On the back of perhaps the best night we’ve had this season recapping the Minor Leagues, there were few performances of note. Daniel Norris, however, looks to have turned the corner as he continued his recent strong play by striking out eight and walking just one batter in five innings. Brad Glenn homered in his first game at AAA and the New Hampshire offense had a good day. Not too many wins on the night as the affiliates went 2-5.
Rochester 4 Buffalo 2
Justin Germano was bit of hero tonight for the Herd. The Herd are thin on pitchers at the moment, so much so that Mike McCoy pitched the ninth the other night. Germano went nine in a losing effort, yielding four runs. Three errors, including one by former Batter’s Box favourite child Jim Negrych, played their part as just two of the four runs allowed were earned. Brad Glenn making his AAA debut went deep in his first at-bat and Ryan Goins had three hits.
New Hampshire 9 New Britain 3
The bats came out for New Hampshire and we got a rare Chad Jenkins appearance tonight. Jenkins pitched four and a third of shutout ball. He was efficient—using just 44 pitches. He was in control—walking none. And he kept the ball on the ground with a 5-3 groundball to flyball ratio. He struck out three. Gabe Jacobo had four hits, Andy Burns and Ryan Schimpf homered, and A.J. Jimenez had two doubles to go along with a single and drove in four. Note: that is Schimpf’s league leading 20th homerun.
Lakeland 14 Dunedin 9
Former Jays’ draft pick Aaron Westlake had a nice little day for himself for the visiting Tigers’ affiliate. Westlake went 6-6 with a homerun and five RBIs. He was by no means the only offensive star for the Flying Tigers as they racked up twenty hits and fourteen runs on the hometown Blue Jays. Scott Copeland took most of the beating as he gave up eleven of the fourteen runs. Remarkably, his ERA is still under four. The Dunedin squad created a bit of offense their own as Michael Crouse homered and drove in four. The frustrating Marcus Knecht homered as part of a two hit day, and Jon Berti and Matt Newman both had three hits in the one and two holes, respectively.
Lansing 2 West Michigan 1
Daniel Norris has put together a nice little string of starts here. While his control comes and goes, he’s still striking people out and tonight he struck out eight in five innings of work. He allowed four hits and walked just one. I don’t think a challenge promotion at Dunedin is appropriate for Norris. On the balance, he’s been poor this season and I don’t see the point of promoting a guy who has just found some success for really the first time in his professional career to a level he’s arguably not ready for to see that success potentially turn. Keep him at Lansing, let him build on what he’s doing so that he can go home this off-season with some real confidence. Kellen Sweeney provided the offense with both RBIs and only extra-base hit for the Lugnuts. Dwight Smith Jr. and Santiago Nessy both had two hits.
Everett 4 Vancouver 3
The Canadians kicked the ball in extras to lose to the Mariners’ affiliate. In the top half of the twelfth errors by pitcher Joe Spano and second baseman David Harris allowed the winning run to score. Kyle Anderson pitched five solid innings and a medley of pitchers kept the AquaSox at bay until the mess in the twelfth.
Princeton Bluefield Suspended Rain
GCL Blue Jays 3 GCL Yankees1 4
Not much to report here as Gabriel Cenas had a hit, an RBI, and two walks and was the offensive star for the GCL Blue Jays. Reliver Jimmy Cordero worked two innings and recorded all his hits by way of the strikeout.
DSL Blue Jays 1 DSL Tigers 5
Rodrigo Orozco had two hits and was just about the only offense on the day for the DSL Jays. Not much happening on the mound either as Miguel Burgos pitched five unspectacular innings.
Three Stars
3. Gabe Jacobo and A.J. Jimenez
2. Justin Germano
1. Daniel Norris
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