Baby Jays Weekend Recap

Buffalo (17-17) - Loss 6-4 in 10 innings Saturday & Loss 8-0 on Sunday

Buffalo got out to a 4-0 lead on Saturday after 2 innings, but the bullpen frittered away allowing 1 run in the 4th, 2 in the 5th and 1 in the 6th, before allowing 2 in the first extra inning. TJ Zeuch started and went 4 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits and a walk. Zeuch left after he was hit by a line drive on the ankle. Casey Lawrence followed allowing 2 runs on 5 hits over 2 innings. Lawrence has struggled to a 10.13 ERA since returning to the Jays organization. Dany Jimenez had a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and striking out 1. Patrick Murphy followed with 2 innings of perfect relief, striking out 3 over 29 pitches. That is good news as a possible addition to the bullpen in Toronto.

Hobie Harris allowed 2 runs in the 10th inning, on a hit and a walk. Harris allowed the extra runner to steal second, but then got a strike out. An intentional walk was followed by a second strike out. Harris then threw a wild pitch to allow the first run to score, and then a Socrates Brito single scored the second run. The heart of the Herd lineup went quietly in the home half of the 10th.

Buffalo scored 2 in the 1st, with 2 out. Kevin Smith singled, stole second and then Tyler White & Jared Hoying had back-to-back doubles to plate 2. The 2nd saw Richard Urena walk, Dilson Herrera single, Logan Warmoth walk before Christian Colon hit into a double play, scoring Urena. Cullen Large doubled in Herrera. That was all the scoring Buffalo would do. White added a single to his earlier double. Warmoth had a single and another walk on the day, adding a stolen base as well. Smith & Urena each added a walk. Hoying had 2 outfield assists, gunning down runners trying to stretch singles into doubles.

Anthony Kay got the start on Sunday, and cruised through 3 innings, allowing only 2 singles, before the 4th inning blew up. Kay got the leadoff hitting to strike out, before allowing a double, a single, a walk and a wild pitch to plate 1 run. Kay then allowed a 3-run HR. Another run scored on a walk and a double - who then scored after Kay was removed from the game. Kay’s final line was 6 earned on 6 hits and 2 walks in 3.2 innings. Kay struck out 7 on the day. Conner Overton had 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, though did allow the inherited runner to score. Overton gave up 3 hits and struck out 5. Jackson McClelland had a scoreless inning and Kirby Snead gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits, including a HR.

On offense, Buffalo picked up 7 hits and 2 walks, but couldn’t score. Richard Urena had a triple and a single. Logan Warmoth had a single, a walk and stole a base. Kevin Smith had a single and a stolen base. Christian Colon, Rodrigo Vigil and Nash Knight each singled, while Tyler White had a walk.

New Hampshire (14-21) - Win 4-2 on Saturday & Win 9-2 on Sunday

Saturday saw New Hampshire come out victorious in a pitcher’s duel, as Johnny Barbato threw a strong game. Barbato got a no decision, but threw 7 innings, allowing an unearned run in the 6th inning, after an LJ Talley throwing error. Barbato alllowed 4 singles and walked 2, getting 3 strike outs. Conner Law had a rough outing, but didn’t give up a run. He recorded a single out, after giving up 2 hits and a walk. Brody Rodning came in and struck out the final 2 guys in the 8th. Jon Harris then pitched the 9th for his first save of the year, working around a 2-out solo HR.

In the 5th, Otto Lopez drove in Brock Lundquist with a sac fly after 3 walks to load the bases. In the top of the 9th LJ Talley led off with a single, and moved to 2nd after an error. Kevin Vicuna bunted Talley to 3rd, which brought red-hot Samad Taylor to the plate. Taylor was intentionally walked. After a Nick Podkul fly out, Austin Martin walked to load the bases again. Jordan Groshans came through with a bases clearing double and put NH up 4-1.

Groshans had an earlier single and a walk as he had a strong game. Martin had a double and a walk. Chavez Young had 2 singles in his first action since May 22nd. Talley, Vicuna & Lundquist each singled. Lundquist added a walk as well. Podkul had a walk also.

In the series finale, The Fisher Cats bats were strong, as they piled up 12 hits and 6 walks on their way to the 9-2 win. Vinny Capra was the star for NH in this one, as he had 2 HR’s, driving in 5 runs. Samad Taylor continued to swing a hot bad, as he had a double and his 9th HR in this one. Taylor also added a walk and stole 2 bases. Demi Orimoloye had a 3 hit game, with 2 doubles and also stole a base. Chris Bec reached base 4 times, picking up a hit and 3 walks, scoring 2 runs. Otto Lopez had 2 hits and a walk. Austin Martin had a double and a walk. Jordan Groshans had a hit.

Maximo Castillo had a decent start, allowing 1 run on a solo HR in the 4th, over 5 innings. Castillo allowed 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 2. Sean Rackoski had a scoreless inning of relief, allowing 2 singles. Graham Spraker gave up 2 hits and 3 walks, but no runs in 2 innings. Andrew McInvale allowed a run on 2 hits in his inning of relief to finish the game.

Vancouver (21-15) - Loss 5-2 on Saturday & Win 12-6 on Sunday

Saturday, Vancouver wasn’t able to get much offense, as the C’s picked up 5 hits and 3 walks in their 5-2 loss. Cameron Eden had a pair of doubles. Luis De Los Santo also doubled. Spencer Horwitz and Sebastian Espino both had a single. Ronny Brito had a sacrifice fly and a walk. Phil Clarke walked.

On the mound, Sam Ryan took the loss, allowing a run in the first and nothing else in his 4 innings. Back-to-back singles to start the bottom of 1, followed by a ground out brought in the first run. Ryan got 8 ground ball outs, including 3 straight in each of the 2nd & 3rd innings. Brandon Eisert came on in relief and allowed a run in the 5th on a walk, a wild pitch and a ground out. In the 6th Eisert allowed a solo HR, followed by a double and then a 2-run HR. Eisert’s final line was 4 earned on 3 hits and a walk in 3 innings. Will McAffer pitched a scoreless 9th, striking out 2.

Sunday saw a big swing in feelings, as Vancouver got out to a 4-0 lead after 2. A 6-run Portland 4th was quickly answered by a 5 run Vancouver 5th inning, which the C’s then pushed for a 12-6 win. The bats were hot in this one, as Vancouver had 16 hits and 4 walks. 7 of the C’s starters had multi-hit games, while only 1 didn’t record a hit. Ryan Gold had a big game, with a double and a 2-run HR (3) while driving in 4. Tanner Kirwer had a 3-run HR (5) in the 2nd inning, adding a single. Luis De Los Santos had a 2-run HR (3) in the 5th. Eric Rivera had 3 singles and a walk. Spencer Horwitz, Sebastian Espino & Rafael Lantigua each had 2 singles. Horwitz & Lantigua each had a walk as well. Cameron Eden had a hit and a walk. Tanner Morris was the only C without a hit or a walk in the game.

Paxton Schultz started for Vancouver and cruised through 3, before getting beat up for 6 runs in the 4th as the first 5 batters reached. The inning went walk, walk, 3-run HR, single, double, sac fly. Schultz got a ground out before giving up a 2-run HR. Schultz’s final line was 6 earned in 4 innings, on 5 hits and 4 walks. Adrian Hernandez came in and worked 3 scoreless innings. Hernandez allowed a single and walked 2, while striking out 2. Cobi Johnson finished the final 2 innings, with 4 walks and 2 strike outs.

Dunedin (14-21) - Win 17-2 on Saturday & Rained out on Sunday

The D-Jay bats were lively on Saturday as they put up runs in every inning but the 6th. Dunedin pounded out 16 hits and 16 walks, as every player reached base multiple times but one, who had the worst hitting performance of the day. MacKenzie Mueller had an 0-6 day with 5 K’s. Zac Cook finished a triple short of the cycle, as he hit his 1st professional HR. Cook added a walk. Ryan Sloniger picked up his 2nd HR of the year as his only hit of the day. Slongier scored 4 runs as he walked 3 times in the game. PK Morris reached base 6 times in the game, as he had 2 singles, a double and 3 walks.

Orelvis Martinez had 2 doubles and a single, while also walking twice. Harry Ray & Steward Berroa each had 2 hits and 2 walks. One of Ray’s hits was a double, while Berroa had 2 stolen bases. Leo Jimenez had a hit, 2 walks and a sac fly. Miguel Hiraldo had a single and a walk on the day, scoring 3 runs. Overall the D-Jays went 11-24 with runners in scoring position and cruised to the win.

On the hill, Naswell Paulino started and turned in a strong effort. Paulino threw 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 singles and a walk, while striking out 9. Elixon Caballero had a scoreless inning. Jefferson Herrera had a scoreless inning, allowing a walk and getting a strike out. Juan DePaula allowed 2 runs on a hit and 2 walks in his inning. Julian Valdez pitched the 9th, recording a strike out

This week

Buffalo hits the road to take on Rochester (Washington’s AAA Club). Currently Buffalo sits Tied for 3rd in the division, trailing Scranton/Wilkes-Barre by 6 games. Through the current slide, Buffalo continues to have the top pitching in the AAA East loop, as they have allowed 124 runs in their 34 games. Rochester sits 4 games back of Buffalo (and Lehigh Valley) so the goal is for Buffalo to keep pitching well, and hopefully getting some timely offense.

New Hampshire welcomes the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado’s AA Club) to Delta Dental stadium this week. The Fisher Cats find themselves in 3rd in the division, 8 games back of Somerset & 5.5 back of Portland for 2nd. After a rough start to the year, NH finds themselves back to a 0 run differential, and are riding a 4-game winning streak into the series. Hartford is in last in the division, 4.5 games back of NH, while sporting a -76 run differential. It will be nice to see NH keep up the run they started last week against Portland.

Vancouver welcomes league leaders Everett (Seattle’s High A Affiliate) to Hillsboro this week. Vancouver currently sits 1 game back of Everett (and 0.5 games ahead of Eugene) in a tight High-A West loop. This battle for first should be entertaining as the two clubs are 1-2 in pitching in the league. Everett will also have Julio Rodriguez back in the lineup. Rodriguez is seen as a top prospect in the Mariners organization and was with the Dominican Republic at the Olympic Qualifier recently where he put up a .458 average as the top hitter not named Juan Francisco (yes that Juan Francisco) for the DR.

Dunedin will welcome their former stadium mates to Dunedin this week as Clearwater (Philadelphia’s Low-A team) is in town for the week. Currently Dunedin is sitting 14-21 which is a tie for 5th in the division, 11.5 games back of Tampa. Dunedin is currently on a 4-game winning streak, and has improved their run differential back to -29. Clearwater is at 18-18 and is the next club for Dunedin to catch. This is an interesting match up as Dunedin has the #3 offense in the loop (averaging 5.66 runs a game) and Clearwater has the 2nd best pitching (allowing 4.67 runs/game). Dunedin will look to continue the strong play of late

Random Statistical Minutiae

Baby Jays Extra Base Leaders:
Orelvis Martinez (17 - 10 2B; 2 3B; 6 HR)
Samad Taylor (16 - 7 2B; 9 HR)
Kevin Smith (16 - 9 2B; 7 HR)

OPS Leaders (Minimum 100 PA)
Gabriel Moreno - 1.076
Taylor - .985
Addison Barger - .933

Strikeouts per 9 (minimum 20 IP)
Adrian Hernandez - 16.8
Gabriel Ponce - 14.1
Simeon Woods Richardson - 13.5