A 1-3 Monday for the affiliates was marred by an epic bullpen collapse in which a seven-run lead was blown. Still, there were some nice efforts turned in with the bats, including one by a top five prospect. New Hampshire and Lansing did not partake in any rawhide activities.
Columbus 8 Buffalo 4
Columbus, OH - This one did not go according to Hoyle for Deck McGuire (3-1). He was roughed up for six runs (five earned) in just 3.1 innings on six hits and three walks while striking out four. Raul Valdes threw more gas on the fire against the Indians affiliate. The lefty allowed all three inherited runners to score as well as two of his own over 2.2 innings. He gave up three hits with a 2-2 K-BB total. Luis Ayala threw a two-hitter over two scoreless frames and struck out one.
The Herd scored the first run of the game in the second inning when Jared Goeddert singled home an A.J. Jimenez double but was thrown out trying to go for the extra base. The next two runs for the Bisons came in the fourth and fifth by Dan Johnson, who went deep twice and drove in three runs to give him 16 home runs on the season. Johnson, Kevin Pillar and Adron Chambers all had two-hit efforts. Ryan Goins was 1-for-4 but Colby Rasmus went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Brevard County 1 Dunedin 0
Viera, FL - The only run in this game came with two outs in the first when Kendall Graveman (5-3) uncorked a wild pitch. He limited the Brewers affiliate to a run on two hits and three walks over 6.1 innings, striking out five and getting 10 groundouts. At one point, Graveman retired 12 in a row and 13 out of 14. Justin Jackson took care of the final 1.2 innings, stranding a runner for Graveman. He gave up two hits but also struck out two.
Marcus Knecht and Nick Baligod had two hits apiece with Knecht getting a double. Christian Lopes had a single and a walk. Peter Mooney and L.B. Dantzler also had base hits. Santiago Nessy was hit by a pitch. Dwight Smith Jr. was 0-for-4. Dunedin was 0-for-8 with seven runners left on. They hit into three double plays, including a game-ender after getting back-to-back singles to start the ninth.
Salem-Keizer 10 Vancouver 9 (12 Innings)
Salem-Keizer, OR - The C's pissed away leads of 8-1 and 9-7 as they lost their first game of the season. Zak Wasilewski delivered five decent innings of one-run ball on four hits and three walks to the Giants affiliate. The lefthander had five strikeouts and six groundouts on his 21st birthday. Instead of blowing out candles on the birthday cake, the bullpen would blow the lead instead. The house of cards came tumbling down when Mark Biggs was burned for five runs on four hits and two walks in just one frame. Lefty Jose Fernandez was not much help either as he allowed an inherited run and one of his own over 0.2 innings. Both Biggs and Fernandez struck out one. Garrett Pickens was also less than effective in his 1.1 innings of work. He uncorked two wild pitches that allowed two runs to score, one of them inherited. He was charged with two unearned runs (on a Christian Vazquez error at second) on two hits and a hit by pitch while striking out two. Andrew Case settled things down with two scoreless frames, walking two and plunking one but striking out four. Kamakani Usui (0-1) was tagged with the loss, lasting 1.1 frames in which he surrendered a run on one hit, one plunk and two walks.
A sacrifice fly by Tim Locastro plated the first run for Vancouver in the second inning. They scored two more in the third when Roemon Fields singled one home and scored on a Jonathan Davis ground out. Davis collected another RBI groundout in the fifth, followed by an RBI single by Franklin Barreto and an RBI double by David Harris. Davis then tripled two more runs in the sixth to put the C's up by a converted touchdown. Their final run saw Michael De La Cruz scamper home on a wild pitch after drawing a walk.
Barreto had a 4-for-6 night at the plate with a double, a walk and two stolen bases. Fields also reached base five times with three hits and two walks and a stolen base. Kevin Garcia had a nice night at the plate by going 2-for-2 with three runs scored but he was replaced by Michael De La Cruz after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. Harris had two hits, a walk and a steal. Locastro had a hit, a walk and a swipe. Seth Conner was 0-for-4 but walked three times. On the negative side, Boomer Collins was 0-for-5 and Vazquez was 0-for-6. The C's were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left a whopping 17 men on base.
DSL Blue Jays 3 DSL Brewers 1
San Pedro de Macoris, DR - The Jays overcame a 1-0 deficit in the second inning when Enmanuel Moreta doubled home an Anthony Fuentes walk. They pulled ahead in the fifth thanks to a double steal as Rodrigo Orozco swiped home while Bryan Lizardo took second. Jesus Severino scored the final run in the seventh on an error after reaching base via the base on balls. Moreta had two hits while Miguel Almonte had the other extra-base hit. Severino was the on-base leader with three walks. Javier Hernandez singled and walked.
Jonathan Torres was victimized for an unearned run in the first but that was all the Venezuelan lefty would allow over four frames as he scattered two hits and two walks while racking up seven K's. Luis Gomez (1-0) was just as impressive as he delivered five shutout innings of relief. He permitted just two hits and a walk while whiffing three. He also induced eight groundball outs.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Roemon Fields, Vancouver - A .467 OBP and four stolen bases in five attempts so far this season.
2. Dan Johnson, Buffalo - Hitting .379 when he's ahead in the count and .311 with runners on base. Also has a 1.166 OPS over his last 10 games.
1. Franklin Barreto, Vancouver - Batting .611/.667/.722 and is 3-for-3 in stolen bases in just four games.
Tuesday Schedule & Probable Starters...
DSL Tigers @ DSL Blue Jays, 10:30 am ET - TBA.
Dunedin @ Brevard County, 6:35 pm ET - TBA.
Midwest League All-Star Game @ Fifth Third Ballpark, West Michigan - 7:00 pm ET. Matt Dean, Derrick Loveless, Mitch Nay and reliever Griffin Murphy will represent Lansing.
Buffalo @ Columbus, 7:05 pm ET - LHP Sean Nolin (2-3, 3.30).
Altoona @ New Hampshire, 7:05 pm ET - RHP P.J. Walters (1-0, 2.89).
Vancouver @ Salem-Keizer, 9:35 pm ET - TBA.
Extra Innings...
Columbus 8 Buffalo 4
Columbus, OH - This one did not go according to Hoyle for Deck McGuire (3-1). He was roughed up for six runs (five earned) in just 3.1 innings on six hits and three walks while striking out four. Raul Valdes threw more gas on the fire against the Indians affiliate. The lefty allowed all three inherited runners to score as well as two of his own over 2.2 innings. He gave up three hits with a 2-2 K-BB total. Luis Ayala threw a two-hitter over two scoreless frames and struck out one.
The Herd scored the first run of the game in the second inning when Jared Goeddert singled home an A.J. Jimenez double but was thrown out trying to go for the extra base. The next two runs for the Bisons came in the fourth and fifth by Dan Johnson, who went deep twice and drove in three runs to give him 16 home runs on the season. Johnson, Kevin Pillar and Adron Chambers all had two-hit efforts. Ryan Goins was 1-for-4 but Colby Rasmus went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Brevard County 1 Dunedin 0
Viera, FL - The only run in this game came with two outs in the first when Kendall Graveman (5-3) uncorked a wild pitch. He limited the Brewers affiliate to a run on two hits and three walks over 6.1 innings, striking out five and getting 10 groundouts. At one point, Graveman retired 12 in a row and 13 out of 14. Justin Jackson took care of the final 1.2 innings, stranding a runner for Graveman. He gave up two hits but also struck out two.
Marcus Knecht and Nick Baligod had two hits apiece with Knecht getting a double. Christian Lopes had a single and a walk. Peter Mooney and L.B. Dantzler also had base hits. Santiago Nessy was hit by a pitch. Dwight Smith Jr. was 0-for-4. Dunedin was 0-for-8 with seven runners left on. They hit into three double plays, including a game-ender after getting back-to-back singles to start the ninth.
Salem-Keizer 10 Vancouver 9 (12 Innings)
Salem-Keizer, OR - The C's pissed away leads of 8-1 and 9-7 as they lost their first game of the season. Zak Wasilewski delivered five decent innings of one-run ball on four hits and three walks to the Giants affiliate. The lefthander had five strikeouts and six groundouts on his 21st birthday. Instead of blowing out candles on the birthday cake, the bullpen would blow the lead instead. The house of cards came tumbling down when Mark Biggs was burned for five runs on four hits and two walks in just one frame. Lefty Jose Fernandez was not much help either as he allowed an inherited run and one of his own over 0.2 innings. Both Biggs and Fernandez struck out one. Garrett Pickens was also less than effective in his 1.1 innings of work. He uncorked two wild pitches that allowed two runs to score, one of them inherited. He was charged with two unearned runs (on a Christian Vazquez error at second) on two hits and a hit by pitch while striking out two. Andrew Case settled things down with two scoreless frames, walking two and plunking one but striking out four. Kamakani Usui (0-1) was tagged with the loss, lasting 1.1 frames in which he surrendered a run on one hit, one plunk and two walks.
A sacrifice fly by Tim Locastro plated the first run for Vancouver in the second inning. They scored two more in the third when Roemon Fields singled one home and scored on a Jonathan Davis ground out. Davis collected another RBI groundout in the fifth, followed by an RBI single by Franklin Barreto and an RBI double by David Harris. Davis then tripled two more runs in the sixth to put the C's up by a converted touchdown. Their final run saw Michael De La Cruz scamper home on a wild pitch after drawing a walk.
Barreto had a 4-for-6 night at the plate with a double, a walk and two stolen bases. Fields also reached base five times with three hits and two walks and a stolen base. Kevin Garcia had a nice night at the plate by going 2-for-2 with three runs scored but he was replaced by Michael De La Cruz after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. Harris had two hits, a walk and a steal. Locastro had a hit, a walk and a swipe. Seth Conner was 0-for-4 but walked three times. On the negative side, Boomer Collins was 0-for-5 and Vazquez was 0-for-6. The C's were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left a whopping 17 men on base.
DSL Blue Jays 3 DSL Brewers 1
San Pedro de Macoris, DR - The Jays overcame a 1-0 deficit in the second inning when Enmanuel Moreta doubled home an Anthony Fuentes walk. They pulled ahead in the fifth thanks to a double steal as Rodrigo Orozco swiped home while Bryan Lizardo took second. Jesus Severino scored the final run in the seventh on an error after reaching base via the base on balls. Moreta had two hits while Miguel Almonte had the other extra-base hit. Severino was the on-base leader with three walks. Javier Hernandez singled and walked.Jonathan Torres was victimized for an unearned run in the first but that was all the Venezuelan lefty would allow over four frames as he scattered two hits and two walks while racking up seven K's. Luis Gomez (1-0) was just as impressive as he delivered five shutout innings of relief. He permitted just two hits and a walk while whiffing three. He also induced eight groundball outs.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Roemon Fields, Vancouver - A .467 OBP and four stolen bases in five attempts so far this season.
2. Dan Johnson, Buffalo - Hitting .379 when he's ahead in the count and .311 with runners on base. Also has a 1.166 OPS over his last 10 games.
1. Franklin Barreto, Vancouver - Batting .611/.667/.722 and is 3-for-3 in stolen bases in just four games.
Tuesday Schedule & Probable Starters...
DSL Tigers @ DSL Blue Jays, 10:30 am ET - TBA.
Dunedin @ Brevard County, 6:35 pm ET - TBA.
Midwest League All-Star Game @ Fifth Third Ballpark, West Michigan - 7:00 pm ET. Matt Dean, Derrick Loveless, Mitch Nay and reliever Griffin Murphy will represent Lansing.
Buffalo @ Columbus, 7:05 pm ET - LHP Sean Nolin (2-3, 3.30).
Altoona @ New Hampshire, 7:05 pm ET - RHP P.J. Walters (1-0, 2.89).
Vancouver @ Salem-Keizer, 9:35 pm ET - TBA.
Extra Innings...
- The Vancouver Sun has a Q&A with C's manager John Schneider and a story on pitcher and Saint John, New Brunswick native Andrew Case.
- WVVA, an NBC affiliate, says the Bluefield Blue Jays will be selling beer for home games at Bowen Field. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph also has an editorial on the issue. The BDT also examines the economic impact of the Bluef-Jays on the local economy.
- The Lansing State Journal says Lugnuts merchandise continues to be a top-seller in Minor League Baseball.
- MLive.com takes a look at the renovation project for Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing which is set to be completed for the 2016 season.
- Bob Elliott has his weekly minor league report.
- MLB.com has a feature on Aaron Sanchez.
- BallparkDigest.com says the expansion Niagara franchise in the independent Can-Am League is accepting submissions for a new nickname. The team is slated to play in Welland in 2015.
