Louisville beat the Clippers and Danny Salazar on Friday, 5-3. Mat Latos tossed his second rehab start for the Bats, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out 3, and by all accounts looked great across 81 pitches. I would assume he'll approach 100 his next time out. Chris "Muntz" Nelson had a 2-run bomb, and Thomas Neal was 3-5. Saturday was not kind to the Bats. They dropped both games of a doubleheader by a combined score of 21-4. Most of the damage was done in Game 1, a 19-3 loss, as Matt Maloney served up meatball sandwiches over 4 innings, giving up 10 runs on 15 hits, but hey at least he didn't walk anybody. Solo homers from Bryan Anderson, Jason Bourgeois, and Argenis Diaz accounted for all the runs for the good guys. Felix Perez made his pitching debut, racking up a whopping ERA of 121.50 in 2/3 of an inning, walking 5. Game 2 was closer, but Louisville lost 2-1. Jumbo Diaz took the loss in the eighth, but the Bats were 4-hit, so yeah. Two-hit days from Felix Perez and Ruben Gotay led the Bats to victory over the Clippers on Sunday, 3-2. Josh Smith struck out 7 in 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and a pair of walks. Chris Nelson knocked in 2, and not a whole lot else happened. Up next: Jair Jurrjens makes his Louisville debut at 7:05. Haaaaa
Pensacola had so much fun losing 7-0 on Friday that they did it twice. Michael Lorenzen had his worst start of the year, giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits in just 2.1 innings with a walk and a strikeout. Stupid Jr. Barves. The only XBH from the Wahoos was actually a double from Lorenzen himself. The second game was just as bad, with Rey Navarro's 2 singles being the highlight by default. Mikey O'Brien wasn't good, nor was the bullpen. They got it back on Saturday, though, beating the Braves 8-0 behind a solid start from Daniel Corcino. Cuetinho danced around a lot of baserunners (10 hits & 3 walks) for 7 innings, but struck out 5 and escaped unharmed. Moose Mattair and Juan Silverio dinger'd the Hoos to victory. Robert Stephenson apparently battled a stiff neck on Sunday, and he only lasted 3 innings in a 4-0 loss to the Suns. No timbers were shivered as he allowed 4 hits and 4 runs (2 earned), walking 1 and striking out 1, but even if he'd been nails, you can't win games without scoring runs. No XBH on the day, and Steve Selsky was the only guy sexy enough to get 2 hits (though Moose walked twice). Up next: Jon Moscot (3-3, 2.44) faces Jacksonville at 7:30.
Bakersfield lost a Cal League special on Friday night, 9-8 to the Mavericks. They had come from behind, only to watch Kyle McMyne blow it in the 8th. Remember David Vidal? Well apparently he's now a catcher, and is hitting well in a small sample this year. He was 3-4 with a homer and a walk, and he's now hitting a Mesoracan .465/.566/.884 on the year. Juan Perez added 3 hits too. So remember when I called Friday's game a Cal League special? Well, I lied. Saturday's game was way more Cal League-y. The Blaze came out victorious in a 15-10 barnburner against High Desert. Jesse Winker was 2-6 with a 3-run bomb, and Marquez Smith was 3-5 with his 10th long ball of the year. Ryan Wright was 3-4 with 2 walks and 4 runs scored, and he's putting together a nice little season for himself. Everybody hit well in this one except Yovan Gonzalez and Juan Perez. The pitching was bad, but the offense was good enough to get Drew Cisco the win despite giving up 12 hits and 8 runs in 5.1 innings. The Blaze coughed up another big lead on Sunday, falling 8-4 to High Desert. A two-run blammo from Marquez Smith and an RBI triple from Seth Mejias-Brean staked the Blaze to a 4 goal lead, but the Mavericks stormed back and chased Mike Dennhardt, putting up a five-spot in the fifth. The Seth Matthews Casserole Band was the only Blazer with multiple hits (2-4). Up next: Ben Lively (8-1, 1.48) will probably dominate the Mavericks at 4:05.
Dayton lost an 11-inning heartbreaker on Friday night, 1-0. Amir Garrett was masterful, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks in 6 scoreless innings, striking out 5. His counterpart for West Michigan was just as good, and his name is Buck Farmer. I shit you not. Buck Farmer. You can't make this up. Nobody hit well in this one. The Dragons barely held on to a 7-0 lead on Saturday, eventually winning 7-6 against Lansing. Nick Travieso was great for 6 innings, but ran into trouble in the 7th, and ended up with a mediocre line. This seems to be a trend with him. He didn't allow a baserunner until the fourth, but he left the game after 6.1 innings after giving up 4 runs on 7 hits. Nick "Olive Garden" Benedetto and Sebastian Elizalde provided most of the offense. Here's the good news about Sunday: Phil Ervin was 3-4 with a triple and Dayton smacked 12 hits. The bad news, though, is that they were 4-12 with RISP, and lost 7-3. The Daily Show with Jon Matthews was also 3-4, Sebastian Elizalde doubled and walked, and Carlton Daal had two hits. You know what else Carlton Daal had? Another error. He's now got 22 in 51 games. Jeez. Nick Routt didn't allow a hit until the fifth, but then he got hit pretty hard and the floodgates were opened as Alejandro Chacin did nothing to stem the bleeding. Up next: Sal Romano (3-4, 3.30) against Lansing at 7.