LeBlanc helps Bisons blank Mud Hens

Wade LeBlanc spent a year away from the Minor Leagues. It appears that time has given him the tools he needed to dominate.

The Blue Jays veteran gave up four hits over 6 1/3 innings on Saturday as Triple-A Buffalo beat Toledo, 3-0. LeBlanc, who struck out five and walked two, has not allowed an earned run in 33 1/3 innings.

The 31-year-old left-hander exited with one out in the seventh after hitting Chad Huffman with a pitch and giving up a single Casey McGehee.

"Just had a lot of defensive plays made behind me, basically," LeBlanc said. "Catcher A.J. Jimenez did a really good job of reading swings and keeping hitters off-balance and letting the defense work."

LeBlanc (5-1) has not given up an earned run since his May 2 start against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In five International League starts since, the Louisiana native has yielded 31 hits over 33 innings, recording 29 strikeouts.

"I think streaks like that have a lot to do with luck and timing and just like pitching in general," said LeBlanc, who threw 50 of 90 pitches for strikes. "Once you let the ball go, it's out of your hands what happens. I can say it's all about execution, which a lot of times it comes down to, but you can execute your pitches and give up four bloop hits and give up a run. I think it's more luck and timing than anything else. When you have a streak going, you just enjoy it and eat up innings and try and get your teams some wins."

LeBlanc, who's tied for first in the league with five wins and ranks third with a 1.29 ERA, is back in the United States after spending 2015 with the Seibu Lions in Japan. The 10-year Minor League veteran said he learned a lot about the game while overseas, both on and off the field.

"You learn not to be too hard on yourself," he said. "You see guys over there have a bad game and they're still the same guy they were yesterday and the same guy they were after the game. It's little things like that. As far as in between the lines, not making pitching too difficult. It's about keeping it simple. If you know a hitter is looking for something, throw something else. That's kind of the approach they take out there. If I had to say one thing I took from my experience over there, that was it."

LeBlanc, who spent parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues, said he hasn't pondered a return trip to the big leagues and is taking everything in stride.

"I haven't thought about that one bit, to be honest, you can't. If you're worried about getting somewhere else or what's happening above you, you're not going to be able to do your job effectively, he said. "One thing that I always try to do when I wake up in the morning is understand God has a plan for my life. The day He wants me somewhere else, whether it's the big leagues or another Triple-A team or if he just wants me to go, that's out of my control and I'm just going to keep walking where He wants me to go."

Bo Schultz took over for LeBlanc in the seventh and got John Hicks, the first batter he faced, to hit into an inning-ending double play. Ryan Tepera gave up one hit and struck out two over the final two frames to notch his fifth save.

Matt Dominguez was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Darrell Cecilliani finished a homer short of the cycle for the Bisons.

Mud Hens starter Thad Weber fell to 5-3 after allowing a pair of runs on eight hits and three walks while fanning three over seven innings.