Lots of minor league action in Reds country yesterday, even if you don't count the team playing in Cincinnati right now. The highlights:
- The Bats swept both games of their doubleheader today against Columbus, 5-1 and 5-4. Matt Maloney was in fine form for Louisville, throwing a 7-inning complete game (minor league doubleheader games are 7 innings long). He gave up 1 run on 6 hits, striking out two without walking anybody. The Bats managed 5 runs off of Aaron Laffey, with Wes Bankston hitting a 3-R HR as one of his two hits and Adam Rosales adding two hits of his own. In game 2, Norris Hopper went 3-for-4 and Rosales and Kevin Barker drove in 3 and 2 runs respectively. Ramon Ramirez started the game for Louisville, but the Gutless Wonder Adam Pettyjohn stood out as the day's best pitcher, pitching 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Up next: Ben Jukich takes the hill against former Reds terrific bullpen asset Kirk Saarloos in the series finale against the Clippers, gametime at 1:15.
- Carolina looked pretty impressive too, winning big in Mississippi 10-3. Offense was the name of the game in this one, with Todd Frazier going 4-for-5 with 3 RBI (playing 1B, too), and Zach Cozart adding 3 hits of his own. The Mudcats pitching was great as well, as Jordan Smith put in a quality start going 7 innings, giving up 2 runs, striking out 4. Hopefully performances like this are what we'll see a lot of out of this team that's chock full of talent. Up next: Game 4 of the series in Mississippi, first pitch 2:05, with James Avery taking the mound for the visiting Mudcats.
- The Sarasota Reds kept the winning going, beating St. Lucie 4-2 behind 4 solid innings behind started Zach Stewart. Justin Reed went 2-for-4 with a HR, and Denis Phipps got in on the action with 2 hits, including a triple and a stolen base. Negative HAVOC ensued when Reds number one prospect Yonder Alonso, who surprisingly had 26 stolen bases in college, got caught stealing, his first of the season. Three of the four S-Reds Bash Quadruplets, (Alonso, Buchholz, and Soto) had a hit apiece, while the fourth, Devin Mesoraco, went an uncharacteristic 0-for-4. Up next: The S-Reds finish up their series in St. Lucie, starting at 12:00 ET.
- Dayton spoiled the sweep by the Reds minor league teams, losing 2-0 in their series finale against Great Lakes. Not much offense to report, as the Dragons only managed 3 hits off of Loons pitching, anchored by a 5 inning performance from Dodgers 2008 first round pick Ethan Martin. Dragons pitching was solid, as Curtis Partch gave up 2 runs in 5 innings and Lance Janke pitched 3 innings of shutout relief. Up next: Off day tomorrow, and a new series in Peoria starts Monday night at 7:30.
Maloney
Frazier