The affiliates won three and lost two on Monday. A walk-off win was the highlight, a blowout loss in a home opener was the lowlight.
Louisville 4 Buffalo 1
Buffalo, NY - Roberto Hernandez (3-3, 4.48) was roughed up by the Reds affiliate with two home runs and two doubles among his eight hits allowed. That resulted in all four runs over 7-2/3 innings. He walked a batter and hit another while striking out three. Pat Venditte stranded a runner for Hernandez and tossed 1-1/3 innings of one-hit ball while ringing up a couple of batters. He toggled between his right and left arm for all four hitters he faced in the ninth, giving up his lone hit as a righty.
The Herd tied the game at 1-1 when A.J. Jimenez doubled home a Matt Dominguez base hit in the fourth. Junior Lake was 3-for-4 with a stolen base and Dominguez had a pair of hits. The trio of Andy Burns, Melky Mesa and Casey Kotchman all singled and walked.
New Hampshire 6 Erie 5
Erie, PA - The Fisher Cats clawed their way to three quick runs in the first inning and the Tigers affiliate could not recover. Roemon Fields and Jason Leblebijian started the game with back-to-back doubles to produce the first run before Ryan Lavarnway lifted one over the wall in left-center field for a two-run homer. Christian Lopes singled home a run and Shane Opitz delivered a sacrifice fly in the fourth before Lavarnway went deep again to center in the fifth for a solo dinger. Lavarnway also kept his bat on the shoulder for ball four to get on base three times. Rowdy Tellez had a three-hit night. Matt Dean also singled but Dwight Smith Jr. and Jorge Flores were 0-for-4.
Taylor Cole came up an out shy of five innings as he was cuffed around for three runs on seven hits and four walks. One of the runs was unearned after a Leblebijian error at third, the first of three clanks on the night. Cole's K and GO numbers were five apiece. Wil Browning stranded two runners to end the fifth but gave up a long ball in the sixth. John Stilson (3-0) stranded a runner for Browning but he also surrendered a solo shot. He matched Browning's strikeout total with two as he went 2-1/3 innings. Danny Barnes overcame the third Leblebijian error with a shutout ninth for his first save.
Dunedin 3 Brevard County 2
Dunedin, FL - The Blue Jays walked off the Brewers affiliate after blowing a 3-2 lead. D.J. Davis got the rally started with a one-out double and moved to third on a Gunnar Heidt walk and a wild pitch. Dickie Joe Thon drew a walk to load them up for J.D. Davis and he came through with a base hit to score D.J. Davis. It was J.D. Davis who put Dunedin in flight with a home run in the third inning. A Heidt sacrifice fly scored a Jorge Saez double to make it 2-0 in the fourth. Ryan McBroom also had a two-hit game. Richard Urena, Emilio Guerrero and L.B. Dantzler had the other hits. Every Dunedin batter got on base via hit or walk.
Justin Shafer was solid over six innings, conceding just an unearned run in the sixth on an error by Heidt at third. He scattered two hits and two walks and struck out four for a Game Score of 69. Shafter kept the infielders and worms on their toes with 11 groundball outs. Jose Fernandez plunked a hitter but struck out two in the seventh. Colton Turner (3-0) coughed up the lead by giving up a run in the eighth but overcame two hits and a walk with three strikeouts over two frames.
Everett 10 Vancouver 0
Patrick Murphy put together six strong innings in front of a sell-out crowd and a bird Monday night.
Vancouver, BC - The Mariners affiliate laid a savage beating on the C's in their home opener. Patrick Murphy (0-1, 1.50) did his best to keep it close. He got a double play ground ball and a groundout to short to erase a leadoff single in the first but a leadoff walk started the trouble in the second. An error by Bryan Lizardo at third base, a bad hop single that bounced over the head of Cavan Biggio at second base that was compounded by another error by Juan Tejada in right and two more ground ball singles all helped the AquaSox plate a pair of runs. Murphy settled down nicely as he retired 11 hitters in a row before Everett used a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly in the sixth to increase their lead to 3-0. In all, Murphy allowed three runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Eight of his 13 outs in play were on the ground. The game got out of hand in the seventh when Stuart Holmes was hammered for four runs on four hits and a hit by pitch in just one-third of an inning. Griffin Glaude stranded a runner and got around two walks with two K's over two-thirds of an inning. Matt Smoral really scuffled in the ninth as he surrendered the final three runs on a hit, two walks and a plunk but had one strikeout.
Jacob Anderson was the only Vancouver batter to get on base twice.
The C's offence was handcuffed by Ljay Newsome, who never threw a pitch that registered 90 miles per hour over seven shutout innings. JB Woodman hit what turned out to be a ground-rule double to right field but he kept running all the way home and everyone in the crowd thought he had an inside the park home run. However, Woodman never got past second base as Christian Williams struck out to end the first. Jacob Anderson reached base twice with a single and a walk. Javier Hernandez had the other base knock. Williams, Lizardo and Cavan Biggio all took one for the team as they were plunked by Joselito Cano, second cousin of Robinson.
DSL Blue Jays 6 DSL Padres 1
Boca Chica, DR - The Blue Jays remained above .500 with a win over the Friars to boost their record to 8-6. Yorman Rodriguez doubled home a run in the third inning to begin the scoring and started a three-run seventh with an RBI single. Aldo Ovando plated two more with a base hit of his own. Two Padres errors led to the other two runs in the sixth. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and had a stolen base to go along with his two hits. Yeison Estevez also had two hits, including a triple. Jesus Navarro and Jose Briceno both singled and walked.
Orlando Pascual did not grant the Padres much clemency as he permitted just two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch while striking out three over four shutout frames. Emmanuel Reyes (2-1) pitched two innings of no-hit ball and struck out a pair but he walked three and plunked another to surrender the Jays' lone run. Juan Bautista got the three-inning save, scattering just two hits and a walk while whiffing four.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Justin Shafer, Dunedin
2. J.D. Davis, Dunedin
1. Ryan Lavarnway, New Hampshire
Tuesday's Schedule / Probable Starters
DSL Orioles1 @ DSL Blue Jays, 10:30 am ET - TBA
Brevard County @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET - TBA
Louisville @ Buffalo, 7:05 pm ET - John Anderson (0-1, 6.43)
New Hampshire @ Erie, 7:05 pm ET - Jeremy Gabryszwski (4-3, 3.14)
Everett @ Vancouver, 10:05 pm ET - Luis Sanchez (NR)
Extra Innings
Louisville 4 Buffalo 1
Buffalo, NY - Roberto Hernandez (3-3, 4.48) was roughed up by the Reds affiliate with two home runs and two doubles among his eight hits allowed. That resulted in all four runs over 7-2/3 innings. He walked a batter and hit another while striking out three. Pat Venditte stranded a runner for Hernandez and tossed 1-1/3 innings of one-hit ball while ringing up a couple of batters. He toggled between his right and left arm for all four hitters he faced in the ninth, giving up his lone hit as a righty.
The Herd tied the game at 1-1 when A.J. Jimenez doubled home a Matt Dominguez base hit in the fourth. Junior Lake was 3-for-4 with a stolen base and Dominguez had a pair of hits. The trio of Andy Burns, Melky Mesa and Casey Kotchman all singled and walked.
New Hampshire 6 Erie 5
Erie, PA - The Fisher Cats clawed their way to three quick runs in the first inning and the Tigers affiliate could not recover. Roemon Fields and Jason Leblebijian started the game with back-to-back doubles to produce the first run before Ryan Lavarnway lifted one over the wall in left-center field for a two-run homer. Christian Lopes singled home a run and Shane Opitz delivered a sacrifice fly in the fourth before Lavarnway went deep again to center in the fifth for a solo dinger. Lavarnway also kept his bat on the shoulder for ball four to get on base three times. Rowdy Tellez had a three-hit night. Matt Dean also singled but Dwight Smith Jr. and Jorge Flores were 0-for-4.Taylor Cole came up an out shy of five innings as he was cuffed around for three runs on seven hits and four walks. One of the runs was unearned after a Leblebijian error at third, the first of three clanks on the night. Cole's K and GO numbers were five apiece. Wil Browning stranded two runners to end the fifth but gave up a long ball in the sixth. John Stilson (3-0) stranded a runner for Browning but he also surrendered a solo shot. He matched Browning's strikeout total with two as he went 2-1/3 innings. Danny Barnes overcame the third Leblebijian error with a shutout ninth for his first save.
Dunedin 3 Brevard County 2
Dunedin, FL - The Blue Jays walked off the Brewers affiliate after blowing a 3-2 lead. D.J. Davis got the rally started with a one-out double and moved to third on a Gunnar Heidt walk and a wild pitch. Dickie Joe Thon drew a walk to load them up for J.D. Davis and he came through with a base hit to score D.J. Davis. It was J.D. Davis who put Dunedin in flight with a home run in the third inning. A Heidt sacrifice fly scored a Jorge Saez double to make it 2-0 in the fourth. Ryan McBroom also had a two-hit game. Richard Urena, Emilio Guerrero and L.B. Dantzler had the other hits. Every Dunedin batter got on base via hit or walk.Justin Shafer was solid over six innings, conceding just an unearned run in the sixth on an error by Heidt at third. He scattered two hits and two walks and struck out four for a Game Score of 69. Shafter kept the infielders and worms on their toes with 11 groundball outs. Jose Fernandez plunked a hitter but struck out two in the seventh. Colton Turner (3-0) coughed up the lead by giving up a run in the eighth but overcame two hits and a walk with three strikeouts over two frames.
Everett 10 Vancouver 0
Patrick Murphy put together six strong innings in front of a sell-out crowd and a bird Monday night.
Vancouver, BC - The Mariners affiliate laid a savage beating on the C's in their home opener. Patrick Murphy (0-1, 1.50) did his best to keep it close. He got a double play ground ball and a groundout to short to erase a leadoff single in the first but a leadoff walk started the trouble in the second. An error by Bryan Lizardo at third base, a bad hop single that bounced over the head of Cavan Biggio at second base that was compounded by another error by Juan Tejada in right and two more ground ball singles all helped the AquaSox plate a pair of runs. Murphy settled down nicely as he retired 11 hitters in a row before Everett used a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly in the sixth to increase their lead to 3-0. In all, Murphy allowed three runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Eight of his 13 outs in play were on the ground. The game got out of hand in the seventh when Stuart Holmes was hammered for four runs on four hits and a hit by pitch in just one-third of an inning. Griffin Glaude stranded a runner and got around two walks with two K's over two-thirds of an inning. Matt Smoral really scuffled in the ninth as he surrendered the final three runs on a hit, two walks and a plunk but had one strikeout.
Jacob Anderson was the only Vancouver batter to get on base twice.
The C's offence was handcuffed by Ljay Newsome, who never threw a pitch that registered 90 miles per hour over seven shutout innings. JB Woodman hit what turned out to be a ground-rule double to right field but he kept running all the way home and everyone in the crowd thought he had an inside the park home run. However, Woodman never got past second base as Christian Williams struck out to end the first. Jacob Anderson reached base twice with a single and a walk. Javier Hernandez had the other base knock. Williams, Lizardo and Cavan Biggio all took one for the team as they were plunked by Joselito Cano, second cousin of Robinson.
DSL Blue Jays 6 DSL Padres 1
Boca Chica, DR - The Blue Jays remained above .500 with a win over the Friars to boost their record to 8-6. Yorman Rodriguez doubled home a run in the third inning to begin the scoring and started a three-run seventh with an RBI single. Aldo Ovando plated two more with a base hit of his own. Two Padres errors led to the other two runs in the sixth. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and had a stolen base to go along with his two hits. Yeison Estevez also had two hits, including a triple. Jesus Navarro and Jose Briceno both singled and walked.Orlando Pascual did not grant the Padres much clemency as he permitted just two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch while striking out three over four shutout frames. Emmanuel Reyes (2-1) pitched two innings of no-hit ball and struck out a pair but he walked three and plunked another to surrender the Jays' lone run. Juan Bautista got the three-inning save, scattering just two hits and a walk while whiffing four.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Justin Shafer, Dunedin
2. J.D. Davis, Dunedin
1. Ryan Lavarnway, New Hampshire
Tuesday's Schedule / Probable Starters
DSL Orioles1 @ DSL Blue Jays, 10:30 am ET - TBA
Brevard County @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET - TBA
Louisville @ Buffalo, 7:05 pm ET - John Anderson (0-1, 6.43)
New Hampshire @ Erie, 7:05 pm ET - Jeremy Gabryszwski (4-3, 3.14)
Everett @ Vancouver, 10:05 pm ET - Luis Sanchez (NR)
Extra Innings
- Bisons.com jots down Wade LeBlanc in its Notebook
- TampaBay.com says the push is on for improved spring training facilities in Dunedin
- Sportsnet catches up with Max Pentecost
- MiLB.com looks back at Jordan Romano's debut with Lansing
- The Bluefield Daily Telegraph looks at the economic boost the Blue Jays and Rays provide for Bluefield and Prinecton , the preparations of Bowen Field and the team's expectations for 2016
- The Medina Gazette in Ohio gets comments from Jays draft pick Mike Ellenbest
- The New Haven Register has a story about a UConn basketball player signed by the Blue Jays
- The Vancouver Courier chats with new Canadians manager John Tamargo Jr.
- The Vancouver Province talks to C's president Andy Dunn about their successful attendance records
- The Vancouver Sun has a feature on Justin Maese and drops in on Mattingly Romanin
- CanadiansBaseball.com has a PDF link of its 2016 program
