April 23 Minor League Report

Buffalo Bisons (13-4)

The bullpen held the fort and the offense was sparked by a pair of doubles by Luis Jimenez and a home run by Josh Thole as the Buffalo Bisons won their ninth straight game 5-3 over the Pawtucket Red Sox. Bisons fans got an opportunity to see Rubby de la Rosa, one of the Red Sox top young arms, take the mound in an abbreviated performance due to his pitch count. While they couldn’t muster much against De la Rosa, the Bisons got to reliever Jeremy Kehrt for four of their five runs. The offensive juggernaut in Buffalo awoke to score just enough to take the win, despite multi-hit games from four Bisons batters: Jim Negrych, Mauro Gomez, Luis Jimenez, and Josh Thole.

Sep 22, 2012; Flushing, NY,USA; New York Mets catcher Josh Thole (30) singles to center during the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-US PREWIRE

Hitting:

Mike McCoy – 1/4, BB, K, SB, CS
Jim Negrych – 2/3, R, 2B, BB
Anthony Gose – 0/3, R, BB, K, OF Asst.
Mauro Gomez –2/4, R, 3B, K
Luis Jimenez – 2/4, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI
Andy LaRoche – 1/3
Josh Thole – 3/4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, PB
Eugenio Velez – 0/2, 2 BB, PO, CS
Lance Zawadzki – 0/4, 2 K, E

Pitching:

Edgar Gonzalez – 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Buddy Carlyle – W, 1 2/3 IP, 3 BB, 2 K
Juan Perez – 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Neil Wagner – S, 1 BB, 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Josh Thole

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (8-10)

Game postponed due to inclement weather.

Dunedin Blue Jays (14-5)

Dunedin starter Casey Lawrence was the story again on Tuesday as he threw eight shutout innings against the Daytona Cubs in a 3-0 win. Lawrence breezed through the Cubs lineup, giving up only four hits and walking none while striking out nine. The 25-year-old native of McSherrystown, Pennsylvania extends his scoreless-inning streak to seventeen and two-thirds with Tuesday’s performance. While Monday had the top of the order coming through for the Blue Jays, the 7-8-9-1 spots did the most damage on Tuesday. Catcher Aaron Munoz went two for three with a double and an RBI while leadoff man Jon Berti had two hits, two RBI and a stolen base and Marcus Knecht, Monday’s hero, went two for four.

Hitting:

Jon Berti – 2/4, 2 RBI, SB
Matt Newman – 0/3, BB, 3 K
Andy Burns –1/2, 2 BB, CS
K.C. Hobson – 0/4, K
Gabe Jacobo – 0/4, K
Kevin Patterson – 1/4, 3 K
Marcus Knecht –2/4, R, K
Derrick Chung – 1/2, 2 R, BB
Aaron Munoz – 2/3, 2B, RBI

Pitching:

Casey Lawrence – W, 8 IP, 4 H, 9 K
Blake McFarland – S, 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Casey Lawrence

Lansing Lugnuts (5-10)

The Lansing Lugnuts dropped a squeaker to the Dayton Dragons 4-3 on Tuesday. Robert Ramirez‘s throwing error on what would have been an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the fifth resulted in two runs scoring for Lansing giving them a 3-2 lead. Dayton came back to tie on Ramirez’s solo home run in the top of the seventh and went ahead for good on a walk, wild pitch and an RBI double by Junior Arias in the top of the eighth.

Chris Hawkins, despite hitting only .224, is starting to heat up with the bat. He has hit safely in the past five games, hitting .444 in that span with a double and a triple. The biggest concern with Hawkins is that he’s hit for surprisingly little power for such a big man. The 21 year old has very good speed, but has only hit seven home runs in his minor league career. On the Balbino watch, we have another “Oh-fer” and Kellen Sweeney continues to struggle at the Single-A level. Kellen is still young (21), but has hit below .200 in almost two hundred at bats in Lansing (over 2012 and 2013), and he has yet to show any discernable power. Looking at the bright side, starting pitcher Alonzo Gonzalez had a solid start, showing the ability to get strikeouts in Lansing. For a lefty who isn’t overpowering, Gonzalez has almost one strikeout per inning so far this year, a sign that always bodes well, despite his high walk totals.

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey –0/4, R, BB, K
Jorge Flores –2/5, 2B
Gustavo Pierre –1/4, RBI, K, SB
Christian Lopes –0/4, K
Chris Hawkins – 3/4, RBI, K, SB
Santiago Nessy – 1/4, K
Carlos Ramirez –1/4, 2B, K
Balbino Fuenmayor – 0/3, R, BB, K
Kellen Sweeney –0/4, K

Pitching:

Alonzo Gonzalez – 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Matthew Johnson – 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, R, K, HR
Ian Kadish – L, 1 1/3 IP, R, BB
Griffin Murphy  – 1 IP, K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Chris Hawkins

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