Louisville was off. They'll send Scott "Neil" Diamond (4-7, 5.98) to face Columbus at 7:05.
Pensacola fell to Mississippi, 4-3. Get your shit together, Robert Stephenson. The top pitching prospect in the system walked 7 in 4.2 innings, leading to 4 runs (3 earned) on the night. What's frustrating (well, one of the things that's frustrating) is that he's still pretty unhittable, giving up just 3 hits, and he's still missing bats, striking out 6, but this isn't even effectively wild, it's just wild. The stuff is obviously nasty, but maybe he should tone it down if it's so nasty he can't keep it in check. Grrrrr. Jamie Walczak didn't do Bob Steve any favors, giving up an inherited-runner-bases-loaded single to score 2, but they shouldn't have been loaded in the first place. Anyway, Moose Mattair and Kyle Waldrop were both 2-4 with doubles. I'm done with this recap. Up next: Michael Lorenzen (4-5, 2.70) against the Barves at 7.
Marquez Smith can't be stopped. He hit a grand slam to lead Bakersfield to a 6-4 win over the Rawhide. He was 2-4 on the night. That's 3 HR and 9 RBI in his last 2 games. Boom goes the dynamite. Mike Dennhardt gave up just 1 run in 7 innings, and Yovan Gonzalez was 3-4 to play Robin and Alfred to Smith's Batman, and despite Sean Lucas giving up 3 runs without getting an out, the Blaze emerged victorious. Up next: Daniel Wright (6-4, 5.12) against Visalia at 10:30.
Dayton came back from 5 runs down to beat Lansing, 7-6. Alex "What Stanford Swing?" Blandino announced his presence to the Midwest League by smacking a solo homer (his only hit), and Tanner Rahier swatted his 7th lumberjack of year as part of a 2-hit, 1-walk day. Phil Ervin and Robert "Grindhouse" Ramirez were both 2-4 as well. Dan Langfield was all "Dang!" then left the field, struggling again mightily with his control. He walked the bases loaded to start the game, then walked two more before being pulled after just one-third of an inning. He gave up 4 runs on just 1 hit, and struck out the only batter he retired. Yikes. I'll give him some leeway since he's still working his way back from injury, but that's rouuuugh. Props to Tony "Tequila" Amezcua, Nolan "Kyle" Becker "-man", Joel Bender, and Alejandro "11.4 K/9" Chacin for keeping the Dragons in the game. Also, should we be talking about Alejandro Chacin? Striking out 11.5/9 this year over 53.1 IP this year, with a 2.36 ERA. Sure, still SSS, but he struck out 10 per 9 last season, so it's not like he's allergic to striking guys out. Anyway, good job, bullpen. Up next: Nick Travieso (9-5, 3.71) looks to kick the Lugnuts at high-noon-oh-five.
Billings beat up on the Brewers, 5-2. Aristides Aquino was all like "I got this" and went 3-4 with a 3-run bomb and a stolen base. Brian "Boeuf" O'Grady and Garrett Boulware "Wolf" each had 2 hits, and Tyler "Rap Attack" Mahle struck out 5 over 5.2 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and no walks. Up next: Soid Marquez (4-1, 3.96) faces Helena at 9:05.
It took 12, but the AZL Reds beat the Trolley Dodgers in extras, 3-2. And it wasn't pretty either, the winning single coming after two errors and a walk, but it got the job done. Not much offense, but Ty "Bubonic" Boyles pitched well, giving up a run on 3 hits in 5 innings, with 2 BB and 5 K. Up next: OFF DAY
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