BRAVES (10-5)
1 Levi Hyams 2B
2 Casey Kalenkosky 1B
3 Carlos Franco DH
4 Edison Sanchez LF
5 Felix Marte RF
6 Blake Brown CF
7 Trenton Moses 3B
8 Troy Snitker C
9 Ronald Luna SS
RHP Mauricio Cabrera (0-0, 1.29)
BLUE JAYS (6-8)
1 Dwight Smith Jr. CF
2 Eric Arce LF
3 Santiago Nessy C
4 Art Charles 1B
5 Christian Lopes 2B
6 Dickie Joe Thon SS
7 Matt Dean 3B
8 Jacob Anderson DH
9 Nico Taylor RF
LHP Daniel Norris (1-1, 3.75)
BROADCAST INFO: Sorry folks, only the final game of the series will be broadcast (Friday). Listen live right here for other Blue Jays broadcasts.
WEATHER: 85 and sunny.
UMPIRES: PLATE FIELD
VS. THE BRAVES: The Blue Jays lost the season series to Danville in 2011, but they got the last laugh when they won the East Division title by a game after a great pennant race. Bluefield was swept in three games in the Bowen Field-opening series from June 24-26, but took two of three at Danville from July 8-10. The two teams were tied atop the division at 38-27 heading into the final three games of the season at Danville. The Baby Jays routed the Braves 11-4 on August 28, then clinched the title the next night when five pitchers combined on a three-hitter in a 5-1 win. Danville won the inconsequential finale 19-4, but it was the Jays who playoff bound for the first time since 2002.
LHP DANIEL NORRIS: One of the most highly-touted prospects in the Toronto farm system will start tonight’s series opener. Lefty Daniel Norris was a bit up-and-down in his start at Kingsport on Friday. He allowed two runs (only one earned) in four innings, walking two and throwing two wild pitches. The 2011 second-round pick was rated by Baseball America as the fourth-best prospect in the Jays’ entire organization. In 2011 BA ranked him second among high-school prospects and 91st overall. The former Clemson signee struck out 123 batters in 68 innings as a senior at Science Hill HS in his native Johnson City, TN.
RHP TUCKER JENSEN: The righty from Ormond Beach, FL will piggyback on Norris’s start. He allowed two unearned runs in five innings at Kingsport on Thursday, striking out four without issuing a walk. A year ago for Bluefield he allowed 14 earned runs in 11.1 innings in four Appy League starts. He really excelled in eight Gulf Coast League starts to begin his career, pitching to a 1.77 ERA with an 8.9 K/9 rate to earn a one-game call-up to low-A Lansing. Between three levels he struck out 56 batters in 57 innings of work. A decorated hurler at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL, Tucker was named Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2011, also earning NAIA Second-Team All-America honors. The 22-year-old is the grandson of 1958 American League MVP Jackie Jensen.
RHP MAURICIO CABRERA: 18-year-old righty Mauricio Cabrera has been one of the Appy League’s best hurlers to start 2012 and he gets the ball in the first game of the series. His 1.29 ERA ranks fourth in the league and his 0.79 WHIP is fifth. He and Kevin Comer are tied for the circuit’s second-lowest opponent batting average at .143. The native of Las Matas de Farfan in the Dominican Republic was dominant in his last outing on Friday in Greeneville. He shut out the Astros for six innings, allowing only one hit and striking out six without a walk in a game the Braves won in 17 innings. He went 1-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 52.1 innings with the Dominican Summer League Braves in 2011.
SMALL BALL: The Jays won a 2-1 pitching duel on Monday. The winning run came home in the seventh after a double, sac bunt and Seth Conner’s chopper over the head of the head of drawn-in third baseman Jordy Lara. It was Bluefield’s first win in four 2012 games in which they scored two runs or fewer. It was also the first time the Jays won this year without hitting a home run. They had gone homerless in four other games to start the season, but they dropped all of those decisions.
EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME: Last night’s 2-1 Bluefield victory over the Mariners was emblematic of the struggles that both teams have had at the plate. The Blue Jays are hitting .219 as a team and Pulaski is only hitting .203, those are the two lowest batting averages in the league. Bluefield ranks fifth in on base percentage (.336) and seventh in slugging percentage (.371). The Mariners are at the bottom of the circuit in all three slash categories with an anemic .203/.274/.296 line.
YOU’VE GOTTA’ EARN IT: Right-hander Roberto Osuna turned in another strong three-inning outing on Monday to record his first victory as a Blue Jays prospect. For the thirs straight game, he did not walk a batter and he hasn’t issued a free pass in nine innings to begin the season. Those are the fifth-most frames in the Appy League without a walk. Daniel Hernandez of Burlington (15.1 IP) leads the league, but Bluefield’s Kevin Comer is second with 12 walkless innings.
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. The team WHIP of 1.153 is the lowest in the league, despite striking out the fewest batters in the loop, with only 6.4 K’s per nine innings.
CHARLES IN CHARGE: When Art Charles knocked a leadoff double in the seventh inning, he didn’t just ignite the game-winning rally in last night’s 2-1 win. He also extended his on-base streak to 14 games, spanning every Blue Jays game this season. He’s 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 22. 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 37 of his last 38 games. His .492 on base percentage is the best in the circuit, in part because his 15 walks also lead the loop. He’s tied for second in the Appy League with 13 runs, one behind Elizabethton’s Rory Rhodes. Charles also ranks fourth in the league with a .700 mark.
Bluefield Blue Jays Game Notes 7-4
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