April 8 Minor League Report

Buffalo Bisons (3-2)

Another brand new AAA pitcher struggled off the top of the game tonight in Buffalo as the Bisons lost the first game of their series with the former Blue Jays affiliate Syracuse Chiefs 8-1.  Monday night it was Casey Lawrence, making only his fourth appearance above Single-A, and his first in Triple-A, having a rough start to the night but ended up making it through four innings, giving up six runs (five of them earned) on ten hits and two walks while striking out three.  Again, the defense let down their young pitcher with both SS Ryan Goins and LF Ryan Langerhans committing errors in the four-run first inning.  Buddy Carlyle also struggled in his two innings of relief until Alex Hinshaw and Neil Wagner were able to combine to pitch the final three innings without giving up any more runs.

The offense was very sluggish tonight, as Daniel Rosenbaum, ranked by Baseball America as Washington’s 23^rd highest ranked prospect from 2012, stifled the Bisons’ bats.  The Chiefs’ pitching staff scattered eight Buffalo hits, only allowing Eugenio Velez to score on a ground ball out by Mike McCoy for the only run.

Hitting:

Mike McCoy – 2/5, RBI

Anthony Gose – 0/4, BB

Moises Sierra – 1/2, 2 BB, K

Luis Jimenez – 1/4, K

Andy Laroche – 0/4, K

Ryan Langerhans – 1/2, 2 BB, K, E

Mike Nickeas – 0/4, 2K

Eugenio Velez – 2/4, R, 2B

Ryan Goins – 1/4, K, E

Pitching:

Casey Lawrence – L, 4 IP, 10 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 3 K

Buddy Carlyle – 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Alex Hinshaw – 2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Neil Wagner – 1 IP, 1 H

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Eugenio Velez

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (3-2)

Big first and eighth innings by the Fisher Cats gave them the victory in their opening game of their series with the Trenton Thunder 15-7 on Monday.  Starter Ryan Tepera had a great run through five innings, only giving up a solo home run to Tyler Austin (MLB.com’s #3 Yankees prospect for 2013) in the top of the first.  However, Tepera ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up another HR to Walter Ibarra followed by a walk to lead off the inning.  Unfortunately, Randy Boone couldn’t stop the bleeding, giving up another four runs (only one earned) before being relieved by Tommy Hottovy who, despite not being charged with any runs himself, allowed two of Boone’s runs to score.  Joel Carreno came out to finish the game for the Fisher Cats, striking out all three batters he faced.

Fortunately for the Cats, the offense was clicking on all cylinders tonight.  Aside from being extraordinarily patient with Thunder pitchers, taking thirteen walks on the night, they slugged their way to two huge innings scoring five in the first and six in the eighth.  While none of the hitters went yard, they hit six doubles and every starter contributed with at least one hit and one run scored.  Only Kenny Wilson and Ricardo Nanita failed to drive in a run, but each scored multiple times and both stole a base.

Hitting:

Kenny Wilson – 2/5, 3 R, BB, K, SB

Kevin Pillar – 1/4, 2 R, RBI, BB, CS, PO

Ryan Schimpf – 1/3, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, K

Clint Robinson – 3/5, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB, K

Kevin Nolan – 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI

Ricardo Nanita – 2/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB, SB

Brad Glenn – 1/2, R, 2B, @ RBI, 3 BB, K

Sean Ochinko – 1/4, R, 2B, 4 RBI, BB

John Tolisano – 1/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI

Pitching:

Ryan Tepera – W, 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR

Randy Boone – 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

Tommy Hottovy – 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Joel Carreno – 1 IP, 3 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game: Clint Robinson

Lansing Lugnuts (3-2)

19-year-old top-5 prospect Daniel Norris got into trouble early and broke the string of outstanding starts by Lansing pitchers as they fell to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay’s Midwest League affiliate) 4-3.  Norris gave up two runs before he could even gather himself on a single, a triple and a ground out and then  struggled with his control, throwing a wild pitch and walking a batter before getting out of the seven-batter first inning.  He improved in the second, giving up three singles and another run, but got some help from his defense and shut the Hot Rods down, giving up only one base runner over his final five batters.  Except for the one run that Bowling Green scored in the bottom of the sixth (the winning run), the Lansing relief corps was strong, giving up that run (unearned) off one hit and two walks over the final five innings of baseball while striking out six batters. 

The offense only managed seven hits and concentrated all their scoring into the sixth inning.  The big shot was Gustavo Pierre’s two-run HR off Eduar Quinonez that tied up the game at three, but unfortunately the Lugnuts couldn’t add anymore to tie or win the game.

Hitting:

Dalton Pompey – 1/4, R, 2 K, OF Assist

Gustavo Pierre – 1/4, R, HR, 2 RBI, K

Kellen Sweeney – 1/4, K, E

Balbino Fuenmayor –0/4, 4 K

Chris Hawkins – 1/4, K, CS

Santiago Nessy – 1/3, 2B, K, 2 PB, 3 Stolen Bases Against (SBA)

Carlos Ramirez – 1/3, R, K

Emilio Guererro – 1/3, K

Ronald Melendez – 0/3, RBI, PO

Pitching:

Daniel Norris – 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB 0 K

Wil Browning – L, 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 K

Tucker Donahue – 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 K

Chuck Ghysels – 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K

Blue Jays from Away Player of the Game:  Gustavo Pierre