LHP Brad Mills mows down Tacoma

Well, the real Brad Mills has finally arrived and got his first win of the season for Las Vegas in AAA. The highly touted prospect threw 7 very strong innings today, allowing only 4 hits to go along with his 11 strike outs. He walked none, did not allow a run, and threw 74 of his 110 pitches for strikes. Brad needed one of these to get his confidence back into form after starting the season 0-7. Tacoma is no easy opponent either, with great hitters such as Michael Saunders, Mike Carp, Chris Shelton, Brian LaHair, Chris Woodward, and Mike Morse, all of whom were struck out at least once by Mills. The 11 Ks were the highest this season for Mills, with his previous high being 9. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come from the 24 year old, because the Jays may need the help fairly soon.

Bullington came on in relief for the 2 inning save, striking out 3 along the way. Jason Lane supported Mills offensively with 2 doubles, while Buck Coats scored 2 runs and stole a base, going 1 for 4 on the day.

The Affiliates - 3,4,5,6 May AA, AAA Recaps

New Hampshire 4, Binghamton 3
New Hampshire 8, New Britain 3
New Hampshire 0, New Britain 2
New Hampshire 3, New Britain 5
New Hampshire 12, New Britain 0
- NH starting pitching continued their strong season with only 13 runs allowed over 5 games. The offense really took some frustration out on NB in the 7th May game to go along with an outstanding start by Brandon Magee, who was pitching in his second game since being called up from Dunedin. He only struck out one, but lasted 5.1, allowed only one run, and only 3 hits. Luis Perez also had a strong game on the 6th, lasting 6 innings with 4 hits allowed and two earned runs. However, he was outpitched by Devries who then had Delaney and Slama shut the door behind him for NB. Randy Boon won his 3rd game of the season after going 5innings, striking out 5.

Las Vegas 2, Salt Lake 4
Las Vegas 2, Fresno 10
Las Vegas 8, Fresno 6
Las Vegas 9, Fresno 5
- Las Vegas had two slow games, and two very effective offensive games. However, in all starts the relievers had questionable to horrible outings. Sadly, the one great start was from Burres who may eventually get another shot in the bigs if he keeps pitching 7 innings of one run ball with 6 Ks. Harper and Ruiz have led the offense while JP Arencibia smacked his 2nd homer of the season, let's hope there's more where that came from. Fabio Castro had the most impressive start with 7 strong innings of 2 hit ball and 3 SO in only his second start at the AAA level. He is doing more than enough to put himself in contention for MLB starts if needed. David Purcey also had a good outing with 6.1 IP and 2 runs allowed.

The Affiliates - 2nd of May Recap

The Affiliate offensive was on in full force through 3 of 4 teams yesterday!

Lansing 11, Wisconsin 3
- Henderson Alvarez won his second game of the season following a 7 inning outing. He struck out 4, walked 2, and allowed 4 hits and 3 earned runs. The offensive onslaught was led by Johermyn Chavez who went 3 for 4, including a double and a triple on the day. The pesky SS Tyler Pastornicky also had a strong day while going 2 for 4 with a stolen base (his 7th of the season) and 3 runs scored.

Dunedin 11, Tampa 1
- 1B Jesus Gonzalez hit his first home run of the season while C Jonathan Jaspe had a very strong 4 for 5 day at the plate. The win included a crucial outing by Casey Janssen who may move on to AA very soon after his second shutout outing of the season. Trystan Magnuson followed Janssen's 4 innings with 2 shutout innings of his own while striking out 2 and allowing 0 hits or walks. Tim Collins also had a strong outing from the pen with a shutout inning of his own with 2 strikouts as well.

New Hampshire 14, Binghamton 4
- All NH hitters had at least 1 hit except one and 5 had 2 or more hits a piece in this blowout. Brandon Magee had a rough first outing in High A after starting the year in Lansing, but managed to keep the runs to a minimum. He lasted 3.2 innings, allowed 5 walks and hits and 3 earned runs. The bullpen came through once again (a trend throughout the Jays organization) with 5.1 innings of 1 run ball, allowing only 2 hits.

Las Vegas 0, Salt Lake 4
- The Vegas offense stalled big time in this one with no extra base hits and only 6 hits overall. Salt Lake starter Mike McDonald lasted 7 innings and really had a strong start. Brad Mills took the loss after going 5 innings, allowing 6 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4. Of note was the use of Burres in the pen for 0.2 innings that indicates Brian will not be starting for the time being in AAA....phew. Accardo had a shutout inning to finish the game while striking out 2 and allowing no walks or hits.

The Affiliates - 1st of May Recap

Lansing 3, Kane County 4
- Jonas Cuotto had strong outing but lasted only 4 innings while allowing 2 runs and striking out 6. Offensively, Michael McDade had the strongest outing for Lansing with a double and his 3rd home run of the season. The game was called after the 7th was completed due to rain.

Dunedin 4, Tampa 3
- Dunedin literally stole this game from the little Yanks with 3 steals coming from Jackson, Mastroianni, and Gonzalez that enabled for 2 of the 4 Dunedin runs to score on singles. Tolisano is really starting to heat up with his 3rd HR of the season and seems to be enjoying the 2-hole spot in the lineup. Meanwhile, Justin Jackson continues to struggle with a .147 AVG on the season and added 3 strikeouts to his total in this game. Not what the Jays were hoping for to say the least.

New Hampshire 2, Binghamton 8
- SP Luis Perez had his first rough start of the season as he fell to 2-2 on the season. He lasted 3.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 earned runs while striking out 4. 1B Brian Dopirak was the lone offensive highlight with his 5th home run of the season he clobbered from a Fernando Nieve offering. The game was called after only 6 innings due to rain.

Las Vegas 8, Salt Lake 9
- Only 9 of the 17 runs in this game were earned, indicating just how many runs were scored on errors. Vegas starter Dick Hayhurst was only credited with 3 ER out of the 9 scored over his 3.2 IP, although one of the fielding errors was his. The Vegas offense had a good day with notable JP Arencibia getting his first home run of the season. 6 of the Vegas hitters had 2 hits or more and Jason Lane hit 2 doubles. Davis Romero continued his strong start to the season by striking out 3 over 3.1 innings while allowing no runs as he lowers his ERA to 1.80.

The Affiliates - 29th April Recap

Lansing 2, Kane County 1
- Huggins proved my call for a HiA promotion is justified while he hurled 6 shutout innings of 1 hit ball while striking out 7 and walking only 1. Moody allowed the only run in relief and Yorman Mayora shut the door with a notable 2 inning save. It is notable because he struck out 5 of 7 hitters faced and only allowed one hit. Offensively, 2B Bryan Kervin was the only Lugnut with 2 hits while Pastornicky walked twice. The team was lucky enough to get a run through by a way of walks due to a bad outing by Kane County's Pedro Figueroa who walked 5 in only 3.2 innings. This is a big win over the league leaders for Lansing and could provide them with much needed confidence.

Dunedin 3, Clearwater 4
- The rebound from a horrible start continued for SP Ryan Page who lasted 6 innings while allowing all 4 Clearwater runs. The very encouraging part of his outing was that he walked none, and was bitten by way of 2 homers. Page only allowed 2 other hits in his outing and he was obviously throwing strikes. Magnuson came on in relief for 2 innings and struck out 2 while allowing 2 hits. Offensively, Mastroianni continued his hot start with a pair of hits and a stolen base, but ws also caught stealing once. 1B Manuel Rodriguez and converted SP Adam Loewen also had 2 hits a piece, and while Dunedin was able to outhit Clearwater, they did not do a great job of driving their baserunners in.

New Hampshire 5, New Britain 0
- Pitching wins baseball championships, everyone knows this, and luckily for the Jays their AA affiliate is just filled with pitching potential. Marc Rzepczynski had his strongest outing of the season against the Minnesota AA affiliate, but he only lasted 5 innings due to his high pitch count. During his 5 IP, he struck out 8, walked 4, and allowed 3 hits. He is still trying to strike every hitter out and I'd love to hear what the pitching coaches are telling him, but it's obvious he has the right stuff to pitch at a higher level. David Shinskie had a great relief outing pitching 3 scoreless innings while striking 3 out and allowing only one hit. Offensively, CF Adam Calderone and 1B Brian Dopirak provided some pop with a homer each which was ironically the 4th homer of the season for both of them. The team was able to get 11 hits overall, while 3B Brad Emaus and 2B Luis Sanchez stole a base a piece.

Las Vegas had the day off.

The Affiliates - 28th Arpil Recap

Lansing 5, West Michigan 2
- Anderson threw 4 inning while allowing 7 hits, so the bullpen really won this game for Lansing. McDade provided some pop with his second HR of the season.

Dunedin 11, Clearwater 7
- Marcus Walden threw 4 inning while allowing 7 hits (a trend), and the bullpen came through enough to allow for the win. Tolisano hit his first HR of the season, very encouraging, and Thames, Loewen, and Rodriguez carried the rest of the O.

New Hampshire 4, New Britain 6
- Anthony Slama shut the door on NH after a solid outing from Randy Boone. Boone threw 6 inning while allowing 4 ER and striking out 5. Zach Dials allowed the 2 winning runs to score in relief. The offense was steady but not explosion, with Emaus, Jerolman, Dopirak and Diaz getting 2 or more hits a piece.

Las Vegas 2, Sacramento 3
- Gio Gonzalez outdueled Bret Cecil in this one, but both had very similar pitching lines. Cecil allowed 3 runs over 6 innings while striking out 5 and walking 1. The offense just could not get much going against Gonzalez, with only Phillips, Ruiz and Campbell having any success whatsoever with 7 of the LV 10 hits between them.