When Aroldis Chapman went on the disabled list last Monday, my first thought was that the bullpen was fine without him and I wished they would just let him start for a while in AAA. Baseball is a funny game, because less than 2 weeks later I'm dying for a recovered and retuned Chapman to come bolster the pen. Last night's stat line is weird, but, I think, a good sign.
- Louisville got shut out 5-0. Scott Carroll had a very nice start, lasting 6.2 IP and giving up 2 runs while striking out 8. Chapman pitched the final 2 innings, and his line looked like this: 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He threw 40 pitches, 29 of them for strikes. I don't know if he was exclusively throwing the fastball, or if he was told to just get everything over the plate, but I'm not too worried about guys teeing off on him. Devin Mesoraco had 2 hits and a walk, and Todd Frazier had a hit and a walk. No other player reached base more than once, and the team managed no extra base hits. Up Next: Chad Reineke sobs as he makes a start for Louisville instead of the Reds. 6:35 game time.
- Carolina got beat again 8-2. The only thing even remotely worth mentioning in this one is that Nick Christiani pitched another scoreless inning of relief. His ERA on the year is down to 1.90, and he has 21 Ks and just 4 BBs in 23.2 IP. The Mudcats bullpen is pretty much the only redeeming quality of that team. Up Next: Someone will start at 7:15.
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Bakersfield lost 6-4. Brodie Greene was 3-5 with a triple, Alex Buchholz was was 2-5 with a double, and Henry Rodriguez was 2-4. Up Next: JC Sulbaran takes the hill at 10:30.
- Dayton earned the only win in the system yesterday, prevailing 7-1. This one was death by 1,000 papercuts, as the team racked up 11 hits but the only extra base hit was a double by Donald Lutz. Daniel Renken had a tremendous start, going 7 IP and giving up 1 run while striking out 8. Up Next: Josh Smith gets the start at 7:00.