You've probably been hearing quite a bit lately about how well Aroldis Chapman has been doing in Louisville. Let me offer you some more. Baseball Prospectus said that Chapman probably has better stuff than any lefty reliever currently in the majors. That's not hard to imagine given the fact that he has repeatedly touched 104(!) mph in his recent outings. After last night he has 46 strikeouts in 29 innings as a reliever. Perhaps most amazingly, he has faced 117 left-handed batters this year and has struck out 52 of them. We have plenty to be excited about for the last month of the season, but watching this kid is perhaps one of the biggest things to look forward to.
- Louisville won 6-3. Enerio Del Rosario, Philippe Valiquette, and Chapman combined for 3 shutout innings of relief. Chapman struck out 2 and earned his 8th save. Lots of offense in this one, but the team was led by Yonder Alonso, who went 3-5 with a double and homer, and Corky Miller, who was 2-4 with a double and homer. Up Next: Sam LeCure will start at 7:00
- Carolina lost 9-5. Donnie Joseph struck out 2 in his second inning of work in AA. Sean Henry had 3 hits and 2 stolen bases. Up Next: Travis Webb goes at 7:00.
- Lynchburg won 5-0 in a game that was completed early. Josh Ravin threw 5.2 scoreless innings, and Blair Carson threw 2 shutout innings to earn the save. Josh Fellhauer and Kevin Coddington each had 2 hits. Up Next: Justin Walker starts at 7:05.
- Dayton won 3-1. Clayton Shunick threw 6 innings of 1 run ball, and Kevyn Feiner hit his 3rd homer of the year. Up Next: Tim Crabbe takes the hill at 7:00.
- Billings was off. Up Next: Jesus Adames starts at 9:00.
- AZL Reds won 17-4. As you can imagine, there was plenty of offense in this one. The top performers were David Vidal, who was 3-4 with a double, homer, and 2 walks, and Robert Maddox, who was 4-5 with a triple and a walk. Up Next: Someone takes the hill at 9:00.
One other note: Both Zack Cozart and Devin Mesoraco left games this weekend with injuries. Hopefully they can both be back soon!