Blue Jays MiLB recap: Tulo+Donaldson = D-Jays win

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system.  Tulo and Donaldson hit well for the Dunedin Blue Jays and Harris solid in start for the Fisher Cats.

Buffalo Bisons at Gwinnett Braves
5-6 Loss

A late comeback from the Herd fell just short Tuesday night as the Bisons fell to the Braves.  Dwight Smith Jr. brought all the offense he could muster in this one as he drove in 4 RBIs in the game.  He went 3-4 with a 3 run home run in the 4th inning to get the Bisons on the board.  He did not stop there as he drove in the 2nd run in the 8th.  The only other run was scored on a wild pitch in the inning.  Four of the Bisons eight hits went for extra bases, but they went just 2-10 with runners in scoring position.

The Braves took early advantage of T.J. House as they scored 3 runs off of him in the 1st.  House would settle things down some, but lost it again in the 4th.  The Braves again struck for 3 more runs but only 1 of them was earned as the Bisons had some fielding issues.  House threw 5 innings allowing 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3.  Wil Browning and Chris Smith pitched well in relief to give the offense a chance to get back into this one.

Luis Santos will get the start on Wednesday against the Braves.  Santos is fresh off a pair of solid starts.  Santos has not allowed a run in 9 innings pitched over his past two outings.

MVB – Dwight Smith Jr. 3-4 with a home run, a walk, a run scored, 4 RBIs

New Hampshire Fisher Cats vs Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox)
Doubleheader

Game One 5-2 Win
Jon Harris pitches a gem in this one as he tossed 6 innings and allowed just 1 run.  He really only threw one bad pitch to Nick Longhi, who crushed the ball to deep center field to lead off the 4th inning.  Harris would issue a walk and 7 hits while striking out 3.

The Cats would jump ahead early on a 2 run home by Emilio Guerrero in the 2nd.  The 2 run bomb was Guerrero’s 3rd of the season.  In the 5th the Cats would rally for 3 runs to put them out of reach for the Sea Dogs.  Tim Lopes and Danny Jansen would each collect RBIs during the big 5th inning.  Andrew Guillotte went 3-3 during the game with a double and a run scored as well.

MVFC game 1 – Andrew Guillotte 3-3 with a double, a stolen base, and a run scored

Game Two 3-2 Win

Richard Urena hit a sac fly to right to walk off the Sea Dogs in game 2 of the double header.  The Fisher Cats swept the double header and have now won 4 in a row.  The sac fly scored Emilio Guerrero who had singled up the middle a few batters prior.  A sacrifice bunt by Derrick Loveless and a single by J. C. Cardenas moved Guerrero to third to set up the walk off.  Cardenas would go 2-3 in the game with run scored.  The heavy lifting was done by Jonathan Davis out of the lead off spot.  He popped a long home run to center field in the 3rd.  The 2 run homer put the Cats up for 2-1 the time being but the Sea Dogs tied things back up in the 7th.

Kender Villegas got the start in this one as the team opted to go with a bullpen game for the second part of the double header.  Villegas was making his first start of the season and was pretty good over 3 innings.  He allowed just 2 hits and walked a pair while allowing a run.  Josh DeGraaf followed with 3 shut out innings.  DeGraaf also walked 3 and struck out 3.  Andrew Case went to close things down in the 7th but allowed the tying run to score.  Case would eventually be credited with a blown save and the win.  He pitched 2 innings allowing the one run and walked a batter.

MVFC game 2 – Jonathan Davis 1-4 with a 2 run homer to put the Cats up early

Connor Greene will get the ball for the early morning game against the Sea Dogs Wednesday.  Greene will look to improve on his last outing in which he allowed 4 earned runs over 5 innings.

Dunedin Blue Jays vs Fort Myers Miracle (Twins)
3-2 Win

The D-Jays got a win against the Miracle on the backs of two rehabbing MLB stars Tuesday evening.  Troy Tulowitzki put the icing on the cake as he powered the offense up with a solo home run in the 5th inning.  Tulo would finish the game going just 1-4, but found his power stroke mid game.  Fellow Toronto Blue Jay Josh Donaldson got his swing on in his second game of his rehab assignment as well.  He finished the game going 2-3 with and RBI and a walk.  Lane Thomas collected a pair of hits in this one as he went 2-4 with and RBI.

Ryan Borucki got the start for the D-Jays and was great over 6 innings.  He was able to overcome some defensive miscues and 6 hits to allow just 2 runs.  The only damage against him actually came on a long ball in his final inning of work.  Zander Wiel hit a 2 run home run off of him in the 6th.  Tom Robson and Daniel Young would combine for the hold and the save over the remaining 3 innings to close out the W.

Connor Fisk will take on the Miracle Wednesday for game number 3.  Fisk pitched 7 strong innings in his last outing and allowed 3 runs to the St. Lucie Mets

MVDJ – Troy Tulowitzki 1-4 with the go ahead home run in the 5th

Lansing Lugnuts vs Lake County Captains (Indians)
5-3 Win

The Lugnuts picked up a win with their biggest crowd of the season in this one.  Patrick Murphy had a packed house as he got the start on Grand Slam School day at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing.  Murphy pitched well but was knocked out in the 5th inning after allowing a pair of runs on a home run to Gavin Collins.  Murphy also allowed a solo home run in the 4th to Li-Jen Chu.  Murphy was on his game other than those 2 pitches, however.  He pitched 5.2 innings, allowing just 6 hits and a walk while striking out 3.

Jake Thomas opened up the scoring for the Lugnuts with a RBI single in the 3rd.  Joshua Palacios scored after walking and stealing a base.  Christian Williams kept things going with an RBI double in the 6th to tie the game back up at 3 runs a piece.  In the 8th the Lugnuts would take the lead.  The inning was started with a triple off of the bat of Edward Olivares.  An out later Bradley Jones would walk and then steal second base.  With runners on 2nd and 3rd Olivares scored on a sac fly by Christian Williams.  J.B. Woodman extended the lead with a single to score Jones the following at bat. The Lugnuts needed just 6 hits to spell victory in this one.

Justin Maese will look to stretch the Lugnuts winning streak to 4 when he takes the mound Wednesday evening.  Maese has allowed just 5 runs over his past 22.2 innings.

MVL – Christian Williams 1-3 with a double, a sac fly, and 2 RBI

Next: AL East recap - Jays regress