Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Walkoff Losses and More!

Here’s your recap of the games from Wednesday, June 17 in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system. The Bisons and FisherCats suffered from being walked off while Dunedin and Lansing pulled out wins. For Lansing, it allowed them to stay in first place in their division.

The big league club wins! Blue Jays shut out Mets.

Readers should also note that the Vancouver Canadians will begin their 2015 season as the visitors against the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes on Thursday!

Buffalo Bisons- 7 vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs- 8

The Bisons went back and forth with the IronPigs only to be walked off in the the bottom of the 9th. Bobby Korecky was in to protect a one run lead, but allowed runners to reach 2nd and 3rd (a throwing error didn’t help matters) and then gave up a bloop single that ended the game. Of course, it is easy to point the blame to Korecky, but there were some atypical performances that put the Herd in the position they found themselves.

Randy Wolf has been having a decent season for the Bisons, but by the end of the 4th inning, he had put his team behind. In his 5 innings of work, he gave up 9 hits including a home run for 4 earned runs. Rob Rasmussen gave up 2 runs in his 1.1 innings of work. Chad Jenkins was asked to help out, but in less than an inning, he’d given up 2 hits. Colt Hynes chipped in an inning with a strike out and a hit allowed. But, at the end of the day, Korecky had a lead to work with and couldn’t get 3 outs. He’s credited with the blown save and the loss.

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The offense was spread around as 4 different batters collected a pair of hits. Jonathan Diaz belted a 2 out 2-run shot in the 2nd inning hitting out of the 9 hole. On a night where the Bisons worked 7 walks from the opposition, they left 8 on base as well as went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They had plenty of chances. And, in fairness, when you score 7 runs, you like your chances. This is especially so when Josh Thole picks up 2 hits and scores two runs. Of note are Ramon Santiago playing 2B and picking up a hit and a run, Steve Tolleson playing SS striking out twice and Matt Hague continuing to perform with a .354 average.

The Bisons will wrap up the series with the IronPigs today. They’ll send Daniel Norris to the mound.

New Hampshire FisherCats- 3 vs Erie SeaWolves- 6

The FisherCats were locked in a close one only to suffer a gut punch in the 13th inning by giving up a walk off grand slam to Drew Longley. They were even up heading to the bottom of the 13th! In extras, Luis Perez was asked to pitch the 13th. He promptly gave up a lead off single, a walk and fell behind the next batter. He was lifted for Greg Burke who finished the walk. With the bases loaded, Burke gave up the big fly to end it.

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It’s unfortunate because 36 year old Joel Pineiro, the former big leaguer, had gone over 7 innings of good baseball already that evening. He did his part in keeping his team in the game. He went 7.2 innings and gave up 7 hits, but only a single run with 2 walks and a strike out. In fact, the entire list of FisherCats hurlers did quite well, save for Luis Perez who took the loss and Greg Burke who took the blown save.

The offense didn’t chip in much help, though. In total, they collected 10 hits, no walks and 7 strike outs. But, perhaps Blue Jays fans are ore interested in the following: Devon Travis got 4 at bats in this contest and picked up a single. He was lifted for Jorge Flores in the later innings. Dalton Pompey continued his good showing in AA hitting a double for an RBI in 6 at bats. He’s hitting .354. But, the bigger story from this contest is Jon Berti hitting his first homer of the season. His bomb came in the top of the 9th inning that gave the FisherCats the lead before the SeaWolves tied it in the bottom of the frame. All together, Berti had 3 hits, 2 RBI and a run scored.

The FisherCats are now 7 games below .500. They’ll take an off day Thursday before heading home to take on Binghamton on Friday.

Dunedin Blue Jays- 5 vs Palm Beach Cardinals- 1

The Baby Jays were paced by a great outing from starter, Murphy Smith (5-3). He would go 5 innings, giving up 2 hits an earned run and striking out 6. 5 innings is right about the average length of a Smith outing. But, the results of last night’s contest are not in line with his average performance. The hit totals have been much higher and it is not usual that he gives up zero walks in an outing. His ERA sits at 3.13 and in 63 innings, he’s given up 61 hits. Brady Dragmire, Matt Dermody and Wil Browning all chipped in to keep the Cardinals off the score board.

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The offense was led by Mitch Nay and Matt Dean. Nay had 2 hits including a HR for 5 total bases. Normally that would be a good night, but Dean decided he’d top that. Dean legged out a triple as part of his 3 hits night. It is no exaggeration to say that these two are vital to Dunedin’s offense. Nay brought his RBI total up to 26 while Dean’s rose to 30.

The Blue Jays will continue their set against the Cardinals on Thursday sending Jairo Labourt (2-3) to the mound.

Lansing Lugnuts- 5 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods- 3

The Lugnuts needed to win to stay in first place in the Eastern Division. And, they did. They won in a rain shortened, 8 inning game. According to David Fine of MiLB.com, the umpires delayed it in the 8th inning and after nearly two hours, they called the contest.

The Lugnuts were helped out by an OK start from Sean Reid- Foley. He went 4.2 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs (one earned) on 2 walks and 5 strike outs. The 19 year old is 2-2 on the season, but has 67 K in just 45 innings. Chase Mallard added 2 innings of one run ball and then Jose Fernandez was credited with his 6th save.

The Bolts were helped on offense by a pair of 2 run homeruns from Jason Leblebijian and Tim Locastro. Locastro would also add a double. The lineup tallied 11 hits on the evening and struck out just 3 times. They weren’t getting fooled on this evening. Anthony Alford also picked up a hit and scored a run. He would also add a stolen base.

Next: Should the Blue Jays Make a Move or Two?