Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Bieber and Bloss Make Rehab Starts, Messina Debuts for Dunedin, and the DSL Teams Give Up Walk-Off Home Runs

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (June 11-12)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 3-1
Season Record: 31-36

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Hartford Yard Goat (Colorado Rockies): 1-3
Season Record: 30-29

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners): 3-1
Season Record: 26-35

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 2-2
Season Record: 27-34

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 0-2
Season Record: 20-9

DSL Blue Jays Blue
Week Record: 0-4
Season Record: 3-6

DSL Blue Jays Red
Week Record: 2-2
Season Record: 2-7

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 31-36
• Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets)

June 11: On Thursday, Shane Bieber made another rehab start for the Buffalo Bisons, and it was by far his best to date. He would make it through the fifth innings without giving up a run and put Buffalo in a great position to earn a win against Syracuse. While the outing didn't result in Bieber allowing a run, each inning did seem to get worse for him. In the first inning, Bieber was flawless, getting the Mets in order, 1-2-3. In the second, he allowed a single, but pitched around it. The next inning, he gave up a lead-off double, followed by a single. Je'Von Ward picked up his pitcher though, throwing out the runner at home and keeping the Mets off of the scoreboard. In the fourth, Bieber saw the Mets get a single and a stolen base, then Buffalo got the runner out on a fielder’s choice, before getting out of the inning. In his last inning, Bieber was again working around trouble, allowing a walk and a double, but getting a ground out to strand the runners at second and third base. The Buffalo bats were doing much less work than Syracuse's were, as they also put up a zero on the scoreboard by the end of the top of the fifth, but with much fewer threats. In the bottom half of the inning, Carlos Mendoza finally broke the scoring drought from both teams. He launched his third home run of the season, a two-run blast to left field that brought home Ryan McCarty, who had walked. Later in the inning, Jonatan Clase doubled home Sean Keys, who had reached on a single to center. Buffalo closed the game out with 2.1 scoreless innings from Chad Dallas. The Bisons won 3-1 and stopped the slide they have been on, which saw their record plummet to 30-36 following the win. 

June 12: Josh Fleming was on the mound Friday, and he had what was possibly the best start of any pitcher this season for Buffalo. He dominated the Syracuse Mets lineup for six innings; his only blemishes in the game were two singles in the third inning, which resulted in one run. Outside of those two hits, he was perfect on the day and even struck out eight batters. Despite his near perfection on the mound, he handed the ball to the bullpen with a no-decision. Je'Von Ward singled home Jonatan Clase in the bottom of the fourth. Sean Keys gave Buffalo the lead in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI double. Eloy Jiménez added to the lead by following Keys with an RBI single on a line drive to left. Carlos Mendoza added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice fly that scored William Simoneit. Buffalo turned to Brendon Little for the ninth, and he rewarded them with a 1-2-3 inning to earn the save and secure the win for, 4-1, for Buffalo. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 30-29
• Series vs Hartford Yard Goat (Colorado Rockies)

June 11: Jake Bloss got the start for New Hampshire as he continued working his way through the minor leagues on his rehab assignment. Hartford got to him quickly with Dylan Jorge hitting a double, and then he swiped third base, finishing off his trip around the bases with a steal of home. In the bottom of the second inning, a walk and a two-run home run from Zach Kokoska put Hartford up three. In the fifth, Roc Riggio doubled to give Hartford a four-run lead. New Hampshire finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh, when Victor Arias led off the inning with a monster line drive home run. He was quickly followed by Aaron Parker, who launched his sixth home run of the season to put the Fisher Cats down two. An RBI groundout later in the inning made the deficit just one. In the ninth, Cole Messina drove in a run on an error by Jorge Burgos. New Hampshire would go on to lose 5-3. 

June 12: In the Friday night game between New Hampshire and Hartford, the Fisher Cats fell behind early and often. Bryant Betancourt launched a home run in the second inning, a two-run shot. In the fourth inning, things went from manageable to ugly, as Hartford brought 13 men to the plate and scored eight runs. Betancourt continued his hot hitting against the Fisher Cats with two singles in the inning, and Hartford added two doubles, which scored five runs themselves. New Hampshire finally got on the board in the eighth inning, when Adrian Pinto launched his second home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. In the end, the Fisher Cats lost this one pretty easily, 11-1. 

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 26-35
• Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners)

June 11: The Canadians tried to win three straight against the Aqua Sox, and Johnny King taking the mound was a good way to go about that. The lefty went four innings, and despite allowing four walks, was able to prevent those runners from scoring, as the only run he gave up was a solo homer in the fourth inning. Tucker Toman, who’s been much better this season after dropping switch-hitting, hit an early two-run homer in the first inning. Reece Wissinger got the win, as although he gave up an RBI double in the fifth inning, he went four strong innings himself. The Canadians then took the lead in the eighth, with Alexis Hernandez having an RBI double himself, and J.R. Freethy scored him with a single right after. Trace Baker then came in the ninth and got the save, striking out the side for the Canadians' third win in a row. 

June 12: The Canadians did not have the fourth game of the series go their way, as the AquaSox bats woke up and scored 11 runs. Holden Wilkerson had his second start in a row, and he pitched well heading into the third inning. He got the first two outs, but then walked a batter, and gave up a double as the AquaSox took the lead. Wilkerson got the first out with a K, but then walked the next three batters, forcing in recently promoted Jack Nedrow. Nedrow got a grounder back to the mound, but was unable to field it cleanly, resulting in a run scoring. He then allowed a sac fly for a second run to score, before getting out of the inning with a pop-up. Nedrow allowed three more runs in the fifth inning, and then Jack Eshleman gave up a bomb in the seventh. The Canadians finally got on the board with an RBI groundout from J.R. Freethy, but the runs kept coming from Everett, as the Canadians lost 1 to 11. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 27-34
• Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins)

June 11: The D-Jays got their seventh straight win, with the offense doing a lot of damage in what was supposed to be the first game of the doubleheader. Hedbert Perez hit a homer at 106.9 mph in the first inning, with Juan Sanchez driving in JoJo Parker with an RBI double, which gave the Jays a two-run lead. Dylan Watts took the mound, and he didn’t look sharp, giving up a homer in the second inning and then another in the third as the Mighty Mussels tied it up. It stayed tied until the sixth inning, where Watts walked the first two batters and allowed a single to load the bases, before being taken out for Lluveres Severino without getting an out. Severino allowed a base hit and then allowed a sac fly for all three inherited runs to score. The Jays came back, however, loading the bases in the seventh themselves, and they put up eight runs in the seventh and final inning, as they won 10-5. 

June 12, Game 1: This game was supposed to be played the day prior, but it was suspended until the 12th, and Carson Messina ended up making his Dunedin debut. The talented righty didn’t show the velocity he had in the Florida Complex League, but he sat in the mid-90s, showing really strong shape with his fastball, striking out four batters in a little over two innings pitched. He did allow a run in the third inning, but the Jays tied it up with a Juan Sanchez single in the fifth. They went to extra innings, as Austin Smith, Angel Obando and Bradley Wilson kept it scoreless. Adam Hackenberg then took the lead for the Jays with an RBI single in the top of the eighth, scoring the ghost runner Blaine Bullard, but Wilson could not close it out in the bottom of that inning, as he gave up a three-run homer to lose on a walk-off to end the win streak. 

June 12, Game 2: Blake Purnell took the bump for game two, and the Mighty Mussels were able to tag him for a homer in the second inning. The Jays answered back with a three-run third, as Kolten Smith balked in two runners before allowing a sac fly. Purnell ended up giving up the lead as former D-Jay Alan Roden hit his first homer on rehab assignment to tie it up, and Purnell lost the lead in the fifth, giving up a sac fly. The Jays had a chance to tie it up in the top of the seventh, as they had the bases loaded with Aldo Gaxiola up to bat, but he grounded into a double play for a disappointing end to the game. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 20-9

June 11: Thursday saw the FCL Blue Jays take on the FCL Yankees. Miguel Pantoja was on the mound for the Blue Jays, and he continued to throw deep into games for a young pitcher in Rookie ball. He went 4.2 innings this time and allowed three runs on six hits, with three walks. He only struck out two. The runs came on a groundball single in the second inning and two solo home runs in the fourth. Giaconino Lasaracina homered in the second and the eighth inning for the Blue Jays. In between, Angel Guzman continued his hot hitting with a pair of RBI singles.  It wasn't enough, though, as Wilberson De Pena homered for the Yankees to help them score seven. The Blue Jays couldn't match them, losing 7-6. 

June 12: Suspended

DSL Blue Jays Blue

• Season Record: 3-6

June 11: BJB had a 3-1 deficit and went into the seventh inning with a challenge to overcome. Cristopher Polanco rose to the challenge and, with bases loaded, smacked a bases-clearing triple to give BJB the lead. Juan Caricote then hit a ball to left field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Polanco. BJB turned to David Hernandez after a lead-off walk to open up the bottom of the seventh. He gave up a single and a walk to load the bases up, then a sacrifice fly and a single tied the game back up at five. Jonathan Valle for the Giants DSL team would provide the fireworks for the wrong team. He launched a walk-off three-run home run to left field. BJB fell late, 8-5. 

June 12: BJB had another rough game on Friday. They only reached base six times, which included only four hits. Juan Caricote had an RBI double in the sixth, which followed Michael Mesa's RBI groundout. The team didn't strike out much at all, only three times in the game, but just couldn't get anything going to get runs on the board. 19-year-old Manuel Parra was the best of the arms for BJB. He went 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, giving up just one hit and one unearned run. BJB lost this one by a score of 6-2. 

DSL Blue Jays Red

• Season Record: 2-7

June 11: On Thursday, BJR sent Cristhian Duarte to the mound, and he was spectacular. He went five innings, struck out six, only walked one, allowed just one hit, and one unearned run. He actually left the game in line for a win, as the bats pushed two runs across the plate early in the game. In the second, Ayberson Ortega doubled, followed by a walk from Fabian Gonzalez, then a groundout by Frelian Flores scored a run. In the bottom of the third inning, Gabriel Porras singled, stole second, moved to third on a throwing error by the opposing catcher, then scored on a groundout from Elian Reyes. In the sixth, Duarte's replacement, Fayon Dumorne, was wild to begin with. He ultimately would give up two sacrifice flies, which would prove to be the game-winning runs. BJR lost this one 3-2. 

June 12: Friday's game was another competitive, but a heartbreaker for BJR. Elaineiker Coronado helped to get things started with a walk and two stolen bases in the first inning. Luis Nunez then had the only extra-base hit of the game for BJR, an RBI triple to right field. Diego Arce then singled Nunez home and gave BJR the 2-0 lead. After giving up four runs in the bottom half of the first inning, BJR got another run on an error from a pickoff attempt. BJR would get three more runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead back. They got one when Jose Gori was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, another on a wild pitch, and a third from a sacrifice fly by Coronado. With the game tied back up at six, it would be another loss on a walk-off home run for the Blue Jays DSL organization. Samil Serrano led off the bottom of the seventh for the Nationals with the walk-off blast, and BJR lost 7-6. 

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