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Louisville beat Norfolk 3-1 behind 6 solid innings from Justin Lehr. Lehr only gave up 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 4 in the process. Jeff Kennard, Pedro Viola, and Robert Manuel pitched one perfect inning each to seal the win. Manuel earned his 5th save of the season, and second in two nights with the old closer Josh Roenicke pitching in the bigs. He's putting together a pretty solid year in relief, posting a 1.91 ERA with a 32/9 K/BB ratio. He's also got a WHIP of 0.96 and opponents are hitting just .196 off of him. Good to see the Paul O'Neill trade of '92 starting to pay off. Danny Richar continued his hot hitting, getting 2 of the Bats' 4 hits, including his 4th home run of the season. Batting 7th, Chris Valaika was 0-for-3 in his first game off the DL. Up next: Gwinnett comes to Slugger Field at 7:05. No starter listed, but Sam LeCure is next in line.
- Carolina split a doubleheader with Tennessee, losing 7-6 in the first game and winning 6-3 in the nightcap. Zach Stewart had some trouble in Game 1, only pitching 3 innings and giving up 2 runs. No word yet on whether he's injured or not, but we'll keep you posted. 4 relievers pitched 2 innings each, with Logan Ondrusek blowing a save in the 6th and Ramon Geronimo blowing one in the 8th (in the extra innings of a 7-inning doubleheader game). Philippe-Alexandre Valiquette gave up the winning walk-off homer in the 12th. Zachary Cozart was on fire for the offense, hitting 2 homers and driving in 3 runs, and the extremely disappointing (sike) Yonder Alonso went 3-for-6 with a RBi as well. 3 lousy hits? Common! In Game 2, Travis Wood gave up an uncharacteristic 3 runs in 5 innings, but got the win anyway. His ERA ballooned to 1.36. Juan Francisco drove in 4 runs, including a 2-run HR, his 13th of the year to lead the Reds minors. Zach Cozart and Jose Castro had two more hits each for the Mudcats. Up next: Dallas Buck takes on Tennessee at 7:15.
- Sarasota got shut out 2-0 by Clearwater. The story of the game, obviously, was Joey Votto's rehab assignment. Votto went 0-for-2 with a walk in his 3 ABs. (Note: Cue the idiots who say "He can't handle single-A pitching? Trade him now!" You're idiots.) Travis Webb also had a shortened start, only going 3 innings. Scott Carroll came up big in relief, pitching 5 innings of one-hit ball. The S-Reds offense was dismal, only coming up with 4 hits on the evening, all singles. Up next: Sarasota's on their All-Star break until Monday. Representing the S-Reds in that game will be reliever Enerio Del Rosario and catcher Devin Mesoraco.
- Dayton won against West Michigan 5-4 in walk-off fashion. Miguel Rojas was the hero, hitting a walk-off solo shot as the first hitter in the bottom of the 9th. Carlos Mendez also homered, and every Dragons starting position player had at least one hit. Matt Fairel was solid, pitching 7 innings and giving up 3 ER on 6 hits. He walked 4 hitters and struck out 6. Up next: Josh Ravin takes on the Whitecaps at 7.
Rocketmanuel
Vintage Jo-eh