Blue Jays MiLB Recap- Bad weather go away

Jays Journal takes its daily look into the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League system. Terrible cold and snowy weather ruin the Bisons season opener.

Buffalo Bisons at Rochester Red Wings (Twins)
Postponed due to snow

Joe Biagini and The Bisons have there Opening Day bout with the Rochester Red Wings pushed back hopefully just one day due to snowy weather. The Bisons and Wings will look to kick off the season at 3 PM here in Rochester, NY. No snow so far today but the temperature is still crazy cold for what is supposed to be “Spring”.

The snow day did not stop the Bisons from making moves though. Darnell Sweeney was signed to a Minor League deal and was assigned to the Bisons. The 27-year-old outfielder has had a nice Minor League career but has yet to have a chance to show it off at the MLB level. In 686 MiLB games, he is batting .271 with 152 stolen bases. This past season he batted .266 while spending a brief stint in the Pacific Coast League before settling in for the majority of the season in the International League. He has played in 37 games with the Phillies in the Majors and had a rough .176 batting average but showed some excellent pop with four doubles, a triple, and three homers in the call-up.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)
4-3 Win

The Cats and Goats needed extra innings to figure out a victor in the cold Friday evening. It was warmer than the Opening Day game but 45 degrees Fahrenheit is not much of a big difference. The Cats starter Jordan Romano was great in his Double-A debut. He pitched five innings and allowed just four hits. The two earned runs he allowed came off of a pair of home runs to Yard Goats hitters. He struck out six and walked just one batter in the stellar outing. The bullpen held the Goats in check until the 11th where an error would score a run but it was not enough to overtake the Cats. The combined efforts of Danny Young, Andrew Case, Zach Jackson, and Conor Fisk allowed for the extra-inning win.

On offense, the Lourdes Gurriel show continues as he went 3-5 in this one a day after he had three RBIs and a pair of doubles. Gurriel drove in a pair Friday and scored a run. His two singles and a triple supplied the main offense in this Cats victory. The triple put the Cats up in the 11th and Gurriel later scored that inning on a Cavan Biggio double. Biggio went 2-5 with a pair of doubles along with the critical game-deciding RBI. Bo Bichette had a pair of hits and scored a run. He also stole two bases as he settles into the Cats leadoff spot.

Nick Tepesch will look to make it three in a row to start the season as he and the Fisher Cats take on the Yard Goats.

MVFC – Lourdes Gurriel 3-5 with a double, a run scored, and 2 RBI

Dunedin Blue Jays at Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)
0-8 Loss

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The D-Jays pitchers got beat up on Friday afternoon and the offense could not find a way to solve Adonis Medina of the Threshers. Medina mowed through the D-Jays hitters for 5.1 innings and allowed 5 hits but no clutch ones as he held them scoreless. Joshua Palacios and Bradley Jones had a pair of hits each but were unable to find their way home. The D-Jays had seven singles for their hits and a pair of walks. They went 0-6 with runners in scoring position but were unable to find that clutch extra-base hit to get into this one.

Tayler Saucedo had the start for the D-Jays and was beaten by the long ball. Three solo home runs for the Threshers while Saucedo was on the bump. To Saucedo’s credit, those were the only three hits he allowed and he walked one batter. This is still a solid outing for him regardless and he struck out five. Juliandry Higuera allowed the floodgates to open as he allowed three runs in his inning of work. Connor Eller and Nick Hartman were unable to stop the bleeding as they also allowed a run each. The Threshers bats were just too much for the D-Jays Friday evening.

Patrick Murphy will look to get the D-Jays back on track Saturday evening against the Threshers. Murphy was phenomenal in his 88 innings with the Lugnuts last season. He sported a 2.94 ERA in 15 starts. He will hope to pick things up where he left off in his first outing with the D-Jays this season.

MVDJ – Joshua Palacios 2-4

Lansing Lugnuts at Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers)
Postponed – Inclement Weather

The second game of the season was canceled for the Lugnuts. It would have been nice to keep things going for the Lugnuts after a 12-1 rout against the Loons on opening day but the weather is usually pretty gross to start the baseball season in April. The Lugnuts travel back to Lansing to take on the Loons in the home half of the split series. The Lugnuts are trying to get some fans to come out and brave the cold with an awesome promotion. The first 1,000 fans that react the ballpark will get tickets for 35 cents! Yes, you did indeed read that right. They are offering this promo for 35 cents because that is the forecasted temperature for today in Lansing for the Home Opener. Zach Logue will be throwing the first pitch at, Cooley Law School Stadium, the home of the Lugnuts at 5:35 PM.

Next: Blue Jays: Marco Estrada dominates in wild win