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Saturday night the Dunedin Blue Jays were no-hit, but all told the weekend was a pretty solid success for the Baby Jays, including everyone getting to eat cake after a Sunday organizational sweep. Over the weekend the 4 affiliates went 9-3 for a quite successful weekend.
Buffalo (9-3) - T-1st in AAA East Northeast division - —GB
Friday - W 5-2
Saturday- W 7-3
Sunday - W 2-1
Buffalo has gotten out to a strong start to the season based on their fantastic pitching. Through 12 games, Buffalo has only allowed 30 runs. This has been done by minimizing walks and striking out a lot of batters (10.9/9 innings). That pitching has led Buffalo to a +35 run differential and a Pythagorean record of 10-2.
In Friday’s game, DangYouToHeck’s favourite Jacob Waguespack started and got a decent result. Wags went 6.1 innings, allowing 2 earned on 4 hits, 2 walks and a wild pitch. Waguespack did give up a first inning HR, but settled in to out duel old friend Sean Nolin, striking out 7 over his start. Offensively, the big hit was Christian Colon’s 3-run HR (his 3rd of the year). Cullen Large reached base 3 times, with a hit and 2 walks. Forrest Wall tripled as well.
Saturday saw Connor Overton get the start and throw 6 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits while striking out 3. Kevin Smith’s fielding error in the 8th inning led to 3 unearned runs from Curtis Taylor, who struck out 5 over 2 innings of relief. Taylor is an interesting one to watch, as his ERA looks good so far this year, however he’s allowed 7 unearned runs. Is the defense to blame? Or is Taylor playing with fire. Buffalo scored 6 in the 7th inning, as the Herd batted around. An error from Rochester helped out, as both Forrest Wall & Kevin Smith drove in 2 in the inning. Smith picked up 2 hits during the spree, including a double to lead it off. Breyvic Valera continued his strong start, picking up 3 hits and stealing a base.
Sunday was a pitchers duel, as Buffalo threw out a bullpen game against a rehabbing Stephen Strasburg. Kirby Snead started and went 2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk. Jackson McClelland followed and allowed a solo HR in his 3rd inning as the only hit he gave up. Tayler Saucedo, newly signed Carl Edwards Jr., Bryan Baker and Hobie Harris then each had a shutout inning of relief, with Edwards picking up the win in his Herd debut. Dilson Herrera drove in both runs in the 7th, with his 2nd hit of the game. Logan Warmoth added two singles and scored a run, while Kevin Smith also had a hit and scored a run in the come from behind win.
New Hampshire (5-7) - T-3rd in AA Northeast - 2 GB
Friday - W 7-3
Saturday- L 5-3
Sunday - W 6-0
New Hampshire had a much better week 2 of the season, as they took the series from Somerset 4-2, and any time you can beat a Yankee or Yankee related club it’s a great thing. New Hampshire is back to a -1 run differential after losing 5 in a row during week 1. The concerning piece here was that Jordan Groshans did not play Saturday or Sunday and Austin Martin left Saturday’s game and did not play Sunday. Something to keep any eye.
Friday saw Maximo Castillo start for New Hampshire, throwing 5 innings of 1-run ball. Castillo allowed 5 hits and 2 walks. Castillo struck out 4. Brody Rodning pitched 3 innings of no-hit relief, giving up a walk and a hit batter, and making an error which led to an unearned run. Rodning struck out 4. At the dish the Cats got 4 hits from Otto Lopez, including 2 doubles. Lopez scored 3 runs on the night. Jordan Groshans had a single & a double, and drove in 2 runs. Gabe Moreno had 2 singles and scored a run. Vinny Capra had a double, drove in 2 runs and threw out a baserunner from LF.
Zach Logue started Saturday and gave up 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings. Logue allowed 4 hits and struck out 8. The first 5 innings went smoothly, before he allowed 3 straight hits to open up the 6th inning, leading to the 2 runs. Mike Ellenbest allowed 3 runs in his inning of relief, on 2 HR’s. That proved to be the difference in this one. At the dish, Otto Lopez continued his strong weekend, adding 2 more hits. Austin Martin had 2 hits in this one and picked up his first stolen base, but was replaced by a pinch hitter. The Cats struck out 18 times on the day, which led to a rough game.
Sunday afternoon saw the Cats score early and often for Simeon Woods Richardson, as they scored runs in each of the first 4 innings. SWR went 5 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and 4 walks. Woods Richardson recorded 7 strikeouts and picked a runner off first. At the plate, Samad Taylor had a big game, as he had 3 hits, including his 1st HR of the year - a 2-run shot in the 2nd. Taylor also had his 5th steal of the season. Otto Lopez doubled twice in this one, and added a walk. Demi Orimoloye added a double as well.
Vancouver (8-4) - T-2nd in High A West - 1.5 GB
Friday - W 8-2
Saturday- W 4-2
Sunday - W 7-6 in 11 innings
Vancouver enjoyed week 2, as they were able to pick up a “sweep” over the weekend and went 5-1 against Spokane. The club continues to show a lot of speed and are getting some decent pitching performances to start the year. The C’s have allowed 47 runs through 12 games, which ranks them 2nd in the league.
Friday was a tight game where the teams traded runs back and forth before Tanner Kirwer hit a grand slam, his 3rd HR of the year, in the 8th inning to give Vancouver some breathing room. Kirwer added 2 singles, scored 3 runs and stole 2 bases in this one. Luis De Los Santos and PK Morris each had 2 singles and drove in a run, while Phil Clarke added a single and a double. The starter in this one was Nick Fraze, who went 6 innings allowing 2 earned runs. Fraze gave up 4 hits, one being a solo HR, while striking out 6. Parker Caracci & Hagen Danner combined for 3 shutout innings of relief, allowing no hits and 2 walks, striking out 2.
Vancouver got another strong pitching performance Saturday as Adam Kloffenstein went 6 strong innings, allowing a run on 2 hits and 2 walks. Kloff needed only 79 pitches to get through his 6 innings, getting 4 strike outs and 10 ground ball outs. At the plate, Spencer Horwitz had 2 hits, including a double, drove in 2 and stole a base. Phil Clarke had 2 singles and a walk, driving in 2. Cameron Eden had 2 walks, scored 2 runs and stole 2 bases. The club only struck out 3 times on the night, but also only managed 6 hits and 4 walks.
Sunday was a wilder game, as both teams went back and forth before Vancouver was able to walk it off in the 11th. Recently acquired Paxton Schultz started and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings. Schultz did strike out 8 batters and hit a batter in this one. Hagen Danner had his first rough outing on the mound in the 9th to blow the save, allowing 2 runs, but he went back out for the tenth and was able to work around a wild pitch to get out of the jam. At the plate, Cameron Eden had a big game, picking up 4 singles, including driving in the tying run in the 9th and the winning run in the 11th. Eden also scored 2 runs and stole a base. Tanner Kirwer had 2 hits, including a single and a stolen base in the 9th to score the tying run. Ronny Brito picked up a double and his 1st HR of the year, scoring two runs. Spencer Horwitz reached base 4 times, with 2 hits and 2 walks.
Dunedin (3-9) - 6th in Low A Southeast - 6 GB
Friday - L 8-4
Saturday- L 2-0
Sunday - W 6-3
Week two wasn’t much better to Dunedin than week one was. Although Dunedin picked up 2 wins during the week, they were also no-hit. Dunedin is still allowing over 9 runs per game, which makes it difficult to win a lot of ball games. The positive is that they are scoring the most runs of any Jays affiliate, but not enough to win many ball games yet.
Winder Garcia started Friday night and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (2 solo HR’s including) in 4 innings. Garcia struck out 3 as he lowered his ERA to 10.80. Adrian Hernandez followed by giving up 4 earned runs on 2 hits and 4 walks in 3.1 innings. Hernandez is missing a lot of bats, but also struggling to find the strike zone as he’s walked 7 and struck out 15 in 6.2 innings so far in 2021. At the plate, Miguel Hiraldo had 2 hits, including his 1st HR of the year, adding a double. Orelvis Martinez hit his 2nd HR of the year. Addison Barger had a walk and a single. Jhon Solarte had a rough game in the lead off spot, picking up 5 strikeouts in 5 trips the to plate.
Saturday was not a great day for the D-Jays as they lost 2-0, getting no-hit in the process. Sem Robberse started and pitched 3 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits and throwing a wild pitch. Robberse struck out 4 and got 4 ground outs over 40 pitches. Overall, the Dunedin pitchers allowed 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 13 on the day, with both runs coming from a 2-run single in the 4th. At the plate, Justin Ammons had the “best” game with 3 walks and a stolen base. Zach Britton had a walk and 3 strike outs.
The series finale saw Dunedin fall behind early, but put up 4 runs in the 2nd inning and then settled down to take the win. Rafael Ohashi started and had less success in his 2nd start of the year. Ohashi allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits and 5 walks in 2 innings. Ohashi did strike out 3, but struggled to find the strike zone, as only 25 of his 59 pitches were strikes. Willy Gaston, Gabriel Ponce & Roither Hernandez then combined for 7 innings of shut out relief, allowing 6 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 10. At the plate, MacKenzie Mueller had 2 hits, including a triple, and drove in a run. Orelvis Martinez added 2 hits and an RBI. Steward Berroa made his 2021 debut, adding 3 walks, a stolen base and scored a run. Ryan Sloniger walked twice and stole a base.
Baby Jay of the Week
Pitcher - Simeon Woods Richardson (NH) - 2 Starts, 10 Innings, 1 Earned Run on 5 hits and 6 walks, while striking out 15 batters.
Hitter - Otto Lopez (NH) - 12-24 for the week. 6 singles & 6 doubles, 3 walks, 3 RBI’s. Lopez had a really strong weekend, and had hits in all 6 games last week. Otto actually is on a 40-game multi-hit streak. Lopez is actually on a 10 game hit streak, and has only not recorded a hit once in 2021.
Leaders
Hits Otto Lopez 19
2B Lopez 7
3B Forrest Wall & MacKenzie Mueller 2
HR Logan Warmoth & Tanner Kirwer 3
BB Rate Spencer Horwitz 26.5%
wRC+ Gabriel Moreno 214
IP Zach Logue 15.1
FIP Curtis Taylor -0.29
xFIP Taylor 0.69
K Simeon Woods Richardson 23
K% Roither Hernandez 43.3%
What’s Next
Buffalo heads on the road for the first “road” trip of the year to take on Worcester (BOS) for the second time this season. Buffalo took the first series 4-2 and Worcester is 7-5 in 2021.
New Hampshire is at home and welcomes Portland to town to take on Portland (BOS) again after a 1-5 series to open the season. Portland is tied for 1st in the division at 7-5
Vancouver travels to Hillsboro (ARI) to take on the Hops for the first time this year. Hillsboro is 5-7 so far on the season.
Dunedin will move over to the visitor’s dugout as they take on Clearwater (PHI). Clearwater is 6-6 for the year.