Farmers Only: Tony Cingrani wins the weekend

Normally in this space, we'd be doing our Farmer's Market rankings, but we've only had 4 games, so I'll just go over some highlights so far.

• Paul Janish is leading Louisville with a .429 average. He's gotta be pissed to be there, right?
• The slowest starter award goes to Denis Phipps, who has 1 hit in his first 16 AB.
• Pensacola's only hitting .239 as a team. Ouch.
• Bakersfield is only hitting .175 as a team. Double ouch.
• Billy Hamilton has 2 SBs already, since I know you're wondering. It's worth mentioning that Theo Bowe also has 2, and could possess almost B-Ham quicks from an outfield position. Keep an eye on him.
• Everything else is SSS.

• Louisville was swept over the weekend in Columbus. They lost 3-2 on Friday, as starter Brett Tomko went 5 innings, gave up 3 runs, but struck out 7. Daryl Jones hit his first homer of the year from the leadoff spot. They attempted a late-inning comeback on Saturday, but it wasn't enough as they fell 6-4. Sean Gallagher got knocked around in his start, giving up 6 runs in 3 1/3 innings. Bill Rhinehart and Paul Janish had two hits each, and Corky Miller hit his 1st homer of the year. Sunday looked a lot better, but Nick Christiani gave up 4 runs in the 8th en route to a 7-4 loss. Chad Reineke had a quality start, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs, striking out 4. Daniel Dorn hit his 2nd homer of the year. Up next: Andrew Brackman makes his season debut against Casey Crosby and Toledo, a 6:30 start.
• Pensacola won 2 of 3 over Montgomery this weekend, giving them the first series win of their existence. They lost 9-3 on Friday, as Curtis Partch got lit up for 5 ER in 3 innings. They won 5-4 on Saturday, despite a rocky debut by Daniel Corcino. Li'l Cueto went 4 1/3 innings and gave up 4 runs (3 ER), with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks. Cody Puckett and Brian Peacock had two hits each. The Tims took control on the mound on Sunday for a 7-5 win. Tim Crabbe started and gave up 1 run in 4 innings, and Tim Gustafson gave up 3 unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Donnie Joseph got his 2nd save of the year. Cody Puckett and Joel Guzman had 2 hits each, with the latter clubbing his first homer of the year. Up next: J.C. Sulbaran will take the hill in the series finale against Rays' prospect Jacob Thompson at 8:00.
• Bakersfield lost 2 of their 3 over the weekend to split their opening series against Visalia. They lost 9-3 on Friday after a rocky start by Chad Rogers. Rogers didn't make it out of the 3rd inning, but gave up 4 unearned runs due to a throwing error by Billy Hamilton. Uh oh. On the offensive side, David Vidal was 2-for-4 with a homer. On Saturday, the Blaze lost 5-4. Josh Smith got the start and had control problems, walking 4 in 3 2/3 innings, giving up 4 runs. Donald Lutz hit his first homer of the year. A 3-run homer by Travis Mattair on Sunday propelled the Blaze to a 5-2 victory, but the real story here was the outing by Tony Cingrani. There were questions if he was ready after skipping Dayton, and he didn't disappoint, pitching 6 shutout innings, only giving up 1 hit and striking out 5. Shot caller. Up next: Kyle Lotzkar starts a new series against Stockton at 10:15.
• Dayton split their two games over the weekend against West Michigan before taking Sunday off to watch golf or whatever. They won 3-2 on Friday night, with Radhames Quezada starting and giving up 1 run in 4 innings. Ryan Wright, Sean Buckley, and Steven Selsky had 2 hits each. The Dragons lost an 11 inning game on Saturday, 5-4. Tanner Robles got the start, giving up 1 run in 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. Buckley hit his 1st homer as a Dragon and James Ewing was 3-for-5. Up next: Stalin Gerson starts a new series against Justin Nicolino and Lansing at 7 PM.