Farmers Only Weekend Harvest: 4th of July Edition

Louisville

The Bats beat Indianapolis in extra innings on Friday, winning 7-6 thanks to an 11th inning RBI single from Kris Negron.  David Holmberg got the start, and kept the Indians scoreless over 3.2 innings, giving up 3 hits, striking out 4, and walking one. News broke over the weekend that Mongo, who threw only 50 pitches, will likely make his Reds debut on Tuesday in the second half of the doubleheader.  The bullpen was kind of crappy as the trio of Partch, Dennick, and Freeman allowed 6 runs in a little more than 5 innings.  Donald Lutz blasted a solo farvergnügen on a 1-4 night, and Tucker "I Hardly Knew Her" Barnhart went 3-5 with 3 singles.

Louisville lit up Naptown on Saturday, beating the Indians 8-3.  Josh "Boring Name" Smith tossed a complete game, throwing a whopping 131 pitches in a 2 ER, 8 H, 6 K, 2 BB effort.  Donald Lutz, who we may be seeing in Red soon enough, drove in 4 runs, going 2-4 with a double.  The other possible Joey replacement, Neftali Soto went 3-5 with 3 singles.

The Bats hosted the Mud Hens on Sunday and lost 6-4.  Brett Marshall's struggles continued, as he gave up 3 runs on 7 walks and 4 hits while striking out 4.  He now has 20 walks and 10 strikeouts in 16 innings over 6 starts.  Yeesh.  Neftali Soto went 2-4 with 2 singles and 2 RBI.  And, uhh... Rey Navarro went 1-4 with a double.  Moving on.

Pensacola

Lil' Volquez reared his ugly head on Friday, as the Wahoos lost to Mobile 6-2.  Daniel Corcino allowed 6 runs (4 earned) over 5.1 innings on 7 hits and 4 walks, while striking out 4.  The offense was pretty quiet, as they were held to only 4 hits.  The two Pensacola runs were courtesy of a 2-run bullwinkle from Travis Mattair, which was his only hit of the game.

Apparently Saturday was finish what you start day in the upper minors, as the Wahoos rode their starter to a complete game, albeit in a 6-4 loss.  Jon Moscot hurled 8 innings of 6-run ball (4 earned), striking out 3 and walking one.  Kyle Waldrop tried as he might to keep the Wahoos in the game, but his 2-4 night with a double and a dinger were not enough.

Pensacola completed the sweep, losing their final game of the weekend 5-4 in extras.  Jesse Winker had been in a big time slump since making the jump to AA, and was dropped down to 6th in the batting order.  Uncle Jesse responded by having the best game of his short Southern League career, going 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.  Ryan Wright (flips on the Mibby signal) went 3-5 with a double and an RBI.  Someone named Timothy Adleman made his first start since 2011, and it went pretty well.  The former Indy Leaguer struck out 8 batters in 5 innings, giving up a run on 5 hits and a walk.  Unfortunately, the bullpen.

Bakersfield

The Blaze came back in the 8th inning to crack the Modesto Nuts 7-5 on Friday night.  Sean Buckley has been playing with his hair on fire since his promotion to Bakersfield, OPS'ing 1.307 in the first 12 games.  He made his daddy proud, going a perfect 3-3 with 2 walks, a dinger, and 3 RsBI.  Ismael Guillon gave up 4 runs (3 earned), striking out 5 and walking 2, which is his first non-nightmare start since his promotion to Bako.

Bakersfield once again busted the Nuts on Saturday, beating Modesto 3-2 in walkoff fashion.  Drew Cisco danced around 6 hits in 5.2 innings, giving up a run while striking out 2 and walking none.  Big Harold Riggins made his debut, going 1-4 with a pair of Ks.  I have a feeling that we will get used to writing that over the coming years.  Sebastian Elizalde went 2-4 with a double and a CS, and scored the winning run off of a pinch hit single from John Tolisano.

The Blaze beat Modesto once again by a score of 3-2 on Sunday night, this time without the walkoff dramatics.  Wandy Peralta struck out 4 in 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.  El'Hajj Muhammad tossed a scoreless inning of relief, but had to dance around 2 hits and a walk.  Sebastian Elizalde drove in 2 of the Blaze runs, going 2-3 with 2 singles.

Dayton

Dayton rode a 3-run 3rd inning and solid pitching to a 3-2 victory over Bowling Green on the 4th.  Amir Garrett is in the midst of his best run in his pro career after posting a 2.70 ERA in the month of June.  That didn't change on Saturday, as Garrett tossed 6 innings of 1-run ball with 3 strikeouts and a walk.  After a leadoff triple in the third from Jon Matthews (2-4), Tanner Rahier (2-4), and Phil Ervin (1-4) followed with back to back doubles.  Daniel "Squeal Like a" Pigott (1-4, 2 K) singled to drive in the third and decisive run.

The Dragons had base runners a'plenty on Saturday, and whooped up on the Hot Rods 10-3.  Carlton Daal, Daniel Pigott, and Avain Rachal all went 2-5, with Rachal hitting a double and driving in 3 runs.  Jose Ortiz, who hasn't been given a ton of playing time yet this season went 1-2 with a double, but somehow managed to reach base twice via catcher's interference.   Sal Romano cruised through 5.2 innings, giving up a pair of unearned runs on 5 hits while striking out 4 and walking none.

Dayton finished off the weekend sweep Sunday, beating Bowling Green handily 8-3.  Dan Langfield struck out 6 batters in 4 innings, but was haunted by walks, giving up a pair of runs on 3 hits and four free passes.  Jose Ortiz went 1-2 with a walk and a two-run long ball, his first of the season.  JamRod McGruder jammed a triple and drove in two runs on a 2-4 night.

Billings

The Mustangs were the only team in the system to not win for 'Murica on Friday. falling 6-3 to Missoula.  But, it's tough to win games when you commit 5 errors and allow 4 unearned runs.  The big story in this one was Alex "The Great" Blandino honking his first professional wanger, a solo shot in the first inning.  Aside from Blandino, Aristides Aquino was the other lone bright spot for the 'Stangs, as he went 2-4 with a double.

Billings split a doubleheader on Saturday, losing 5-3 in game one, and winning 6-5 in the nightcap.  In game one, Brian "Beef" O'Grady went 2-4 with a double and 2 runs scored, and Cory Thompson drove in 2, going 2-3 with a double.  Taylor "Ruby" Sparks got in on the double party, going 1-2 with a two-bagger and a walk.  Game two saw Cory Thompson move back to SS as Blandino had the game off.  Thomson yet again went 2-3 with a double.  I know it's early, but I'm starting to get a little excited about last season's 5th round pick.  Anyway, the bullpen tried to blow the game but they didn't.  Mustangs win.

Billings brought their record over the weekend to an even 2-2 with a wild 12-11 win in 12 innings.  It would be quicker to tell you who didn't do well on offense in this one as Billings banged out 15 hits, including 5 ding dongs and two doubles.  Alex Blandino went 3-5 with a double and his second dinger of the weekend.  But Aristides Aquino stole the show, driving in 5 runs on a 4-5 night with two honkers and a walk.  Naturally, the pitching was terrible, but Wyatt "Huckleberry" Strahan threw 3 scoreless innings to start the game, allowing a hit and striking out 2.

AZL Reds

The AZLiens were off on Friday.  They beat up on the Baby Beers on Saturday, winning 7-2.  The Reds put up a 5-1 lead in the 3rd inning, and never really looked back.  After a scoreless first from a rehabbing Brian Pearl, last season's 3rd round pick Mark Armstrong tossed 4 strong innings, striking out 7, walking 2 and allowed an unearned run.  Reydel Medina went 2-4 with an RBI.

The Brewers exacted their revenge on Sunday, beating the Reds 4-3 in extras.  Not much to write home about, other than Jose "Just Ask" Siri going 2-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI.  The other Junior Arias looked sharp again, striking out 5 in 4.2 innings, allowing 1 runs on 3 hits and a walk.