Cinco de Mayo Minor League Report

Sunday was a good day for the Jays affiliates. We had a clean sweep, winning all four games and I got to see a victory in my last game in Lansing on Cinco de Mayo.

Buffalo Bisons (19-9)

The Buffalo Bisons got a strong start from Ramon Ortiz and took the final game of their series with the Louisville Bats 8-2. The home squad never trailed as they took a quick lead in the first inning, thanks some excellent situational hitting by Jim Negrych and Luis Jimenez. The big blow came in the sixth when Ryan Langerhans hit a two-run home run and three consecutive singles were followed by an RBI ground out. Ortiz went eight strong innings, giving up only two runs on seven hits and one walk to earn his second victory.

Hitting:

Mike McCoy – 1/4, R
Anthony Gose – 2/5, R, K
Jim Negrych – 2/4, 2 RBI
Luis Jimenez – 0/4, RBI, K
Josh Thole – 1/3, R, BB
Andy LaRoche – 1/3, 2 R, BB
Ryan Langerhans -1/4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, 2 K
Eugenio Velez – 2/4, RBI, SB
Ryan Goins – 1/3, R, BB

July 10, 2011; Pittsburgh,PA, USA: Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Ramon Ortiz (32) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during fourth the inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 9-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

Pitching:

Ramon Ortiz – W, 8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
Mickey Storey – 1 IP, 1 H

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Ramon Ortiz

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (15-16)

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats inched closer to the .500 mark on Sunday with a 5-2 win over the Reading Fightin Phils. Starter Ryan Tepera earned his fourth win and dropped his ERA to 2.78 by going six scoreless innings and giving up three hits and three walks while striking out four. Joel Carreno followed with another two scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.59 on the season. Chad Beck gave up the two runs in his inning of work.

Kevin Pillar was held hitless, a rare feat, but the Fisher Cats got plenty of offense from three home runs. Ryan Schimpf, Clint Robinson and Adam Loewen went deep for the ‘Cats with Robinson adding a double to raise his batting average to a team-leading .337.

Hitting:

Kevin Pillar – 0/4, K
Ricardo Nanita – 2/4, R, SB
Ryan Schimpf – 1/4, R, HR, RBI, K
Clint Robinson – 2/4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
Brad Glenn – 1/4, 2 K, OF Asst.
John Tolisano – 0/3, R, SB
Adam Loewen – 1/3, R, HR, RBI, K
Jack Murphy – 1/3
Amadeo Zazueta – 1/3, RBI, K

Pitching:

Ryan Tepera – W, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K
Joel Carreno – 2 IP, 2 K
Chad Beck – 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Ryan Tepera

Dunedin Blue Jays (18-11)

The Dunedin Blue Jays took the opener of their series against the Bradenton Pirates 6-5 with some timely hitting in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jon Talley (more on him in a minute) led off with a walk and after Derrick Chung bunted him to second, Marcus Knecht singled, putting runners at the corners. Peter Mooney singled up the middle scoring Talley and Pierce Rankin drove Knecht in with a single to plate the winning run. Starter Jesse Hernandez had a rough start, giving up four runs on five hits and five walks in his five innings, but got four excellent innings from the bullpen to keep the game close. First baseman Jon Talley made his first game of the season memorable by hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning and taking two walks. Marcus Knecht and Pierce Rankin had two hits each in the victory.

Roster Notes: Jon Talley was activated from the DL and assigned to Dunedin from New Hampshire. Kevin Patterson was demoted from Dunedin to Lansing to make room for Talley.

Hitting:

Jon Berti – 1/5, R, SB
Jonathan Jones – 1/3, BB, K, SB
Andy Burns –0/4, R, RBI, K, SB
Jon Talley – 1/2, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Derrick Chung – 1/3, R, K
Marcus Knecht – 2/4, R, K
Peter Mooney – 1/2, 2 RBI, K
Pierce Rankin – 2/4, RBI, K, E
Nick Baligod – 0/4

Pitching:

Jesse Hernandez – 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 3 K
Efrain Nieves – 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Scott Gracey – W, 1 IP, 1 K
Blake McFarland – S, 1 IP, 1 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Jon Talley

Lansing Lugnuts (9-18)

The Lansing Lugnuts got back on the positive side of the ledger on Sunday with a comeback win 5-4 over the Beloit Snappers on Sunday. Taylor Cole took a “bend but don’t break” approach to his start and was in trouble for most of his four and two-thirds innings. Tucker Donahue, who was tagged for five runs on Friday, was key in shutting down the Snappers and the bullpen allowed the offense to get back in the game after Snappers pitching prospect Michael Ynoa departed after four scoreless innings.

The Lugnuts took advantage of a pair of errors on the same play by Beloit third baseman Renato Nunez in the bottom half of the eighth. With Kellen Sweeney on second base and one run in, Balbino Fuenmayor continued to demonstrate that his early season slump is over by going the opposite way and taking a Tucker Healy pitch over the right-center field wall. In his two games since returning from the disabled list, Fuenmayor has been making better contact and Sunday was probably his best game of the year, going two for four with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. Christian Lopes was the other Lugnut to have a two-hit game while all the starters had at least one hit. Additionally, the man I call “Mighty Mouse,” 5’5” shortstop Jorge Flores, showed his tremendous power for someone so small, hitting a double to the wall in center field, 412 feet away from home plate.

Roster Notes: 1B Kevin Patterson was assigned to Lansing from Dunedin.

Hitting:

Dwight Smith, Jr. – 1/4, BB, 2 K, SB
Jorge Flores – 1/4, 2B, RBI, K, E, PO, CS
Dalton Pompey  – 1/3, BB, PO
Christian Lopes –2/4, R, SB
Chris Hawkins – 1/4, 2 K
Shane Opitz – 1/4, 2B, 2 K
Kellen Sweeney – 1/3, 2 R, BB, K
Balbino Fuenmayor – 2/4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
Seth Conner – 1/4, K, 3 PB

Pitching:

Taylor Cole – 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 5 K
Chuck Ghysels – 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Tucker Donahue – 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Arik Sikula – 1 1/3 IP, 1 BB 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Balbino Fuenmayor

If you like what you’ve seen by Jay Blue, read his work and listen to his podcast on Blue Jays from Away and follow him on Twitter: @Jaysfromaway.