Farmers Only Weekend Harvest: Daytona goes sweeping!

Brandon Larson Honorary Star of the Weekend

While the Daytona Tortugas had the best weekend, sweeping the Florida Fire Frogs, it was Jeter Downs who takes home the trophy today. Over the weekend, the 2017 32nd overall pick went 5 for 12 with 2 doubles, 3 walks, and 2 RBI. Downs was someone who showed a lot of potential in 2017, and has continued that with a strong start in 2018. Honorable mentions go to Wennington Romero for tossing 7 shutout innings on Sunday and Nick Howard for coming back from injury to throw a shutout inning on Friday.

Friday, April 6

Louisville Bats 4, Toledo Mud Hens 6

Robert “Bob Steve” Stephenson got the start and was not good. He gave up 5 earned runs on 4 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4 over 5 innings of work. Not a good start to the year for Mr. Stephenson. Tanner “Make It” Rainey was solid out of the ‘pen, striking out all 3 batters he faced in his inning of work. “Bye, Bye Li’l” Sebastian Elizalde was 2 for 5 with a double, a run scored, and 1 RBI. Patrick “Kivles and Bits” Kivlehan was 2 for 5 with a run scored and Nick “Senzinnati” Senzel was also 2 for 5.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 9, Mobile BayBears 1

Pensacola used a 5-run 7th to put the beat-down on Mobile on Friday. Keury “Nooma Nooma” Mella started and went 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Robinson “Pants on Fire” Leyer got the win, striking out 3 in 2 scoreless innings. Josh “Feed the” VanMeter was 2 for 4 with a double and a 3-run dinger. Gavin “As I walk thorugh” LaValley was 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and 3 RBI, and Alfredo “Sauce Rod” Rodriguez was 3 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Ariel “Under the Sea” Hernandez and Dean Kiekhefer each struck out 2 in a scoreless inning of relief.

Daytona Tortugas 10, Florida Fire Frogs 1

Daytona got their solid weekend started off right by hammering the Fire Frogs 10-1 on Friday. Scott “Randy” Moss started and threw a hell of a game. He went 5.2 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits with no walks and 9 strikeouts. Joel Kuhnell, Nick “He’s Alive!” Howard, and Jesse “No Evil” Stallings each had a strikeout in scoreless relief appearances. Taylor Trammell was 3 for 5 with a RBI and a run scored. Malik “Please, sir may I have some” Collymore was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and a walk, Mitch “Yay or” Nay was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored, and Tyler “Kennesaw” Stephenson was 1 for 4 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs scored.

Dayton Dragons 4, Bowling Green Hot Rods 8

Mac Sceroler started for Dayton on Friday and wasn’t great. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts over 4 innings of work. Hendrik “Oh, my darling” Clementina was 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a solo dinger. Jeter “Getter Done” Downs was 1 for 3 with a double and 1 RBI and Stuart “Little” Fairchild was 1 for 4 with a solo dinger. Ryan Nutof struck out 5 in 2 scoreless innings of relief.

Saturday, April 7

Louisville Bats 4, Toledo Mud Hens 3

A walk-off single by Tyler “Good Day” Goeddel was able to help deliver the Bats their first win of the 2018 season. “General” Jackson Stephens got the start and pitched well, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits over 5 innings while walking 1 and striking out 3. Nick Senzel was 2 for 4 with a double and scored a run. Rosell “Rosy Red” Herrera was 1 for 3 with a walk and a 2-run dinger and Tyler Goeddel was 1 for 4 and delivered the game-winning RBI. Jimmy “Drinks to” Herget struck out 1 in a scoreless inning of relief.

Pensacola’s game was rained out on Saturday. They played a double-header on Sunday.

Daytona Tortugas 4, Florida Fire Frogs 3

Daytona continued their winning ways in a rain-shortened game on Saturday. Ryan Olson went the distance, throwing 5 innings and giving up 3 runs on 5 hits with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. Malik Collymore was 2 for 3 with a solo dinger, Tyler Stephenson was 1 for 2 with a walk and a 2-run dinger, and TJ “Land of the” Friedl was 1 for 2 with a solo dinger and a walk.

Dayton Dragons 2, Bowling Green Hot Rods 11

Saturday did not go any better for Dayton, as they got waxed by Bowling Green. Tyler Mondile was the starter and went 4.1 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Miles “Flash” Gordon was 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, a walk, and a run scored. Jeter Downs was 1 for 4 with a double and a walk, and Hendrik Clementina was also 1 for 4 with a double.

Sunday, April 8

Louisville Bats 1, Toledo Mud Hens 2

A solid pitching performance went to waste as the Bats’ bats could not get it going on Sunday in a 2-1 loss. Jose Lopez got the start and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits with no walks and 5 strikeouts over 5 innings of work. Kyle “Davy” Crockett struck out 2 in 2 scoreless innings of relief and Tanner Rainey also struck out 2 in his scoreless inning. That gives Rainey 5 strikeouts over 2 innings of work this season. There wasn’t much to write home about offensively. Tyler Goeddel was 2 for 4 with a double and scored the only run and Mason Williams was also 2 for 4. Tony Cruz was 1 for 3 with a RBI double.

Up Next: Brandon Finnegan is set to make his last rehab appearance against Columbus tonight at 6:30 PM ET.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 0, Mobile BayBears 9

Game 1 of Sunday’s double-header did not go well for Pensacola. Vladimir Gutierrez did not do well in his start, going only 3.2 innings and giving up 6 runs (4 earned) on 3 hits while walking 5 and only striking out 1. The offense only mustered up 2 hits. Shed “Love Me” Long “Time” was 1 for 3 with a double and Aristides “Heiress Titties” Aquino was 1 for 2 with a walk.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3, Mobile BayBears 4

A 4-run 3rd inning doomed the Wahoos, as they fell 4-3 in game 2 on Sunday. Jesus “Saves” Reyes started and fell apart in the aforementioned 3rd. He lasted 2.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Alex “Danger” Powers struck out 4 in 2 scoreless innings. Shed Long was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 1 RBI, Nick “Senzel Shed” Longhi was 2 for 3 with a double and scored a run, and Aristides Aquino was also 2 for 3.

Up Next: TBD will face off against the Chattanooga Lookouts tonight at 6:35 PM CT.

Daytona Tortugas 2, Florida Fire Frogs 1

Luis Gonzales had a 10th-inning RBI single to give Daytona the weekend sweep on Sunday. Wennington “More like WINnington” Romero started for Daytona and was great, throwing 7 shutout innings and only giving up 2 hits, while walking none, and striking out 4. Taylor Trammell was 1 for 3 with a walk and scored a run, Mitch Nay was 1 for 4 with a double and 1 RBI, and Daniel “Ain’t Life” Sweet was 1 for 4 with a run scored. He scored his run because he was the designated runner to start on 2nd base to start the 10th inning when Luis Gonzales got his game-winning hit.

Up Next: Seth Varner will face take the mound against Charlotte tonight at 7:05 PM ET.

Dayton Dragons 4, Bowling Green Hot Rods 2

A 4-run 8th inning gave Dayton their first win of the season on Sunday. Wendolyn Bautista got the start and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4 and walking 3 over 5.1 innings of work. John Ghyzel got the save by striking out 2 in a scoreless inning of work. Jeter Downs was 3 for 5 with a RBI. John “Sandstorm” Sansone was 2 for 3 with a double and a run scored and Morgan “Nordstrom” Lofstrom was 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored, and 1 RBI.

Up Next: Hunter Greene makes his 2018 debut tonight against Lake County at 7:00 PM ET.