Baby Jays Recap - Austin Martin goes deep

Buffalo (13-11) - Rained out

New Hampshire (9-17) - Loss 9-3 against Binghamton

Troy Miller started for New Hampshire and was hit early and often in this one. Miller’s first pitch of the game was hit out of the park by Carlos Cortes. New Hampshire tied things up in the bottom of 1, but Miller gave up a solo HR in the 2nd, a 2-run HR to Cortes again in the 3rd and then 3 more in the 4th. Miller finished with 7 earned allowed in 4 innings. Binghamton had 7 hits, including the 3 HR’s off Miller, who also walked one and struck out 2. Sean Rackoski made his 2021 debut, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk. The runs came on a 2-run HR in the 6th inning. Rackoski also gave up a walk and a strike out. Conner Law & Jon Harris pitched the final 3 innings, allowing a walk each.

Earlier I mentioned a solo HR for New Hampshire in the bottom of the first. That came on Austin Martin’s first professional HR - Video will be in the comments below. Martin added a single in this one and has been hitting the ball well as he’s 7-24 over his last 7 games, with 2 doubles and the HR. That also includes 6 walks and 7 strike outs. The Cats other two runs came on an LJ Talley 2-run HR in the 4th inning. Talley has been having luck driving in runners, as he’s up to 17 RBI’s in 15 games with a .241/.300/.500 line. Talley added a single. Otto Lopez picked up 2 more hits in this one. Samad Taylor doubled and was hit by a pitch. Demi Orimoloye had a hit, while Reggie Pruitt & Nick Podkul both added a walk.

Vancouver (16-11) - Win 7-5 over Eugene

Luis Quinones had a second strong start for Vancouver since returning from an 80-game suspension. Quinones gave up a walk and a 2-run HR in the first inning, but settled in and didn’t give up another hit over 5 innings. Final line was 2 earned on 1 hit and 3 walks in 5 innings, while striking out 11. Cobi Johnson had 2 scoreless innings of relief. Hagen Danner was up next and struggled, allowing 2 hits and a walk, which lead to 2 runs (1 unearned) without recording an out. Marcus Reyes came in and allowed a run on 1 hit and 2 walks in 2 innings to record the save. Reyes struck out 3.

On offense, Vancouver picked up 9 hits and 4 walks in this one. Rafael Lantigua had a 3-hit night, including 2 doubles. Ronny Brito had a solo HR (2) in the 4th. Tanner Kirwer had a triple, a walk and stole his 16th base of the year. Tanner Morris had a single and 2 walks. Spencer Horwitz doubled. Ryan Gold had a single and a walk. Eric Rivera picked up his first hit with Vancouver. After starting the year tearing it up with Dunedin, Rivera singled in the 2nd after 32 AB’s without a hit.

Dunedin (8-19) - Loss 9-7 versus Bradenton

Dunedin went with a bit of a bullpen/debut game in this one, and had a lead through 6, but gave up 2 in the 7th and then 4 more in the 9th. Dunedin’s defense did not help the cause in this one, committing 5 errors. The D-Jays picked up 3 in the bottom of 9, but were unable to complete the comeback. At the plate, PK Morris had a big game, with a single and a HR, his 3rd of the year. Morris also scored 2 runs. Miguel Hiraldo had a 2-run HR (3) and scored 2 runs. Jhon Solarte singled in 2 in the 9th inning, and added a walk and a stolen base. MacKenzie Mueller doubled and walked. Orelvis Martinez picked up a double. Hiraldo had 2 of the 5 errors, while Zach Britton, Harry Ray & Leonardo Jimenez each added one. 4 of the 5 errors were on throws.

Nathanael Perez started for Dunedin, making his 2021 debut throwing 1.2 innings. Perez allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, striking out 3. Sean Mellen made his Blue Jays debut, after signing with the organization earlier this week. Mellen was a 14th round pick of the Dodgers in 2019, but was released at the end of April. Mellen threw 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing a walk and striking out 3. The lefty topped out at 87 MPH, but it sounds as though he has a funky delivery. Nick Frasso followed with a scoreless inning, allowing a double and a single, striking out 2. Juan DePaula gave up 3 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings. DePaula struck out 2. Julian Valdez worked around 2 errors in the 8th inning, but struggled in the 9th, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk.

Today’s Probables

Buffalo will play a double header today starting at 5:00. Nate Pearson (0-1, 5.59 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 2.48 xFIP in 9.2 AAA innings) will start game 1, and my guess is Jacob Waguespack will get game 2, since he was originally scheduled for last night.

New Hampshire gets started at 6:35 against Binghamton. Zach Logue (3-0, 2.96 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 2.35 xFIP) gets the start.

Vancouver sends Nick Fraze (3-0, 1.57 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 3.28 xFIP) to the mound to try to even their series with Eugene at 10:05

Dunedin takes on Bradenton again. Game time is 6:30 but no starter has been announced.