Farmers Only - Tim Tebow puts dent in Tortuga pitching

Indianapolis 10, Louisville 0

The Bats returned from the AAA All Star break wi...well, it looks like they didn’t really return much at all. Sal “currently a part of the Cincinnati rotation” Romano got shelled, allowing 3 ER in 2.1 IP (while walking 3). Cody Reed eventually piggybacked Romano, and got shelled even worse (6 ER in 5 IP, though he did K 9 against a lone walk). The offense was largely a bore, too, with the highlights being Phil Ervin going 2 for 3 with a walk and Alex “Skipped the Light” Blandino walking twice. Yuck.

General Jackson Stephens will look to right Louisville’s ship against Indianapolis on Friday night, with first pitch set for 7:15 PM ET.

Mississippi 2, Pensacola 0

What do you do when you’re in AA? You do your best to play like your colleagues in AAA, right? Pensacola did just that in getting shut out on Thursday, though Keury Mella (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K on 94 pitches) was hardly the problem. Nick “No. 2” Senzel doubled to extend his hitting streak, but the rest of the offense sputtered aside from Josh “Free Candy” Vanmeter’s 2 for 4 night. For the record, it was 19 year old Canadian wunderkind Mike Soroka on the mound for the Braves, their 1st round pick from 2015 (and member of the B-Pro Midseason Top 50).

Deck “Boughs of Holly” McGuire will start for Pensacola on Friday, with first pitch set for 6:35 PM CT.

St. Lucie 5, Daytona 4 (F/7)

Wrapping up a game that was suspended on Tuesday, the Tortugas fell in their first game on Thursday. Alfredo Rodriguez pasta’d his way to a 2 for 4, 2 double night (with a ribbie), Luis Gonzalez bonked a 2-run dinger, and Chris “Annie” Okey had a 3 for 4 night that finally brought his season average over the Mendoza line. Small sample size, & whatnot, but Okey is hitting .290/.389/.452 in July, which will do just fine.

Oh, right. Tim Tebow homered in this one for St. Lucie, because of course.

St. Lucie 1, Daytona 0 (F/7)

There we go. That’s more like it. The Tortugas followed the Thursday pattern of being shutout in the second game of their day. Vlad Gutierrez got the start and was rather effective, allowing the lone run on 4 hits in 5 IP, though he did strike out just 1 Met (and walked none). The offense yawned, but Garrett “Peter” Boulware picked up where Okey left off as catcher earlier, going 2 for 3.

Ty “Lancing” Boyles starts Friday for Daytona, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM ET.

Dayton 8, Clinton 4

The Dragons finally bucked the losing trend, backing 5 innings of 2 ER ball from starter Andrew Jordan to get the win. Jose “You Cannot Be” Siri continued to maul Midwest League pitching, clubbing his 15th dinger of the season (and adding a double, too), while Taylor “Tyler” Trammell went 2 for 4 with his 25th steal of the season. Quite the outfield up in Dayton, eh? Tyler “Taylor” Stephenson added a double and a run scored.

Matt Blandino will toe the rubber Friday for Dayton, with first pitch scheduled for 7:30 PM ET.

Grand Junction 4, Billings 2

The Mustangs got 4 innings of 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K stuff from starter Luis Alecis, but that wasn’t enough to stop the Rockies. Stuart “The Eleventh Baron of” Fairchild had a monster night at the plate, however, going 3 for 3 with a triple and a walk, while Jeter “Turnover On” Downs, Andy Sugilio, and a slew of others had 1-hit nights.

Recent 9th round draftee Packy “Packy!” Naughton will start Friday for Billings, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM MT.

AZL Dodgers 4, AZL Reds 1

That’s not the actual score. That’s the number of errors each club committed, which is often greater than the score itself in this particular level of rookie ball. Such was the case on Thursday, as the Dodgers actually won 3-1. Anyhoo, Reshard “Colonel” Munroe homered to score the Reds’ lone run, which was just about all you need to know about this one.

The AZL Reds will play the AZL Padres on Friday. I’m certain there will be someone pitching for them, and the game will start at 10:00 PM ET.