Blue Jays MiLB recap – Cats ground the Flying Squirrels

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system.  D-Jays might be back on track and the Cats take down the Flying Squirrels.

Buffalo Bisons vs Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies)
7-9 Loss

The Bisons jumped out of the gate stampeding in this one, but they were tamed by the Iron Pig’s pitchers.  After allowing one run to the Iron Pigs in the 1st, the Bisons piled on a big lead with a six run, home half of the inning.

Steve Pearce got things started in his Bison’s debut during his rehab assignment.  He singled on a line drive to right.  Rowdy Tellez then doubled to right to score Pearce, putting the Herd on the board.  Mike Ohlman kept the line moving with a single to put runners on the corners.  Jason Leblebijian continues to be a wizard with the bat and singled in a run.  To finish the inning, Ian Parmley and Christian Lopes had back to back two run doubles.

All the offense was great in the 1st inning, but even with the safety of a 5 run lead the Iron Pigs continued to chip away.  Brett Oberholtzer, who had been solid since returning to the rotation, could not contain the first place Iron Pigs.  Oberholtzer would allow 11 hits and seven earned runs over 4.2 innings.  This included a pair of home runs to Hector Gomez of the Iron Pigs.  Murphy Smith would allow two more runs during his 1.2 innings of work.

T.J. House will get the start Wednesday.  He will look to improve from his last start in Pawtucket where he allowed 6 runs.

MVB – Ian Parmley 1-3 with a double, run scored, sac fly, and 3 RBI

New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants)
5-0 Win

The Fisher Cats came up to the plate and kicked things off early Tuesday evening.  Danny Jansen got things going with an RBI double in the first inning that scored Jonathan Davis.  Davis walked to start the game and promptly stole 2nd base.  Jansen moved up to 3rd on a error on a ball put into play by Ryan McBroom, who also reached base.  Harold Ramirez singled to left to score Jansen to put the Cats up 2-0.  This set the tone for the game.

In the 3rd inning the Cats would push the score out of reach for the Squirrels.  Another walk to led off the inning as Gunnar Heidt took first base to get things rolling.  A string of singles an out later led to the bases being loaded.  Derrick Loveless took advantage of the situation and laced a single up the middle to score a pair.  The final run of the inning was scored on a fielder’s choice but it put the Cats up 5-0.

This is all Glen Sparkman would need in this one as he cruised through 5 innings.  This was easily Sparkman’s best start since coming off the DL.  The Jays’ Rule 5 draft pick allowed just two hits while striking out five.  He also threw 48 of his 70 pitches for strikes and walked just one batter.  Justin Shafer, Tim Mayza, and Andrew Case combined for the last four innings of the game and allowed just one base runner together while striking out four Squirrels.

Conner Greene will get the start against the Squirrels on Wednesday.  Greene has had his share of rough outings over his last 4 starts, but has still not allowed more than four runs in one of those starts.  He is still also sporting a .226 opposing hitter’s batting average despite the excess runs allowed in the past few starts.

MVFC – Glen Sparkman 5 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K’s

Dunedin Blue Jays at Palm Beach Cardinals
8-0 Win

The game yesterday broke the losing streak and possibly woke up the sleeping giant.  The D-Jays mashed and pitched their way to a second straight victory on Tuesday.  The top six batters in the Jays lineup had at least an RBI each.  Catcher Michael De La Cruz led the way with a three hit night, with a pair of RBIs and a double.  Bradley Jones and Conor Panas each had 2 hits and an RBI.  Cavan Biggio was able to score twice despite not recording a hit in this one, and drove in a run on a sac fly.  The offensive outburst set the stage for the show on the mound.

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Angel Perdomo was nearly flawless on Tuesday as he pitched six strong innings.  He scattered five Cards hits and walked two.  His control was great during this one and he also struck out two batters. Perdomo continues to impress and had a 2.96 ERA over his last 48.2 innings prior to this outing.  Jose Nava and Zach Jackson closed the door on the evening.

Ryan Borucki will get the start in the next game.  He will take on the Cardinals Wednesday night and look to rebound from his 3.2 inning 7 run outing against the Maruders on the 9th.

MVDJ – Angel Perdomo 6 IP, 5 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s

Lansing Lugnuts at South Bend Cubs
2-3 Loss

A close game led to extra innings in this one as the Cubs and Lugnuts battled through 13 innings.  The Lugnuts bullpen bent first in extras as Zach Short hit a solo home run off of Andrew Deramo to walk off the Lugnuts.  Osman Gutierrez got the start in this one and was solid throughout his 6th start.  Gutierrez pitched 5 innings allowing just 4 hits, but issued 4 walks.  He was able to minimize the damage by allowing only 1 run while striking out a pair.

On offense the Lugnuts scored both of their runs in the 4th inning and were silent the rest of the game.  The team managed just 6 hits but were able to rake in 8 walks.  They were unable to come up with the big hit Tuesday evening as they went 1-12 with runners in scoring position.  Mitch Nay and Yeltsin Gudino would pick up an RBI each in the contest.

Denis Diaz will get the start on Wednesday and will look to break his streak of 3 starts in which he has allowed 4 runs.

MVL – Osman Gutierrez 5 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 2 K’s