Baby Jays Recap - Cullen Large with a big day for Buffalo

Buffalo (16-15) - Split DH with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Losing 3-2 in game 1 & winning 10-0 in game 2

Game 1 saw Jacob Waguespack get the start and he cruised through 4 innings, before allowing a run on a 2-out double in the 5th to take the loss. Final line for Wags was 1 run allowed on 4 hits and a walk in 5 innings. He struck out 5, including all 3 in the 2nd inning. Dany Jimenez & Jackson McClelland each pitched an inning of relief, allowing a run on a single & a double. Jimenez added a walk, but both struck out 2. Those runs ended up being costly as the Herd tried to come back in the bottom of 7, down 3-0, but were only able to score 2.

Both Herd runs came on a Cullen Large 2-run HR with 2-out in the 7th. Jared Hoying had singled to lead off the inning. Rodrigo Vigil had 2 singles in his Buffalo debut. Cavan Biggio & Dilson Herrera each had a walk, and that was all the offense to talk about in game 1.

Nate Pearson took the ball in game 2 and had a better outing. Pearson went 5 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 6. Pearson allowed 2 singles and a double, but only ran into trouble in the 2nd inning, where he gave up a single and a double with 2-outs, but was able to get out of the inning with a strike out. Patrick Murphy had a scoreless inning of relief, working around a one-out single. It took Murphy only 10 pitches to get through his inning, including a strike out, but Hobie Harris was brought in to pitch the 7th. Harris had a walk and a strike out in his inning.

Buffalo got a solo HR from Dilson Herrera in the 2nd to open the scoring, and then blew the game open with 4 in the 3rd and 5 in the 4th. Jared Hoying hit a 3-run HR in the 3rd, his 2nd in 3 games with Buffalo. Cullen Large continued a solid stretch as he went 2-2 with 2 walks in the night cap, after his HR in game 1. Kevin Smith had a double and walked twice. Christian Colon had 2 singles. Nash Knight picked up 2 walks. Tyler White, Juan Graterol and Logan Warmoth each had singles.

New Hampshire (11-21) - Win 5-3 over Portland

The top of the Fisher Cats lineup had a good day Thursday, as Samad Taylor, Austin Martin & Otto Lopez combined to go 6-12 with a walk. Lopez drove in Taylor & Martin with a double in the first. New Hampshire had 4 singles in the 7th to add 2 more runs, as Reggie Pruitt & Taylor drove in runs. Taylor had 2 singles, to keep his hot streak going, adding a walk. Lopez had 2 singles and the double in this one. Martin had a single. Chris Bec had 2 singles, while Jordan Groshans, Demi Orimoloye and Pruitt each had a hit. The 5th NH run came on a single, a passed ball, an error and a ground out in the 8th.

Troy Miller started this one, and allowed 3 earned over 6 innings. Miller gave up 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 5. Fitz Stadler followed with 0.2 innings, but left after having a runner reach on a Martin throwing error and a single. Brody Rodning came in with runners on 1st & 3rd with 2-out in the 7th, clinging to a 1-run lead. Rodning got a flyout, and then threw 2 more innings of relief to get the save. Rodning gave up a leadoff walk in the 8th, but got a double play ball, and that was the end of the challenge from Portland.

Vancouver (19-14) - Loss 8-0 to Spokane

The early start did not work out well for Vancouver’s bats, as the C’s were only able to muster 2 hits and 3 walks in the game. Ryan Gold doubled. Rafael Lantigua had a single. Phil Clarke had a walk and Eric Rivera walked twice. Rivera did get caught stealing as well.

On the mound, Luis Quinones got the ball, and was nearly unhittable. Unfortunately he also found the strike zone hard to find, as Quinones finished with 2 runs allowed (1 earned) on a single in 4 innings. The part that hurt Luis was 6 walks, a throwing error, a balk and a wild pitch. The 1st run came on a bunt single, which Quinones threw away, allowing the runner to get to 3rd. The balk scored that run. Quinones walked the bases loaded with 2 outs in the 3rd, getting out of the jam with a strike out. The 4th saw 2 walks, 2 stolen bases and a wild pitch score the run. Quinones struck out 8, showcasing the fact he was hard to hit. Cobi Johnson gave up 3 earned in 2 innings of relief. Parker Caracci had a scoreless inning of relief before Willy Gaston gave up a 3-run HR in the 8th inning. A tight 2-0 game turned into a laugher as Spokane scored runs in every inning after the 5th, with the exception of Caracci’s inning.

Dunedin (12-21) - Win 6-1 against Lakeland

Dunedin handed the ball to Sem Robberse against Lakeland and he promptly gave up a 1-out triple in the bottom of the first. Robberse then threw a wild pitch to score the run. Sem then settled in, retiring 14 straight batters after the wild pitch. Robberse picked up his 1st win of the year, finishing with 5 innings of 1-run ball, allowing the 1 hit and striking out 7. Robberse only needed 62 pitches to get through 5 innings, with the 7 K’s, so he was quite efficient. Alejandro Melean followed with 4 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the save. Melean allowed a single and 2 walks. He also struck out 4 and threw a wild pitch.

Dunedin trailed heading into the 3rd inning, but were able to get a couple of runners on with a hit batter and a single, allowing Orelvis Martinez to blast his 4th HR of the year. The D-Jays got 2 more in the 6th inning to get some breathing room, as Steward Berroa hit his 2nd HR of the year, a 2-run shot. Dunedin added a single run in the 7th as Miguel Hiraldo tripled and then scored on a wild pitch. Leo Jimenez had 3 singles and scored a run. Hiraldo added a single to his triple. PK Morris had a double and a walk. Jhon Solarte & Jose Ferrer each singled as well.

Today’s Probables

Buffalo is sending Thomas Hatch (0-1, 1.80 ERA, 5.20 FIP, 4.05 xFIP) to the mound for a 7:00 start

New Hampshire takes on Portland again at 6:00. No starter has been named for either team. Since I was wrong yesterday, I will double down on Zach Logue getting the start.

Vancouver plays at 9:30 with Adam Kloffenstein (1-3, 6.55 ERA, 5.11 FIP, 5.61 xFIP) getting the ball

Dunedin sees first pitch at 6:30. No pitcher listed yet. If things hold to track, I am guessing Lazaro Estrada starts