Joe Biagini pitches seven innings in fourth triple-A start

Joe Biagini, in his fourth and likely last start with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons, gave up two earned runs over seven innings pitched while striking out six and not walking a batter. The Bisons eventually won 6-2.

In the start, Biagini threw 86 pitches, just below the target of 90. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

It was deja vu for other Bisons, as Teoscar Hernandez was a double shy of the cycle in the ninth inning and hit a home run — the exact same progression of events of a night earlier.

Placing starter Nick Tepesch on the paternity list, the Toronto Blue Jays recalled Tim Mayza from triple-A Buffalo just days after optioning him.

Mayza appeared in three games for the Blue Jays before being sent down, pitching three innings and giving up two earned runs. His first two outings were scoreless, before a home run in his third appearance tarnished his ERA. Mayza walked one and struck out five.

The Boston Red Sox defeated Cleveland last night behind a complete game one-hitter from Doug Fister, the first such outing of his career. Fister, on the third pitch of the ballgame, gave up a home run, the only hit he would allow in his nine innings. The Red Sox are now 15-4 since July 31st, widening gap between them and the second-place New York Yankees to 4.5 games.

For the Blue Jays, the results weren’t as sunny at Tropicana Field. Toronto lost 6-5 to the Rays, falling to seven games below .500 and six games back in the wildcard race. It was Toronto’s fourth consecutive loss. Chris Rowley gave up four earned runs over 5.1 innings, walking three and giving up two home runs.

Today, the Blue Jays look to tie the series with Marcus Stroman on the mound. Austin Pruitt, starting for Tampa Bay, gave up six earned runs over seven innings in his last start, his worst outing of the season. The game is set to start at 7:10 ET.

Other news:

• Major League Baseball plans to implement a fan code of conduct in 2018, the league shared yesterday. While each team has an individual code of conduct, it has yet to be standardized.
• According to Gideon Turk of Baseball Prospectus, the Blue Jays tried acquiring Ichiro Suzuki and Dan Haren at the 2015 non-waiver trade deadline before settling for Mark Lowe and Ben Revere in two individual trades. Was this public knowledge?
• Bo Bichette is expected back in the Dunedin Blue Jays’ lineup either Wednesday or Thursday after being out since August 13th with a right ankle sprain.
• The Red Sox placed Matt Barnes on the 10-day disabled list and recalled Hector Velazquez yesterday.
• The Yankees activated Masahiro Tanaka off of the 10-day disabled list yesterday morning.

Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkColley.