Hope everyone had a festive weekend out there. When your minor leaguers weren't grilling burgers and sippin' brews, here's what they were up to.
First, your stock report.
Wladimir Balentien
My Wladdy Balentien has been as hot a hitter as anyone lately. In his last 10 games, Wlad is OPSing .900, with 2 HR and 9 RBI. There isn't any room in the outfield for him right now, but it's nice to know that there's a few other bats down there if we need them.
Jared Burton
With the current bullpen woes in Cincinnati right now, Jared Burton has emerged as one of the guys to come back to the front of the line to come back up to the big club. After battling injuries earlier in the year, Burton has pitched scoreless ball in his last 4 outings, totaling 3 2/3 innings.
Jon Adkins
Even though we're going 3 of these in Louisville, we need to give credit to a guy who is finally getting his season on track after being on the bottom list earlier in the year. Adkins has gone 5 outings in a row without allowing a baserunner. Props, Jon.
Todd Frazier
He's been a fixture on both lists, but he's back here because he's back under the Mendoza line, and is 1 for his last 16 at the plate. The most troubling stat? In his last 10 games, he's struck out 7 times and walked 0.
J.C. Sulbaran
After coming into the season with high expectations, he's been... well, not good. He's given up at least 4 runs in last 5 starts, and is sporting a 5.63 ERA so far this year. Not what Dragons fans were expecting for someone repeating the level.
Efrain Contreras
The Venezuelan is hitting .212 since getting to Lynchburg, and he was batting .203 in Dayton so it's not really like he forced anyone's hand. After having a very good year last season in Billings, Contreras needs to get it going soon to hang with the other stud international players in the system.
A recap of the top performances of the weekend (including a no-hitter and a familiar face dominating our boys) is after the jump
- Louisville played 5 games over 4 days, including a doubleheader on Monday night. The most exciting performance came on Friday night, when Todd Redmond threw a no-hitter in the Bats game. Unfortunately, it was for Gwinnett, and the Bats were blanked 4-0. Obviously nothing to report offensively in this one, but Matt Maloney had a good start, going 7 2/3 innings and giving up 2 runs. One of the names not being mentioned for bullpen help, Ben Jukich, pitched a perfect 9th in this one. Maybe he should enter this conversation. On Saturday, they lost 7-1 with Matt Klinker giving up 4 runs in 6 innings in his first AAA start of the year. Chris Burke had 3 of the Bats' 5 hits. On Sunday, the Bats won 9-6, with Travis Wood making a quality start with 3 runs given up in 6 innings pitched. Joe Krebs and Jon Adkins had perfect innings of relief, and Drew Sutton led the offense with a 3-for-3 day with a home run, his 3rd of the season to pick up where he left off in Cincinnati. Not to be outdone, Wladimir Balentien slugged 2 homers, his 6th and 7th of the year. On Monday, the Bats split a doubleheader, a 1-0 loss and a 16-2 win. Game 1 saw a former Red come back to haunt them, as Justin Germano pitched a 7-inning one hitter. Chad Reineke started for the Bats, and gave up 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings. Game 2 went a little more smoothly, as Ben Jukich gave up 2 runs in 5, but the offense was the story. Chris Burke, Michael Griffin, Chris Denove, and Chris Valaika all had 3 hits apiece, and Burke hit his 2nd HR of the year and drove in 4 runs. Yonder Alonso doubled twice to drive in 3 runs as well. Up next: Aroldis Chapman takes on Columbus at 6:35, so if you Columbus area RRs are looking for something to do, head out there.
- Carolina went 1-3 on the weekend, winning 2-1 and losing 4-2 and 3-2 to West Tenn, and losing 3-1 to Jacksonville on Monday. Starter Scott Carroll and the bullpen had a good performance on Friday, with Carroll going 5 1/3 innings of 1-run ball, and Jeremy Horst, Phillippe Valiquette, and Jordan Smith combining for 3 2/3 scoreless innings from the pen. Tom Cochran started on Saturday, and gave up 4 runs in 6 innings. Jake Kahaulelio homered for the Mudcats in the loss. Devin Mesoraco hit his first AA homer on Sunday, and raised his average to .250. Matt Fairel was pretty good in his first start, giving up 3 runs in 7 innings with 4 strikeouts. Mesoraco hit his 2nd HR on Monday on a day where he went 1-for-4, keeping his average at .250 and raising his slugging percentage to 1.000. Travis Webb struck out 7 in his start, only giving up 2 runs in 5 innings, but still earned the loss. Up next: Alexander Smit takes the hill against Jacksonville at 7:05.
- Lynchburg won 3 of their 4 games over the weekend. After a rainout on Friday, they split a doubleheader with Frederick on Saturday. The first game was a 9-2 loss, despite 3-hit games by Cody Puckett and Kyle Day. In the second game, what was supposed to be a 7 inning game turned out to be a 14 inning extra innings affair, with the Hillcats emerging victorious 2-1. Jordan Hotchkiss made the transition to starting after spending most of his time in the bullpen, and pitched great, giving up 1 hit and striking out 6 in his 3 scoreless innings. Donnie Joseph, Justin Freeman, and Nick Christiani also combined for 8 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. On Sunday, Brad Boxberger pitched well, striking out 7 in 4 one-hit innings. Carlos Mendez, Kevin Coddington, and Jose Gualdron all had two hits in the 7-2 win. On Monday, the Hillcats edged Salem 4-3 in 10 innings. Mark Serrano started, and gave up 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings with 8 strikeouts and only 1 walk. Neftali Soto hit his 7th home run of the year. Up next: James Avery starts against Salem at 7:05.
- Despite a rainout on Monday, Dayton only won 1 of their 3 games for the weekend. Their only win was Friday's comeback 5-4 win, with the Dragons scoring 2 in the 9th. J.C. Sulbaran had some trouble in this one, but Andrew Means saved the day with a 2-run single. On Saturday, Josh Garton hit his 6th home run of the year in a 6-5 loss. The Dragons scored 4 in the 8th on Sunday, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 7-run deficit to lose 7-4. Henry Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Up next: Pedro Villarreal starts a new series with Kane County at 7:00.