Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
The affiliates won three out of four Monday and were just a run shy of having a perfect day on the farm.


Columbus 3 Buffalo 2

Columbus, OH
— Three unearned runs in the first inning was all the Cleveland affiliate would need for the victory. The trouble started with an error by Matt Hague at third base and ended with Miguel Castro (0-1, 3.38) giving up back-to-back jacks to Jesus Aguilar and James Ramsey. Castro lasted 2-1/3 innings and gave up five hits and a walk with two strikeouts. The bullpen did its job starting with Luis Perez stranding a Castro runner and spinning three shutout frames of one-hit ball with a 4-2 K/BB total. Rob Rasmussen finished things up by stranding a runner for Perez and pitching 2-2/3 scoreless innings with two walks and two punchouts.

Brad Glenn
got Buffalo on the board with a solo home run in the sixth before Dalton Pompey singled home a run in the seventh. Andy Burns and Caleb Gindl had two-hit games for the Herd but Burns was picked off at first base to end the eighth inning. Gindl also drew a walk to get on base three times. Pompey also got a base on balls to go with his single. Hague had the other hit but committed two errors. Luke Scott and Jonathan Diaz both earned a walk. Chris Dickerson was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, one of them coming with the bases loaded to end the fifth. A.J. Jimenez was also 0-for-4 and Melky Mesa struck out pinch-hitting.


New Hampshire 4 Reading 1

Reading, PA
— Another three-run first inning was the key to victory and this time it came from the good guys. K.C. Hobson delivered the first run with a sacrifice fly before Pierce Rankin broke through for a two-run double. Rankin would score a run in the fourth after a Shane Opitz single. Rankin (.410) and Kevin Nolan (.340) had two-hit efforts while Matt Newman singled and walked. Christian Lopes walked twice and Jorge Flores walked once. Andy Fermin and Ian Parmley were a combined 0-for-6.

Casey Lawrence (3-4, 4.81) flustered the Phillies affiliate by pitching 5-1/3 innings of one-run ball on six hits and a walk while whiffing three. Eight of his 10 outs in play were on the ground and he finished with a Game Score of 54. Scott Barnes stranded a runner and retired both hitters he faced. Greg Burke walked just one hitter over two scoreless frames while getting two strikeouts. Blake McFarland struck out one in a perfect ninth for save number five.


Dunedin 7 Tampa 3

Dunedin, FL
— The Yankees took control of this one early by scoring the first three runs of the game and held on to the lead until the sixth. That's when Dunedin tied the game on one swing of the bat as Mitch Nay connected for a three-run homer, his third of the year. The Jays pulled ahead for good with a four-run eighth, built on back-to-back-to-back doubles by L.B. Dantzler, Matt Dean and Nay before an RBI triple by Derrick Loveless and a sacrifice fly by Dickie Joe Thon rounded out the scoring. Dantzler, Dean and Nay all had two hits apiece and Loveless reached base twice by drawing a walk. Dawel Lugo had a double and Roemon Fields added a base hit. Maicer Izturis went 1-for-2 and started the game at second base before being replaced by Thon. Boomer Collins was 0-for-2, Thon was 0-for-3 and Jorge Saez was 0-for-4 but he picked off a runner at first from behind the plate.

Luis Santos gave up all three Tampa runs over four innings after surrendering four hits and two walks. He struck out three and induced six groundball outs. Matt Dermody supplied three shutout frames of two-hit relief, striking out five in the process. Alberto Tirado (2-0, 2.22) got away with a hit and two walks over two scoreless innings for the win. Four of his five outs in play were on the ground.


Lansing 7 South Bend 5

Lansing, MI
— Lugs win! Lugs win! Lugs win! Lansing unleashed a 16-hit attack on the Cubs, two of them coming on RBI singles by Richard Urena and Ryan McBroom in the first inning. A Gunnar Heidt double and an Anthony Alford single in the fourth added two more runs for the home side. Josh Almonte plated another run with a single in the fifth and Danny Jansen drove in two more with a base hit in the seventh. D.J. Davis had a perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate that included a double and was 1-for-2 in the stolen base department. Alford (.322) was 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base while Almonte also swiped a bag. McBroom, Jansen and Heidt all had two hits with McBroom getting a walk. Justin Atkinson had a base hit but Rowdy Tellez went 0-for-5.

Shane Dawson (5-2, 3.20) survived 5-1/3 innings in which he allowed three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out two. Seven of his nine outs in play did not leave the infield but his Game Score was just 45. Mark Biggs was bopped for two runs on six hits over two frames and allowed an inherited runner to score. He struck out one and got four outs on the ground. Colton Turner stranded both runners he inherited and walked one batter over two-thirds of a scoreless frame. Jose Fernandez struck out the final two hitters of the game to cap off a perfect ninth and collect his second save.


*** 3 Stars!!! ***


3. Anthony Alford, Lansing


2. D.J. Davis, Lansing


1. Mitch Nay, Dunedin



Monday's Linescores


Extra Innings

  • John Lott has a great article on Randy Wolf and his quest to get back to the majors and recaps all the wacky stuff that happened in the Bisons blowout win over Toledo Saturday.
  • The Buffalo News had a chat with newcomer Luke Scott and a tragic story about the death of a Bisons fan.
  • The Sacramento Bee caught up with local product Rowdy Tellez and MiLB.com also has a story and video of a Tellez home run with the Lugnuts this past week.
  • MiLB.com also profiles Anthony Alford in its Midwest League notebook.
  • Baseball America has released its latest mock draft.
  • Congratulations to Matt Boyd, who was named the Eastern League's Pitcher of the Week.

Tuesday's Schedule / Probable Starters

Buffalo @ Columbus, 10:35 am ET — Felix Doubront (0-0, 0.00)
South Bend @ Lansing, 10:35 am ET — Conner Greene (2-2, 5.70)
Tampa @ Dunedin, 11:00 am ET — TBA
New Hampshire @ Reading, 6:35 pm ET — Taylor Cole (1-3, 5.14)
Nay, DJ & AA Lead The Way | 9 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Maldoff - Tuesday, May 19 2015 @ 10:23 AM EDT (#300925) #
Does anyone know where Dwight Smith is? I haven't seen him as being in the lineup for the last few games
Gerry - Tuesday, May 19 2015 @ 11:11 AM EDT (#300926) #
I assume Smith is still in New Hampshire, he is listed on the roster and not on the DL.

Baseball is a physical game. As I said in yesterdays thread, players pick up minor injuries all the time. In Toronto Devon Travis is sitting out a few games. EE was given a day off. Bautista is DH'ing. Because it's the minor leagues there is not the coverage you get in the big leagues so we don't know exactly what is wrong.

The DL in the minors is just seven days, the fact that he hasn't been put on the DL means the team thinks its a minor injury.

All of the above also applies to JD Davis who hasn't played since Saturday and who isn't in the lineup today for Dunedin.
Gerry - Tuesday, May 19 2015 @ 03:00 PM EDT (#300943) #
Three matinees today, two wins.

In Buffalo Ryan Schimpf got the save by pitching the last inning. Between Todd Redmond and Scott Copeland being in Toronto, Miguel Castro just pitching 2+ innings yesterday and Felix Doubront just four today, plus extra innings, Schimpf had to save the day. He walked the bases loaded but escaped with the save.

Starters leaving early, leaving a bullpen overworked and players shuttling between AAA and the big leagues having an impact, its hard to tell Buffalo and Toronto apart.
jerjapan - Tuesday, May 19 2015 @ 03:15 PM EDT (#300948) #
That article on Wolf is well worth reading. I'd forgotten that he has an opt out clause for June - the way he's been pitching perhaps he does deserve a shot at the 5th spot in the rotation before exercising his opt-out.

The article mentions that he has earned nearly 69 million dollars over his career. I don't begrudge the guy one bit, but something's wrong in the world if Randy Wolf has career earnings of 69 million bucks.
ramone - Tuesday, May 19 2015 @ 06:23 PM EDT (#300966) #
Smith Jr is listed back in the lineup for New Hampshire tonight in LF.
Lylemcr - Wednesday, May 20 2015 @ 11:36 AM EDT (#301009) #
I was wondering why Wolf doesn't get a shot. He has great stats in Buffalo
Gerry - Wednesday, May 20 2015 @ 12:41 PM EDT (#301014) #
Wolf has a great ERA but a 1.39 WHIP. Wolf has allowed 40 hits and 17 walks, and just six runs. That is a lot of stranded base runners.

Wolf has an opt-out on June 1, if other teams are interested you will know then.
uglyone - Wednesday, May 20 2015 @ 01:11 PM EDT (#301017) #
when it comes to milb, I always put my trust in FIP over ERA. Wolf actually has one of the worst fips on the team.

STARTERS FIP

Doubront: 2.31 (9.0ip)
Francis: 2.40 (5.0ip)
Dirkx: 2.89 (13.0ip)
Copeland: 3.17 (37.0ip)
Norris: 3.20 (18.0ip)
Wolf: 3.32 (41.0ip)
Lawrence: 3.36 (6.1ip)
Albers: 3.77 (42.1ip)
Jenkins: 3.81 (26.1ip)
Castro: 8.83 (5.1ip)

to be fair, 3.32 is pretty decent, but it doesn't support that era at all.

and just for more milb info.....

RELIEVERS FIP

Barnes: 1.82 (4.1ip)
Guilmet: 2.15 (14.1ip)
Redmond: 2.20 (14.0ip)
Delabar: 2.31 (9.0ip)
Rasmussen: 2.37 (18.0ip)
Perez: 2.37 (6.0ip)
Korecky: 2.67 (15.0ip)
Tepera: 2.82 (15.2ip)
Schultz: 3.25 (19.1ip)
Infante: 4.35 (17.1ip)
Hynes: 5.05 (8.2ip)

I kinda understand why Guilmet and his sub-90 fastball was ignored, but i'm not quite sure why Rasmussen and his mid 90s lefty fastball keeps getting passed over.
jerjapan - Wednesday, May 20 2015 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#301024) #
I like Rassmussen too Ugly, but I think the Jays want him to work on the BBs - one or more in six of his last seven outings. The up and down relievers - Jenkins, Redmond, Copeland, Francis - strike me as guys that the Jays don't value too highly and are okay with burning options / risking losing on waivers / any developmental delays that come with being demoted.

Rasmussen has 211 BBs in 494 minor league innings, 7 in his 11 innings last year with the Jays and 7 in 18 innings in AAA this year - if he can get a handle on that at all, he could be valuable for us - but this is the same issue that got Delabar demoted (who needs to be careful still).
Nay, DJ & AA Lead The Way | 9 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.