Game 14: Pulaski Mariners at Bluefield Blue Jays

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MARINERS (5-8)

1 Brock Hebert SS

2 Martin Peguero 2B

3 Tyler Marlette C

4 Reggie Lawson RF

5 Jabari Henry CF

6 Felipe Burin 3B

7 Jordy Lara 3B

8 Phillips Castillo DH

9 Richard Palese LF

LHP Wander Marte (0-0, 1.80)

BLUE JAYS (5-8)

1 Jorge Vega-Rosado 2B

2 Dwight Smith Jr. CF

3 Dickie Joe Thon SS

4 Art Charles 1B

5 Jacob Anderson RF

6 Seth Conner C

7 Matt Dean 3B

8 Carlos Ramirez RF

9 Nico Taylor LF

RHP Jeremy Gabryszwski (1-1, 2.25) and RHP Roberto Osuna (0-0, 0.00)

FIRST-PITCH TIME: 7:05 P.M.

BROADCAST INFO: Sorry folks, the three-game set against Pulaski will not be broadcast. Listen live right here for other Blue Jays broadcasts

WEATHER: 84 degrees and a little overcast.

UMPIRES: PLATE Morgan Day FIELD Travis Godec

ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Blue Jays were ahead for most of their homestand opener, but they couldn’t finish it off. Down to their last strike, the Pulaski Mariners came back with two runs in the top of the ninth to stun the Baby Jays 4-3. Colby Broussard started the top of the ninth for Bluefield with the Jays ahead 3-2. He issued a one-out walk to Dario Pizzano, but retired Richard Palese on a groundout and had two strikes on Brock Hebert to put the home team a strike away from the win. Hebert grounded a slow single just past the reach of second baseman Christian Lopes to score the tying run. Hebert went to second on the throw, which proved critical when the next batter Martin Peguero singled him home to put the M’s in front. Matt Brazis slammed the door for Pulaski with a 1-2-3 ninth inning that included two strikeouts. Art Charles hit a towering home run to right-center field in the fourth inning to tie the game at one. Nico Taylor also homered for his first of the year to put the Jays in front in the sixth. Denny Valdez and Justin James both put up a scoreless inning in the seventh and eighth, respectively, for the Jays.

VS. THE MARINERS: The Blue Jays won the 2011 season series against the Mariners 6-3, including wins in the final four head-to-head contests. Pulaski won two of three at home from July 21-23, taking the rubber game on Bryan Brito’s walk-off single in the tenth. From August 12-14, the Jays evened the season set by winning another road series. The final three games were at Bowen Field from August 19-21, with the Jays taking all of them by a combined score of 27-11.


TODAY'S PROBABLE PITCHERS

RHP JEREMY GABRYSZWSKI: The 19-year-old righty out of Crosby, TX had a solid outing on Wednesday that ended on a sour note. Coming on in the fourth inning at Burlington in relief of Roberto Osuna, Jeremy did not allow a hit for three and one-third innings and led 3-1. But he gave up back-to-back homers in the seventh that tied the game. He was taken in the second round of last year’s draft, splitting time between the Gulf Coast League and Bluefield. After four and one-third scoreless innings in three GCL games, Gabryszwski moved up to the Appy League on August 29, turning in a shutout inning of relief at Danville. He relieved twice in the postseason for the Jays, allowing two runs in four and two-thirds innings. A graduate of Crosby High School, he had committed to play college ball at Lamar before signing with Toronto.

RHP ROBERTO OSUNA: Coming into the season ranked 30th on Baseball America’s list of the top Toronto prospects, Osuna has had a great start to 2012. He pitched three innings in his start at Burlington on Wednesday, and he only allowed an unearned run on one hit. Only 17 years old, this right-hander was signed out of the Mexican League, which is considered to be similar to a AA or AAA level of play. Although he put up a 5.49 ERA in 19.2 innings for the Diablos Rojos, it’s worth noting that many players in that league are 10-20 years older than him. His fastball consistently sat in the low 90s last weekend, though he got it up to 93-94. Roberto’s uncle Antonio was a reliever for 11 major league seasons, mostly spent with the Dodgers.

LHP WANDER MARTE: Southpaw Wander Marte gets the ball for Pulaski tonight in his second start of 2012. In his first outing on June 22, he allowed one run in four and one-third innings at Princeton. On Wednesday against Johnson City, he pitched in relief, but was quickly removed after putting three of the five men he faced on base. The Santo Domingo native was signed by Seattle on November 3, 2009 and spent the last two seasons in the Dominican Summer League, posting a 1.53 ERA and 11.8 K/9 ratio in 58.2 innings.


CHARLES IN CHARGE: Art Charles extended his on-base streak to 13 with his mammoth home run on Sunday. The first baseman has now gotten aboard in all 13 Blue Jays games this season, making him the only Appy Leaguer to reach in every game so far in 2012. Art’s on-base streak dating back to last season is up to 21. The day before he began that streak on August 23, 2011, he had just had a 15-gamer snapped, so the Bakersfield native has reached in 36 of his last 37 games.

LEAGUE LEADERBOARD: Charles is leading the Appy League in walks with 15 and is tied for the lead in runs with 12. Last night’s homer was his fourth of 2012, moving him into a second-place tie in that category with Romy Jimenez of Elizabethton. He’s also tied for second in on base percentage (.500) and ranks third in slugging percentage (.703).

CRACKING THE WHIP: After Sunday’s strong outing, right-hander Kevin Comer lowered his WHIP to 0.50, the best mark in the Appalachian League. His opponent batting average of .143 is tied for second-best in the circuit and his 2.25 ERA is eighth.

YOU DOWN WITH OBP?: Outfielder Jacob Anderson singled in the fourth inning last night, pushing his on-base streak into double digits. During the ten-game run, he’s gotten on at a .405 clip. His overall mark is .362, nearly 30 points higher than the league average. That somewhat masks his .189 batting average.

IN THE ‘NICO’ OF TIME: On Sunday, Nico Taylor broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning with a long solo homer to left field that would have been that game winner if not for Pulaski’s down-to-its-last-strike comeback. It was his first long ball of the season and only his third hit. The Jays hope it marks a turnaround for the outfielder who hit .319 in 30 Gulf Coast League games last year.



Bluefield Blue Jays Game Notes 7-2

Check out the @BluefieldJays Twitter page for mid-game updates