Game 15: Pulaski Mariners at Bluefield Blue Jays

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MARINERS (5-9)

1 Brock Hebert 2B

2 Martin Peguero 3B

3 Tyler Marlette C

4 Toby DeMello 1B

5 Dario Pizzano LF

6 Richard Palese RF

7 Jabari Henry CF

8 Phillips Castillo DH

9 Bryan Brito SS

RHP Min-Sih Chen (1-0, 8.68)

BLUE JAYS (6-8)

1 Dwight Smith Jr. CF

2 Eric Arce DH

3 Santiago Nessy C

4 Art Charles 1B

5 Christian Lopes 2B

6 Dickie Joe Thon SS

7 Matt Dean 3B

8 Carlos Ramirez RF

9 Nico Taylor LF

RHP Tucker Jensen (0-0, 2.70)

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 (next on Friday against Danville).

WEATHER: 84 degrees and lookin' stormy. We've got crazy thunder around, but keep those fingers crossed.

UMPIRES: PLATE Travis Godec FIELD Morgan Day

ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: A night after being unable to close out a win, the Blue Jays got back on track with great pitching and timely hitting. Jeremy Gabryszwski pitched four shutout innings, Roberto Osuna picked up his first win, Seth Conner knocked the game-winning hit and Julio Carmona closed it out as the Jays beat the Pulaski Mariners at Bowen Field on Monday. The home team’s winning rally in the seventh started when Art Charles led off the frame with an opposite-field double. He moved up to third on Jacob Anderson’s sacrifice bunt before Conner chopped a single to left field over the drawn-in infield to plate Charles and give the Birds a lead they would not relinquish. Julio Carmona locked down the win with a six-out save, punctuating the victory with a strikeout of Phillips Castillo to end the game. Gabryszwski allowed only three singles and faced two over the minimum through four innings. He received a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Nico Taylor rocketed a two-out triple and newcomer Jorge Vega-Rosada followed with a single up the middle. That would be all the offense would get off Pulaski southpaw Wander Marte, who impressed in five innings, striking out nine without issuing a walk. Roberto Osuna came in to start the fifth inning for the Blue Jays and ran into trouble in the sixth. He gave up a double and a bloop single to allow his first earned run of 2012, but he left the bases loaded to preserve a tie with two big strikeouts.

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.

JENSEN: The righty from Ormond Beach, FL starts the tonight’s rubber game. 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.

CHEN: Taiwanese righty Min-Sih Chen looks to get back on track after a nitghmarish outing on Thursday in Elizabethton. He coughed up nine runs (eight earned) on ten hits in three and two-thirds innings of relief in the Twins’ 14-1 rout. He earned the win in his Appy League debut on June 23 at Princeton, holding the Rays to one run on four hits in five and two-thirds innings. The 22-year-old went 5-4 in 53.1 innings in the Arizona League 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 7-3

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