May 17 Minor League Report

Friday night featured close games for all of the Blue Jays affiliates as three of the four emerged as winners. The day also featured several roster moves within the Blue Jays organization.

Buffalo Bisons (24-16)

Justin Germano pitched an excellent game on Friday night but the Bisons couldn’t answer the Indianapolis Indians in a 2-1 loss. While Germano pitched seven strong innings, the offense managed just three hits against an Indianapolis staff led by starter Brandon Cumpton. To demonstrate the futility of the offense, the Buffalo run wasn’t even earned, scoring on an error in the second inning.

Roster Notes: The Bisons will have Dustin McGowan as he continues his major league rehab assignment starting Saturday. Expect to see him get innings almost immediately.

February 24, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Justin Germano (52) throws a pitch in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Hitting:

Anthony Gose – 0/4, K
Jim Negrych – 0/4, 3 K
Moises Sierra – 0/4, K
Luis Jimenez – 0/2, R, 2 BB, K
Josh Thole – 1/4, 2 K
Andy LaRoche – 1/4, K
Eugenio Velez – 1/4, K, SB
Ryan Langerhans – 0/2, BB
Mauro Gomez – 0/1
Ryan Goins – 0/2, BB, K

Pitching:

Justin Germano – L, 7 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Juan Perez – 1 IP

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Justin Germano

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (20-22)

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats got the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and held on to win their twentieth game of the season 4-3 against the New Britain Rock Cats on Friday night. With one out, Kevin Pillar hit an infield single, stole second and came around to score on a fielding error by New Britain shortstop Danny Santana. Reliever Joel Carreno came on to save the game in the bottom of the inning for another Fisher Cat win. The club got home runs from Adam Loewen (a solo shot) and shortstop Kevin Nolan (a two run bomb) to account for the other three runs. Starting pitcher Tyson Brummett gave up all three runs in his five innings but struck out six on the evening. Newly promoted Dustin Antolin didn’t give up any runs in his double-A debut while Evan Crawford and Joel Carreno shut out New Britain for their two and two-thirds innings. Kevin Pillar had another outstanding game, going four for five with a double and a stolen base in addition to scoring the game-winning run.

Roster Notes: Austin Bibens-Dirkx was demoted from New Hampshire to Dunedin. Danny Barnes was activated from the DL and assigned to Dunedin. Reliever Dustin Antolin was promoted from Dunedin to New Hampshire.

Hitting:

Kevin Pillar – 4/5, R, 2B, SB
Ricardo Nanita – 1/5, K
Ryan Schimpf –0/5, 2 K
Clint Robinson – 1/5, R
Brad Glenn – 0/5, K
Kevin Nolan – 1/3, R, HR, 2 RBI
Adam Loewen – 1/3, R, HR, RBI, BB, K
Sean Ochinko – 0/4, K
John Tolisano – 1/4, 2 K

Pitching:

Tyson Brummett – 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Dustin Antolin – 1 1/3 IP, 2 H
Evan Crawford – W, 1 2/3 IP, 2 K
Joel Carreno – S, 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Kevin Pillar

Dunedin Blue Jays (23-15)

Starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx was sent down to Dunedin today and literally outclassed Advanced-A hitters as the Dunedin Blue Jays won a tightly played pitcher’s duel 1-0 over the Brevard County Manatees. Squaring off against 23 year old Brent Suter, the 28 year old Bibens-Dirks gave up only one hit and one walk while striking out ten in seven innings of work. The offense was provided by an Andy Burns solo home run in the fourth inning off of Suter and only he and center fielder Jonathan Jones had more than one hit apiece. Burns is now hitting .341 and is just begging for a promotion with his play.  Burns continues to have more walks than strikeouts and he and Jon Berti were the only two Blue Jays not to strikeout on Friday.

Roster Notes: The Dunedin Blue Jays lose two pitchers and gain two more.  Rehabbing Dustin McGowan heads to Buffalo to continue his rehab assignment while Dustin Antolin receives a promotion to New Hampshire. Danny Barnes was activated off the DL and joins the D-Jays while Austin Bibens-Dirkx got sent down from AA New Hamshire. Catcher A.J. Jimenez was placed back on the disabled list for the D-Jays.

Hitting:

Jon Berti – 1/4
Jonathan Jones – 2/4, K
Andy Burns –2/3, R, HR, RBI, BB
Jon Talley – 0/3, 3 K
Marcus Knecht – 1/3, K, SB
K.C. Hobson – 0/3, K
Derrick Chung – 1/3, K
Matt Newman – 0/3, 3 K
Peter Mooney – 0/3, K

Pitching:

Austin Bibens-Dirkx –W,  7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K
Ajay Meyer – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Blake McFarland – S, 1 IP, 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Austin Bibens-Dirkx

Lansing Lugnuts (15-23)

In a match between two teams with 110 errors on the season combined, there was only one error and the Lansing Lugnuts (who made the error) came out on top with a 3-1 victory over the Great Lakes Loons. The pitching staff was outstanding as starter Ben White earned his first victory of the season by pitching five and two-thirds shutout innings, giving up only four hits while striking out four. Tucker Donahue and Efrain Nieves threw two and a third shutout innings combined while Arik Sikula got tagged for the Loons’ only run while earning his third save of the season. The Lugnuts saw an interesting defensive alignment with Christian Lopes, normally a second baseman, moving over to play shortstop while Kellen Sweeney played second base, allowing both he, third baseman Gustavo Pierre and first baseman Kevin Patterson to all get into the game. On the offense, the big bats were swung by leadoff-man Dalton Pompey with two hits and a stolen base and Patterson who drove in two runs with three hits.

Roster Notes: Pitcher Efrain Nieves was assigned to the Lansing Lugnuts from the Dunedin Blue Jays while Chuck Ghysels was assigned to extended Spring Training.

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey – 2/4, 2 R, K, SB
Dwight Smith, Jr. – 1/4, R, 2 K
Christian Lopes – 1/4, RBI
Kevin Patterson – 3/4, 2 RBI
Gustavo Pierre – 0/4, K, E
Kellen Sweeney – 0/3, BB, 2 K
Carlos Ramirez – 0/3, K
Aaron Munoz – 1/3
Emilio Guerrero – 0/3

Pitching:

Ben White – W, 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 K
Tucker Donahue – 1 1/3 IP
Efrain Nieves – 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Arik Sikula – S, 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Ben White

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