Blue Jays MiLB Recap: Solid Starts from Copeland & Greene

Three out of the 4 Blue Jays minor league teams got great efforts from their starting pitching. We check in on Scott Copeland, Casey Lawrence, Dalton Pompey, Anthony Alford and more in this edition of the MiLB recap.

Buffalo Bisons- 4 Lousiville Bats- 0

Scott Copeland put up a nice start for the Bisons. In 5 innings, he threw 64 pitches and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks and 5 strike outs to bring his record to 4-1. In his 5 innings, he faced 18, just 3 over the minimum. It is starts like this that make you think that the Blue Jays should stop calling him up to sit in the bullpen. IF he’s going to be called up, maybe they should think about giving him a start. But, we know that his up and down journey has more to do with the necessity for the team than any sort of plan for Copeland.

When Copeland left the game, he had a 3 run lead. To start the scoring, the Bisons played a bit of small ball. Sean Ochinko singled and advanced on a throwing error. Jonathan Diaz bunted him over to third with what should have been a scarifice, but pitcher, David Holmberg couldn’t field it cleanly. Then Matt Hague lifted a sac fly to CF to score Ochinko. The Bisons added another two in the 4th on RBI from Ochinko and Diaz.

Toronto Blue Jays

Once again Diaz was in on the action when he scored the games final run in the 7th. Chris Dickerson drove him in. Ochinko and Diaz represented the bottom of the order quit well with 5 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI. The 3-4-5 hitters (Hague, Brad Glenn and Alex Hassan) went a combined 1-12. Dalton Pompey was 0-4 with a walk and 2 strike outs.

New Hampshire FisherCats- 1 Bowie Baysox- 10

Last night didn’t go so well for the FisherCats. Before the boys could even come up to the plate, starter, Casey Lawrence gave up 4 runs. After the rough first inning, he seemed to have settled things down for the next two. But, in the fourth he’d surrender another run before the flood gates opened in the 5th. And, when he was lifted with just an out in that inning, his line was pretty inflated. 4.1 innings, 14 H, 8 ER, 0BB, 2K for 90 pitches. That brings his record to 4-6.

Dustin Antolin relieved Lawrence and gave up 2 more runs in his 1.2 innings of work. Cory Burns, Jimmy Cordero and Scott Barnes also saw action. But, the trio did not surrender a run. Yet, 5 walks were issued form the bullpen. Pitchers on this night picked up just 4 strike outs.

This rough outing is made even uglier by the fact that Lawrence and company were getting very little help form his hitters. They managed just 3(!) hits all evening. The lone run was scored by Ryan Schimpf who was driven in on a two out single by Jack Murphy in the 7th. If we add the 3 walks to the 3 hits it still isn’t that impressive since they only had 2 runners in scoring position (they went 1-2).

Dunedin Blue Jays- 5 Brevard County Manatees- 1

Unlike the FisherCats, Dunedin was the recipient of a great outing from their starter. Jeremy Gabryszwski (3-3) was solid against the Manatees. He went 6 innings scattering just 2 hits, 2 walks and striking out 4. It should be noted that he also hit 2 batters. Regardless, it is nice to see him put up zeroes. Phil Kish took over and went two innings giving up 3 hits and the lone Manatee run. Then Matt Dermody closed out the contest with a clean 9th.

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Again, unlike the FisherCats, there was no shortage of hits in this contest. The FisherCats collected 10 knocks for 5 runs. DH, L.B. Dantzler led the charge with 4 hits, 2 runs, and RBI and a walk. Mitch Nay drove in 2 as well. LF, J.D. Davis continued his performance with 2 more hits last night. He also scored a run. In his 3 games in Dunedin, he’s hitting .462 after hitting .408 in Lansing. Roemon Fields struck out 4 times.

Lansing Lugnuts- 5 Burlington Bees- 1

Connor Greene (5-2) put forth another great start. He went 6.1 innings sprinkling in 4 hits, just one walk and whiffing 9! Obviously, this is the kind of start you want to see from Greene. His season has been pretty up and down thus far. Over his last 10 games, he’s shown signs of quality and signs of struggling. In as many starts as he’s been great, there are just as many where he’s not been. Michael Kraft came in the 6th inning to get he hold and Colton Turner threw two innings to end it. He gave up 3 hits and an unearned run.

The offense was fairly balanced form the Lugnuts. 5 players picked up 2 hits including Richard Urena (who had two doubles, Ryan McBRoom and D.J. Davis. It is worth mentioning these guys because they are also each responsible for 2 out RBI. In fact, the Lugnuts could have benefited more from such clutch hitting as they were only 3-11 with RISP and left 8 on base for the evening. Also of note is Anthony Alford‘s 3 strike outs on the night. Though, he did score a run.

Next: Can Josh Donaldson Get to the All Star Game?