Farmers Only - Alex Blandino homers twice on rehab at AAA Louisville

Brandon Larson Honorary Star of the Night

That’d be Alex Blandino, who bonked a pair of solo dingers for the Louisville Bats as part of his 3 for 4, 2 run, 2 ribbie day. Not a bad way to open your first week back to baseball after a full year off recovering from a blown-out knee, eh?

Charlotte 5, Louisville 2

Unfortunately, Blandi-yes was pretty much the only Bat who brought his bat to the plate on Thursday. His 2 dingers accounted for both Louisville runs, though Brian “Beef” O’Grady did at least keep his hot streak going by going 2 for 4 with a pair of singles. Both Dino-blasts came off former Louisville Bats pitcher Justin Nicolino, FWIW, which surely must’ve made things awkward.

Meanwhile, Vlad “555” Gutierrez chipped in with a much better start than we’ve seen from him during the bulk of 2019, with 6 IP of 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K ball.

Whatever an ‘Eric Stout’ is will start for the Bats on Friday against Charlotte, with first pitch scheduled for an incredibly awkward 7:04 PM ET.

Rain 1, Chattanooga 0

The Lookouts game against Mobile was bagged due to rain.

They’ll tussle tomorrow with the Tennessee Smokies, weather permitting. and despite the lack of info on their website, someone will be doing the pitching. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET tomorrow.

Bradenton 7, Daytona 4

Stuart “Nickname about an Art Fair” Fairchild entered play on Thursday having posted a crazy-good .982 OPS over his previous 26 games, and then proceeded to bash another dinger against the Marauders. He walked, too, and has begun to show the kind of polish that made him a 2nd round pick in the first place. Unfortunately, that was pretty much all there was to highlight here, aside from a hit, walk, and pair of ribbies from one Bruce Yari.

Daytona will host Clearwater on Friday at 7:05 PM ET.

Dayton 9, West Michigan 3

The start to the season for Mike “Hear no, Speak no” Siani was just as rough as that of Fairchild, but he, too, had a bang-up Thursday evening. The Dayton CF went 4 for 5 with 3 runs score, 2 ribbies, and a pair of stolen bases from the leadoff spot, which certainly helped pace the Dragons to a victory. Miles Gordon backed him with a 2-hit night that included 3 ribbies, and that was plenty good enough to back Jhon De Jesus & Co. on the mound, none of whom gave up an earned run.

Iron Zion Lyon Richardson will toe the rubber for the Dragons on Friday against Fort Wayne, with first pitch set for 7:00 PM ET.