Farmers Only Weekend Harvest - There is nary a homer Matt McLain cannot sock

The Matt McLain Honorary Matt McLain of the Weekend

That goes to Matt McLain, who socked another pair of homers for AA Chattanooga on Sunday. In fact, if you’re like me and willing to throw out the 0 for 7 start to the season he had (because it makes it all look that much more fun), he’s hitting .318/.405/.746 (1.151) over his subsequent 18 games, with 5 dingers, 6 doubles, and 3 triples to his name.

He has the credit on his ledger already of being a twice-drafted 1st rounder, is the exact same age as Hunter Greene, and if there’s one thing we should all be allowed to get excited about around this dismal corner of the baseball world, it’s that McLain is already knocking on the door of the big leagues right this very minute.

Louisville Bats (AAA)

Louisville 4, Columbus 9 (Friday)

Louisville 4, Columbus 3 (Saturday)

Louisville 7, Columbus 8 (Sunday)

Luis Castillo fired 3.2 innings of scoreless rehab in Friday’s Bats loss, TJ Friedl socked a homer in Saturday’s win before getting called back up to the bigs to back a rock-solid Randy “For the Gipper” Wynne outing, while former big leaguers JT Riddle and Albert “Albacharach” Almora combined to go 6 for 10 (with 5 singles) in Sunday’s walk-off loss in Columbus.

Louisville is 8-16 and truly the AAA team of the 3-19 Cincinnati Reds.

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)

Chattanooga 9, Tennessee 8 (Friday)

Chattanooga 3, Tennessee 2 (Saturday)

Chattanooga 6, Tennessee 1 (Sunday)

While Sunday belonged to Matt “Yippy Ki-Yay” McLain, he did managed to sock a pair of doubles in Friday’s win, too. He scored on a 3-run tater by TJ “I” Hopkins (as part of Hopkins’ 4-ribbie night), and even swiped a bag, too. Saturday saw Carson Spiers toss 5 IP of 2 ER ball to keep the Lookouts in it, while a 7th inning tater by Hopkins put Chattanooga ahead for good. Isiah “Terry” Gilliam socked a homer of his own on Sunday alongside the two from McLain, all of which served to back an excellent staff-wide outing (one led by the 5 IP of ER ball by Eduardo Salazar).

Dayton Dragons (High-A)

Dayton 1, Fort Wayne 0 (Friday)

Dayton 11, Fort Wayne 5 (Saturday)

Dayton 8, Fort Wayne 0 (Sunday)

The Dragons completed a debriding of Fort Wayne over the weekend. Friday’s pitching duel was won on a 9th inning ribbie by Jack “Jolly” Rogers to back an absolutely scintillating Connor Phillips, who fanned 10 against nary a walk and just 3 H in 6.0 IP. Saturday’s thumping had the entire lineup involved with the usual suspects - Elly De La Cruz, Allan “Tommy La” Cerda, Alex McGarry - combining for 5 H, 5 R, a walk, and 5 ribbies at the heart of the order. Pitching stole the headlines again on Sunday in the form of Andrew “HEY” Abbott, who fanned 10 against 2 H and a lone BB in yet another excellent outing - one where Nick “Mighty” Quintana, De La Cruz, Jose Torres, and JV “Varsity” Martinez each had multi-hit days.

Daytona Tortugas (Single-A)

St. Lucie 4, Daytona 3 (Friday)

St. Lucie 6, Daytona 3 (Saturday)

St. Lucie 9, Daytona 2 (Sunday)

The Tugas rallied furiously Friday with runs in each of the 7th, 8th, and 9th, but came up just short - largely on the backs of striking out 16 times on the night. A trio of late runs on Saturday followed a similar plot in a loss, too, though at least Jay “Lane” Allen made the box score pop with a single, double, walk, and run scored from the leadoff spot. Sunday, unfortunately, was just a thorough thrashing by the Mets, though Allen again showed up large with a pair of doubles, a walk, and a run scored to raise his season OPS up to .830.