.500. It’s the record the Jays seemed destined to finish at or within a couple of games either side and it’s the record the affiliates put up yesterday on a 3-3 evening. Losses in the low minors and a Triple-A were cancelled out by wins in Double-A through A-ball. Three of the six starters turned in quality starts and the teams in the low minors, as may be expected, lost in part due to fielding errors. There were several solid days at the plate, but no standout performances, and the three stars could have gone to any of about ten players.
Durham 4 @ Syracuse 1 – Boxscore
The Syracuse bats were quieted by Jeff Niemann and a pair of Durham relievers, as the SkyChiefs only managed five hits and one run in the game. Matt Watson went 2-4 with a pair of doubles and he scored the team’s only run in the ninth on a Hector Luna groundout. Wayne Lydon, Marcos Sandoval and Buck Coats had the other hits, while the bottom four batters in the order – Luna, Russ Adams, Kevin Melillo and Chip Cannon – went 0-12 and the latter three are all hitting under .240. Lydon also drew a walk, as did Curtis Thigpen, Melillo and Cannon.
Michael MacDonald got his seventh start of the year for Syracuse and turned in the definition of a quality start with 6 innings and three runs against. MacDonald gave up six hits and a walk while striking out four. Despite taking the loss his ERA is still only 2.95. Jo Matumoto started the seventh inning, but he put a couple of batters on and Jordan De Jong came in and rescued him. Chris George came in for the top of the eighth and promptly gave up Dan Johnson’s second home run of the game. However, George would get through the next two innings without further damage.
New Britain 3 @ New Hampshire 6 – Boxscore
Brandon Magee got the start for New Hampshire and looked very solid. He went 7 innings and allowed one run on four hits and two walks. He struck out seven and induced a mixture of grounders and fly balls. Daryl Harang came into the game in relief of Magee and struck out three batters in the eighth, whilst allowing one hit. Orlando Roman pitched two-thirds of the ninth, but allowed a pair of runs to score on back-to-back solo home runs. Following a walk Zach Dials was brought into the game and he picked up his 14th save by retiring the one batter he faced.
With New Hampshire leading 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth Scott Campbell came up to bat with two on and two out and continued his fantastic season with a 3-run home run. These insurance runs didn’t seem important at the time, but later they proved to come in handy when Roman gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. Campbell was 2-4 on the afternoon with the aforementioned three RBI and a walk. Batting behind Campbell, Ryan Klosterman went 1-5 with a double and a run scored. David Smith went 2-3 with a double, a home run, 2 RBI and a walk, while JP Arencibia hit a double in a 1-4 game in the cleanup spot. That was the bulk of the offense for the Fisher Cats, as Jacob Butler and Ryan Patterson went hitless, while Eric Nielsen and Jonathan Diaz each had a pair of singles and Brian Jeroloman had one hit in the DH spot.
Vero Beach 2 @ Dunedin 5 – Boxscore
The game stood at 4-2 for Dunedin after 2 innings and then settled into a pitcher’s duel, with only one run crossing the plate in the last 7 frames. Dunedin had eight hits in the game and over half of them came from Cory Patton and Brian Dopirak. Patton went 3-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Dopirak went 2-4 with a double, a home run and 4 RBI. He hit a three-run homer in the first inning and hit a double to cash in Patton in the seventh. Robinzon Diaz, who went 1-4, Jesus Gonzalez and Luis Sanchez all picked up harmless singles.
Reidier Gonzalez got the start for Dunedin and, after giving up two runs in the second inning, he settled down to pitch 7 strong innings. Gonzalez allowed seven hits and didn’t walk a batter. He was relieved by Nathan Starner, who threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Connor Falkenbach then came in and pitched a scoreless inning for his 18th save of the year.
Lansing 8 @ Kane County 2 – Boxscore
Chi-Hung Cheng started for Lansing and struggled with his control, walking five batters over 4.2 innings. He also gave up five hits and allowed two runs, but was able to work his way out of couple of jams with minimal damage. Cheng retired seven of the eight batters on balls in play on groundballs. James Dougher came in and picked up the victory with 2.1 scoreless innings and four strikeouts, before Frank Gailey pitched the last two without incident.
Lansing had 13 hits in the game and seven of the nine starters had at least one. The two who didn’t, John Tolisano and Eric Eiland, both drew walks, so every starter reached base at least once. In the leadoff spot Justin Jackson went 2-4 with a walk and a run scored. Jonathan Jaspe went 2-5 in the 3-hole with his 5th home run of the season and a pair of RBI. The Venezuelan is now hitting .361/.422/.546 over 119 at-bats. Matt Liuzza went 1-5 with a double and two runs scored and he was followed by David Cooper, who was 2-5 with a homer and 2 RBI. His OPS is now over 1.000 for Lansing, albeit in limited time. Kevin Ahrens had the most hits of any Doubleday by going 4-5 with a double. The 7 and 8 hitters, Moises Sierra and Yohermyn Chavez, both went 1-4 without a run scored. For Chavez this may have been partly his own fault, as he had a rough day on the bases by being picked off and caught stealing.
Batavia 7 @ Auburn 5 – Boxscore
Christopher Hopkins batted leadoff and had the only multi-hit game for the Doubledays, going 2-3 with a HBP. However, Hopkins had a day to forget on the bases, as he pulled a Chavez by getting picked off and caught stealing. The other four Auburn batters to have hits were Michael McDade, Brian Van Kirk, Jonathan Del Campo and Joel Collins. Del Campo grounded into two double plays in the game. All the offence came in the bottom of the fifth, when, with two out, Joel Collins singled home Del Campo and Van Kirk. Following that Hopkins singled and then Chris Demons walked, to load the bases for McDade who cleared them with a 3-run triple. However, this rally would not be enough to win the game.
Matthew Wright got the start and went 4 innings and surrendered thre runs, two of them earned. He struck out seven and only walked one. After Jason Roenicke threw a scoreless inning, Justin Cryer came in and gave up three runs in 1.1 innings, although two of them were unearned. Cryer got both a hold and a loss for his performance, as Charles Huggins, who relieved him, allowed both runners he inherited to score. Matthew Daly also threw an inning and allowed a run.
GCL Blue Jays 6 @ GCL Yankees 9 – Boxscore
The defence handed this game to the Yankees on a platter, committing three errors that led to five unearned runs, although the pitching for the GCL Blue Jays wasn’t particularly strong, either. Henderson Alvarez got the start and gave up six hits and four earned runs over 3.2 innings. Because of all the defensive miscues, each of the relievers gave up some runs, but none of them gave up any earned runs, which resulted in John Anderson’s line of 0.1 innings pitched, three hits and a walk allowed, but no earned runs. Anderson also committed one of the three errors, so he really only has himself to blame.
The GCL Blue Jays got two hit games from Robert Pastornicky, who had a single and a double, and Wellinton Ramirez, who had a double, a home run and two runs scored. Pastornicky stole his eighth base of the year and had a 2-out RBI. Unfortunately, both Pastornicky and Ramirez also made errors in the game. Balbino Fuenmayor had the only other extra-base hit with a double. The Jays had two outfield assists, with Ramirez throwing out a runner at third and Kenneth Wilson nailing a runner at home plate during his 1-4 afternoon.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Jonathan Jaspe, 2-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 5 TB
2nd Star – Scott Campbell, 2-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 5 TB
1st Star – Brandon Magee, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
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