Blue Jays MiLB Report: Dwight Smith Jr. on fire!

Toronto Blue Jays scores and analysis for minor league games played on Sunday, August 21st

Buffalo Bisons (64-65)   –   5
Charlotte Knights (57-72)   –   8

The offence was not able to keep things cooking as the Bisons fell short of a comeback in this one Sunday night.  Dalton Pompey and A.J. Jimenez supplied the power as they each hit home runs.  Pompey popped a solo homer in the first inning to lead off the game, went 2-for-4, and scored twice during the game.  Jimenez hit a two-run homer in the 6th to keep the attempted comeback going.  Darrell Ceciliani had a pair of doubles during the game and scored a run.  Ten hits were not quite enough to over come the eight runs by the Knights.

On the hill Scott Diamond struggled again.  He allowed eight runs over just four innings of work and 12 of the 13 Knights hits.  This is the 2nd rough start for Diamond in a row as he has allowed 13 earned runs in his last 10 innings of work.  Bobby Korecky came in and stopped the bleeding as he threw three innings of shutout ball.  Korecky and Danny Barnes kept the Bisons in the game but the offence had issues with the Knights bullpen

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (61-66)   –   5

Altoona Curve (69-57)   –   11

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The Curve got the jump on Fisher Cats starter John Straka and held to that early lead.  The Curve scored 8 earned runs off Straka in just 1.2 innings.  The bullpen did not fare much better as their combined efforts slowly bled out three more runs through the rest of the game.  The offence made a valiant effort to get back into the game as they collected 10 hits.  Dwight Smith Jr. continues to swing a hot bat as he fell just a double short of the cycle.  Smith hit a solo home run in the 9th, had three RBI, and scored twice during the game.  Jason Leblebijian went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI as well.

Dunedin Blue Jays (70-56)   –   12
Lakeland Flying Tigres (56-66)   –   7

The offence scored in bunches for the D-Jays Sunday.  Dunedin scored four runs over the first three innings and did not let off the gas the rest of the game.  Dickie Joe Thon continued to rake at the plate as he hit a pair of solo home runs.  He also scored three times during his two-RBI performance.  Matt Dean drove in a pair of runs and scored two times during a 2-for-3 game.  He also had a big double for one of his hits.  Kevin Pillar got in on the action as he went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored as he continued to work his way back to the Toronto lineup following his DL stint.

Conor Fisk grinded his way through six innings of work and allowed four runs on four hits.  He did walk four batters but minimized the damage and struck out nine batters.  Ryan Cook struggled out of the pen and allowed three earned runs during his inning of work.  Justin Shafer came on, slammed the door, and did not allow a base runner for the remaining two innings.

Lansing Lugnuts (64-62)   –   3
South Bend Cubs (77-48)   –  2

The Lugnuts completed the series with a win.  Lansing won the series on a solid pitching performance by Ryan Borucki.  He pitched 5.0 innings of shutout ball and struck out six batters.  Tom Robson picked up where he left off and allowed a run during two innings of work.  Jackson Lowery picked up the save for two innings of work and allowed only one run also.

The offence produced just enough as Lane Thomas scored on a throwing error for one of the runs.  Justin Atkinson also collected an RBI on a sac fly in the 6th.  The other run was scored on a wild pith with Andrew Guillotte at the plate.  Atkinson was able to score on the wild pitch for the first Lugnut run. The Lugnuts capitalized on mistakes and made the most of it to keep the lead.

Vancouver Canadians (25-37)   –   0
Boise Hawks (26-36)   –   7

The Hawks jumped all over the Canadians in this one.  The Hawks hitters clubbed in seven runs and their pitchers held the C’s silent.  Rodrigo Orozco collected two of the four hits for the C’s and was the only person to really square up Hawks starter Antonio Santos.  Patrick Murphy got the start for the C’s and was decent but allowed three earned runs through his five innings of work.  The bullpen and the defence allowed four runs to seal the loss.

Next: Bleu Jays MiLB Standouts - D-Jays offense is rolling

Bluefield Blue Jays (32-24)   –   7
Danville Braves (27-28)   –  4

The bats are raking in the runs lately for the Blue Jays.  Seven hits led to seven runs Sunday and produced another win.  Plenty of power on display as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run home run in the 6th inning to open the scoring up.  Vlad went 2-for-4 along with hitting his 8th homer of the season.  Juandy Mendoza also popped a solo homer in the 7th for his 3rd of the year.  Lance Jones came into the game for Reggie Pruitt and proceeded to drive in three runs on a double.  He would later score also in the five-run 7th inning.

Osman Gutierrez allowed all four runs to the Braves during his six innings of work but allowed only five hits.  Gutierrez had allowed just two runs over his last 23 innings.  The bullpen was solid and held onto the late lead.  Stuart Holmes and Angel Alicea combined for three innings and allowed just one base runner.