MiLB Recap May 17th 2016

[King]

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Wade LeBlanc

 

For seven innings, Tuesday's game at Coca-Cola field lived up to the storyline coming in -- a battle between two of the International League's best starters.

 

But, unfortunately for the Bisons, the final act ended with the Mud Hens scoring six times off of Herd relievers, allowing Toledo to take the contest 7-1.

 

With the game tied 1-1, Bo Schultz came on to start the eighth and hit 97 miles per hour repeatedly on the radar gun but struggled with his control.

 

The 6-foot-3 righty issued a walk to Chad Huffman, then followed up the free pass with a wild pitch, two singles and a double. The three-spot effort was enough for Schultz, working his way through a rehab stint for the Blue Jays, to take the loss as the Mud Hens went up 4-1.

 

Bobby Korecky came on and got the Herd out of the frame but then ran into trouble of his own in the ninth.

 

Dixon Machado led off the inning with a double high off of the wall in left-center field. Toledo surrounded a strike out with three more singles and an RBI groundout to push their lead to 7-1.

 

Living up to his side of the initial billing, Wade LeBlanc continued his dominant 2016 campaign. The left-hander from Louisiana threw 6.1 innings, struck out six while giving up a lone, unearned run.

 

"There's some situations where you look for a strikeout, but for the most part you just look for early outs. You try to get outs on three pitches or less and try to keep the ball off the sweet spot," said LeBlanc of using his full barrage of pitches.

 

"Strikeouts happen if you're aggressive in the zone."

 

The 31-year-old has now gone three consecutive starts without allowing an earned run.

 

LeBlanc's counterpart, Thad Weber, matched his effort, surrenduring just one unearned run. The former Bison picked up his fifth win, spreading six hits around 7.1 innings of work while punching out a pair.

 

"He's had good year so far," noted manager Gary Allenson of Toledo's hurler.

 

"He did to the same thing to our hitters that Wade did to theirs. He kept everybody off balance."

 

Buffalo's only run came in the first inning on a booted ball by shortstop Dixon Machado off of the bat of Matt Dominguez, allowing Alexi Casilla, single and swiped two bags, to scamper home from third.

 

The Bisons, now 18-21, haven't scored more than four runs in their last 12 games.

 

BISONS NOTES:

Wade LeBlanc has struck out at least six batters in each of his last seven starts…With his two stolen bases in the first, Alexi Casilla became the first member of the Herd to steal multiple bases in a game this season…Dalton Pompey extended his hit streak to nine games…Casey Kotchman now leads all batters with the lowest strikeout rate in the International League, averaging more than 17 plate appearances per punch-out.

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PORTLAND, MAINE - The New Hampshire Fisher Cats rallied in the top of the ninth but came up short Tuesday night, losing 5-3 to the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field.

 

The Fisher Cats (18-19) dropped their second straight game after ripping off a seven-game winning streak, falling a game below .500. The Sea Dogs (15-25) won their second straight, and are poised to repay the Fisher Cats for a sweep at New Hampshire's hands last week. The Fisher Cats bullpen allowed runs to score for the first time since May 8.

 

New Hampshire assumed the early lead in the top of the first against Portland starter Keith Couch (W, 2-0). Roemon Fields dropped down a bunt for a base hit to lead things off, swiped second, and then moved up to third on a fly out by Jon Berti. Dwight Smith, Jr. hit a high chopper for an RBI groundout, plating Fields and making it 1-0 New Hampshire.

 

Portland struck back in the bottom of the third against New Hampshire starting pitcher John Anderson (L, 2-4). Tzu-Wei Lin cracked a one-out single, and moved to second on a walk drawn by Sean Coyle. Andrew Benintendi then laced a single up the middle to score Lin, knotting things up at 1-1.

 

The Sea Dogs surged ahead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, Coyle banged a double off the Maine Monster in left, and Benintendi smashed one of his own off the right-center field wall to score Coyle. Nate Freiman then sliced a two-bagger up the third-base line, plating Benintendi and extending Portland's lead to 3-1.

 

In the seventh, Portland rudely welcomed new reliever John Stilson. Lin singled to lead things off, and Henry Ramos punched his own base hit through the right side of the infield. Stilson plunked Coyle to load the bases with no outs. With Benintendi at the plate, Stilson fired a wild pitch, scoring Lin. After he fanned Benintendi, Stilson allowed Freiman to hit a sacrifice fly that brought in Ramos to make it 5-1 in favor of Portland.

 

New Hampshire made some noise in the top of the ninth against Portland reliever Simon Mercedes. With two outs, K.C. Hobson drew a walk, and Jorge Saez blasted a fastball over the left-field fence for a two-run homer. It was Saez's first homer at the Double-A level, and it trimmed Portland's lead to 5-3. However, Ian Parmley bounced out in the next at-bat, ending the game.

 

Anderson was the hard-luck loser, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings of action. He struck out one. Stinson surrendered two runs on two hits while fanning two in his only inning of work. Daniel Schlereth fired a perfect frame of relief with two strikeouts for New Hampshire.

 

The Fisher Cats will try to avoid being swept Wednesday night in the series finale against Portland. Righty Jason Bergen takes the hill for New Hampshire against Portland right-hander Justin Haley. First pitch is at 6:00 p.m., and Ben Gellman has the call starting at 5:45 p.m. on the Fisher Cats Radio Network.

 

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Francisco Rios

 

DUNEDIN, FL - RHP Francisco Rios (W, 1-1) struck out six Miracle hitters over seven innings to give the Dunedin Blue Jays (16-23) a 4-0 win over the Fort Myers Miracle (22-17). Rehabber DH Devon Travis knocked in three of the four Blue Jay runs in the game.

 

Rios battled all day long on an education day with LHP Tyler Jay (L, 3-3) and left the game with a 1-0 lead. Jay struck out six over six innings but gave up the first run of the game when he walked Travis in the fifth inning with the bases loaded.

 

Three more Jays' runs scored in the seventh inning off reliever RHP John Curtiss. After a pair of leadoff walks, Travis pulled a double down the left field line, scoring a pair. RF Derrick Loveless added an RBI-triple to get to the eventual final of 4-0.

 

Rios was backed by the rehabbing pitcher LHP Aaron Loup and RHP Carlos Ramirez (S, 3). Loup walked a pair of hitters in his 0.2 innings while Ramirez locked down a four-out save. Rios' outing was the longest of the season for any Blue Jays' starter, and he gave up just two hits in the process.

 

In total, the 11 am start took just two hours and six minutes to play. The series moves back to a 6:30 pm start on Wednesday with RHP Kyle Westwood battling against RHP Keaton Steele.

 

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Juan Kelly

 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Brad Zunica's three-run sixth-inning double lifted the Fort Wayne TinCaps (20-18) to a nail-biting, series-opening 4-3 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts (18-17) on Tuesday night at Parkview Field.

 

The Lugnuts twice threatened to tie the game in the late-going, only to see Gunnar Heidt thrown out at the plate to end the seventh and Lane Thomas stranded at third in the ninth.

 

Every Lansing starter collected precisely one hit in the game, including the third home run of the season for Juan Kelly.

 

Kelly's home run tied the game at 1-1 against Fort Wayne starter J.C. Cosme in the fourth, and Heidt singled in Aaron Attaway for a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

 

With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the sixth, TinCaps catcher Austin Allen sparked a rally with a bloop single to center field against Lugnuts starter Tayler Saucedo (Loss, 1-5). Carlos Belen doubled him to third, and Michael Gettys drew a four-pitch walk. That brought up Zunica, who swatted the first pitch he saw off the center field wall, cleaning the bases and putting Fort Wayne up 4-2.

 

The Lugnuts promptly mounted a response in their next at-bat, placing Carl Wise at third and Heidt at second with two outs and leading RBI-man Andrew Guillotte at the plate. Guillotte served a single to left, bringing in Wise. Heidt attempted to score as well, but left fielder Rod Boykin threw him out.

 

In the ninth, facing Trey Wingenter (Save, 1), Thomas led off with a single to right field, moved to second on a Josh Almonte sacrifice and granted third on a balk. But Wingenter stiffened, striking out Wise and retiring Attaway on a grounder to first to end the game.

 

Fort Wayne reliever Emmanuel Ramirez (Win, 1-0) pitched the sixth and seventh innings to record the victory.

 

In defeat, Tayler Saucedo lasted 6 2/3 innings, the longest start for a Lugnut in 2016, allowing five hits and four runs, walking three and striking out four.

 

The Lugnuts send right-hander Jon Harris (2-0, 1.45) to the mound for the second game of the three-game series, an 11:05 a.m. start on Wednesday. Fort Wayne counters with left-hander Logan Allen (2-2, 2.74).

 

The Lugnuts return home for a three-game series against Fort Wayne stretching from Tuesday, May 24th, through Thursday, May 25th. To purchase tickets or for more information, stop by the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, call (517) 485-4500 or visit lansinglugnuts.com.

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Kings 3 Stars of the Night

 

1) Francisco Rios: The Mexican RHP was dominant yet again in his 2nd High A start, tossing 7 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts.

 

Bill Christie ‏@billsportsnews 11h11 hours ago Dunedin, FL

@DunedinBlueJays #BlueJays Francisco Rios impressive through 5, good mechanics, good location, pretty good slider

 

2) Devon Travis: Travis continued to make his case to show he's healthy going 2/3 with a double, walk.

 

3) Jorge Saez: Saez went 2/4 with his first home run in AA.

 

 

Honourable Mention to Anthony Alford, who went 1/3 with a walk, a couple of hard hit balls and an outfield assist. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

 

Bill Christie ‏@billsportsnews 11h11 hours ago Dunedin, FL

@DunedinBlueJays #BlueJays Anthony Alford with 2 hard hit balls today plus 2 Outfield assists in back to back games

 

Bill Christie ‏@billsportsnews 11h11 hours ago Dunedin, FL

Alfords working hard at driving the ball to RF which may be contributing to his early struggles

 

 

Kings Platinum Arencibia:

1) Jio Mier: Mier went 0/3 with a strikeout and 2 throwing errors.

[burlingtonbandit]

Nice to see Travis perform well. Hopefully it ignites the team when he's called up. Alford didn't strike out either so thats a plus.

[crazy47larry]

always nice to see our depth bullpen guys like Loup & Schultz getting hammered

[bones10]

Looks like Pompey is on a tear.... I wonder if we will see him up at the big leagues considering the Jays recent woes.

[fireballW]

Saunders, Pillar and Bautista aren't going to be taken out of the lineup.

[Belliss101]

Trade Edwin (maybe he waves his 10/5), Jose DH, call up Pompey

 

I can always dream