April 27 Minor League Report

Buffalo Bisons (15-6)

The Buffalo Bisons got whitewashed by the Minnesota Twins number four prospect, Kyle Gibson, falling in a tight pitching battle 1-0 to the Rochester Red Wings. Emergency starter Buddy Carlyle did an admirable job filling in for Justin Germano who got called up to the Blue Jays, throwing four scoreless innings, giving up only two hits while striking out seven. The only run came off veteran reliever Clint Everts who threw three innings following Carlyle and Juan Perez finished with a shutout inning of his own. The offense was absolutely handcuffed on Saturday, getting only two hits and two walks while striking eleven times as a team. Anthony Gose had the best day of any of the batters, getting on base twice with a hit and a walk and was the only hitter not to strike out.

Hitting:

Eugenio Velez – 0/4, 3 K
Anthony Gose – 1/3, BB
Moises Sierra – 0/3, 2 K
Mauro Gomez – 0/2, BB, K
Ryan Langerhans – 1/3, K
Andy LaRoche – 0/3, K
Josh Thole – 0/3, K
Mike Nickeas – 0/3, K
Ryan Goins – 0/3, K

March 27, 2012; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Buddy Carlyle (84) pitches during a spring training game against the New York Mets at Digital Domain Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Pitching:

Buddy Carlyle – 4 IP, 2 H, 7 K
Clint Everts – L, 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K
Juan Perez – 1 IP, 2K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Buddy Carlyle

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (11-12)

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats staged a comeback in the eighth and ninth inning to complete a victory against the Reading Fightin Phils 7-3 on Saturday. Starter Deck McGuire came out of the game after four innings and eighty-six pitches having given up three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six but the bullpen threw five scoreless innings to keep the ‘Cats in the game long enough to win it.

Some wild pitching by Reading pitcher Jay Johnson set the stage for the win after he walked Ryan Schimpf and hit Clint Robinson.  With Kyle Simon replacing Johnson, Brad Glenn executed a perfect sacrifice bunt and Kevin Nolan drove in both runs with a single up the middle to take a 4-3 lead. Nolan later scored on a wild pitch by Simon making the lead 5-3. New Hampshire added another two runs in the ninth on singles by Nanita and Schimpf, followed by a two-run double by Brad Glenn to bring the score to its final tally of 7-3.

Kevin Pillar had a rare “oh-fer” but Ricardo Nanita and Amadeo Zazueta had three hits apiece and Ryan Schimpf, Clint Robinson, Brad Glenn, and Kevin Nolan had two hits each.

Hitting:

Kevin Pillar – 0/5, CS
Ricardo Nanita – 3/5, 2 R
Ryan Schimpf – 2/3, 3 R, 3B, RBI, BB
Clint Robinson – 2/4, R, RBI, K
Brad Glenn – 2/4, 2B, 2 RBI
Kevin Nolan – 2/5, R, 2 RBI
Adam Loewen – 0/4, BB, 2 K
Sean Ochinko – 0/4, BB, K
Amadeo Zazueta – 3/4

Pitching:

Deck McGuire – 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Matt Wright – 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Chad Beck – W, 1 2/3 IP, 1 H
Evan Crawford – 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Ryan Schimpf

Dunedin Blue Jays (15-7)

The Dunedin Blue Jays got a two-run, bases-loaded double from Canadian Marcus Knecht with two out in the tenth inning to rack up the team’s fifteenth win of the season 5-3 over the Brevard County Manatees. This game was noteworthy due to the season debut of major leaguer Ricky Romero for the D-Jays. After spending most of April retooling his mechanics, Romero was unveiled to the Florida State League throwing a lot of quality strikes over his seven innings, most importantly, without walking anyone. Romero also didn’t give up any fly balls as the Manatee hitters kept driving the ball into the ground and his excellent defense behind him turned three double plays (for a more thorough breakdown of Romero’s outing, go here).

The offense only managed six hits (but six walks) and got another very strong game from third baseman Andy Burns who went two for four with a walk, two stolen bases, two runs scored and a double. Shortstop Peter Mooney also figured into the scoring by getting on base three times (via two walks and a hit) and crossing home plate twice.

Hitting:

Jon Berti – 1/5, K, CS
Peter Mooney – 1/3, 2 R, 2 BB
Andy Burns – 2/4, 2 R, 2B, BB
K.C. Hobson – 1/4, RBI, K
Matt Newman – 0/4, BB
Marcus Knecht – 1/5, 2B, 2 RBI, K
Kevin Patterson – 0/4, BB, K
Pierce Rankin – 0/4, K, E
Nick Baligod – 0/3, R, BB, K

Pitching:

Ricky Romero – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 4 K
Scott Gracey – 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Ajay Meyer – W, 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 3 K
Blake McFarland – S, 1 IP, 2 K

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Ricky Romero

Lansing Lugnuts (7-12)

The Lansing Lugnuts dropped another close game, just missing a comeback victory after loading the bases with two outs in the ninth. Dwight Smith Jr., playing in only his second game in Single-A ball, grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game and the comeback attempt fell just short and the Lugnuts lost to the Quad Cities River Bandits 3-2. The Lansing side squandered a very good start from Javier Avendano who went five and two-thirds innings, giving up only one unearned run on one hit and four walks while striking out five. His opponent, nineteen-year-old Astros prospect Lance McCullers, was just as good, and showed better control, throwing five innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits, but walked only one and struck out five. Another prospect for Quad Cities, Daniel Minor, came on for three innings of relief and the Lugnuts were powerless against him, striking out six times. Shoddy defense was a killer on the night for Lansing as they committed four errors which led to two unearned runs.

The Lugnuts managed only seven hits, none for extra bases, against the River Bandits, with Christian Lopes leading the way with two of his own. Providing some of the best defense the Lugnuts have seen all year from a catcher, Aaron Munoz threw out 2 runners stealing and made a great play blocking a pitch, enabling him to catch a runner too far off third base. Shortstop Emilio Guerrero was removed after being hit by a pitch and was replaced by Kellen Sweeney who played first, moving Shane Opitz over to short.

Hitting:

Jorge Flores – 0/3, R, BB, 2 K
Gustavo Pierre – 1/4, K, CS, E
Christian Lopes – 2/4, R, RBI, K, E
Chris Hawkins – 1/4, K, PO, CS
Carlos Ramirez – 1/4, RBI, K
Shane Opitz – 1/4, 3 K, E
Emilio Guerrero – 0/0, SB
Kellen Sweeney – 0/2, BB
Dwight Smith Jr. – 1/4, K
Aaron Munoz – 0/3, K

Pitching:

Javier Avendano – 5 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 5 K
Tucker Donahue – L, 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R
Matthew Johnson – 1 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB

Jay Blue’s Player of the Game: Javier Avendano

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