Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Buffalo Rides Fireworks to a Win

[Brian Labude]

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (July 23-24)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals): 2-2
Season Record: 48-52

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees): 1-3
Season Record: 46-46

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks): 1-3
Season Record: 41-53

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates): 3-0
Season Record: 44-47

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 2-0
Season Record: 38-20

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 1-2
Season Record: 16-22

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 3-0
Season Record: 20-17

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 48-52
• Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals)

July 23: On Thursday, Buffalo sent Richard Gallardo to the mound, and he rewarded them with an excellent start. Gallardo threw four scoreless innings, struck out six, walked just one, and gave up three hits. He gave the Buffalo bats a great chance to get ahead early and get a win. Buffalo's lineup did at least half of that, as they took the lead 1-0 in the third inning with Josh Kasevich scoring on a wild pitch. After a Brady House triple scored two runs for Rochester, Buffalo answered in the fifth inning by scoring a run on Ismael Munguia's bases-loaded walk. Devereaux Harrison pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to help keep the game all square at two and send it into extra innings. In the additional frames, Rochester scored three, while Buffalo didn't score any. Sean Keys ended the game by striking out. Buffalo fell 5-2 in a game that really never felt like they were in control. 

July 24: After a lackluster showing on Thursday, Buffalo's bats came to play Friday night. Not only did Buffalo tally 11 hits in the game, they swatted five home runs and would need every one of them, as the game was a close one. After a sacrifice fly by Charles McAdoo in the first inning, Daz Cameron laid into an 88 mph fastball and obliterated it, 107.4 mph off the bat, and it went 440 feet. CJ Stubbs and Carlos Mendoza went back-to-back to start the second inning. The solo home runs gave Buffalo a 5-0 lead at the time. In the third inning, Je'Von Ward got into the home run party, smacking his tenth long ball of the season, a solo blast to right. Buffalo's starting pitcher (Grant Rogers) and bullpen arm (Chase Lee) would combine to cough up six runs themselves, leaving the game tied. Josh Kasevich would score the last run of the game on a solo home run in the eighth inning. It was his fourth of the season, and he ended the day going 3-for-4, raising his batting average to .307. He looks ready for a call-up to the major leagues when the need should arise. Buffalo won this game 7-6 on the backs of five home runs and a lot of fireworks!

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 46-46
• Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees)

July 23, Game 1: In the first game of the Thursday doubleheader, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats started in a hole and could never climb out. DJ Gladney started things in the first inning for Somerset with a two-run home run. Arjun Nimmala answered with a home run in the third for the Fisher Cats. Somerset would go on to score seven straight runs from that point. Owen Cobb had two RBI singles in that span, and Gladney added an RBI single. Two errors also allowed runs to score. Eddie Micheletti Jr. would break the scoring run for Somerset when he hit a low line drive home run to right field, scoring two more for New Hampshire. It wasn't enough, though, as the Fisher Cats fell 9-3. 

July 23, Game 2: Game 2 of the doubleheader had more promise for New Hampshire with Gage Stanifer on the mound. Things went about the same though overall. Stanifer would walk Jace Avina, who then scored after a groundout moved him to second and a single brought him home. The second inning was better for Stanifer, just allowing a single. Cutter Coffey would hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. The third inning was the best for Stanifer, who walked Avina again, but then got the next three batters via a strikeout. In the fourth, a run scored on a soft shallow fly ball after a leadoff double for Somerset. In the fifth, Stanifer walked another batter after a long battle and ended up hanging a slider for a two-run home run. He would strike out two more batters as well. On the day, he went five innings, gave up five hits, struck out seven, walked four, and gave up four runs. In the sixth, Somerset got two more home runs to take a big lead again. New Hampshire would lose this one 8-3. 

July 24: In the Friday matchup between New Hampshire and Somerset, things were again bad for the New Hampshire pitchers. They would give up just five runs, but allowed 15 hits on the day. Somerset took a two-run lead in the second and third innings, from a Jace Avina home run and a sacrifice fly. Dub Gleed would launch a home run to tie the game in the sixth inning to tie things up. In the ninth, things got interesting. Somerset scored three runs on two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly. New Hampshire put a comeback together in the bottom of the ninth, though. Victor Arias drove in a run with an RBI groundout to short and was followed by an RBI single by Cade Doughty. After a walk to load the bases, Aaron Parker came up to the plate and went down swinging. That left Eddie Micheletti Jr. as the last chance, but he roped a line drive to center field that was caught for the final out. New Hampshire lost 5-4. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 41-53
• Series vs Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks)

July 23: Holden Wilkerson was on the mound for Vancouver on Thursday and struggled a lot with his command. He walked four batters and coughed up five hits, leading to four runs in the first four innings of the game. His outing would not be a long one, as he was pulled in the fourth inning. Vancouver was at least in a decent position after the fourth; they scored four runs in the first two innings of the game. Peyton Williams started the scoring with an RBI double that brought home J.R. Freethy in the first inning. Tucker Toman would then single to bring in Williams. Sacrifice flies by both Ryan Sprock and Williams would give Vancouver a 4-1 lead after the second inning. In the sixth, Sprock grounded into a double play, which would score Maddox Latta and give Vancouver the 5-4 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Hillsboro tied the game up at five with an RBI single. All was still square until the eighth inning, when Hillsboro launched a three-run home run off of Carson Myers. It would give Hillsboro a three-run lead that they would hold until the end of the game. Vancouver fell 8-5. 

July 24: Friday didn't bring much luck to Vancouver, as their starting pitcher was again a bit wild early in the game. Troy Guthrie walked two in the first two innings, and both came around to score: one in the first inning that scored on a two-run home run and one in the second on an RBI single. Vancouver was in a 4-0 hole quickly, but Guthrie locked in after the second inning. He would throw four more innings and not give up any more runs. During that span, Vancouver cut into the Hillsboro lead. Jake Casey singled home Ryan Sprock in the third inning, and Alexis Hernandez singled home a run in the fifth. Hernandez repeated the feat in the seventh, singling home another run and cutting the deficit to one. Unfortunately for Vancouver, the bullpen imploded in the eighth, giving up four runs highlighted by a three-run home run. Vancouver fell 8-4. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 44-47
• Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates)

July 23: The Thursday game between Dunedin and Bradenton was a rain-shortened one, but it still had its big moments. Daniel Guerra was on the mound, continuing his rehab back up to High A. He was fantastic on the day, going 3.1 innings, allowing just one hit, surrendering just one walk, striking out five, and not giving up a run. He mostly used his fastball and cutter on the day, slowly building up his pitch count and pitch usage again. The fastball was great, sitting 96 and 97 mph most of the time and touching 98 mph. Offensively, JoJo Parker had an opposite-field single for an RBI in the fifth inning, and Jake Cook homered to right field before the rain hit in the seventh inning. Blaine Bullard added a single for Dunedin. There were only five combined hits in the short game, but Dunedin did enough to get the win, 2-0. 

July 24: Postponed

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 38-20

July 23: The Thursday game between the FCL Blue Jays and FCL Phillies was the final one of the regular season, and it was a standout game for Angel Guzman along with Andres Arias. In the first inning, both Guzman and Arias homered to give the Blue Jays a two-run lead. In the third inning, Arias brought home Guzman, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Pascual Archila doubled to score Arias, then Max Viera tripled to bring in Archila. Guzman would walk and steal second base in the fifth inning, adding to his big game. Brandon Barriera started the game for the Blue Jays and set the tone on the mound, going 2.1 innings and allowing no hits, with just two walks, striking out four in his rehab appearance. The Blue Jays finished the regular season with a big victory, winning 8-1. 

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 16-22

July 23: Thursday was a rough day all around for BJB. Their pitchers surrendered 10 walks, 12 hits, and 14 runs. At the plate, it was a little better, but not a whole lot. Down 13-0 in the fifth inning, their lineup finally started to show some life. Cristopher Polanco drew a bases-loaded walk, Sebastian Casanova hit a ball to center for a sacrifice fly, and Juan Caricote matched him with a sacrifice fly as well. They scored three runs in the inning without a base hit. Isay Veras added two runs for BJB in the seventh, with a single to right that scored Casanova and Michael Mesa. It was all BJB could do, though, as they fell 14-5. 

July 24: On Friday, Kenyer Navarro was on the mound for BJB, and he kept the game close for the bats to try to score some runs and get a bounce-back win. Navarro threw five innings, only gave up two runs, but didn't register any strikeouts. Sebastian Rodriguez came on in relief of Navarro and held the DSL Twins down, throwing two scoreless innings. Despite the good pitching efforts, BJB was down 2-0 in the sixth, where they finally broke through and scored a run when Cristopher Polanco crossed home on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Polanco drew a bases-loaded walk and tied the game up at two. Sebastian Casanova then also drew a bases-loaded walk, giving BJB a walk-off win. BJB won 3-2, in a game in which they scored three runs and didn't put the ball in play to plate any of them.  

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 20-17

July 23: BJR had a whirlwind of a game on Thursday against the Tigers 1 team. BJR took the lead in the first inning when Luis Nunez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. After surrendering the lead, BJR took it back in the third on Darwin Núñez's RBI single and Nunez's sacrifice fly. They added to their lead in the fourth when Frelian Flores scored on a wild pitch and Gabriel Porras knocked in Alex Linares on a single to center. BJR's bullpen then imploded and coughed up seven runs in the top of the seventh, leaving them in an 8-5 hole. In the bottom half of the inning, an RBI groundout by Flores, a bases-loaded walk by Porras, and a sacrifice fly by Aneudi Severino tied the game up at eight and sent it into extra innings. Núñez would be the hero of the game, getting an RBI single to give BJR the walk-off 9-8 win. 

July 24: Friday's game for BJR was most uneventful until the last couple of innings. Aneudi Severino started off the sixth inning for BJR with some fireworks. He smoked a ball over the left field fence for a three-run home run, giving BJR the late lead. Arizona's Black team answered in the bottom half of the inning when they scored on a bases-loaded walk. In the top of the seventh, BJR broke it open, scoring four runs, highlighted by Luis Nunez's RBI single to center and Elian Reyes’ RBI double to right. BJR won going away late, 8-1.

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