There were no brawls in the Louisville Bats game last night. No punches were thrown, no one was called any naughty names, and even though 3 Bats were hit by a pitch, the team never lost its cool. The result? Another dramatic victory, the team's 17th win in their last 18 games. As a minor league guy here at RR, I don't often have reason or occasion to write opinion on the Reds on the front page, so I'm going to take this opportunity--Last night's Reds game was easily the ugliest game I've seen all year, including the Atlanta debacle. The team looked bush league in almost every way. My sincere hope is that this is a valuable learning experience for them, and they realize that playing with extremes of emotion often leads to bad results. They've got a chance to salvage something today and hold on to first place, and I for one am glad the team's coolest cucumber will be taking the hill. But even if they get swept today, they can bounce back from this just like they have from every other setback this year, and hopefully come September they'll be stronger for it. Maybe they can look at their brethren in Louisville for inspiration. That team struggled for well over half the year, but have turned it on big time lately, and now sit comfortably in a playoff position. Things can change quickly in baseball, and as much as I wanted to win this series, there's a lot of baseball to be played...but guys, seriously--Don't get swept!
Ok, off the soapbox, time for some minor league action!
- Louisville has a seriously impressive offense these days. They won 8-7 on a 9th inning, 2-out, 2-run double by Wladimir Balentien. Homer Bailey pitched a scoreless inning in relief, and Aroldis Chapman struck out 2 in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his 5th save. My Wladdy Balentien had 3 total hits and 5 RBI. (And he plays much better LF defense than Jonny Gomes. I'm not saying, I'm just saying) Yonder Alonso and Wilkin Castillo each had 2 hits. Alonso's average is up above .300.
- Carolina lost 12-10. After a terrible start by Scott Carroll, the bullpen settled down and 4 guys combined for 6 innings of 2 run ball. Devin Mesoraco was 3-5 with his 23rd homer, and Sean Henry and Kris Negron were each 3-5 with a double.
- Lynchburg lost 5-2. No outstanding performances in this one, either good or bad. Kyle Day did have a double and 2 walks, so that's something!
- Dayton are the bizarro world Bats right now. They lost again, 9-2. Doug Salinas threw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, and Ryan LaMarre doubled and walked. He's on a bit of a hot streak right now, and his OPS is up to .781 on the year in his first taste of pro ball.
- Billings couldn't get anything going. They played another couple innings of last night's suspended game before both it and the second game were rained out.
- AZL Reds played a late one, and I went to bed. They were kicking butt in the 5th, and if you are dying to see how it played out, clicka-tha-link!