Blue Jays MiLB recap – Borucki impresses in Double-A Debut

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system. The Bisons and D-Jays are rolling as the Fisher Cats win after trading their everyday first baseman.

Buffalo Bisons at Louisville Bats (Reds)
5-1 Win

The Bisons turned in another strong effort in another win over the Bats. The offense consistently wore down the Bats’ pitchers and assembled five runs during this one. Dwight Smith Jr. continues to be hot at the dish as he homered for the 2nd day in a row.  The solo home run was his 8th of the season and he is now batting .275 during his last 10 games.  Rowdy Tellez mashed a pair of doubles in a 2-4 night.  Gregorio Petit and Jake Elmore each singled in a run and Elmore also scored once.  Michael Saunders coming home party appears to be working as he went 2-3 during this one with another double and 2 runs scored.  Could he be recapturing some of his Captain Canada form the made him an All-Star in 2016?

On the mound TJ House pitched 4.2 inning in which he threw 57 of 97 pitches for strikes.  The pitch count was accelerated for him by allowing three walks and scattering eight hits.  The Bats were able to score two runs off House while he was on the hill.  John Stilson eventually picked up the win for throwing 2.1 innings of shutout baseball.  J.P. Howell pitched four outs in this one and allowed a single while striking out one batter.  Matt Dermody picked up his first save of the season with a shut down 9th inning in which he walked a batter for his only base runner.

No pitchers have been announced for Monday but the Herd heads home to take on the Durham Bulls.

MVB – Michael Saunders 2-3 with a double, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored

New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Trenton Thunder (Yankees)
2-1 Win

A wild night in Trenton started out with Ryan McBroom walking across the diamond to dawn a new team’s jersey as he was traded for Rob Refsnyder prior to the game.  McBroom was ranked as the Blue Jays 30th prospect and was having another strong season.

Ryan Borucki made his Double A debut for the Fisher Cats in this one and was very impressive.  He continues to stay hot as he pitched seven innings of shutout baseball.  He would allow just two hits and two walks during the outing while striking out four.  Borucki had two strong starts in which he went seven innings, allowing just one run in each until his last outing where he allowed four during six innings.  Nice to see that he has found the form that was making him successful with Dunedin translate to some shear dominance in his first Double A outing.  Jose Fernandez and Justin Shafer would pitch the Cats into extra innings for the eventual win.

The offense had plenty of opportunities in this one to open up a lead for Borucki, but could not come up with a timely hit.  The Cats went 3-14 with runners in scoring position but collected just one RBI in the game.  Gunnar Heidt brought home that runner on a single and went 2-5 during the game.  Tim Lopes raked in three hits during the contest, and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.  Danny Jansen singled in the 11th and would eventually score on an errant throw to first base when Lopes beat out a single.

Jon Harris will get the start on Ryan Schimpf on the Barbie bobble head day as the Cats take on the Portland Seadogs.  Harris will look to keep the good times rollin’ as he has strung together 4 good starts.  In those starts he has totaled 26.2 innings and has allowed just 5 runs.

MVFC – Ryan Borucki 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 4 K’s

Dunedin Blue Jays vs Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)
3-0 Win

Kender Villegas returns to Dunedin after a brief stint with the Double A Fisher Cats and was incredible in the outing.  He would throw six innings without allowing a run.  He allowed just three hits and did not walk a batter while striking out a pair.  Villegas needed just 64 pitches to get through those six innings.  Dan Lietz picked up a hold and kept the shut out alive for two more innings.  Zach Jackson came on in the 9th and slammed the door to complete the combined shut out.  The D-Jays pitching allowed only four hits.

Max Pentecost had a night to remember as he rocked three doubles during a 3-3 performance while picking up his 44th RBI of the season.  Juan Kelly put the D-Jays up by two when he hit a sac fly to score Vladimir Guerrero Jr.  Darrell Ceciliani scored on a Pentecost double prior to the sac fly and Ceciliani went 2-3 during the game.  Bo Bichette picked up an RBI on a double for some added fluff on the score in the 7th inning.

Jordan Romano will get the ball for Monday as the D-Jays have their brooms ready to sweep the Flying Tigers.  Thus far in the series the D-Jays have out scored the Tigers 15-9.

MVDJ – Max Pentecost 3-3 with 3 doubles, a walk, and an RBI

Lansing Lugnuts at Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins)
5-8 Loss

The Lugnuts pitching woes continue as Kyle Weatherly allowed another four runs in this start as he looks to find his footing at the Single A level.  Yet another crooked number was posted as the Lugnuts fell to the Kernals popping bats.  Four of the runs against them were unearned as the Lugnuts picked up a pair of errors that translated into some of the lop sided runs.

The offense continues to plug away the best they can, but night after night the team digs a hole while they’re on defense.  Mitch Nay pounded his 5th home run of the season in the 8th inning rally.  Nay cranked a three run homer to put the Lugnuts on the board.  The inning would continue as Yeltsin Gudino doubled to right.  He would score a batter later as Luis Silva singled.  Silva would score after a throwing error and a wild pitch.  The Lugnuts were stopped in their rally after scoring five runs in the 8th.

Mike Ellenbest will start the Monday as the Lugnuts will look to salvage a game in the series against the Kernels.

MVL – Mitch Nay 1-5 with a 3 run homer

Short Season Team Notes
Vancouver Canadians (Northwest League)

An early pitchers dual turned into a rout as the Canadians charged in the late innings to a 8-3 win.  Kevin Vicuna, Deiferson Barreto, and Brandon Polizzi had 2 RBIs each in the game.  Barreto went 3-4 with a triple and two runs scored as well.  Nate Pearson made his Canadians’ debut and pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three.  He also did not allow base runner during his debut.  Brody Rodning allowed two runs while striking out five during his four innings of work and picked up the win.

Bluefield Blue Jays (Appalachian League)

The Blue Jays unloaded on offense in a 11-9 win against the Elizabethton Twins.  Kevin Smith a solo home run for his 4th of the season.  Yorman Rodriguez picked up four RBIs.  Freddy Rodriguez went 3-5 with a a pair of doubles.

Next: A pair of quick trades Sunday