Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Fisher Cats Score 10 Runs on One Hit in a Single Inning

[Simon Li]

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 7-April 8)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs. Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 2-0
Season Record: 5-6

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 2-0
Season Record: 3-1

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 0-2
Season Record: 0-5

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets): 0-0
Season Record: 1-2

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 5-6
• Series Opponent: Syracuse Mets (New York Mets)

April 7: Postponed

April 8, Game 1: In game one of the doubleheader, pitching reigned supreme, as temperatures remained frigid and not hitter-friendly. The Buffalo Bisons had Grant Rogers on the bump to start, and he worked around a few walks and a few singles to blank the Mets for four innings. In the first, he induced a groundball for a double play and then worked the edges of the zone to get Vidal Brujan to strikeout looking with two men on. In the second, he again managed to get a double play ball after allowing a walk; this time, it was on a slider down and out of the zone. He ended the third inning by striking out Ryan Clifford on a face-high fastball (89.6 mph). Despite his shorter outing, he worked on the edges of the strike zone to most of the batters and allowed the cold temperatures to aid him with weak contact. The Bisons did little with their bats as well, only collecting three hits in the game and scoring two runs. The first came on an RBI groundout from Riley Tirotta in the second, and the other scored in the third when Carlos Mendoza scored on a fielding error by the Mets’ third baseman. Buffalo was shut down for the final four innings, only getting one baserunner on a walk. After a recent demotion from the major league team, Brendon Little came into the game in relief of Rogers and had a relatively clean inning. Jackson Cluff popped up, Little walked CJ Stubbs, and then got Yonny Hernández to roll over on a sinker down and out of the zone for a double play. Chase Lee came in for Little and worked the final two innings with relative ease, only allowing two hits and striking out two. The Bisons took game one of the doubleheader 2-0. 

April 8, Game 2: Game two of the doubleheader was an all-around excellent game for the Bisons. They didn't get many hits, only two, but they were timely and all of the damage needed for the pitching staff to secure the win for Buffalo. Rafael Lantigua and Yohendrick Pinango both hit two-run home runs, their second of the season, to power the offense. Lantigua's home run came in the first on a changeup right down the middle. Pinango took a sweeper inside over the fence for his home run; the ball came off the bat at 97.3 mph, had a launch angle of 24 degrees, and only went 349 feet. The four runs were just enough, as the Buffalo pitchers got 15 of the 21 outs in the game via strikeouts. Yariel Rodríguez racked up six of those strikeouts, while Brendan Cellucci had five. Celluci has been really good in his two appearances this season, having pitched 3.2 innings and getting nine of those 11 outs from strikeouts. He might be someone who could come up and help the big league club if he continues to dominate like this. Buffalo grabbed the sweep of the doubleheader with a 4-3 win in game two. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 3-1
• Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox)

April 7: The New Hampshire Fisher Cats kicked off their series against the Portland Sea Dogs in a winning fashion, but it wasn't a pretty sight for the batters getting hits. New Hampshire and Portland combined for 12 runs on just a single hit by the end of the top of the second inning. Two hit-by-pitches, a couple of walks, and a sacrifice fly put Portland up by two in the first inning. In the top of the second, the Fisher Cats got eight walks, two hit-by-pitches, a sacrifice fly, and a single. That put 10 runs on the board in the half inning, with just one hit. In the bottom of the second inning, Portland walked three more times, followed by another sacrifice fly and an RBI double. Portland would tack on three more runs, but New Hampshire pulled this one out despite the lack of hits, winning 12-7. Sean Keys continued his hot start at Double-A, going 1-for-2, with two walks, a HBP, two RBI, and two runs scored. 

April 8: In the Wednesday game of the series, New Hampshire smashed their way to a big win again. This time, they actually used a multitude of hits on their way to 11 runs. Geovanny Planchart drove in two runs in the second inning with an RBI single. Eddie Micheletti Jr. and Jorge Burgos followed with RBI singles as well to make it 5-0. In the third, Je'Von Ward and Planchart added RBI singles to put the Fisher Cats up seven. Jace Bohrofen had the big hit of the game, launching a home run to right field in the fifth inning, giving New Hampshire a seven-run lead again. The Fisher Cats put up three more runs later in the game and ran away with this one, 11-3. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 0-5
• Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants)

April 7: Johnny King made his debut for the Canadians, but it was a mixed bag. There were definitely some first-start jitters for the young pitcher, as although he struck out three batters in just an inning, he was wild, giving up two walks and a hit, which led to him throwing 32 pitches in just the first inning. Because of the elevated pitch count, Holden Wilkerson relieved King in the second inning. Wilkerson pitched well, with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings, but gave up a homer in the fifth to put the Canadians down 3-0. The Canadians brought it within one after a clutch hit from Carter Cunningham, but Eminen Flores gave up a run off a sac fly. Cunningham brought it within one again with his first homer of the season, but the Canadians couldn’t score anything else. Dub Gleed also made his debut after coming from the Marlins org and had himself two hits and a walk. 

April 8: Austin Cates had an uncharacteristic start for Vancouver, as he went four innings but walked four batters and allowed six hits, which resulted in three earned runs, including a solo homer to former Dodgers top prospect Diego Cartaya. Aaron Munson came on in relief and gave up only one hit and a walk in three innings of work, while striking out five batters, to keep the score close. The Canadians' offense struggled to get going, however, as they weren’t able to get a run until the bottom of the eighth inning, when a throwing error put runners on the corners and let Alexis Hernandez drive in their first run of the game to bring it within two runs. Juanmi Vasquez was able to erase a runner on a fielder’s choice into a pickoff at first, but he was unable to get out of the inning unscathed, as he struggled with his command and allowed three hits in a row to let the Emeralds score another two runs. In the ninth inning, the Canadians showed some patience, with Maddox Latta walking then advancing on a balk, before Manuel Beltre drove him in with a single. However, they could not capitalize, as after Brennan Orf walked, Kendry Chirinos, Matt Scannell, and Hernandez all struck out as the potential tying runs at the plate. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 1-2
• Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets)

April 7 - Suspended Game

Jays Centre’s 18th-ranked prospect Brandon Barriera had his first start since going down with an elbow injury last season. Despite glowing reviews in the back fields, the poor conditions were hard on Barriera, as he only sat in the low 90s instead of the mid-90s as reported. His command also lagged, which happens with a lack of reps. He also didn’t generate any whiffs, but it was still nice to see him back in action after barely pitching since getting drafted. Dunedin got on the board first with Enmanuel Bonilla’s first hit in A-ball, but after Barriera gave up two runs in the bottom of the second, the game was suspended. It's set to finish on April 9. 

April 8 - Postponed

Transactions

04/07/26     OF Matt Scannell assigned to Vancouver Canadians from Dunedin Blue Jays.
04/07/26     RHP Austin Marozas assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats from Vancouver Canadians.
04/07/26     SS Dub Gleed assigned to Vancouver Canadians.

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