Las Vegas were outhit 16-4 as Kyle Drabek really struggled. Drabek gave up 9 runs in 3 innings. He walked in two runs in the second inning. The at-bats where he walked in runs were 6 and 7 pitch at-bats where he couldn't put the hitters away with two strikes. Jason Lane pitched two shutout innings to lower his ERA to 4.85.
I still can see Drabek getting a September call-up, more to work on things in the bullpen than to start.
This was a tight game through three innings but the Fisher Cats scored 8 runs in the fourth to put the game away. The big hit was a grand slam from Travis d'Arnaud, his 20th home run of the year. Nestor Molina was pulled after three innings, I assume this was pre-planned and not because the Fisher Cats scored those 8 runs. The 3 innings by Molina were typical, one walk, five K's, three hits and one unearned run.
Rey Gonzalez, and Wes Etheridge each pitched three innings in relief.
D'Arnaud had 3 hits, Crabbe, Perales and McDade had 2 each.
Scott Gracey was forced into action as a starter due to a doubleheader last week and he was hit for 4 runs in 4 innings. That made it "empty the bullpen night" as the Jays decided to live for another day, Justin Phillabaum and Harold Mozingo allowed three runs between them and in the middle of the eighth Dunedin were being outhit 16-4.
The "live for another day" plan was reevaluated in the eighth when Brian Van Kirk hit a three run home run to make it a 7-6 game. Van Kirk is probably not a prospect, he just turned 26 and is repeating the FSL, but he has been playing very well after a slow start. His OPS since the all-star break is 949. However Matt Daly, who has really struggled in the second half, gave up a 2 run home run to Shane Opitz's brother to make it 9-6 and Dunedin were unable to come back.
Sean Ochinko and Van Kirk had two hits each.
Lansing trailed 5-2 in the fifth before scoring twice in the seventh and two more in the eighth. In the seventh Jake Marisnick and KC Hobson hit back to back jacks. Jon Jones drove in the tying and go ahead runs in the eighth.
Noah Syndegaard pitched four innings and gave up three runs, two earned, on four hits and a walk. Fort Wayne stole seven bases, six when Syndergaard was pitching.
Marisnick and Gari Pena had two hits each.
Vancouver - scheduled day-off
Bluefield clinched the division with this win. And with just one more game in the season before the playoffs the team used five pitchers to get the win. Ajay Meyer, Nick Purdy, Jeremy Gabrszwyski, Misaul Diaz and Ian Kadish held Danville to just 3 hits.
Only two of Bluefield's 5 runs were earned and the Jays had just seven hits, but a win is a win.
GCL Blue Jays - season over
3 Stars
3rd star - Brian Van Kirk
2nd star - Nick Purdy
1st star - Travis d'Arnaud
Playoff Picture
With the regular season finished, finishing or in the final stretch here is the latest in the playoff picture for the Jay's seven north american farm teams. Most teams have 6 or 7 games left to play.
In the playoffs: Lansing (based on first half); Bluefield
In contention: New Hampshire (leading by 3.5 games); Dunedin (leading by 1.5 games); Vancouver (If Eugene win both first and second half titles then the team with the next best overall record gets in. That could be Vancouver. Eugene leads second half by 1 and they have won 6 in a row.)
Eliminated: Las Vegas; GCL Blue Jays
