Blue Jays Minor League Report: Liam Hendriks hurls one-hit outing for Herd

Liam Hendriks pitching for the Minnesota Twins in 2013. Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo Bisons (6-2)

Liam Hendriks was spectacular and allowed only one hit while striking out four over 5.2 innings in his first start (third appearance) for the Herd. Kevin Pillar‘s bat might finally be starting to unthaw as he had an extra base hit for the second consecutive night and has hits now in three consecutive games. Marcus Walden allowed a two-run homer to bring Pawtucket to within one in the eighth but Chad Jenkins nailed the door shut in the ninth. Juan Francisco was held to just a walk but fell just a home run shy of the cycle on Friday night and as of Saturday night was third in the International League with a 1.234 OPS. It’s still early but he looks like a mighty fine pickup for the Blue Jays organization. Anthony Gose was also hitless yesterday but it was his first game without a knock and is batting .286/.412/.393 in his first 35 plate appearances.

Anthony Gose – 0/3, BB, K
Steven Tolleson – 1/4, RBI, K
Juan Francisco – 0/3, BB, K
Dan Johnson – 1/4
Matt Tuiasosopo – 1/3, BB
Kevin Pillar – 1/4, 3B, RBI
Jared Goedert – 1/2, RBI, BB
Mike Nickeas – 1/2
Munenori Kawasaki – 0/2

Liam Hendriks – 5.2 IP, H, 4 K (W)
Rob Rasmussen – 1.1 IP, H, K
Marcus Walden – 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, K
Chad Jenkins – 1.0 IP, K (S)

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (3-6)

Kevin Nolan had a perfect afternoon at the plate going four for four with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Fisher Cats to a 9-4 victory over the Binghamton Mets. Ryan Schimpf also homered and had two other hits while Mike Crouse collected his third triple of the season. Brad Glenn and Peter Mooney chipped in with two hits each. Casey Lawrence was solid in the start and gave up just one earned run in six innings pitched while Tyler Ybarra gave up a home run.

Kenny Wilson – 0/3, 2 RBI (2 SF)
Jon Berti – 1/5, 3 K
Ryan Schimpf – 3/5, 2B, HR, RBI
Brad Glenn – 2/5, K
Kevin Nolan – 4/4, HR, 3 RBI
Mike Crouse – 1/3, 3B, RBI, BB, K
Peter Mooney – 2/3, 2 RBI, BB, K
Aaron Munoz – 0/3, BB
Andy Fermin – 2/4, 2B, 2 K

Casey Lawrence – 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K (W)
Tyler Ybarra – 1.0 IP, H, ER, K
John Anderson – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K

Dunedin Blue Jays (7-2)

Dwight Smith Jr., who has started the season on fire for Dunedin, is starting to show he’s still human. He’s had six strikeouts in the past two games after not striking out at all during his first 37 plate appearances. He made up for it by drawing a walk, scoring a run and cutting down Orlando Arcia in the eighth trying to stretch a single into a double. Dalton Pompey, K.C. Hobson and Marcus Knecht all cleaned up at the plate with two hits each while Emilio Guerrero cashed in with an RBI double.

Daniel Norris pitched well in his second FSL start of the season and went six scoreless with six strikeouts. Chris King of Baseball Prospectus provided this report of Norris on Twitter:

Dwight Smith Jr. – 0/3, BB, 2 K
Dalton Pompey – 2/4
K.C. Hobson – 2/4, RBI
Marcus Knecht – 2/4
Matt Newman – 1/3, BB, K
Emilio Guerrero – 1/3, 2B, RBI, BB, K
Gustavo Pierre – 0/3, BB
Michael Reeves – 0/4, RBI, K
Jorge Flores – 0/3, K

Daniel Norris – 6.0 IP, 4 H, BB, 6 K (W)
Danny Barnes – 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER
Efrain Nieves – 0.2 IP, H, BB
Arik Sikula – 1.01 IP, H, BB, K (S)

Lansing Lugnuts (3-6)

Matt Dean continued to lead the Lugnuts offense with yet another two-hit outing to raise his batting average to .361 for the season. Mitch Nay has also impressed early on and tallied an extra base hit for the second consecutive game. Kendall Graveman threw seven splendid innings and allowed only three hits to go along with seven strikeouts but Lansing gave up a three run lead to lose 5-3.

Ian Parmley – 0/5, K
Jason Leblebijian – 0/2, 2 BB, 2 K
Matthew Dean – 2/4, 2 BRI, K
Mitch Nay – 1/4, 2B, RBI, K
Dawel Lugo – 0/3
Justin Atkinson – 0/4, 2 K
Carlos Ramirez – 1/4, 2B, K
Santiago Nessy – 1/4, K
Derrick Loveless – 1/3, BB, K

Kendal Graveman – 7.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 7 K
Griffin Murphy – 2.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, ER, 3 K (BS)(L)