The Dunedin Blue Jays and the Vancouver Canadians had a much better night than the parent club as they picked up their first playoff victories Tuesday.


Dunedin 4 Daytona 3 (10 Innings)

Dunedin, FL - The Jays battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits against the Cubs before winning in overtime to take Game 1 of their Florida State League playoff series.

Hitting - Despite going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and leaving 12 men on base, Dunedin scraped up enough offence to pull this one out.  Brad McElroy (1/4, BB) homered to right to put Dunedin on the board in the fifth and Ryan Goins (2/3) also sent one over the right field fence in the seventh to tie the game.  A Jon Talley (1/5) RBI grounder plated A.J. Jimenez (3/5) to tie the game again in the eighth.  Brian Van Kirk (2/5) led off the tenth with a double and pinch-runner Ryan Schimpf made it to third on Talley's bunt single.  An intentional walk to Kevin Ahrens (1/4, 2B) loaded the bases for Justin Jackson (1/5).  He hit a grounder to the second baseman and he threw home to force Schimpf at the plate.  However, the Daytona catcher made a throwing error and that allowed Talley to come home with the winning run.  Sean Ochinko (1/3, HBP) and Brad Glenn (1/5) ensured every Dunedin starter had one hit.  Ivan Contreras (0/1) was the only player not to record a hit.

Running - Contreras pinch-ran for Ochinko in the eighth and Schimpf did likewise for Van Kirk in the tenth but neither of them scored.

Pitching - Casey Lawrence gave up just two runs (one ER) over 5 2/3 innings but had to work around eight hits and a walk.  He struck out three and seven of his nine outs in play were on the ground.  He was bailed out by Vincent Bongiovanni who stranded a pair of runners with an inning-ending strikeout.  That was among two Ks in 1 1/3 perfect innings of relief.  Lefty Frank Gailey allowed an unearned run over two frames on two hits but struck out a pair and got four ground ball outs.  Lefty Aaron Loup overcame a leadoff walk in the tenth with a strikeout and two groundouts and picked up the victory.

Fielding - Two errors led to two unearned runs.  Van Kirk kicked one around in left in the second inning and Ahrens booted one at third in the eighth inning.  However, Ahrens redeemed himself by erasing Loup's leadoff walk by throwing out a runner at second on a bunt attempt.  McElroy threw out a runner from center field to end the fourth.  Jimenez was 0-for-1 in throwing out base stealers.  Goins started a 6-3 double play.

Vancouver 10 Eugene 3

Canadians outfielder Nicholas Baligod prior to Game 2:  "We all want to keep playing. We want to come back to Vancouver and, hopefully, win it out here. We love to play in front of these fans and, every chance we get, we want to put on a good show. We just have to pick each other up and play more relaxed."Vancouver, BC - The C's held a 2-1 lead over the Padres affiliate before exploding for eight runs in the sixth inning to force a deciding Game 3 at Nat Bailey Stadium.

Hitting - Jonathon Berti (3/5, 3 RBI) set the tone with a leadoff home run and Balbino Fuenmayor (2/5) also poked one over the fence in the second inning.  Then the flood gates opened in the sixth.  Matt Newman (1/4, BB) singled home two runs, Fuenmayor doubled in two runs, Berti singled home two more and Kevin Pillar (2/5) plated a pair.  Pierce Rankin (1/3, BB) and Shane Opitz (1/4) also made the hit column.  Nicholas Baligod (0/3) drew two walks and Kevin Patterson (0/3) drew one.  Roan Salas (0/5) and Randy Schwartz (0/1) did not help their on-base percentage.  Vancouver was 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Running - Pillar stole second.

Pitching - Jesse Hernandez kept Eugene in check by giving up just a run over four innings.  He gave up four hits and a walk with zero Ks but six of his nine outs stayed in the infield.  Lefty Tyler Ybarra got the victory by yielding just a run over three innings.  He gave up two hits, posted a 3-3 K/BB total and all four of his outs in play stayed on the ground.  Aleson Escalante surrendered a run in his one inning on one hit and one walks while striking out a batter.  Bryan Longpre finished up a perfect inning by punching out two of the three batters he faced.

Fielding - Rankin had a passed ball.  Ybarra started a 1-6 double play with Opitz.

*** 3 Stars!!! ***

3. Brad McElroy, Dunedin

2. Balbino Fuenmayor, Vancouver

1. Jonathon Berti, Vancouver

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Extra Innings...

The Las Vegas Review-Journal paints a rosy picture of the 51s partnership with the Blue Jays.  GM Alex Anthopoulos on the challenges of playing on Cashman Field:

"Some people say it's hard to evaluate a starter in this league. (But) it's not a bad comparison when you have to go to Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, to know that you pitched in this league. I heard the infield's hard to play on, but that's also not the worst thing to develop defensive skills."

Sportsnet's Shi Davidi has a feature on the September callups.  GM Alex Anthopoulos chatted with hit king Pete Rose about reliever Chad Beck:

"(Rose) told me he’s in Vegas 25 days a month and he comes out to watch the team a lot, so I started to pick his brain a lot about the players. The guy has a lot of hits and has seen a lot more games than I have, so why not take advantage. He said Beck stood out for him."

The New Hampshire Union Leader has a Kevin Gray preview and one from Johh Habib of the Fisher Cats playoff series against the Reading Phillies.

"The Fisher Cats haven't won a postseason game since capturing the Eastern League championship in 2004. That team featured future big leaguers Aaron Hill, Brandon League, Dustin McGowan and others...New Hampshire was 9-9 in the regular season against Reading, but the Phillies won seven of their 10 meetings in convincing style in Manchester. Reading outscored New Hampshire, 57-26, collectively in those 10 meetings."

The Barrington Courier-Review (Chicago Sun-Times publication) talks about pitcher Vincent Bongiovanni's circuitous route back to the Blue Jays organization.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen with the Blue Jays. I was talking to a lot of teams, and the Blue Jays were the first ones that came through. I never thought I would be walking back in there."

The Dayton Daily News looks at the managerial matchup between Lansing's Mike Redmond and Dayton's Delino DeShields in the Lugnuts-Dragons playoff series.

"On June 27, during what became a 9-2 Dragons win at Fifth Third Field, Dayton manager Delino DeShields accused Lansing counterpart Mike Redmond of ordering Dragons second baseman Ronald Torreyes hit with a pitch. It was retaliation, DeShields thought, for Dragons third baseman David Vidal trying to steal third when Dayton had a big lead."

The Vancouver Sun talks about the potential of BC Place hosting MLB action once again.

"...the C's are intrigued with the possibility of having the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners play a regular-season series at the refurbished BC Place Stadium but says there are many hurdles in the way. The main one would be to convince either the Jays or M's to give up three home dates. That would take a few dollars, or more. There is also the matter of the scoreboard being too low for baseball and the need for a proper playing surface. The C's hold the rights to any major league games in Vancouver."

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reflects on the good times of the Jays first season in Bluefield.  GM Chris Maxwell:

“This first year people loved it, I can’t tell you how important that was more than anything else, for the Toronto Blue Jays and this city.”