Farmers Only Weekend Harvest: Daytona pitching dominates

The Brandon Larson Honorary Star of the Weekend

Scott Moss - 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

After getting roughed up for a 6.75 ERA in April, Scott Moss has settled down and put together a pretty damn good season. He put togethe a 1.93 ERA over 4 starts in June and has been even better in July. He continued that run on Friday with a fantastic outing. He threw 7 shutout innings while allowing only 2 hits, 1 walk, while striking out 8. Have a trophy, Scott.

Friday, July 6

Louisville Bats 2, Toledo Mud Hens 3

Justin Nicolino got the start for Louisville on Friday and pitched well. He threw 5 shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 2 with no walks. Cody Reed came on in relief and threw 4 innings and gave up 3 runs, but only walked 1 and struck out 4. Brandon “Too Many” Dixon “The Dance Floor” was 2 for 4 with a double and Phil “Phlava Phlerv” Ervin was 1 for 4 with a 2-run dinger.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 8, Montgomery Biscuits 7

Pensacola had an extra-innings win on Friday to kick off their weekend sweep of Montgomery. Seth Varner started for Pensacola and threw 5 innings, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. The rest of the pitching staff was not great. TJ Friedl Dee was 2 for 6 with a triple, 1 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Narciso Crook was 2 for 4 with a triple and 3 RBI and Taylor Sparks was 2 for 5 with a double and 1 RBI.

Daytona Tortugas 8, Jupiter Hammerheads 0

Daytona had a big win on Friday to copy their AA brothers and also get a weekend sweep. Scott Moss was fantastic in his start, throwing 7 shutout innings while allowing only 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 8. Nick Howard (!) struck out the side in his scoreless inning of relief. Daniel Sweet was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. Ibandel Isabel did what he does and went 2 for 2 with a 3-run dinger. He also did what he doesn’t and walked twice. Brantley “Ring My” Bell also had a good game, going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a triple, and 1 RBI.

Dayton Dragons 4, Great Lakes Loons 2

Austin “1984” Orewiler got the start on Friday and went 4 innings, giving up 2 unearned runs on 4 hits with a walk and a strikeout. Jose Garcia was 2 for 4 with a walk and 1 RBI, Jeter “Re2pect” Downs was 1 for 3 and also had a walk and 1 RBI, and Leandro Santana reached 3 times, going 1 for 3 with 2 walks. John Ghyzel struck out 2 in his scoreless inning of relief.

Billings Mustangs 8, Helena Brewers 2

Ricky Salinas started for Billings on Friday and pitched well, going 5 innings and giving up only 1 run on 2 hits with no walks and 3 strikeouts. Andrew McDonald struck out 3 in 2 scoreless innings of relief. Jake Turnbull was 3 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a solo home run. Jake Mount was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI.

Greeneville had their game banged due to rain on Friday, mercifully giving me only 17 games to write about instead of 18.

Saturday, July 7

Louisville Bats 2, Toledo Mud Hens 5

A 3-run 8th inning was too much for Louisville to overcome on Saturday. Jose Lopez started and pitched really well. He went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3. Brandon Finnegan struck out 1 in a scoreless inning of relief. Uncle Phil Ervin was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and Nick “Shedhi” Longhi was 1 for 3 with a double and scored a run.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3, Montgomery Biscuits 2

Vladimir Gutierrez started for the Wahoos on Saturday and pitched well. He threw 7 innings and allowed only 1 run on 3 hits with only 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Jesus “Saves” Reyes threw 2 innings and allowed an unearned run and struck out 1. Luis Gonzalez was 2 for 4 and scored twice and Mitch “Yay” Nay was 1 for 3 with a solo dinger.

Daytona Tortugas 3, Jupiter Hammerheads 1

It was another solid pitching performance by Daytona in their 3-1 victory on Saturday. Andrew Jordan pitched well in his start, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts over 6 innings. The bullpen combo of Brian Hunter, Ty Boyles, and Ryan Hendrix combined for 3 shutout innings and 6 strikeouts. Daniel Sweet was 2 for 2 with a walk and Mitch Lofstrom was 1 for 3 with a solo blast.

Dayton Dragons 1, Great Lakes Loons 7

It was bound to happen at some point. On Saturday, Hunter Greene didn’t have his best stuff. After spending the last couple of months dominating the Midwest League, someone finally had an answer for him. He went 3 innings and gave up 5 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Miguel Aguilar struck out 4 in 3 innings of work. Lorenzo Cedrola was 2 for 4 with a triple and scored a run.

Billings Mustangs 6, Helena Brewers 4

Billings scored 3 runs in the 9th on Saturday to come back and defeat Helena, 6-4. Mac Sceroler started and threw 5 innings, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Jeremy “Evel” Kivel struck out 2 in a scoreless inning of relief. Valentin Martinez was 1 for 3 with a solo dinger and Pabel Manzanero was 2 for 4 with a double.

Greeneville Reds 1, Burlington Royals 2

Malcolm Van Buren started on Saturday for Greeneville and pitched well. He threw 5 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits with only 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Jonathan India reached twice in his professional debut, going 0 for 2 with 2 walks. Mike Siani was 2 for 4 and Rylan Thomas was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.

Sunday, July 8

Louisville Bats 6, Toledo Mud Hens 1

The offense was firing on all cylinders on Sunday, as they erupted for 15 hits in a 6-1 win. Keury “Hella” Mella pitched pretty well in his 2018 AAA debut. He threw 5 innings and gave up an unearned run while allowing 4 hits, walking 2, and striking out 4. Homer Bailey walked 2 and struck out 1 in 2 scoreless innings out of the ‘pen. Phil Ervin had another multi-hit day, going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. Gabriel Guerrero was 2 for 4 with a solo dinger, and Nick Longhi and Brandon Dixon were each 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Up Next: It’s the AAA All-Star break, so Louisville is off until Thursday.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2, Mobile BayBears 1

Tony “Santigold” Santillan got the start for Pensacola and threw well in his AA debut. He went 6 innings and allowed only 1 run while scattering 7 hits, walking 1, and striking out 5. Joel Bender struck out 4 in 2 scoreless innings of relief. Brian “Beef” O’Grady was 2 for 4 with a double and scored a run and Taylor Sparks was 2 for 2 with a walk and 1 RBI.

Up Next: TBD is on the mound tonight at 6:35 PM CT.

Daytona Tortugas 5, Jupiter Hammerheads 1

Daytona pitching continued to roll, as they defeated Jupiter 5-1 Sunday. Something called Tommy Bergjans started and threw 7 shutout innings, giving up only 5 hits and 1 walk against 3 strikeouts. Nick Howard walked 2 and struck out 1 in a scoreless inning. He has now gone 7 straight appearances without giving up a run. While they all haven’t been crystal-clear outings, it’s at least a small step in a positive direction for him. Brantley Bell was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored and Bruce Yari was 2 for 4 with a double and 1 RBI.

Up Next: TBD is on the mound tonight at 5:00 PM ET.

Dayton Dragons 5, Great Lakes Loons 7

Dayton blew a late lead in their 7-5 loss on Sunday. Wendolyn Bautista started and pitched well, throwing 7 innings and giving up 2 runs on 7 hits with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. Jose Garcia was 2 for 4 with a double and a walk, Hendrik “Oh, my Darling” Clementina was 2 for 4 with a 2-run blast, Lorenzo Cedrola was 3 for 5 with a double, and Jeter Downs was 2 for 3 with a walk and 1 RBI.

Up Next: Packy Naughton takes the mound tonight at 7:05 PM ET.

Billings Mustangs 3, Helena Brewers 6

Billings gave up 5 runs in the 7th and 8th to fall 6-3 to Helena on Sunday. Jared “Song Of” Solomon started and pitched great, throwing 5 innings and allowing only 1 unearned run on 4 hits with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. Reshard “Funroe” Munroe was 2 for 3 with a solo bomb and 2 RBI while Pabel Manzanero was 2 for 4 with 1 RBI.

Up Next: Billings is off tonight.

Greeneville Reds 2, Burlington Royals 4

Jacob Heatherly was all over the place in his start. He only allowed 1 hit over 4 shutout innings, but he walked 6 and struck out 5. In all, the Mini Reds walked 12 batters. That’s less than great. Rylan Thomas was 1 for 3 with a solo dinger and Jose Tello “Moto” was 1 for 2 with a walk and 1 RBI.

Up Next: Josiah Gray starts tonight at 7:00 PM ET.