With Opening Day of the minor league season upon us, let's see how the Reds farm teams played last night:
- The Bats drop their first game 12-4 to the Clippers, with a rough night at the office for Mr. Should-Have-Been-The-5th-Starter. Homer Bailey went 5 1/3 innings, and gave up 8 ER on 9 H, striking out 5 and walking 1. Not gonna get back to the bigs that way, Hoss. Robert Manuel gave up a few runs out of the 'pen, and Stubbs, Valaika and Dorn went a combined 0-for-11. Yikes. On the bright side, Billy Bray went 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, and Jonny Gomes went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Adam Rosales also got some vindication for being left off of the Opening Day roster, putting in the best offensive performance for the Bats going 2-for-4 with a HR. Up next: Game 2 of the series at 7:05. Matt Maloney goes for the Bats against Aaron Laffey.
- Carolina loses in walk-off fashion, 4-3 to the Mississippi Braves. Concepcion Rodriguez (I wonder who he was named after...) drilled a Derrik Lutz pitch up the middle with runners on 1st and 2nd in the 9th, and Chris Heisey's throw was a little off to allow the Braves to score the winning run. Dallas Buck started for the Cats, and went 5 innings giving up 3 ER. Ramon Geronimo had a decent game out of the 'pen as well, giving up 2 hits and no runs in 2 innings. Zach Cozart and Chris Denove led the Mudcats offensive attack with 2 hits each, and Todd Frazier contributed a hit and RBI to the cause. Up next: Travis Wood takes the hill for the Cats for Game 2 against the Braves, 8:05 ET.
- At least the S-Reds won! They dispatched the St. Lucie Mets 9-3. Alex Buchholz was the star of the show, going 3-for-4 with a 2-run HR, and 4 RBI overall. Neftali Soto also contributed two hits to the cause, and Yonder Alonso had a solo shot to kick off the season. Matt Klinker went 4 innings, 3 ER in his start, but Canadian sensation Phillippe-Alexandre Valiquette got the win in his two innings of scoreless, hitless relief. Up next: Game 2 series, kicks off at 7:00.
- The Dragons also got destroyed in their home opener, 14-3 against Great Lakes. David Sappelt contributed 2 hits to Dayton's cause, and Mace Thurman struck out 6 in his 2 2/3 innings of relief. Starter Matt Fairel got hit early, giving up 3 runs in 2 innings, and Matt Bohana gave up 7 R (3 ER) in his 2 innings. Up next: Dragons vs. Loons, game 2, at 7:00 PM in Dayton.
Buchholz