Blue Jays MiLB recap – Vlad’s on fire!

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system. A red hot Vlad and Reese McGuire are raking with their teams. Pitchers duels, double headers, and power throughout the system.

Buffalo Bisons vs Gwinnett Braves
0-1 Loss

The bats were quiet on all fronts during super hero day at the ball park. The Bisons just could not solve the riddle by the opposing pitchers to get into the game. They had just one hit by Luiz Gohara and company off the Braves. Dwight Smith Jr. collected the team’s only hit. The offense had been stampeding along coming into this game but they ran into an immovable force on the mound to ruin the fun. Roemon Fields made a miraculous catch in center during this one and the clip can be seen below.

On the mound Brett Anderson made his Bison debut and was rather impressive. He pitched four innings and allowed just one run on three hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out one. Chad Girodo threw three solid innings of his own to keep the pitcher’s dual going. Chris Smith also pitched two innings and did not allow a hit. The one run allowed for the pitchers proved to be enough as the Bisons offense took the night off.

Luis Santos will get the ball for Sunday’s game against the Braves and will hope the offense finds there swing.

MVB – Chad Girodo 3 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 K’s

New Hampshire Fisher Cats vs Altoona Curve (Pirates)
Double Header

Game One 5-7 Loss

The Fisher Cats lost a rough one in game one of the double header as the offense did everything to stay alive in this, but the pitching struggled. Sean Reid-Foley battled through another tough outing and threw 5.1 innings but got tagged for 11 hits which included a 2-run homer to Jerrick Suiter. He would surrender six earned runs while walking three batters and striking out five. Dusty Isaacs followed and would be credited a blown save for his 1.2 innings of work. He allowed one run on two hits but struck out three batters.

Reese McGuire

continues to show some late season power as he hit his 5th home run of the season. The solo home run was his 3rd home run in as many days. He is batting .364 over his last ten games and has a hit in all but two of those games.

Jonathan Davis

and

Richard Urena

continue to be a solid pairing at the top of the Cats’ lineup. Davis tripled in a run and also scored a run. Urena went 2-4 with a double and an RBI.

Emilio Guerrero

has taken over the first base position and in previous weeks and had settled in nicely. He went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored.

MVFC – Reese McGuire 2-2 with a solo home run and 2 walks

Game Two 5-1 Win

The Fisher Cats had more luck in game two of the double header and were able to pull off a win to take the split. They jumped off to a early lead in the first on a Lourdes Gurriel 2-run bomb. The homer was Gurriel’s 3rd since joining the Fisher Cats. He picked up the offense in a very impressive performance in which he went 2-2 with three runs scored and a double to go with the homer. Emilio Guerrero picked up up a pair of RBI while going 2-3 at the plate. Anthony Alford went 1-3 with a run scored and stole his 13th base.

On the mound

Conner Greene

recaptured his early season form that made him an All-Star. He threw five innings and allowed just one run on four hits. This is the kind of performance you want to end a season on. He will look to continue this success as the season winds down. Daniel Young and

Andrew Case

were able to hold the lead and not allow any runs in the final two innings.

Ryan Borucki

will look to continue his incredible Double A start on Sunday against the Curve. Through five starts and 33.1 innings his ERA is at a very respectable 2.16.

MVFC – Lourdes Gurriel 2-2 with a double, a home run, 3 runs scored, and 2 RBI

Dunedin Blue Jays at St. Lucie Mets
3-6 Loss

Another night, another Vlad Guerrero Jr. home run as the youngster continues his assault on Minor League pitching. He has now homered in his last three games with another solo bomb on Saturday. He also had another multi-hit game as he went 2-4. He now has multi-hit performances in four of his last five games. Juan Kelly and Edward Olivares had a hit each and drove in a run. Michael De La Cruz had a pair of hits and scored a run. The catcher also stole his 2nd base of the season.

John Straka battled on the mound but would surrender three earned runs. He allowed six hits while striking out four and not walking anyone. Dan Lietz came on in relief and allowed two more runs to give the Mets the lead. Zach Jackson and Bobby Eveld pitched a shutout inning each to keep things close but the D-Jays did not have a rally in them Saturday.

Jordan Romano will get the ball Sunday and hope to pick up where he left off in his last start. He threw five innings allowing just three hits and a pair of runs. He also struck out six during a great performance.

MVDJ – Vlad Guerrero Jr. 2-4 with a double, a home run, a run scored, and an RBI

Lansing Lugnuts vs South Bend Cubs
3-5 Loss

The Lugnuts let one slip away from them on Saturday. A late inning rally from the Cubs broke up the tie and left the Lugnuts with the loss. Mike Ellenbest had a nice start and really just had a bad inning. After throwing three shut out innings the Cubs got to Ellenbest for three runs. He would pitch 5.2 innings and allow only those three runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three batters as well. Jared Carkuff would take the loss after allowing the two runs to the Cubs. Nick Hartman pitched a 1-2-3 inning.

Joshua Palacios continues to charge at the plate in the late season. He went 2-3 with a run scored and the teams only RBI. The Lugnuts benefited from some miss steps by the Cubs defense for the other two runs. Yeltsin Gudino also had a pair of hits and scored a run. Nick Sinay went 2-3 with a run scored and picked up his 18th and 19th stolen bases of the season. The Lugnuts had eleven hits on the night but were unable to string it together to get from station to station. They went 4-13 with runners in scoring position which shows this game could have been a ton different. There just was not enough wizardry with the bats on Harry Potter night at the ballpark.

Andy Ravel will get the start on Sunday against the Cubbies. Ravel will look to extend and see if he can get past the 4th inning in this start. He pitched well in that last outing but allowed three runs of four hits.

MVL – Joshua Palacios 2-3 with two walks, a run scored, and an RBI

Next: Koehler joins the Jays after trade with Marlins