Louisville
The Bats went quietly into that good night on Friday, falling 5-1 to the Gwinnett Barves. Jair "jch" Jurrjens got smacked around by some familiar faces, giving up 5 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 in 6 innings. The offense mustered only 5 hits on the night, with the only run coming by way of a solo coal-shoveler from Thomas "the Tank Engine" Neal.
Louisville edged out a 1-0 victory over the Braves on Saturday. Chien-Ming Wang pitched a very Chien-Ming Wang game, dancing around base-hits, striking out 2 and walking none over 7.1 innings. The Bats scored their only run in the first inning, on a steal of home from Jason Bourgeois (1-3, BB) of all things. Donald Lutz, who's been scuffling since his return to AAA went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. It's crazy how a guy that was hitting the ball well would struggle after making only 15 plate appearances in a 3 week span. Anyway, Jumbito struck out three batters and gave up a hit in a scoreless 9th.
The Bats made it a losing weekend by getting blown out in Durham 12-2 despite outhitting the Bulls 12-11. Golly day, the Brennemen would be mighty upset about that RISP'ing. Brett Marshall failed to make it out of the 2nd inning, giving up a whopping 7 earned runs in 1.1 innings on 3 hits and 5 walks. Thomas Neal honked his second wanger of the weekend, going 2-4 with a walk and Tucker Barnhart went 4-4 with a triple. Hernan "The Barbarian" Iribarren went 2-3 with a walk, and also pitched a perfect 9th inning in relief.
Pensacola
The Wahoos won a wild one on Friday, beating the Bay Bears 14-13. Bob Steve has had a rough go of it in the month of June, and that didn't change this time out. Stephenson gave up 7 walks with 3 whiffs in 3 innings, leading to 5 runs. He wasn't the only Pensacola pitcher to have a bad day, as Carlos Contreras was the only member of the bullpen not to give up a run. Fortunately, the offense. And also the Mobile defense who gave up 4 errors. "Wake Up and" Rossmel "the Roses" Perez drove in a half dozen runs, going 3-5 with a triple. Dap is also due to Moose Mattair who went 2-5 with 2 RBI, and Juan Duran who went 1-3 with a 3-run dinger.
The bats were out in full force on Saturday also, as the Wahoos topped Mobile 8-5 in 13 innings. Mikey O'Brien got the start for Pensacola, giving up a pair of unearned runs on 3 hits and a walk, while striking out 5 in 6 innings. Carlos "Get Me Out of the Damn Bullpen" Contreras had 5 punch-outs in 3 scoreless innings, and got the win. Rossmel Perez and Devin "the Dude" Lohman the the offense with nearly identical lines, each going 3-6 with a 2-run honker. Yorman Rodriguez went 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts in the leadoff spot.
Pensacola fell short on Sunday, losing 4-2 in a snoozer against Mobile. Yorman went 2-4 with a double and a run batted in. Steve Selsky drove in the other run, going 2-3 with a double as well. Jamie Walczak tossed 3 innings of 2-run ball, giving up four hits. He was followed by Fabian Williamson, who gave up 2 unearned runs on 3 hits.
Bakersfield
The Blaze saw the bullpen blow a late lead, and lost to the Nuts 8-5. Wandy Peralta was solid, giving up a pair of earned runs with 6 K and 2 BB. Ben "The Epic of Gil" Klimesh came on in the 7th and promptly gave up the lead, allowing 3 runs, and was unable to make it out of the inning. Ryan Wright (RYAN WRIGHT!) went 2-5 with a solo shot, and Kyle Waldrop walloped a 2-run wanger for his only hit of the game.
Bakersfield wrapped up the first half of the season with a very impressive 45-25 record, cracking the Nuts 7-4. Juan "High Ho" Silva went 3-4 with a double, an RBI, and 2 runs scored from the leadoff spot. Ryan Wright (RYAN WRIGHT!) drove in 1, going 1-3 with a walk. Daniel "Not Ryan" Wright struck out 5 while walking 3, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits.
The Blaze were off Sunday. They'll start off the second half of the season on Thursday, with the Carolina League vs. California League All-Star game taking place on Tuesday night. Ben Lively will get the start for the California League, with Kyle Waldrop and Jesse Winker also representing the Blaze.
Dayton
The Dragons got blanked on Friday, falling 5-0 to the Captains. Lake County starter Dace Kime struck out 9 batters over 6.2 scoreless, 3-hit innings. Ismael Guillon got tagged with the loss, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks over 4 innings. Dan Langfield struck out 5 in 3 innings, giving up 1 run on a hit and a walk. Sebastian Elizalde had two of the five Dayton hits, and was the only Dragon to have a multi-hit outing.
Not much better results on Saturday, as the Dragons lost 5-1. Gabriel "Surfer" Rosa plated the only Dayton run on a solo doolittle. Phil Ervin and Sebastian Elizalde both went 1-4 with a double. Sal "Jalopy" Romano coughed up 5 runs on 7 hits in 5.1 innings. The peripherals were good, though! He struck out 5 and walked 1.
The Dragons had a walk off win in the 11th on Sunday, beating Lake County 3-2. Brandon "Carson" Dailey went 1-4 with a solo johnson, and Daniel "ManBear" Pigott scored the game winner on a Jon Matthews base hit. Layne Somsen "and Delilah" got the start, tossing 4 innings of 1-run ball, striking out 5 with no walks.