Worcester: Rained Out

The rainy weather in Toronto did Worcester no favors in Buffalo, as the Bisons do not have the benefit of playing in a dome. With a home stand beginning Tuesday and the series finale in Buffalo on Monday, there has been no scheduled make-up.

Portland: W, 12-4 (BOX SCORE)

While the Blue Jays pitching staff looked pretty okay against the Red Sox (pretty okay), I can’t say the same for their Double-A staff. The Sea Dogs teed off on the Fisher Cats’ bullpen in the eighth inning, scoring seven runs. I want to acknowledge that Alek Manoah looked very solid in this one in his redemption tour, after allowing 11 runs in fewer than 3 innings against 19 year olds a few days ago. (I’m also going to pause for a laugh track recording at the thought of Alek Manoah pitching in Manchester, New Hampshire for a second.) He struck out 10 Sea Dogs despite being getting tagged in the leg by a Marcelo Mayer infield shot in the middle of his outing.

Mayer had three hits including his sixth Double-A home run. I didn’t have Mayer becoming a power hitter in Double-A on my bingo card, as he’s still struggling to figure out pitching and striking out, but he did not strike out at all Sunday, and drove two more runs in outside of his home run. Nick Yorke had his fourth triple of the season, and Richard Bleier pitched the first inning of this one well, striking out two. And hey, Alek Manoah was deprived of another win.

Greenville: W, 13-2 (BOX SCORE)

The bats didn’t stop in Asheville against the Tourists (Astros High-A) as the Drive recorded 16 hits even without Roman Anthony in the lineup. Every single batter contributed offensively. Greenville’s catcher, Alex Erro, smacked two home runs and built an eight RBI day for himself on three total hits — definitely a game that could be considered the Alex Erro game. Juan Daniel Encarnacion continues to be Pivetta-esque, or Jekyll and Hyde-esque as this was a solid start, as he allowed 2 runs in 6 innings, striking out 6. By the way, the Drive still stranded eight despite winning by eleven runs!!!

Salem: W, 4-0 (BOX SCORE)

They may not have scored double digits in runs, but facing these Fredericksburg Nationals bats, Salem’s pitching staff was commendable, giving up six runs in a shutout. Luis Perales had an absolutely incredible game, although his pitch count was not on his side, as by the time his five innings and 82 pitches came to a close, he had struck out twelve. That’s 80% of his outs. That’s like... really impressive. It’s the type of pitching performance that overcomes four Red Sox striking out multiple times. I hope Perales got the game ball in this one.

Happy Monday, and while I’m still in Blue Jays series mode coming back from Canada, if anyone from up north is reading this blog, have a great day off.