Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Good Pitching and Andy Burns

Toronto Blue Jays infield prospect Andy Burns. Credit: MLB Prospect Portal

Welcome to the Blue Jays Minor League Recap for Wednesday, June 4, 2014. It was a good night for pitchers…and Andy Burns.

Buffalo Bisons-0 vs Toledo Mudhens-1
W: Blaine Hardy (3-2) L: Raul Valdez (0-1) SV: Justin Miller (4)

A pitchers duel had lasted well into the 8th inning. Both starting pitchers competed and hung in to keep their opponents off the scoreboard.

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Radhamez Liz did not exactly help himself as he gave up 5 walks in 4 innings. But, he is pitching in Buffalo now. So, we almost have to expect his walk totals will be similar to those of

Ricky Romero

,

Kyle Drabek

et al.

Esmil Rogers

chipped in 3 scoreless innings while striking out 3. Even if he does that for a string of several games, it would be shocking if he gets called back to the big league club…assuming health, of course.

Offensively, the Bisons were led by Darin Mastroianni‘s 3 hits. Sadly, though the Bisons recorded 7 hits and 2 walks, yet combined to leave 13(!) runners on base. That in and of itself will explain why they were shut out.

Something I thought worth mentioning is this: the Bisons were helped out by some good defense from tonight’s battery. To wit:

DO NOT RUN ON US! #Bisons catcher A.J. Jimenez throws out two runners at 2B in 3rd inning. Radhames Liz has a pick off as well. #BlueJays.

— Buffalo Bisons🦬 (@BuffaloBisons) June 4, 2014

Darin Mastroianni-CF- 3/4, K
Ryan Goins-2B- 0/4
A.J. Jimenez-C- 1/3., BB, K
Dan Johnson-1B- 1/3, K
Matt Tuiasosopo-LF- 0/3, BB, K
Brett Carroll-RF- 0/4, 2K
Andy LaRoche-DH- 0/4, 2K
Munenori Kawasaki-SS- 2/3, K
Jonathan Diaz-3B- 0/3

Radhames Liz- 4IP, 2H, 0ER, 5BB, 3K
Esmil Rogers- 3IP, 2H, 0ER, 3K
Mike Zagurski– 1IP, 2BB, 2K
Raul Valdez-(L) 1IP, 2H, ER, K, HR

New Hampshire FisherCats- 7 vs Bowie Baysox- 2
W: Scott Copeland (5-5, 4.34) L: Zach Davies (1-3, 5.33) SV: Blake McFarland (1)

The FisherCats won their 5th game in a row to improve their record to 23-35. They’re WELL below .500, but we can still enjoy a good winning streak, no? The FisherCats used a 6 run 5th inning to blow the game wide open.

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They were led by

Andy Burns

. After his team managed to take a 3-2 lead with a lead off homerun by

Mike Crouse

and 3 straight singles. A ground out brought in one run. Then Andy Burned the first pitch he saw in the 5th fr a 3-run INSIDE THE PARK HOMERUN! That brought the score to 6-2. they would add another run in the 8th off a

Matt Newman

double.

Scott Copeland turned in 6 innings of good work. He allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits. He walked 3, which is a bit high for me (I hate the base on balls), but also struck out 4. Blake McFarland came in for one of those “3 inning” saves. It was his first AA save. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out 3.

Jonathan Jones-CF- 0/3, K
Jon Berti-DH- 0/3, BB
Ryan Schimpf-3B- 1/4, 2R, RBI, 2K
Andy Burns-1B- 1/4, R, HR, 3RBI, K
Matt Newman-RF- 1/4, 2B, RBI, 2K
Mike Crouse-LF- 2/4, R, HR, RBI, K
Kevin Nolan-SS- 2/4, R, 2B
Jack Murphy-C- 1/2, R, BB
Jorge Flores-2B- 2/3, R, RBI, K

Scott Copeland (W)- 6IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 4K
Blake McFarland (S)- 3IP, 0ER, H, BB, 3K

Lansing Lugnuts-6 vs South Bend Silver Hawks- 1
W: Jeremy Gabryszwski (4-2, 3.39) L: Hector Hernandez (3-1, 2.67)

The Lugnuts used 2 3-run innings to propel themselves to a 6-1 win. L.B. Dantzler led the charge with 2 hits (including a homerun) and 4 RBI. This was a good sign as he’d been struggling (.162) over his last 10 games.

But, the real story of this game is the start by Gabryszwski. Giving up one unearned run in the first inning did not shake him. He continued over 6 innings to dominate despite giving up 5 hits. By the time all was said and done, he’d tally 9(!) strikeouts for a new career high. Phil Kish and Griffin Murphy would come on in releif and each add 2 more strikeouts. All tolled, the Lugnuts fanned 13 batters. Griffin has been named to the Midwest League All Star team.

D.J. Davis-CF- 2/5, R
Dickie Thon-LF- 1/4, 2R, BB
Jorge Saez-C- 0/4, 2R, BB, K
L.B. Dantzler-1B- 2/4, R, HR, 4RBI
Dawel Lugo-SS- 3/4, RBI
Matt Dean-DH- 0/4, K
Mitch Nay-3B- 2/4, RBI
Chaz Frank-RF- 0/3, BB, K
Jason Leblebilian-2B- 0/4

Jeremy Gabryszwski (W)- 6IP, 5H, r, 0ER, BB, 9K
Phil Kish- 2IP, H, 2K
Griffin Murphy- 1IP, 2K

Dunedin Blue Jays- 3 vs St Lucie Mets- 4
W: Luis Cessa (4-4) L: Wil Browning (1-1) SV: Randy Fontanez (8)

It was a bit of a sloppy game in Dunedin. Each team committed 3 errors. In fact, all 4 of the runs the Baby Jays allowed came from errors. Two of the 3 Blue Jays errors came from SS Emilio Guerrero. Taylor Cole continued his good season this evening. He gave up 2 unearned runs in the first inning, but settled down well to put up 4 shutout innings. He gave up another run in the 6th to end his night. In total, he would collect 6 strikeouts.

Dalton Pompey had the night off this evening. With him out, the offense was led by Nick Baligod‘s 3rd inning triple. K.C. Hobson picked up Florida State League leading 46th RBI.

Dwight Smith Jr.-CF- 0/4, K
Nick Baligod-LF- 2/4, R, 3B, 2RBI
Marcus Knecht-RF- 0/4, 4K
K.C. Hobson-1B- 2/4, RBI, 2K
Derrick Chung-C- 1/4, 2B
Kevin Patterson-DH- 1/4, 2B
Emilio Guerrero-SS- 0/4, 2K
Peter Mooney-2B- 1/4, R, 2B, K
Gustavo Pierre-3B- 1/4, R, K

Taylor Cole- 6IP, 6H, 3R, 0ER, 6K
Wil Browning (L)- 0.2IP, H, R, 0ER, K
Tony Davis– 1.1IP, 2K
Chad Girodo– 1IP, H2K