Farmers Only Weekend Recap: Stephensonmania hits Dayton

• Billy Hamilton stolen base watch is at 115. He has 6 in his last 10 games, which would be great for anyone but Billy, but earlier in the season he'd have had double that. Maybe the catchers are getting better in AA? Or Riggleman doesn't run as much as Griff? Who knows.
• As great as the Reds bullpen has been so far, the Louisville bullpen hasn't been too shabby either. J.J. Hoover is obviously the best here with a 1.61 ERA, but Donnie Joseph isn't too far behind him and Kanekoa Texeira has an ERA under 3 as well.
• Billings might not have a lot pitching-wise now that Bob Steve is out of the picture, but they still have a few bats to keep an eye on. Jesse Winker and Jeff Gelalich have been getting most of the pub, but let's give some props to Seth Mejias-Brean, who's put up a .382/.455/.697 line so far in 76 AB. He missed a good portion of the year due to the College World Series, but would be leading the Pioneer League in OPS if he had more ABs.

Let's see how the teams did.

• Louisville won all 3 of their games over the weekend. They won 3-1 on Friday after a pretty good outing by Tim Gustafson, who went 5 innings and only gave up 1 unearned run. Donnie Joseph, Nick Christiani, and J.J. Hoover combined for 4 shutout innings of relief. On the offensive side, Neftali Soto dinged his 13th donger of the year. On Saturday, they won 8-4. Hank-Rod was 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and Cody Puckett hit his 6th of the year. Sean Gallagher got the start and gave up 4 runs in 8 innings. Sunday was another win, 3-1 against Toledo behind a masterful outing by Chad Reineke, who went 7 1/3 shutout innings, only giving up 2 hits and striking out 9. Didi Gregorius was 2-for-4 with a homer, and Puckett hit another one too. Up next: Toledo at 7, with the starter TBA.
• Pensacola was off yesterday, but won their first two weekend games. They beat Huntsville 7-5 on Friday, with J.C. Sulbaran on the mound pitching well. He went 5 1/3 and gave up 2 runs, with 5 strikeouts. On Saturday, they won 6-4 with two more stolen bases from Billy Hamilton. Wirfin Obispo struck out 7 in his 5-inning start, giving up only 2 runs in the process. Up next: Double the Wahoos, as Mark Serrano and Tony Cingrani are scheduled to start a doubleheader against Tennessee. Starts up at 5:30.
• Bakersfield lostl 2 of their 3 games. They lost 9-7 on Friday despite a decent outing by Tim Crabbe, who struck out 7 in 5 with 2 runs given up. Theo Bowe and Stephen Hunt had 3 hits each, and Steve Selsky hit his 9th homer. They got shut out 6-0 on Saturday, despite 10 team hits. Niko Vasquez was 4-for-4, and Tanner Robles gave up 1 run in 6 innings in his start. Sunday was better, with a 6-5 win. Chad Rogers gave up 2 runs in 6 innings with 8 strikeouts and no walks, and Selsky, Moose Mattair, and Chris Berset all homered for the good guys. Up next: Off day.
• Dayton lost 2 of their 3. They beat Great Lakes on Friday 7-5 in Robert Stephenson's much-awaited Dayton debut. Bob Steve didn't disappoint, only giving up 1 hit and 1 unearned run in 5 innings of work, with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. According to reports, he sat in the high 90s with his fastball, even touching triple digits a few times. Yorman Rodriguez was 2-for-4 (remember him?) and Sean Buckley was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI. They lost Saturday's game against Lake County 6-5. Buckley was 2-for-4 with two wangers, and Wes Mugarian got lit up in his start. They lost again 4-3 on Sunday despite a decent start by Stalin Gerson, who pitched 5 innings and only gave up 1 run. Yorman had another 2 hit game, as did Ryan Wright. Up next: John Jacob Jingleheimer Johnson takes on LC at 7.
• Billings swept their series against Helena. They blanked the Brew Crew 7-0 on Friday, with a stellar outing by Ismael Guillon, who gave up 5 hits in 6 shutout innings. Even more impressively, he didn't walk anyone and struck out 5. The 'Stangs 2-4 hitters were lights out, as Jesse Winker, Seth Mejias-Brean, and Robert Maddox all homered. They won a slugfest on Saturday 15-8, as Daniel Pigott and Robert Ramiez had 3 hits each and Zachary Vincej got his first homer of the year. Sal Romano wasn't bad in his start, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) in 5 with 3 strikeouts and no walks. They won 5-3 on Sunday, with Andrew Cisco tossing 4 shutout innings and Brandon Dailey and Matt Lentz anchoring the offense. Up next: 4 in a row? Jose Amezcua gets the ball against Great Falls at 9:05.
• The AZL Reds split their two weekend games. They lost 11-9 on Friday to LA, despite Adam Matthews having a 3-for-5 day and homers by Tanner Rahier, Argenis Aldazoro, and Brayan Arias. Nick Masset pitched an impressive inning of rehab, striking out all 3 hitters he faced, and Amir Garrett gave up 1 run in 1 2/3 with 5 (!) walks. They won 7-3 against a AZL Cubbies team that featured both Shawn Sean Shaun Shawon Dunston's kid and Wayne Gretzky's kid on Sunday as Luke Moran and Michael Salter combined for 7 2/3 innings and 3 runs given up. Manos de Aldazoro hit another homer, and Jhimmy Lopez had 2 hits and 2 RBI, despite his unfortunate first name. Up next: AZL Brew Crew at 10.