A disappointing 1-3 night for Toronto’s minor leaguers, and an update on the Three-Star standings.
Syracuse - Off Day
New Hampshire 1 @ Norwich 6
Cameron Reimers had difficulty navigating the bottom of the first inning as he allowed 5 Norwich runs. Reimers allowed just 1 run thereafter and relievers Bubbie Buzachero (2-1/3, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K) and Jordan De Jong (2 IP, 1 BB, 3 K) shut things down, but the Fisher Cat bats had another quiet night. Their 6 hits included doubles from DH Kevin Barker and 3B Brad Hassey.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recap - Union-Leader
The D-Jays split a pair of 7-inning games with the T-Yanks in Tampa. Kurt Isenberg (5-2/3, 5 hits, 3 BB, 5 K) teamed up with a very sharp Brian Reed (4 batters faced, 3 whiffs) for the shutout in the opener. DH Clint Johnston had 3 hits including a double, 2B Ryan Roberts had a single and a homer, and RF David Smith slapped 2 singles. 1B Joey Reiman and SS Scott Dragicevich also doubled.
The nightcap was less fun the Dunedins as Justin James, Brad Mumma, and Jeremy Harper couldn’t hold Tampa down. The hitting wasn’t much better, not scoring until the 6th inning, by which time they were already down 6-0. DH Adam Lind hit a triple and walked, while Roberts stayed warm with a single and a walk.
Boxscores: Game 1, Game 2 - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
Unlike the clubs higher in the system, the Lugnut offence deserved better. LF Luke Hetherington had a 4-hit night, including a triple, RF Eric Nielsen hit a single and a double, C Curtis Thigpen had two base hits, The Chip Cannon fired a double, and leadoff man Yuber Rodriguez did his job twice by drawing walks… but it all added up to just 2 in the run column.
On the other side of the ball, lefty Chi-hung Cheng similarly deserved a better fate than the L beside his name. The youngest Nut hurled 6 innings, striking out 7 Swingers while allowing just 4 hits and walking 2, but Quad City bunched much of that, including a dinger, in the 3rd inning to score 3 runs. Jordy Templet tossed the final 3 frames, allowing 2 more runs on 3 hits and a walk, striking out 2.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recap - Lansing State Journal
The Third Star: Ryan Roberts, Dunedin. Homer, 2 singles, and a walk in a double header.
The Second Star: Chi-hung Cheng, Lansing. 7 Ks and just 6 baserunners in 6 innings.
The First Star: Luke Hetherington, Lansing. 6 bases on a 4-hit night.
Congratulations to Lansing starter Casey Janssen, our Three-Star champion for April. The 2004 4th-round pick went 2-0 with a miniscule 1.69 ERA in 32 innings pitched and collected Three-Star recognition in all 5 of his starts. Here’s a recap of his outstanding month for the Lugnuts:
April 7: 7 innings of no-hitter, 7 Ks and just 1 walk.
April 12: 1 unearned marker on 5 hits in 6 innings, 3 strikeouts and no walks.
April 17: 1 run on 4 hits in a 6-inning start, 5-1 K-BB.
April 22: 9 strikeouts in 7 innings, 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk
April 28: 3 earned runs come on just 4 hits in 6 innings, 5 punchouts.
These performances earned the 6’3” righty a total of 40 points per our new and improved scoring system. To wit, the number of games played on a given day is multiplied by 3 to determine the number of points awarded the First Star, by 2 for the Second Star, and by 1 for the Third Star. So, on your average April night which sees 4 Jays affiliates in action the First Star earns 12 points, the Second Star 8 points, and the Third Star 4 points.
A total of 50 different Blue Jay farmhands were named at least once as a star in the month of April. Here's the top ten:
Player Points Stars Casey Janssen 40 5 Josh Banks 28 3 Adam Lind 24 3 Aaron Hill 24 2 J-F Griffin 21 3 Shaun Marcum 20 3 Ryan Klosterman 17 2 Chad Gaudin 16 2 Brian Patrick 15 2 Scott Downs 15 2 Jamie Vermilyea 15 1
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050503093649920