Game 31: Danville Braves at Bluefield Blue Jays

Sadly there is no broadcast tonight...check out the @BluefieldJays Twitter page for mid-game updates

BRAVES (18-13)

1 Jose Peraza DH

2 Ronald Luna SS

3 Carlos Franco 3B

4 Aris Alcantara 1B

5 Josh Elander C

6 Felix Marte RF

7 Blake Brown CF

8 Edison Sanchez LF

9 Levi Hyams 2B

RHP Mauricio Cabrera (1-2, 2.22)

BLUE JAYS (13-17)

1 Alex Azor LF

2 Christian Lopes 2B

3 Dwight Smith Jr. CF

4 Santiago Nessy C

5 Art Charles 1B

6 Jacob Anderson RF

7 Eric Arce DH

8 Dickie Joe Thon SS

9 Matt Dean 3B

RHP Roberto Osuna (1-0, 0.90)

FIRST-PITCH TIME: 6:05 P.M.

BROADCAST INFO: We are on WHIS 1440/1470 AM and WKEZ 1240 AM The Rooster tonight. Listen live right here for to tune in online.

WEATHER: 87 and clear.

UMPIRES: PLATE Morgan Day  FIELD Travis Godec

ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Bluefield Blue Jays were nearly unhittable, and they settled for a second straight shutout. An infield single was the only thing separating Tucker Jensen and Brandon Dorsett from history as the two combined for a one-hitter of the Princeton Rays in a twinbill opener at Bowen Field. The Jays won 2-0 before losing the finale 4-2; they lead the 11-game Mercer Cup set 3-2. Jensen retired the first 11 batters he faced in game one, before Andrew Toles reached on an infield single to shortstop Christian Lopes. Lopes had to trek deep in the hole and make a backhand grab, and Toles was too quick and beat the throw. Jensen (W, 2-1) shook it off and set down seven of eight to finish his night. The righty worked six shutout innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out five. Dorsett (S, 1) posted a 1-2-3 seventh to complete the Bluefield gem. The game was a brilliant duel between Jensen and Princeton starter and Appy League ERA leader Blake Snell. Snell pitched five scoreless frames and held the Jays to three hits, striking out six without issuing a walk. Snell was replaced by Jonathan Weaver (L, 0-2) in the sixth and Bluefield quickly took advantage. Jacob Anderson rocked a solo homer to lead off the inning to break the deadlock and register his first long ball of the season. The Jays added a run on Santiago Nessy’s RBI groundout. After 19 consecutive shutout innings, Princeton finally plated a run off Bluefield pitching in the first inning of the nightcap. The rally started innocently enough when Toles reached on a two-out infield single against Deivy Estrada. Willie Argo followed with one of his own and Toles, who never let up coming around third base, scored when Argo beat the throw. The Jays tied it in the second when Nessy led off with a double, moved up on shortstop Brandon Martin’s throwing error and scored on Anderson’s sacrifice fly. Rays lefty Bruedlin Suero (W, 2-3) allowed only one hit through the rest of his five-inning start. Martin atoned for his miscue in the field when he led off the next inning with a home run to take the lead right back. Ariel Soriano followed with a double and came home on an Argo sacrifice fly. Estrada (L, 2-2) surrendered three runs on five hits in four innings. Argo added a solo homer off reliever Denny Valdez in the sixth inning to make it a 4-1 game. Bluefield made a brief charge late against closer Zach Butler. With two outs in the seventh and final frame, Eric Arce knocked a pinch-hit single. Dennis Holmberg went to his bench again to regular first baseman Art Charles. Charles hit a long fly to center field that Toles could not grab and motored into third with an RBI triple. With the tying run at the plate, Butler (S, 6) struck out Jorge Vega-Rosado swinging to end the game and net the Rays a doubleheader split.

VS. THE BRAVES: The Baby Jays won the first head-to-head matchup on July 4th 4-2 on Santiago Nessy’s home run, but they fell 8-6 and 13-3 to lose the three-game home series. Nico Taylor and Eric Arce both notched five hits in three games against Danville, but Felix Marte mashed for the Braves in Bluefield, hitting three home runs and driving in nine runs. 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.

- TONIGHT’S PITCHING PROBABLES -
 
RHP ROBERTO OSUNA: Coming into the season ranked 30th on Baseball America’s list of the top Toronto prospects, Osuna has been brilliant this season. With four scoreless innings against Princeton on Tuesday, he lowered his ERA to 0.90, the third-lowest mark in the league among pitchers with at least 20 innings. His 0.95 WHIP is seventh-best in the circuit. 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.

RHP MAURICIO CABRERA: 18-year-old righty Mauricio Cabrera has been off to a fine start in 2012 and he gets the ball in the first game of the series. His 2.22 ERA ranks seventh in the league and his .186 batting average against is fourth. The native of Las Matas de Farfan in the Dominican Republic allowed an unearned run on three hits in five innings, striking out five in a win over Pulaski on Monday. He took the loss at Bluefield on the Fourth of July, allowing three runs in four and one-third innings. He went 1-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 52.1 innings with the Dominican Summer League Braves in 2011.

TUCKER-ED OUT: Tucker Jensen dominated the Rays in the opener of the doubleheader on Saturday, tossing six shutout frames and allowing only an infield single. He struck out five and lowered his WHIP to 0.90, the fifth-best mark in the league. He dropped his ERA to 3.51, which took a big hit thanks to one rough inning in Elizabethton last Monday. He gave up seven runs in that frame, but in his other 24.2 innings, he has allowed only three runs (1.09 ERA).

BIG BLAST: With the first game of yesterday’s twinbill still scoreless in the sixth inning, Jacob Anderson cracked his first home run of the year to give the Jays the win. Anderson was on a 5-for-5 roll before going 0-for-2 with a sac fly in the nightcap.

NO FREE PASSES: Among those with 20 innings pitched, the Blue Jays boast four of the ten best walk rates in the Appy League. Jeremy Gabryszwski ranks fourth (3.5%) and Tucker Jensen (3.8%) is fifth. At 5.1 percent, Roberto Osuna and Kevin Comer, the next two starters for Bluefield, are tied for eighth with Tuesday’s opponent Williams Perez.

Bluefield Blue Jays Game Notes 7-22

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