The Brandon Larson Honorary Star of the Weekend
Hendrik Clementina (Daytona) - 6 for 10, 2 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI
Friday, May 3rd
Indianapolis 7, Louisville 5
Indy scored 4 runs in the Bottom of the 1st and that set the stage for their eventual victory on Friday. Of course, Josh “Conversion” VanMeter did everything he could to make sure that wouldn’t be the case, but alas, his 2 dingers and 3 ribbies simply weren’t quite enough. It was Vlad “555” Gutierrez who did the early run allowing, unfortunately, as he was dinged for 6 ER in just 4 IP, with a whopping zero strikeouts as his season ERA moved to an even, disgusting 9.00.
Gross.
Chattanooga 8, Birmingham 1
Calten “Roald” Daal is a name you may remember from FOs of yore, and he returned to the Reds farm after a lengthy injury delay and bonked the Lookouts to a win on Friday. He went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a pair of ribbies, and it was nice to see him back in action. The offense was a mixed bag of decent success, as was the pitching, which was largely done in a bullpen-game fashion. Victor “Vector” Payano did fire 2.1 scoreless innings with 2 K, which was groovy.
Daytona 10, Clearwater 1
Hendrik “Nectarine” Clementina bonked a dinger as part of a larger 2 for 5, 3 ribbie night, and that was good considering how rough the start of his season has been. Jonathan “Bollywood” India chipped in with a triple, walk, ribbie, and 2 runs scored, while Bruce Yari walked thrice to go along with his pair of hits and pair of ribbies, too. That all backed a so-so but effective enough start from Packy “That’s my nickname already” Naughton, who kept runs off the board but needed 80 pitches to get through 4 scoreless innings, with 5 hits allowed and 3 walks against 3 Ks.
Dayton 4, Cedar Rapids 3
Mike “Hear no ani” Siani belted his first dinger of the season, and Miguel Hernandez had a 2-hit evening as the Dragons benefited from 4 Kernels errors on the night. There was more that happened in this game that is probably worth reading about, but if you really, really cared, you’d have found a way to watch the damn thing in the first place.
Saturday, May 4th
Louisville 6, Indianapolis 3
A 5-run 8th inning propelled the Bats to the win on Saturday. VanMeter ‘only’ walked twice and scored a run while hitting leadoff, but Rob “Ump Show” Refsnyder backed him with a pair of doubles and 3 ribbies, while Phil Ervin also had a 2-hit night. Jose Lopez had the start on the evening, fanning 5 and yielding just 2 ER in his 5 IP, though he did surrender 5 walks and 6 hits in the process.
Chattanooga 11, Birmingham 4
Brantley Bell socked a dinger, Alfredo “Pasta” Rodriguez had a 3-hit night (with a steal) from the leadoff spot, of all places, Mitch Nay doubled twice, Jose “Que Sera” Siri had a pair of hits, a ribbie, and a run scored, and the offense generally knocked the socks off of the Barons. Tejay “Antony, Antoni” Antone was hunkish as the starter, allowing nary an earned run (2 R) in 6 IP, with 4 Ks.
Clearwater 9, Daytona 6
Well, that wasn’t very nice. 6 late runs from the Threshers undid the Tortugas, in case that’s something you haven’t experienced at the big league level enough yet this year. Clementina continued his excellent weekend with a monster 4 hit night, one that included a dinger, 3 ribbies, and a pair of runs scored. Stuart “Foul” Fairchild finally got things going with a 3 hit, 2 double night, to boot.
Dayton 4, Cedar Rapids 2
The Dragons got a pair of 7th inning runs to seal this one. Jhon De Jesus was solid in his 5 IP, allowing just 2 ER on 4 H with 3 K, and the bullpen backed him with 4 scoreless IP afterwards. The offense was a mixed bag of brutality that got a huge boost from 2 big Kernels errors. Bren “Stark” Spillane had a golden sombrero and both Juan Martinez and Mariel Bautista each fanned 3 times each, too.
Sunday, May 5th
Louisville 8, Indianapolis 0
Odrisamer “The rain in” Despaigne was nails in his start, firing 7 scoreless innings with 6 K. The offense romped, too, pounding out 13 hits. Sherman Johnson had a single, double, walk, ribbie, and run scored from the leadoff spot, Brian “Beef” O’Grady doubled twice and walked, and even old friend Scott Schebler got in on the action with a 2 for 5, 2 ribbie day.
Louisville has Monday off.
Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 4
Alfredo Rodriguez continued his solid start to 2019 with a 2-hit night from the leadoff spot, Jose Siri backed him with a 2-hit night, too, and Brantley “Ring My” Bell bonked a 2-run dinger to pace the offense. Tony “Here Comes” Santillan got rocked in his start, however, allowing 4 ER in just 4 IP, with 5 H and 4 BB against just 1 K.
Scott “Austin Ross” Moss will start Monday evening when the Lookouts host the Smokies at 7:15 PM ET.
Rain 1, Daytona 0
The Tortugas had their series finale with Clearwater bagged due to rain.
They’ll open a series at home against Palm Beach on Monday, though, with Michael “Feel the” Byrne set to toss the first pitch at 7:05 PM ET.
Cedar Rapids 4, Dayton 0
James “Soy Capitan” Marinan was dinged for 4 ER, but he did fan 5, walk none, and managed to get through 7 IP. The offense, though, was completely baffled, picking up just 3 hits and not walking once. “May” Jay Schuyler did manage to pick up a pair of singles, though.
Dayton opens a series against Clinton on Monday evening, with “Iron” Lyon Richardson starting. First pitch is set for 7:00 PM ET.