Blue Jays MiLB Recap – Lugnuts showoff lumber!

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system.  Santos and Ohlman shine in afternoon game, Lugnuts mash, and Fisher Cats play two.

Buffalo Bisons vs Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers)
4-1 Win

A dominating start for Luis Santos translated into a victory for the Bisons Wednesday afternoon.  Santos was nearly untouchable during his 6 shut out innings of work.  He allowed just 2 hits and a pair of walks.  He would strand all 4 base runners he allowed and struck out 3 batters.  Matt Dermody was able to pick up right where Santos left off and was perfect through his 2 innings of work.  Dermody faced 6 batters and retired all of them.  Chris Smith would allow the only Mud Hens run in the 9th.

The Bisons jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the 1st to support Santos.  The 3 run inning was jump-started with a 2 run missile to left center field off the bat of

Mike Ohlman

.   The bomb was Ohlman’s 8th of the season and he would finish the day 3-4 with a double as well.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

followed with a double to left to keep the 2 out rally alive.

Jason Leblebijian

continues to be hot with the bat and hit a single to score Salty.   In the 8th inning the Herd would tack on one more run on a

Dwight Smith Jr

. double that scored

Jake Elmore

.  Elmore had singled to start the inning.

Brett Oberholtzer will look for his 4th straight start in which he allows no more than 1 run.  Oberholtzer currently has a 2.27 ERA over 35.2 innings for the Bisons.

MVB – Luis Santos 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

New Hampshire Fisher Cats vs or at Harrisburg Senators (Nationals)

Game 1 Win 6-3

The Fisher Cats poured it on in the 4th inning to back a solid outing by Conner Greene.  The Cats would win this one for Greene’s 2nd victory of the season.  Greene was sharp over 6.2 innings of work and mixed his pitches well.  Greene allowed 6 hits which included a 2 run homer to Stephen Perez. Other then that mistake pitch, he was lights out and stuck out 6 while allowing 1 earned run.

At the plate Harold Ramirez got things going in the 4th with a 1 out single.  Tim Lopes hit a double to right field that scored Ramirez and Ryan McBroom.  McBroom reached on a wild pitch on what should have been a strikeout.  With 2 outs Gunnar Heidt kept the line moving with a double to drive home Lopes.  Derrick Loveless capped off the inning with the 3rd double of the inning to score Heidt.  This outburst put the Cats up 4-1 at the time.  In the final frame the Cats were able to add a pair of runs on 3 singles and a sac fly.

MVFC G1 – Richard Urena 3-4 with a double and an RBI

Game 2 

The Fisher Cats had things working in game 2 of the double dip Wednesday as the Richard Urena show continued.  Urena had an impressive showing in game one as he went 3-4 with an RBI.  Apparently he had plenty still in the tank as he went 2-3 with a triple and 3 RBIs in game 2.  He was one of three Fisher Cats to have multi hit performances.  Gunnar Heidt hit his 5th home run of the season during a 2-3 evening, and Harold Ramirez also went 2-3 with an RBI.

On the hill

Josh DeGraaf

got the start in the bullpen match up.  He threw 3 innings and allowed the Senators to get on the board with 2 runs.

Andrew Case

followed and would eventually be given the win.  He also threw 3 innings of work and allowed just 2 hits while striking out 2.

Dusty Isaacs

and

Jose Fernandez

combined to close out the game in the bottom of the 7th.

MVFC G2 – Richard Urena 2-3 with a triple, a run scored, and 3 RBI

Shane Dawson will get the ball Thursday against the Senators.  He will be looking to keep in the groove he started in his last start as he threw 6 innings allowing 3 runs.

Dunedin Blue Jays vs Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)
2-10 Loss

A pair of defensive miscues led to a huge inning for the Hammerheads.  The self-inflicted issues led to 7 unearned runs.  Lucas Harrell got the start for the D-Jays and allowed a run over his 2.1 innings of work.  Harrell did walk and strike out a pair during the outing.  Conor Fisk was given the loss as he was on the mound during the meltdown.  He also allowed a pair of home runs during his 5.2 innings of work.  Both of the home runs were good for 3 runs but Fisk was charged just 2 earned runs.  He struck out 3 while allowing 7 hits.

On offense the D-Jays had just as much bad luck as they were able to get just 5 hits during the game.  The clawed together 2 runs but were just 1-6 with runners in scoring position.  Juan Kelly drove in the first run on a double in the 2nd.  Later in the inning Kelly scored on a ground out by Ryan Hissey.  Dalton Pompey went 1-4 out of the leadoff spot.

The D-Jays will wrap the series with the Jupiter Hammerheads Thursday evening.

MVDJ – Juan Kelly 1-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI

Lansing Lugnuts at Lake County Captains
7-0 Win

The Lugnuts put everything together properly in this one.  A great showing at the plate backed up Mike Ellenbest who showed his talents during the game Wednesday.  Ellenbest not only had his best outing of the season, but it was also his longest one.  In this one he truly had his ‘A’ game, as he allowed just 4 hits while throwing shutout baseball.  His final line also boasted just 1 walk and 6 strikeouts.  Dan Lietz finished off the shutout by pitching the final 2 frames.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, the Lugnuts brought their mashing sticks.  The Lugnuts hit 3 home runs in this one that accounted for 5 of the 7 runs scored.  Bradley Jones started the power display with a 3-run homer in the 4th.  The shot was his 9th of the season and scored Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who had singled.  To cap off the inning Edward Olivares hit his 5th long ball of the season.

In the 6th inning the red hot Bichette added more to his totals with a solo home run of his own.  He opened up the inning with his 6th bomb of the season.  In the 7th Yeltsin Gudino doubled and scored on a single by Jake Thomas.  The Lugnuts phenomenal contributions retired the Captains in this one.

Andy Ravel get the ball for the series finally on Thursday.  Ravel has not allowed more then 2 runs in his past 2 starts.

MVL – Mike Ellenbest 7 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

Next: Should Sanchez give the pen another chance?