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Minor League Report: Gilberto Batista made his organization debut

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In a month’s time, there will only be one Blue Jay affiliate playing baseball.

With that being said, three of the five affiliate teams in action on Friday won, with the three lower affiliate teams capturing a victory.

Let’s dig into all of that in the latest Minor League Report!

Buffalo lost their fifth straight game

The second-half of the season has been brutal for the Buffalo Bisons, as their 3-2 defeat to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders gave them a 17-26 record in the second-half, the worst in the International League.

Recently claimed catcher Nick Raposo hit his first home run as a member of the Bisons, his career-high eighth home run of the season. Luis De Los Santos had a multi-hit game with two singles, while the returning Nathan Lukes also hit a single. Joey Votto and Alan Roden both hit a single as well.

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Jake Bloss made his second start in the Blue Jays organization, finishing with a line of 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K to keep his Buffalo ERA at 0. Luis Quiñones pitched two innings and two thirds, giving up an earned run and two strikeouts, while Mason Fluharty gave up two earned runs in an inning and a third.

Two big innings led to a New Hampshire loss

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats have also had a rough second-half, and they fell 10-6 to the Reading Fightin Phils on Friday. In the bottom of the third, the Philadelphia Phillies’ affiliate scored five runs, on top of a four-run eighth inning. New Hampshire now has a 14-26 record, the worst in the Eastern League.

Despite the loss, the Fisher Cats had a ton of hits, totaling 13 compared to the Fightin Phils’ nine. Michael Turconi and Charles McAdoo each had three singles, while Rainer Nuñez and Ryan McCarty each had two singles. Other players with a hit were Dasan Brown, RJ Schreck, and Devonte Brown. Unfortunately, all 13 of the Fisher Cats’ hit were singles.

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Lazaro Estrada had a rough start for the Fisher Cats, finishing with a line of 3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K to bring his Double-A ERA to 4.01. Adrián Hernández pitched three innings, giving up an earned run and Ian Churchill gave up three earned runs (four in total) in an inning and a third. Andrew Bechtold finished the game for the Fisher Cats, striking out a batter in two thirds of an inning.

Vancouver blew out Spokane

Spokane has been a thrown in the side of the Vancouver Canadians all season, as they won the first-half and currently lead the second-half standings by three games. However, the Canadians got an important win on Friday, defeating Spokane 10-1, while the Hillsboro Hops lost, giving the Canadians a two-game cushion in the overall standings. Assuming Spokane wins the second-half as well, the team that finishes second in the overall standings will play in the Northwest League Championship series against Spokane.

Talent has never been an issue for Adrian Pinto, it’s always been his health in question. He had three hits and a walk in his four plate appearances on Friday, hitting his fifth double with the Canadians in just 34 plate appearances. In fact, he has eight extra-base hits in 34 plate appearances, bonkers.

Jace Bohrofen hit his ninth home run of the season, while Jay Harry hit his second home run as a Vancouver Canadian. The latter was acquired for Trevor Richards in a trade deadline deal. Jackson Hornung, Je’Von Ward, and Cutter Coffey each hit a double as well, while Ward was the only other player with a multi-hit game. Victor Arias and Jacob Sharp both had a single.

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Pitching was solid as well, more specifically, Kendry Rojas had the best start of his career. The left-handed pitcher finished with a line of 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K to bring his High-A ERA to 2.06. Chay Yeager gave up an earned run in his inning of work, while Irv Carter struck out two in his inning of work.

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Adding to the Rojas section, the 21-year-old lefty has four straight quality starts. In total, he’s pitched 26 innings with a 1.38 ERA, 2.71 FIP, a 30.2 K% and a 4.2 BB%. He could very well be a top five Blue Jays prospect.

Dunedin double up Bradenton

It’s a little bit too late for the Dunedin Blue Jays to push for a postseason spot, but they’re in the midst of a four-game win streak thanks to a 6-3 win over the Bradenton Marauders on Friday evening. They have a 23-21 record in the second-half, and are 6.5 games back of the leading Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.

Like the Fisher Cats and the Canadians, the D-Jays also had a player with a three-hit performance, as Edward Duran hit his 14th double of the season along with two singles. Yhoangel Aponte hit his fourth home run of the season, while catcher Brock Tibbitts hit his first career professional double, as well as a multi-hit game. Other players with a hit were Manuel Beltre and Sean Keys, the latter hitting a double.

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Gilberto Batista made his organization debut, finishing with a line of 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (3 R), 2 BB, 6 K. Diving deeper into the stats, his four-seam fastball averaged 93.1 mph while the sinker averaged 92.9 mph. The 19-year-old also generated a game-high 11 whiffs in two short innings.

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Luis Torres was the first out of the bullpen and had a great outing, finishing with a line of 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K and picking up his first Florida State League win. Julio Ortiz picked up the save, pitching two and two thirds innings with four strikeouts and a hit allowed.

DSL Jays won in low-scoring affair

The Dominican Summer League Blue Jays and the DSL Cleveland Mendoza combined for just one run in 26 half innings of baseball. Thankfully, it was the DSL Jays that came out on top, moving their season record to 29-23.

Andreas Arias absolutely carried the offence, going 4-4 with his fifth double of the season, accounting for 66% of the team’s hits. However, Franklin Rojas hit the game-winning home run, his first professional homer. Angel Guzmán hit a single.

Aside from Arias dominating, the DSL Jays’ pitching staff had a solid day too. Sann Omosako pitched five innings of scoreless baseball, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out a batter. Angel Rivero pitched four innings, allowing three hits, walking two, and striking out five.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.