Blue Jays MiLB recap – D-Jays end losing streak

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system. The streak is finally over as the D-Jays win their first game in June.

Buffalo Bisons
Off day

The Bisons are coming off of a horrid road trip and will be looking to get back into the swing of things at home.  The only issue is they will be taking on the first place Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs to start their home stand.  The Herd just played 3 games in Lehigh Valley and were swept in the rain-shortened series.  They were also outscored 20 to 5 during those three games.

Brett Oberholtzer will get the start in the first game of the series.  He has been solid since rejoining the Bisons rotation.  He has allowed just 5 earned runs in 18 innings over his past 3 starts.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Off Day

The Fisher Cats are still struggling to find their footing regardless of the amount of talent on their team.  Everything has come together in small samples but it has yet to string together some consistency.  The Cats were looking up the last few weeks of May but have slipped into a 3-7 record over their last 10 games.

The Fisher Cats will be hitting the road to Richmond to take on the Flying Squirrels.  Glenn Sparkman will get the ball to open up the series and will look to capture the form he had in Spring Training rather then what he had in his last start.  He heads into his 2nd start for the Fisher Cats after having a 3.2 inning outing in which he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits.  Sparkman is the Blue Jays rule 5 draft pick and they will soon have to decide to bring him up to Toronto or to allow him to go.

Dunedin Blue Jays Palm Beach Cardinals
6-2 Win

The D-Jays bats backed up a great start by Josh DeGraaf on Monday.  DeGraaf was making his second start in Dunedin since returning from Double A where he performed admirably.  He was able to pitch 5 innings in this one and allow just 1 run.  He limited the Cards to just 4 hits and 1 walk.  DeGraaf was under control as shown as he threw 39 of his 59 pitches for strikes.  Ryan Cook would come on in relief and allow 1 hit over his 2 innings of work.  Tom Robson would finish things up on the mound and allow a run on 0 hits and just a walk.  The walk led off the inning and was moved around the bases on ground outs.

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At the plate the D-Jays bats came to life in the 5th inning.  Lane Thomas walked to open the inning which was followed by a Carl Wise single.  This put runners aboard 1st and 2nd.  J. C. Cardenas moved them over on a sac bunt to set the stage.  Thomas scored on a ground ball and a suicide squeeze scored Wise to put the Jays up 2-1.

Onto the 6th as the D-Jays put this one out of reach.  Bradley Jones torched a ball to left field for a single to start the rally.  An error, an out, and a Lane Thomas hit by a pitch put runners in scoring position.  Carl Wise drove in the 1st run of the inning with a single.  A batter later Cardenas laced a ball over the right field wall for his 1st home run of the year.  The 3 run homer put the Jays up 6-1 and eventually seal the win.

Angel Perdomo will get the start for the D-Jays on Tuesday as they take on the Cardinals.  Perdomo has thrown 17 innings over his past 3 starts and has allowed just 3 runs.

MVDJ –  J. C. Cardenas 3-3 with a 3 run homer

Lansing Lugnuts at Fort Wayne Tin Caps (Padres)
9-7 Win

There was a true battle in Fort Wayne on Monday as the Lugnuts and Tin Caps changed the lead multiple times.  The teams bats were showing no mercy on opposing pitchers as the teams combined for 22 hits.  The Lugnuts had 13 of those hits and took the victory.  Edward Olivares continues to stay hot as he went 3-5 with a triple, a pair of runs scored, and an RBI.  Nash Knight has also awoken at the plate and had another solid performance.  He went 3-5 as well with a double and drove in a pair.  The big lumber was shown off by Ridge Smith and Mitch Nay as they each had a home run in this one.

On the hill Andy Ravel had the start and he continued to struggle in this one.  He has now allowed 5 runs or more in his last 3 starts.  In this one he went 4.2 innings allowing 6 runs on 8 hits.  He also walked 3 and struck out 2.  Griffin Glaude would pick up the win as he able to quite things down in his 2.1 innings of work.  Geno Encina picked up his first save for pitching 2 innings to close the door on the Tin Caps.

Osman Gutierrez will take the hill on Tuesday to face the Tin Caps.  He will look to build on a solid 5 inning start in his last outing.  He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 6 in that outing.

MVL – Nash Knight 3-5 with a double, a run scored, and 2 RBI

Next: Lawrie still an option?