Blue Jays MiLB recap – Ace Borucki

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system. Bisons just missed out on a comeback and Borucki continues to dominate for the Fisher Cats.

Buffalo Bisons vs Louisville Bats (Reds)
5-6 Loss

The Bats were able to get to TJ House early as the raked in 4 runs in during the 2nd. House was charged for 3 earned runs and really had no issues outside of the 1 inning. His final line had 5 innings pitched allowing 5 hits and striking out 4. Wil Browning followed and allowed a run during his 1.1 innings of work. J.P. Howell pitched a perfect inning and struck out a pair and looks to be regaining the form that he had prior to joining the Blue Jays. Andrew Case would allow the deciding run which came off of a home run to Brandon Dixon.

Michael Saunders continues to impress since rejoining the organization. He went 2-5 again Friday and also scored a run. Gregorio Petit also went 2-5 with a double and picked up an RBI. Shane Optiz was able to drive in a pair of runs and went 2-4. Jon Berti showed off some muscle as he picked up his 3rd home run of the season.  All of the offense put the Bisons within striking distance but in the 9th they came up just short and left the bases loaded. The Herd was able to crack out 15 hits but went 3-12 with runners in scoring position. Rob Refsnyder left this game early and has prompted promotion talks after going 1-2 with a double and run scored.

Nick Tepesch will get his first start for the Bisons on Saturday evening vs the Bats. Tepesch pitched 29 innings with the Rochester Red Wings prior to the trade and and allowed a 5.69 ERA.

MVB – Gregorio Petit 2-5 with a double, with a run scored, and an RBI

New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets)
0-1 Loss

A pitchers dual ensued in Binghampton, NY Friday evening as Ryan Borucki and P.J. Conlon went toe to toe. Borucki is making just his second start at the Double-A level and was magnificent once again. He threw another strong 7 innings of baseball and allowed just one run. David Thompson drove in the only run off of Borucki and that was one of just three hits as well. Borucki surrender just one walk on his way to striking out seven batters. Dusty Issacs pitched a shut out inning and stuck out 2. Borucki has now thrown 14 inning in with the Fisher Cats and allowed just one run.

The Cats attack Friday was more of a purrrrr as the offense was silenced by Conlon and company. The Cats were able to collect just 4 hits but 2 of them were extra base hits.  This could have broke the long standing tie in the game if a timely hit fell for a hit. Tim Lopes and Emilio Guerrero picked up a double each.  The double extended Guerrero’s hit streak to 12 games.

Jon Harris will get the start on Saturday evening. Harris has pitched seven innings in three of his last 5 starts and allowed just 6 runs over that span.

MVFC – Ryan Borucki 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 7 K’s

Dunedin Blue Jays at Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)
5-3 Win

A solid start from John Straka in his Dunedin Blue Jays debut with a nice sprinkling of offense spelled victory. Straka pitched 5 innings and allowed just 5 hits while throwing shut out baseball. Two runs were scored while he was on the mound but they were not charged to him. He walked one batter while striking out a pair during the start. Alonzo Gonzalez held the Stone Crabs for 2.2 innings and did not give up a hit. He allowed one base runner on a walk and struck out three. Kirby Snead would pick up the save but surrendered a run in the inning.

Connor Panas continues to heat up at the dish and drove in a pair of runs while going 3-3. He is batting .417 over his last 10 games and has had five multi hit games over that span. Bo Bichette is now hitting an even .400 after having 2-5 evening and stealing his 4th base. D.J. Davis also had a pair of RBI on a single. He also stole his 25th base of the season. Vlad Guerrero Jr. was trouble on the base paths for the Stone Crabs as well scoring 3 runs after going 1-2 with 3 walks.

MVDJ – Connor Panas 3-3 with a run scored and 3 RBIs

Lansing Lugnuts vs Dayton Dragons (Reds)
1-3 Loss

A good start from Andy Ravel falls by the waste side as the offense could not solve the Dragons pitchers. Ravel allowed two runs during his 6 innings of work. The Dragons had five hits off of him and struck out five. Denis Diaz and Geno Encina kept the door open for the offense over the final three frames but the bats did not come to life.

The offense had 6 hits in this one but could not come up with a timely hit to tie it up. The Lugnuts went 0-8 with runners in scoring position. Yeltsin Gudino drove in the lone run on a single. Edward Olivares scored that run on the single. Nash Knight appears to be heating up as he has collected a hit in all but 3 games in his last 10 performances. He was 2-4 Friday against the Dragons.

Kyle Weatherly will look to continue his slow trend toward quality starts with the Lugnuts on Saturday. After dominating with the Vancouver Canadians he is yet to put things together with the Lugnuts.

MVL – Denis Diaz + Geno Encina as they combined for three scoreless innings while striking out 4 batters to keep the Lugnuts in the game.

Short Season Team Notes
Vancouver Canadians (Northwest League)

The Canadians were able to win a close one 2-1 vs the Tri-City Dust Devils Friday. The C’s came back after trailing 1-0 to take the win. Emmanuel Ramirez allowed the one run but he was great for 6 innings and struck out 7 during the night. Reggie Pruitt and David Jacob each had 3 hits during the game. Jacobs and Cullen Large drove in the 2 runs.

Bluefield Blue Jays (Appalachian League)

Mother nature must want the Blue Jays to have a break as their double header against the Yankees is rained out for the second straight day. The will look to resume the series Saturday and attempt the double header again.