RBI single and a Tim Locastro RBI double to grab a 3-2 lead. Locastro knocked home another run in the seventh and Jonathan Davis followed with a two-run knock. Locastro and Gonzalez recorded the two-hit games for Bluefield. D.J. Jones had the other Jays hit, was hit by a pitch and stole a base. Jorge Saez walked and swiped a base. Dawel Lugo drew a walk but Mitch Nay and Matt Dean each went 0-for-4. John Silviano was 0-for-1 pinch-hitting.
Southpaw Zak Wasilewski gave up a pair of first inning runs but lasted three frames and gave up five hits and two walks with five punchouts. Fellow lefty Tim Mayza (0-1) had four Mariners cross the plate in 2 2/3 innings but two of the runs were unearned due to a Nay error at third. He gave up six hits and struck out two. Joe Lovecchio permitted an inherited run to score and gave up one of his own on two hits over 1 1/3 innings with one K. Brett Barber struck out two in a perfect ninth.
Vancouver 13 Everett 1
David Harris had a four-hit night to spark the Vancouver offence in Everett Monday night.
Everett, WA — After being shutout Sunday, the C's got reacquainted with home plate in a big way as they drew to within one game of Everett in this first-place battle. David Harris doubled home the first run as part of a five-run second inning. Chaz Frank singled home two more and an infield single by Dickie Thon Jr. were the other highlights of that frame. Ian Parmley doubled home another run in the third. A Brenden Kalfus walk opened up the scoring in the fourth while Harris singled home another and Parmley did the same with a fly ball. L.B. Dantzler connected for a two-run shot in the fifth. Melvin Garcia took one for the team with the bases loaded as part of a two-run eighth. Harris had four of the Canadians 12 hits, including two doubles. Jordan Leyland had two hits and a walk. Thon Jr., Dantzler, Parmley and Garcia also reached base via the walk. Justin Atkinson doubled and walked and Kalfus added a single with his base on balls. Michael Reeves and Matt Hitt also joined the walk club. Christian Vazquez and Dan Arcila were both 0-for-2.
Eric Brown is 7-for-7 in quality starts for Vancouver this season after seven shutout innings in Everett Monday.
Eric Brown (5-0) really did not need all that run support as he spun seven shutout innings of three-hit ball with nine K's. The former UBC Thunderbird set the tone early by setting down the first nine hitters in order. Lefty Joe Spano issued a free pass but whiffed one in a shutout eighth. Tim Brechbuehler could not keep the Mariners affiliate off the board as he allowed the Frogs to score a run on two walks but did punch out two batters in the ninth.
GCL Braves 5 GCL Blue Jays 0 (Suspended Top 4th)
Kissimmee, FL — This game will be completed today. Francisco Diaz was whacked a grand slam home run among his four hits and two walks over two innings. Lefty Matt Smoral had trouble finding the plate by walking four batters but his two outs came via the strikeout. Kamani Usui got the final out of the third to strand the bases loaded.
Rolando Segovia and Sean Hurley had the only base hits for the Jays.
DSL Blue Jays 8 DSL Reds 4
San Pedro de Macoris, DR — A Richard Urena groundout produced the first Jays run in the first inning but he was just getting warmed up. Urena would cap off a three-run rally with a two-run single after Deiferson Barreto singled home a run. Michael De La Cruz was able to single home another run in the seventh before Urena got involved again by clearing the bases with a three-run double in the ninth. Urena and Fuente teamed up to share in four of the six Blue Jays hits. Barreto got on base four times with a hit and three walks. Ronniel Demorizi heard ball four twice while Leudy Garcia and Jean Almanzar heard it once. Juan Tejada and Javier Hernandez were both 0-for-4. Rodrigo Orozco was 0-for-1.Osman Gutierrez went a couple of innings and held down the Rojos to just three hits while striking out one. Francisco Rios (3-2) pitched the next six innings and had two unearned runs on his line while limiting the Reds to three hits while punching out a pair. Yonardo Herdenez was roughed up for two runs on three hits in the ninth but did get one strike out.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Kellen Sweeney, Lansing — Snapped a 1-for-28 skid with his four-hit performance
2. Eric Brown, Vancouver — Has allowed just 30 hits in 40.2 innings and has a K-BB ratio of 36-6.
1. Sean Nolin, New Hampshire — Lowered his ERA to 2.09 and has a K-BB total of 70-14 in 64.2 innings.
Tuesday's Probable Starters...
GCL Blue Jays — Completion of suspended game & TBA vs. GCL Braves, 10:00 am ET.
DSL Blue Jays — TBA vs. DSL Braves, 10:30 am ET.
New Hampshire — Marcus Walden (5-9, 3.34) vs. Portland, 7:05 pm ET.
Vancouver — Scott Silverstein (0-0, 3.27) @ Everett, 10:05 pm ET.