Farmers Only Weekend Harvest - Spencer Steer homers, Christian Encarnacion-Strand gets hot

You: What news from the Cincinnati Reds farm this weekend?

Me: This news from the Cincinnati Reds farm this weekend!

AAA

Iowa Cubs 9, Louisville Bats 5 (Friday)

Louisville Bats 5, Iowa Cubs 3 (Saturday)

Iowa Cubs 5, Louisville Bats 4 (Sunday)

The Bats dropped 2 of 3 to the Cubs over the weekend, because that’s just what happens there and across most of this organization. Friday saw old friend Colin “Brain Acquired” Moran blast a 3-run tater, but 7 combined ER from Justin “Andre” Nicolino and Jared Solomon sank the overall effort. Deck McGuire paced the Saturday staff with just 2 ER allowed in 4.0 IP, while Isiah Gilliam and Lorenzo “Cedhatin’” Cedrola each had 2-hit days to help the offense pull out the W. Sunday, though, saw newly acquired Levi “Coffee” Stoudt struggle with 2 ER in 2.1 IP before exiting early with the trainers, which sucks, though fellow new acquiree Spencer “Toonces” Steer at least tried to pick him up with another solo homer.

AA

Montgomery Biscuits 5, Chattanooga Lookouts 4 (Friday)

Montgomery Biscuits 8, Chattanooga Lookouts 3 (Saturday)

Montgomery Biscuits 9, Chattanooga Lookouts 6 (Sunday)

It was all gravy for the Biscuits as they battered the Lookouts all weekend. Friday’s game went into the 10th before Montgomery took it, though Elly “3 Feet High and Rising” De La Cruz doubled in a trio of runs while Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a pair of hits and a ribbie. CEH socked a solo homer on Saturday, too, while Matt “Yippy Ki Yay” McLain had a pair of hits and a ribbie in the losing effort as Connor Phillips slumped again with 3 ER in 3 laborious IP. Allan Cerda heard the alarm on his slump with a solo homer in Sunday’s loss, a game in which CEH had a trio of hits and McLain walked twice and swiped his 21st bag of the season. Elly got Sunday off after fanning 6 times over his previous pair of games.

High-A

Lansing Lugnuts 3, Dayton Dragons 2 (Friday)

Lansing Lugnuts 3, Dayton Dragons 1 (Saturday)

Lansing Lugnuts 7, Dayton Dragons 5 (Sunday)

The L-bug found its way to Dayton over the weekend, too, though at least Steve “Left the Door” Hajjar did his best to fight it - he posted 7 K and a lone ER in 4.0 IP in his start on Friday, a game in which Jose Torres had 3 hits. Justice Thompson socked a homer, “The First” Noelvi Marte had a pair of singles, and Austin “Fox in the” Hendrick singled and swiped a bag on an otherwise quiet Saturday. Steven Leyton and Garrett Wolforth each homered on Sunday as the Dragonbats bonked 10 hits on the day, but a bullpen implosion from Jake Gilbert (4 R, 3 ER in 3.0 IP) derailed the day.

Single-A

Daytona Tortugas 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (Friday, completed Saturday)

Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Daytona Tortugas 3 (F/7, Saturday)

Daytona Tortugas 7, Lakeland Flying Tigers 4 (Sunday)

The Tortuguese took 2 of 3 from Lakeland over the weekend, which is what the three lines of typing prior to this sentence spelled out in less verbose form. The bat of Edwin “Doubleflap” Arroyo woke up on Friday as he doubled and tripled from the leadoff spot, while Jay Allen II socked a homer - as did Jack “Jolly” Rogers. That game wasn’t finished until Saturday due to Mother Nature throwing a wicked slidah, meaning Saturday’s previously scheduled game was shortened to a 7-inning affair, one that Daytona lost despite a 2-hit game from Fidel “Witty Nickname” Castro and 5.0 IP of 2 ER ball from Jose Acuna. The Dragonas got back to their winning ways on Sunday on the backs of a Hayden Jones homer, a 3-hit day from Johnny Ascanio, and 4.0 IP of 1 ER ball from starter Julian Aguiar.