As you may know, the Reds had two players selected to play in the Futures Game in St. Louis yesterday, Chris Heisey from Louisville for the US team and J.C. Sulbaran out of Dayton for the World team (he's from Curacao). Heisey started the game in LF and batted 6th (between Pedro Alvarez and Tyler Flowers, no less), and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. Bummer. On the other hand, Sulbaran pitched the 9th inning for the World team with a 2-run lead, and despite walking 2 hitters, didn't allow a hit to earn the save.
Louisville swept their series against Columbus over the weekend to power into the all-star break on a 5 game winning streak and first place in their division. They won Friday 5-4 behind 7 strong innings from Matt Maloney. Zach Stewart gave up 1 run in 2 innings of relief for his first AAA save. Chris Heisey was the offense, going 2-for-4 with a HR. On Saturday, Pedro Viola blew a 3-run lead in the 9th, but the Bats came back in the 10th to win in walk-off fashion 7-6. Chris Valaika had the most important hit, driving in the winning run, but Craig Tatum had a big night going 3-for-4 with a HR, as did Wes Bankston, who had 2 HRs, his 12th and 13th of the year. Justin Lehr gave up 4 runs in 8 1/3 innings, and Jared Burton gave up one hit in 1 2/3 innings to earn the win. Sunday saw the Bats light up the opposing starter to win the finale 8-4. The most impressive performer? Kip Wells, who gave up one hit and struck out 3 in 3 innings of relief. Darnell McDonald homered and Corky Miller had two hits. Drew Stubbs was 0-for-5 to not help his cause at all for being brought up. Up next: The Bats are on the all-star break!
Carolina lost the weekend series to Jacksonville by going 1-2. On Friday, they lost 2-1 in 10 innings, behind a solid outing from Camilo Vazquez. He pitched two perfect innings before being pulled during a rain delay. By all accounts, nothing to look too much into. Jerry Gil gave up 1 unearned run in 3 innings, and Ruben Medina and Philippe-Alexandre Valiquette both pitched 2 innings of shutout relief. The bullpen did a great job picking up the starter given the situation, but the offense couldn't capitalize. Sean Henry drove in the only run. On Saturday, they split a doubleheader, winning 2-0 and losing 1-0. Matt Klinker pitched brilliantly in the first game, giving up 1 hit in 6 innings and striking out 8. Todd Frazier was 3-for-4, and Juan Francisco and Stephen Chapman drove in the Mudcats 2 runs. Tom Cochran was almost as good in the second game, giving up 1 run and 1 hit in 5 innings while striking out 9, but the offense could only muster up 3 singles to support him. Up next: The Mudcats are on the all-star break too!
Sarasotalost their first game of the weekend 6-3 against Fort Myers, but rebounded in a big way against Charlotte, winning 6-1 on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday. Jason Louwsma and Justin Reed had two hits in Friday's game, and Justin Freeman and Mark Pawelek picked up the bullpen after Travis Webb got lit up. Luis Montano gave up 1 run in 6 innings on Saturday, and it was a mixed offensive effort with Reed, Louwsma, Neftali Soto, Justin Tordi, and Jose Gualdron all with two hits each. Louwsma had another big game on Sunday with two hits, including a HR. Scott Carroll pitched great again, going 6 shutout innings, and The Cycle and Josh Beal closed it out. Up next: Jeremy Horst takes on Charlotte at 7.
Dayton continues to be the anti-Louisville, losing all three games over the weekend. They closed out their series with Clinton with a loss on Friday, 6-0. Nothing really happened in that one. They lost to Cedar Rapids in the 8th inning on Saturday, falling 6-5. Josh Fellhauer was 4-for-5 with 2 RBi, and Enrique Rojas added 3 hits as well. On Sunday, they lost 11-7, and Lance Janke got lit up. Byron Wiley was 4-for-4 with a HR and 4 RBI, and Andrew Means and Cody Puckett had two hits each. Up next: Dayton closes out their Iowa tour in Cedar Rapids at 1:05. Matt Fairel will take the hill.
Billings went 1-2 over the weekend. They won 6-4 over Orem by scoring 4 runs in the 9th. 5 Mustangs had 2 hits, including Tyler Stovall who drove in 2 runs as well. Josh Garton added a PH HR in the 9th, a solo shot and his first as a pro. Shea Snowden pitched 6 1/3 innings of 3-run ball, and Donnie Joseph earned his first win in 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. On Saturday, they traveled to Ogden and lost 10-4.Luca Panerati gave up 7 runs in 5 innings, and while Forest Cannon's 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief helped, the offense couldn't overcome the deficit. Sunday's game saw another loss, 6-4 this time. Mark Serrano was once again good in relief, but the offense was once again unable to overcome a 5 run hole. Humberto Sosa was 4-for-5, and Efrain Contreras, Sean Conner, and Mariekson Gregorius all had two hits each. Up next: Justin Walker closes out the Mustangs tour of Utah in Ogden at 9.
The GCL Reds won both of their games over the weekend, 11-3 on Friday and 6-1 on Sunday. Donald Lutz was the star on Friday, going 4-for-5 with a 3-run homer and 4 runs batted in total. Henry Rodriguez also had three hits. Nathan Driessen pitched 3 2/3 one hit innings in relief, striking out 6, and Raul Rodriguez and Jacob Wiley pitched hitless outings as well. On Sunday, all three Rodriguezes had two hits (Yorman, Cristobal, and Henry), and Harold Johnson pitched 3 perfect innings in his start. Up next: They take on the GCL Orioles at noon. Not sure who's starting.
