Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Ligon, Thompson, and Guerra Took the Mound, While New Hampshire Dialed Up the Long Ball

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 28-May 29)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-3
Season Record: 26-29

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees): 2-2
Season Record: 25-21

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 2-2
Season Record: 20-29

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies): 1-3
Season Record: 20-29

FCL Blue Jays
Week Record: 4-3
Season Record: 16-4

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 26-29
• Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies)

May 28: Thursday's starter Josh Fleming has had a surprisingly good season thus far while at Triple-A Buffalo. He had only given up more than two runs in just one of his prior eight appearances. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Thursday would not continue that trend. Thanks in part to an error by Riley Tirotta in the second, Lehigh Valley capitalized on the extra out Buffalo provided them and had a monster inning. They would score six unearned runs in the frame, highlighted by Bryan De La Cruz's two-RBI double. After Lehigh Valley added two more runs in the sixth inning from Paul McIntosh's two-run home run, Buffalo sat in an 8-0 hole. Willie MacIver and Je'Von Ward tried to fuel a comeback for the Bisons in the bottom half of the sixth. MacIver tripled in two runs, and then Ward blasted a two-run home run to cut the lead down to four. Ward's blast came on a splitter middle-in and had an exit velocity of 106.1 mph and traveled 422 feet. It would be the closest Buffalo would get to Lehigh Valley, as the IronPigs added a late insurance run and took the game 9-4. 

May 29: After some excitement that Chad Dallas could be called up to make a start in Baltimore for the big league club, he had to settle for being the bulk pitcher behind Brendon Little at Triple-A for Buffalo. Little threw a perfect inning, and then Willie MacIver gave the Bisons the early lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the first. Dallas entered the game at the start of the second inning and did well, until he was tagged with a two-run home run by Felix Reyes in the third inning. Dallas would then make it through the fourth and fifth innings without really any other trouble, before handing the ball off to Richard Gallardo in the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, MacIver continued his big day with an RBI double that tied the game up at two. Gallardo would give up two runs in the seventh, before a big Riley Tirotta two-run home run to tie the game back up. With the game all square at four, it went into extra innings, where neither team scored in the tenth. Lehigh Valley then got an RBI single to break the tie in the eleventh, while Buffalo went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to lose 5-4. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 25-21
• Series vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees)

May 28: In the Thursday game between New Hampshire and Somerset, home runs were wild, and they were hit often for the Fisher Cats. Jay Harry started things in the first inning, this time with a rocket pulled to the right field corner for a solo home run. Later in the inning, a Jace Bohrofen RBI single and a Cutter Coffey two-run double would put New Hampshire up four runs quickly. In the fourth, a home run from Nick Goodwin and another home run from Sean Keys would give the Fisher Cats a commanding seven-run lead. The fifth inning was on repeat for New Hampshire, as Aaron Parker crushed a 115 mph home run that went 467 feet. Later in the inning, Goodwin launched his second home run of the game to put the Fisher Cats up nine. Harry would get in on the double home run feat, with his second in the seventh inning. It would be the last home run for the Fisher Cats, as they went on to win this one easily, 14-2. 

May 29: Fresh off of their six-home run night the day before, New Hampshire had the bats going from the start once again for the Friday night game. Jay Harry again started things with a home run in the first, but this time he was followed by Jace Bohrofen and Nick Goodwin also hitting home runs in the inning. With a six-run first, New Hampshire couldn't hold on though, as Somerset chipped away at the lead. In the fourth inning, Eddie Micheletti Jr. hit an RBI double to put the Fisher Cats back up three runs. Adrian Pinto would drive him in, putting the lead up to four. In the fifth inning, Goodwin would homer again, his fourth in two games. That put New Hampshire up 10-6, but it wouldn't last long. In the seventh inning, Somerset used two home runs and a couple of bases-loaded walks to take the lead by two. In the ninth, Patrick Winkel brought New Hampshire within one with an RBI single, but it wasn't enough. The Fisher Cats lost this one 12-11.

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 20-29
• Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants)

May 28: Daniel Guerra struggled early on in his start against the Emeralds, giving up a run in the first after giving up three straight singles. In the second inning, he hit the leadoff batter and gave up another hit. He was able to pick off one of the baserunners but then allowed hits to Dakota Jordan and Gavin Kilen, leading to two more runs scored. He locked it in after that though, getting the next 10 batters out in a row in a solid five-inning start. A Manuel Beltre double and a wild pitch that sent him to third base led to a Maddox Latta RBI single to give the Canadians their first run in the bottom of the fifth, but Trace Baker gave that run back after a Beltre throwing error. Baker gave up an earned run in the seventh inning. Hayden Gilliland was able to knock in a run with his second hit of the night to make up for it, but the Canadians couldn’t catch up despite getting the same number of hits as the Emeralds on the night. 

May 29: The Canadians had some big extra-base hits to score the first runs of the ball game, with Carter Cunningham knocking in Jacob Sharp with his ninth double of the season and Brennan Orf hitting his first homer of the season in the second inning. Danny Thompson Jr. was the starter for the Canadians and had another good start, but gave up a homer in the third inning to lower the lead to one. The Canadians consistently pushed runs across the board though, as Sharp hit an RBI single in the third, and Orf had his second ribbie of the night with a single of his own in the fourth inning. Thompson gave up a two-run shot in the fifth to again make it a one-run game. Manuel Beltre kept up the scoring for Vancouver though, with an RBI single in the fifth inning to push the lead back to two. Reece Wissinger earned his first hold in Vancouver since getting promoted with three scoreless innings. A pair of sac flies from Sharp and Maddox Latta (after Orf had his third hit of the day with a triple) capped off the scoring for the Canadians, and Carson Myers finished the game off with a scoreless inning of his own for a great win to even up the series. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 20-29
• Series vs Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies)

May 28: It was a high-scoring affair as the Threshers and the Blue Jays kept on trading blows. The Jays were the first to strike as Juan Sanchez got hit by a pitch, then Aldo Gaxiola continued his hot streak with a double to put a runner on second and third. David Beckles hit a chopper to third to score Sanchez and Gaxiola as Nolan Beltran threw the ball away. Dariel Ramon then hit his fourth homer of the season to make it a four-run inning for the D-Jays. Lazaro Estrada made his first rehab start and pitched two scoreless innings, but everything got away from him in the third inning, letting the first four batters on base and getting replaced by Austin Smith, who allowed two more inherited runs to score. Troy Guthrie replaced Smith and gave up a triple and a single immediately to give up the lead. Some errors allowed another run to score, and then, with a runner on third, Guthrie threw a wild pitch to put the Threshers up by two. The game was tied up once again as Eric Snow and Gaxiola both drove in runs. Guthrie also started to settle down, going four more strong innings without allowing another run to score. The game remained tied heading into the seventh, but a JoJo Parker HBP led to a Sanchez double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Gaxiola got his third hit of the night, a big double to put the Jays up two. Lluveres Severino came in the ninth for a save opportunity and generated a double play despite walking his first two batters. The Jays just needed one more out to get the win, but Severino could not hold on, allowing a two-run homer to even up the ball game and send it to extras. The Jays scored three runs in the 10th inning, and it looked like they could win it, but Severino allowed three doubles in a row to lose the game on a walk-off in the 10th.

May 29: In a lower-scoring affair, the Jays and Threshers still ended up heading to extra innings. Karson Ligon was the starter for Dunedin and allowed two runs early on in the first inning. Sam Shaw got a run back for the Jays in the second, but Ligon allowed his third run of the game on a homer to Nolan Beltran. Dylan Watts replaced Ligon and used his changeup effectively in 5.1 perfect innings, striking out five batters. Still, the Jays remained behind until the seventh inning, as with the bases loaded, Juan Sanchez drove in two runs on a single to tie it up. The game stayed tied until extras, where the Jays exploded. JoJo Parker knocked in the ghost runner Shaw, then Aldo Gaxiola hit his seventh homer of the season to make it six to three. Jake Cook hit a single for his fifth time getting on base of the game to add another run, before a wild pitch capped off the scoring for a five-run 10th inning. Franly Urena didn’t allow a run in the inning, and the Jays finally won their first game of this series. 

FCL Blue Jays

• Season Record: 16-4

May 28: It was a wild affair in the Thursday game between the FCL Blue Jays and the FCL Phillies. The Phillies scored three in the second inning on a wild pitch and a two-run triple. They would take a four-run lead in the third on a bases-loaded walk. In the fifth, the Blue Jays put up a five-spot, the big hit being a C.J. Stubbs three-run home run. Stubbs continued his big day by adding a two-run home run in the seventh, and Renyel Campos had an RBI single to put the Blue Jays up one. The score wouldn't hold, as a three-run burst for the Phillies in the eighth inning gave them a 10-8 lead, and that is where it ended, as the Blue Jays squad lost this one. 

May 29: Yimi García was on the mound for a rehab start in this one for the FCL Blue Jays against the Phillies squad again. Things didn't go well, as he gave up an RBI double, a sacrifice fly, and a home run in the first inning. In the fourth, the Blue Jays squad put up six runs, with the big hit being a two-run homer from Hedbert Perez, who also had a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch later in the inning. Angel Rivero had a great game on the mound for the Blue Jays. He went four innings, gave up four hits, one run, and struck out nine batters. The Blue Jays team would win this one 8-4. 

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