Until Saturday, catcher Dashenko Ricardo hadn’t had a hit in affiliated baseball since 2013. It is with great sadness that we have learned of former 2011 Hot Rods player Braulio Lara has passed away. Braulio was involved in a fatal car crash in his hometown of Bani, Dominican Republic. Braulio pitched for the Hot Rods in 2011 with 21 starts and appeared in 25 games. pic.twitter.com/txcTvfsaJk— BG Hot Rods (@BGHotRods) April 20, 2019 Triple-A Durham Bulls (4-9) Durham bashed four home runs in its Game 1, 11-2 win over Gwinnett. The Bulls already led 3-1 when newcomer Dashenko Ricardo went deep in the fourth, extending their lead to 4-1. It was his first hit in affiliated baseball since 2013. An inning later, Jake Smolinski, Jason Coats, and Andrew Velazquez all homered. Ryan Merritt allowed a run in five innings. The Bulls rallied to sweep the doubleheader with a 3-2 win in Game 2. They only had two hits, but one was extremely timely. With two outs in the sixth, Kean Wong cleared the bases with a double. Their previous hit was a leadoff single in the third by Emilio Bonifacio. They threw five pitchers at the Stripers, none of whom pitched longer than Mike Franco’s 2 1?3 innings. CF Andrew Velazquez (1): 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS3B Andrew Velazquez (2): 0-for-2, 1 BB, 2 K (.895)1B Nate Lowe (1): 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB1B Nate Lowe (2): 0-for-2, 1 R (.956)DH Nick Solak (1): 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBILF Nick Solak (2): 0-for-2, 1 K (.838)RF Jake Smolinski (1): 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.717)LF Jason Coats (1): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.509)C Dashenko Ricardo (1): 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI (2.334) LHP Ryan Merritt (1): 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (7.27)LHP Colin Poche (2): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K (15.88) Durham’s site offers this recap. Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (8-6) Montgomery had more solid pitching in its 5-0 win over Mississippi. In their last three games, the Biscuits have only allowed three runs. Although he walked five, Ricardo Pinto managed five scoreless innings. Ivan Pelaez threw the next three innings, and Curtis Taylor completed the shutout. The first run scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, and the Biscuits added four insurance runs in the eighth. SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K (.796)CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-4, 2 K (.925)RF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI (.690)DH Brendan McKay: 0-for-3, 1 BB (.556) RHP Ricardo Pinto: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 2 K (5.93) Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (5-11) Charlotte gained an early lead and cruised to a 7-2 win over Fort Myers. The first four batters of the game drew walks and helped lead to three first-inning runs. An inning later, the first four batters reached again, but this time, the Stone Crabs scored four runs. With the early run support, Tommy Romero had a nice outing, allowing just a run in five innings with four strikeouts. SS Vidal Brujan: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K (.784)3B Tyler Frank: 0-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K (.451)DH Ronaldo Hernandez: 2-for-4, 4 RBI (.420)LF Garrett Whitley: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 K (.683) RHP Tommy Romero: 5 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (1.93) Charlotte’s site offers this recap. Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (9-7) Shane McClanahan had a rough outing in Bowling Green’s 8-3 loss to Great Lakes. In five innings, he walked four batters, including three in the four-run second inning. The Loons made him pay with a pair of run-scoring extra-base hits. The Hot Rods scored the next three runs, but Great Lakes put the game away with another four-run inning in the seventh. SS Wander Franco: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB (.745) LHP Shane McClanahan: 5 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (4.70) Bowling Green’s site offers this recap. CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES Sunday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com) Durham vs. Gwinnett 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)Jake Faria (1-0, 6.35) vs. TBA Montgomery @ Mississippi 2:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)Sam McWilliams (1-0, 3.60) vs. Tucker Davidson (0-0, 1.00) Charlotte is off. Bowling Green is off. *Listed as TBA on milb.com Scouting the opposition Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta)7-7 (2nd in IL South)Offense: 65 R (9th) .767 OPS (7th)Pitching: 3.93 ERA (3rd) 1.17 WHIP (1st)Top-30 prospects: 3B Austin Riley (1), RHP Kyle Wright (4), RHP Bryse Wilson (6), LHP Luiz Gohara (10), LHP Kolby Allard (14), C Alex Jackson (23) Mississippi Braves7-6 (2nd in SL South)Offense: 56 R (4th) .700 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 2.77 ERA (2nd) 1.36 WHIP (9th)Top-30 prospects: RHP Ian Anderson (2), OF Drew Waters (7), OF Cristian Pache (8), LHP Kyle Muller (11), LHP Joey Wentz (12), RHP Patrick Weigel (13), 3B CJ Alexander (18), RHP Huascar Ynoa (19), LHP Tucker Davidson (21), SS Ray-Patrick Didder (30) Daily news and links There was another minor league no-hitter, this time thrown by three Kane County pitchers. Wildest game of the day goes to @MaineBaseball and @UMassBaseball, which Maine won 4-1 in seven innings?? Ryan Turenne hit a pinch hit, walk-off grand slam?? Maine RHP Nick Silva threw a no-hitter?? The game took 95 minutes— Teddy Cahill (@tedcahill) April 20, 2019

And in less good news, the Crunch face elimination in their next game. First, it wouldn’t be Easter without posting this photo. Happy Easter, everybody! Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins is today at 3 PM. Now that you’re awake... There are three important bits of news from the franchise today. We’ll do it bad-news-sandwich style, with the bad news in the middle. First, Tampa Bay Lightning’s netminder, Andrei Vasilevskiy, has been nominated for a Vezina Award for the second year in a row. Back when we were young and innocent on March 27 (before our sports world fell apart) we accurately predicted that Vasy, Ben Bishop, and Robin Lehner would be the nominees. Matty wrote: Is Vasilevskiy’s performance this season worthy of another Vezina nomination? It’s a toss up between Bishop and Vasilevskiy in my honest opinion. Given the lack of goal scoring in Dallas this season the fact that Bishop has been that good for the Stars while missing time is phenomenal. His easier workload makes room for Vasilevskiy to have a shot, especially since he already leads the league in wins and this award has always leaned heavily on a goaltender with a bevy of wins (thanks GMs). Lehner, in my opinion, has the easiest workload of the three and has split time almost evenly with another goaltender. A nomination is definitely in the works for him, but the Vezina has never gone to a tandem netminder. Click through to the article to see where Vasy falls statistically in line with other goalies from the 2018-19 regular season. Here’s the nomination piece from NHL: Vasilevskiy helped the Lightning tie an NHL record for wins in a season (62) and win the Presidents’ Trophy with 128 points. He led the NHL with 39 wins, tied for fourth with Lehner in shutouts (six), and had a 2.40 GAA and .925 save percentage in 53 games. Vasilevskiy went 30-7-3 after his return from a foot injury Dec. 13, including 10 straight wins from Feb. 9-March 5. He could be the first Lightning goalie to win the Vezina after finishing third in the voting last season. Second, the bad news. The Syracuse Crunch dropped Game 2, 5-1, to the Cleveland Monsters. They face elimination this coming Tuesday. Here’s the recap from Justing. Syracuse Crunch lose 5-1 to Cleveland Monsters; face elimination on Tuesday It was a Groundhog Day-esque performance from the Crunch that constantly saw them have their shots blocked or deflected aside by a cavalcade of Cleveland defenders. Syracuse had little flow to their offense as their passes were often errant and pucks bounced off of their skates or sticks throughout the game. I felt visceral empathy after reading that recap — Crunch fans almost have to relive the Bolts’ playoffs a week later. Third, more good news. The Orlando Solar Bears, current home of Connor Ingram and Otto Sommpi, among others, made it through the first round of playoffs in five games. Orlando will face the winner of Florida Everblades vs. Jacksonville Icemen. Sadly, Everblades lead the series 3-2. I am so incredibly sick of playoff series vs. the Everblades, so GO ICEMEN GO. Fejes with the empty net goal ices this one, and the Solar Bears hang on for a 5-2 win to defeat the Stingrays in Game 5 and advance to the South Division Finals for the second straight season!#HereWeCome pic.twitter.com/GSxHLVHz6J— Orlando Solar Bears (@OrlandoHockey) April 21, 2019 NHL Playoff recaps Schwartz has hat trick, Blues eliminate Jets [NHL] Jaden Schwartz scored a hat trick, and the St. Louis Blues advanced to the Western Conference Second Round with a 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 of the first round at Enterprise Center on Saturday. St. Louis won the best-of-7 series 4-2 and will play the Dallas Stars or Nashville Predators next. Dallas leads that series 3-2. This victory was not without controversy: Another look at the goal + where you can find all of this challenge data: https://t.co/HGvAurXFlv pic.twitter.com/uCaEkeVeqz— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 20, 2019 As a few of you have pointed out here, two problems with that goal: - poor skate-to-post coverage, but also- terrible goaltender restriction by his own teammate. Hard to properly do your job when you've got 230lbs of Hockey Man falling at your head. pic.twitter.com/qihqdHlEec— Catherine Silverman (@catmsilverman) April 20, 2019 Capitals score six against Hurricanes in Game 5, take series lead [NHL] Nicklas Backstrom had four points, and Braden Holtby made 30 saves for the Washington Capitals in a 6-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Saturday. Washington leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 is at Carolina on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS, FS-CR, NBCSWA). Bad news for TJ Oshie fans, however: T.J. Oshie has a broken collarbone. Story with @barrysvrluga has been updated https://t.co/56Bk1OVqzU— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 21, 2019 Stars top Predators in Game 5, take series lead [NHL] Alexander Radulov and Jason Dickinson each scored two goals for the Dallas Stars when they defeated the Nashville Predators 5-3 in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday. The Stars lead the best-of-7 series and have won two of three games here. Dallas can win the series in Game 6 at home Monday. Did anyone else totally forget Zuccarello was a Dallas Star? How to make enemies 101: hit Zuccarello at center ice pic.twitter.com/8rguqHL6we— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 20, 2019 This also happened last night, and it’s a lovely way to end QS: ICYMI: We are extremely excited to welcome @hilaryknight in studio tonight to be a part of our #StanleyCup coverage on @NBC and @NBCSN for Jets/Blues and Hurricanes/Capitals! pic.twitter.com/pHjqCutm2s— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 20, 2019

Game Two is deja vu for the Crunch as they are unable to solve Cleveland’s shotblocking schemes. “We have to play faster.” That was the mantra coming from the Syracuse Crunch following their Game One loss on home ice to the Cleveland Monsters. In Game Two they wanted to move the puck through the neutral zone faster, make faster decisions in the offensive zone, and get their shots off faster in order to thwart the Monsters’ shot blocking. They did none of those things and lost 5-1. After a record-setting regular season they, like the Lightning before them, are now staring elimination straight in the face. It was a Groundhog Day-esque performance from the Crunch that constantly saw them have their shots blocked or deflected aside by a cavalcade of Cleveland defenders. Syracuse had little flow to their offense as their passes were often errant and pucks bounced off of their skates or sticks throughout the game. They now face the Herculean task of winning three straight games, including two in Cleveland, if they want to continue their season. First Period: Following last night’s loss the Crunch really wanted to start fast in Game Two. They didn’t. In fact, the first minute of the game was spent with them hemmed into their own zone as they struggled to clear the puck and the top line of the Monsters kept possession of the puck. Once the Crunch finally cleared it, things picked up a little as they controlled most of the play through the first ten minutes or so. Dennis Yan, a scratch in Friday’s game, was the most noticeable forward on the ice and he had the team’s first shot. He also had the best opportunity with just under nine minutes to play in the period. Ben Thomas blocked a shot and batted the puck to center ice where Yan was hanging out all by his lonesome. He corralled the puck and skated in on a breakaway. He pulled up just in front of Brad Thiessen and tried to get the puck elevated off of his backhand. Yan didn’t quite get it up high enough and the goalie was able to smother the shot. BRICK. WALL. pic.twitter.com/GRTc1k8pxR— x-Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) April 20, 2019 The Crunch also wanted to get their shots off quicker to avoid having the Monsters block as many shots as they did in Game One. They were a little better at that, as they managed to get seven shots on net. Problems persisted, though, as even if an initial shot made it through and the Crunch had a rebound, Cleveland just collapsed around their net and made it almost impossible for the next shot to get through. Example: with a minute left, Gabriel Dumont raced in on the left side and his shot ricocheted off of Thiessen’s pad right to Cory Conacher. Conacher wasn’t in a position to shoot so he tipped a pass to Cal Foote who was in the slot, but by the time he released the shot four Monsters were within a stride of the crease and the puck was batted away. Cleveland did end up outshooting the Crunch 10-7 with most of the shots coming in the second half of the period. Still, Syracuse took a page out of their opponent’s book and blocked a high quantity of shots. Eddie Pasquale did have to be sharp shortly after Yan’s breakaway when a block shot trickled to the slot and Liam Foudy uncorked a laser. Pasquale was able to snag it with his glove to keep the rookie off of the scoreboard. Both teams had an opportunity on the power play and failed to convert. The Crunch’s best chance was a one-timer from Conacher (shocking) that was blocked away from danger. Cleveland had excellent zone time and came close to scoring after a quick passing play led to an open shot for Garret Cockerill. The defenseman’s shot beat Pasquale but was denied by the left post. Second Period: Well, the Crunch didn’t spend the entire first minute of the second period in their own zone like they did the first. That’s because Cleveland scored 18 seconds into the period. Let’s play a game. Was the goal a result of: A: A brilliant individual play by a Monsters’ forward? B: A turnover by a member of the Crunch? C: A lucky shot from center ice that hit a stanchion and took an awkward bounce past Pasquale? D: A nice passing play that led to a slam dunk goal? If you chose “B” you are a winner! Cameron Gaunce was behind his own net and he tried to fire it out up the middle of the ice. Unfortunately it hit Ryan MacInnis and landed in front of the net, right where Justin Scott was standing. Without a soul around him he fired it past Pasquale. Great start. Bullseye! pic.twitter.com/Spb098XXUN— x-Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) April 21, 2019 Following the goal, Hubert Labrie had a prime opportunity to get a shot on net but he held onto the puck too long and by the time he let his slapshot go it was deflected away. That seems to be a running theme in this series so far. Speaking of themes, another has been the Crunch trailing and then having to kill a penalty. Andy Andreoff slashed Alex Broadhurst as he cut into the crease. It helped slow the shot, but led to another two minutes shorthanded for the Crunch. They killed it off and then slowly started to build a little momentum. For the majority of the first two games the Crunch’s forecheck has been nonexistent. Cleveland has been able to carry the puck out or pass it out cleanly. That leads to them being able to move through the neutral zone and set up their offense. Following the penalty, the Crunch started to get back to that part of their game. The Dumont line picked a few pockets and made the Monsters work a little harder to get out of the zone or just dump it out without control. This was the Crunch style of play their fans were used to seeing this season. Eventually the forecheck caused a penalty. Andreoff went in to lay a hit on Cockerill who saw him coming and rushed his clear. It went up over the glass untouched by another’s stick. That’s a penalty. Thankfully, the one thing that has been working through the first five periods of this series and bringing joy to Crunch fans is the power play. Once again the Crunch scored a goal with the extra skater. Carter Verhaeghe started it as he carried the puck over the blue line. He zipped a cross-ice pass to Conacher, who didn’t hesitate to send it back across the ice where Ross Colton had beaten Ryan Collins to the front of the net. All Colton had to do was get his stick on the puck and deflect it past Thiessen. The game was tied. A tic-tac-goal beauty. #SYRvsCLE pic.twitter.com/14382CCbRp— y - Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) April 21, 2019 Unlike Friday night, the Crunch didn’t let up after scoring. They kept the pressure on for a few more shifts. The chippiness that had been going on all series continued and it boiled over a little as Nolan Valleau and Kole Sherwood wrestled around with each other at center ice. Both were sent off for a loose definition of fighting. After that ruckus, Cleveland got back into their rhythm. They kept the puck in the zone and Sonny Milano fired a shot on net. Pasquale made the save but the rebound was right in front of him. Andreoff was a little slow in tying up Dan DeSalvo and the forward poked the puck into the back of the net. Dan the MAN. pic.twitter.com/7jUZD2w3cB— x-Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) April 21, 2019 Cleveland was back ahead, 2-1, and a few minutes later they were back on the power play. Brady Brassart engaged in a face-off and pushed it back to his teammates with his hand. The referee didn’t like that so he sent him to the box. Syracuse did kill off the first 14 seconds of the penalty, but it carried over into the third. Third Period: The Crunch killed off the rest of the penalty and even had a shorthanded chance. Dumont and Boris Katchouk had a two-on-one rush and Katchouk’s shot was nicked by Thiessen and the post and stayed out. That may have been the highlight of the period for the Crunch. Trailing by one goal and twenty minutes away from a 2-0 deficit in a 5 game series, the Crunch may have played their worst period so far. With four minutes left in the period they had three shots. That’s it. Three. They ended up with six total thanks to some garbage time shots that made it through. Bad bounces, bad ice, bad luck, bad passes. The Crunch had it all going in the third period as they failed to gain any momentum. Eleven minutes into the period, Mark Letestu sealed it when he converted a pass from Sonny Milano into a goal. How did Milano get the puck in the Crunch’s offensive zone? A turnover by Dennis Yan. In a situation that was similar to the one that Gaunce had in the first period, Yan tried to clear the puck out and had it knocked down by Milano. That allowed him to pass it over to Letestu, who beat Pasquale cleanly. Nailed it. pic.twitter.com/jY6teSW0Yh— x-Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) April 21, 2019 Sure, there were nine minutes left in the game, but the Crunch weren’t going to tie it up. And they didn’t. Even after pulling the extra skater with over four minutes to go, the Crunch couldn’t keep possession of the puck and the Monsters added two empty net goals for the 5-1 victory. The two teams head to Cleveland with the Monsters having two shots at closing out the series on home ice. Expect a host of line changes for the Crunch as Coach Groulx searches for the correct combination to spark his offense. Three Stars: 3. The Crunch power play. They went 1-for-4 tonight, but two of those chances were abbreviated. Syracuse has scored four goals in this series - three on the power play and one with a sixth skater. 2. Cleveland’s ability to block shots. Just like in Game One, they allowed few shots in on their netminder. The second part of them blocking shots is their ability to get to the loose puck after the block. That snuffs out the second and third chances that Syracuse needs in order to score against them. 1. Cleveland’s forecheck. It directly led to two of the three goals. Syracuse has looked completely baffled at times against the forecheck - winging passes blindly out of the zone or just holding onto the puck until they turn it over. Unable to get the puck out cleanly, they can’t build any speed in the neutral zone and that hampers their offense. Box Score

It was a tough loss, but they fought tooth and nail for those runs. Here’s what I love about this Rays team: in any other year, going up against a team like the Red Sox with a grand slam like a black mark on the score sheet, the game would feel over. Not so, with this 2019 club. Even after the dismal turn of events in the second inning, when Charlie Morton walked in a run with a hit-by-pitch to Sandy Leon, and then gave up the aforementioned grand slam to Andrew Benintendi (his first career slam), Morton stayed on. He cleaned things up, he righted the ship. After something like that, one might expect him to get pulled, but instead he went on to give up no further runs for the rest of his innings, going six, and collecting nine strikeouts. Jacob Faria (remember him!?) came on in the seventh and looked good, allowing only one hit and a walk. The offense played their part as well, with a Avisail Garcia home run in the second, and FOUR triples in the game. The first was by Ji-Man Choi, who would later leave the game with left calf tightness, and was subsequently scored by a triple from Brandon Lowe in the fourth. Kiermaier got one in the seventh, and then he and a pinch-hitting Guillermo Heredia were scored with the fourth triple, this one from Austin Meadows. There was a super hot defensive double play in the top of the eighth when Lowe knocked a liner down and was able to successfully turn it into a 4-6-3 play. Yow. That’s what I mean, too. This team has no quit in them. After losing two in a row for the first time all season, you could tell they had no interest in letting it become three in a row. Then bottom of the eighth, Yandy Diaz rolls up to the plate and ties things 5-5. Here. We. Go. The crowd at the Trop — and yes, there was a crowd — started getting really loud at this point. Unfortunately Alvarado had trouble limiting damage, and gave up two hits and a walk, one of the hits to the red-hot Benintendi to push the Sox ahead once more. The bottom of the ninth was a white-knuckled affair, with Daniel Roberston and Tommy Pham collecting hits, and everything falling to Willy Adames as the game’s final out. And then, just like that, a pick off at first tagged out Pham and the game was over. But still, they hustled, they almost got it back. The Rays have now lost three in a row, but there’s a lot to look forward to in tomorrow’s series finale.