Lohse vs. Wainwright.

Discuss.

So Ricky Stone was called up yesterday, as Victor Santos was designated for assignment. I remember how crappy Stone was for the Reds in 2005 (6.75 ERA, anyone?), but I hadn’t realized that he actually retired last year.

Yes, Stone has done well for Louisville this season, but I hope no one expects him to help the bullpen blues.

Louisville 3, Buffalo 1

Ryan Freel continues his trek back to the big leagues with another nice start in Louisville. Freel went 3-4 last night with a double and 2 runs scored. In Louisville, Freel is 10-26 with 6 runs scored. 3B Aaron Herr went 2-3, driving in 2 of the Bats 3 runs.

Richie Gardner improved to 2-0 on the season with Louisville with a nice start. Gardner allowed 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 6. He’s 8-2 overall this season in the minors. This was his best start thus far with the Bats.

Chattanooga 9, Huntsville 8 (final 10)

Wow, the Lookouts scored 8 runs in the top of the 8th inning to take an 8-4 lead, only to have the bullpen allow 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 8-8. The Lookouts pushed one across in the top of the 10th to come away with the victory. C Craig Tatum went 4-5 with a double, run scored, and an rbi. 2B Luis Bolivar went 2-3 with a double, run scored, and 3 runs batted in.

Carlos Guevara picked up the win by pitching a perfect 10th inning, striking out 2.

Sarasota vs Palm Beach - Postponed

Fort Wayne 5, Dayton 1

2B Justin Turner (who is way to happy in his team photo) went 2-4 with a double on the night. Justin is now batting .304 on the year and has recorded a base hit in 9 of his last 11 games.

Great Falls 12, Billings 11 (final 12)

The Mustangs scored 7 times in the 6th inning to take a 9-6 lead, but saw the lead vanish in the bottom of the 8th. 1 run in the top of the 12th would not hold up either as Great Falls scored twice in the bottom half to take the win. CF Brandon Menchacha went 3-6 with a triple and 4 runs batted in. Jacob Long went 3-4 with 2 doubles, a run scored, and an rbi.

Scott Gaffney pitched an inning, allowing 1 walk and striking out 2. In 3 relief outings this season, Gaffney has allowed 4 hits, 1 unearned run, walked 2, and K’d 8 over 5 innings pitched. Nicholas Wandelss pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief last night, allowing 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3.
GCL Reds 5, GCL Red Sox 4

18 year old SS Neftali Soto is off to a red-hot start to his early career in the Reds minor leagues. Soto went 2-4 last night with a double, run scored, and 3 runs batted in. In 8-games this year, Soto is batting .500 with 6 doubles, 10 rbis, and only 2 strikeouts. In fact, he struck out twice last night for the first time all-season. Soto was drafted by the Reds in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft.

Jeremy Vinyard, drafted in the 34th round, pitched 1 shutout inning tonight, walking 1 and striking out 1. This was Jeremy’s debut.

I’m not gonna lie to you: it is my birthday, I’m sitting on the beach building a sand castle with my 2-year-old, and I just don’t know if I will get to the computer to put up a game thread later. I don’t even know, or care, if the Reds even have a game tonight. They are the worst team in baseball, and I love them, and I always will…but even I have my limits.

So I’m throwing up a game thread now via BlackBerry. Enjoy the game and discuss it here. I may check in later and I may not.

If I’m lucky, the name “Jerry Narron” won’t even cross my mind tonight….

Louisville 6, Richmond 3

Mark Bellhorn’s 2-run homer in the 7th inning gave the Bats 2 more insurance runs that allowed for a comfortable 3-run win. Let’s face it, when you have Gary Majewski in your pen, you need all the runs you can get. Majewski did fine last night however, pitching 2 perfect outs in the 8th inning. In his last 10.2 innings, Gary has given up 7 hits, 5 walks, 2 earned runs, and has struck out 7.

Ryan Freel also went 2-4 on the night with a run scored, rbi, and walk.

Huntsville 3, Chattanooga 1

Huntsville pounded out a whopping 2 hits and still came out on top of this slugfest! The Lookouts managed just 5 hits. Huntsville got everything they needed in the first inning off of Sam Lecure. The first inning transpired as so: Walk, strikeout, stolen base, rbi single, strikeout, 2 run homer… After that, Lecure cruised. Sam gave up the 3 runs on 2 hits, 1 walk, and K’d 8.

Sarasota 8, Palm Beach 5

Daniel Dorn went 3-5 with 2 runs scored and an rbi on the night. The rbi gives Dorn 56 runs batted in over 72 games with Sarasota. Eric Eymann belted his 6th homerun of the season, a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning that gave the Reds an early 2-0 lead.

Daryl Thompson improved to 3-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 4.78 by pitching 5 scoreless innings. Thompson allowed 9 hits and struck out 3 on the night.

Dayton 6, South Bend 1

Dayton played 2 today, completing this rain-delayed game from last night. Chris Heisey went 3-5 with a double and 2 runs scored. Denis Phipps went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored.

Lee Tabor picked up the win in relief by pitching 5.2 innings of shutout baseball. Tabor scattered just 1 hit while walking 3 and striking out 6. Tabor has a nice 2.78 ERA over 45.1 innings pitched.

Dayton 2, South Bend 1 (final 8 )

Pitching reigned supreme in the 2nd game as the two teams combined for just 3 runs and 7 hits total. Travis Webb pitched a dandy but received nothing for his effort. Webb went 6 innings, allowing 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, and recorded 4 strikeouts. His ERA now stands at 3.52 on the season.

Great Falls 5, Billings 4 (final 15)

21 year old 3b Brandon Waring went 3-7 with a single, double, and triple on the night. He also scored 1 run and drove in 1. Redlegnation Spotlight Player Matt Klinker pitched 3 innings of perfect baseball, striking out 3.
GCL Pirates 12, GCL Reds 2

All you can do is laugh about it, right? I’m sure a lot of us had dreams of being professional baseball players. At this point, you have to wonder if Victor Navarro is having other thoughts. The 17-year old from Venezuela has pitched in 2 games in his very brief big league career. He’s allowed 5 runs in 1.1 innings pitched. That translates to an ERA of 33.25! Ouch! At least it is early and 7.2 scoreless innings from here on out will lower his ERA to a solid 5.00. We’re pulling for ya Victor. (There wasn’t much else to say about this thrashing tonight by our youngsters)

Congrats to three of our favorite Louisville Bats:

Bats infielders Joey Votto and Jeff Keppinger along with left-handed pitcher Phil Dumatrait were today named to the International League team for the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game. The game will be played Wednesday, July 11 at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Votto, 23, is hitting .311 with nine home runs and 41 runs batted in. His .417 on-base percentage is third in the IL. From May 4 - June 20, Votto reached base in 42 consecutive games, the second longest streak in the IL this season. Last week he was named to the World Team for the 2007 All-Star Futures Game in San Francisco.

Keppinger is leading the IL with a .359 batting average and has hit safely in 43 of the 49 games he has appeared in for Louisville. The 27-year-old has played in three games with Cincinnati this year, batting .250 with the Reds. Keppinger has started at first base, second base, third base and left field for the Bats this season. He is tied for the team lead in multi-hit games with fellow All-Star Votto at 23 apiece.

The 25-year-old Dumatrait is tied for fourth in the IL with seven wins. He leads the Bats pitching staff in games started with 16 and his 88 1/3 innings pitched are good for fifth in the IL. Dumatrait was named Louisville Pitcher of the Month for April went he went 4-0 with a 0.63 ERA.

The 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN2, pitting the International League All-Stars against the Pacific Coast League All-Stars.

Mark July 11 on your calendar. I already have.

One game left in the Philadelphia series before the Reds return home to face the Cardinals. Matt Ba-liss-le takes the mound for the good guys, as the Reds attempt to win a series for only the second time this month. No, June has not been kind to the Redlegs.

We love ‘em anyway, though, don’t we? Discuss!

Looks like Bronson Arroyo and Kyle Lohse are switching spots in the rotation, so to speak:

The Reds moved Arroyo’s start up a day, from Saturday to Friday against the Cardinals, to keep him on an every-fifth-day schedule. Lohse and his 3-10 record were backed up to Saturday.

“I’m anxious to go out there because I’m finally feeling good, the way I want to feel,” Arroyo said. “I felt real sore after my last outing, and that’s good. When I have real good stuff, I’m always sore afterwards. When I don’t have good stuff, I could throw 100 innings in a row.”

And Lohse?

“I just do what I’m told. Pitch when I’m told. No story there,” he said.

Manager Jerry Narron ducked the issue of whether Lohse’s recent struggles played into the move and said merely said, “Bronson threw well the other day (in Seattle), and we’re just getting him back on his fifth day.”

Yeah, things are going poorly with the franchise, last night’s win notwithstanding. But Red Hot Mama reminds us that it could be worse.

Richmond 6, Louisville 4

23 year-old Joey Votto went 2 for 4 with a BB, 2B, and 3 RBI. He is hitting .314/.418/.482.

24 year-old Bill Bray went down to Louisville to teach the young guys in the bullpen how to pitch like a Cincinnati Red. He recorded two outs, gave up 4 H and 3 ER.

Last year in AAA Bray had a 3.98 ERA with 45 Ks, 9 BB, and 26 H in 31.2 IP.

Chattanooga 6, Huntsville 3

24 year-old Adam Rosales went 1 for 3 with a 2B. Since being promoted to Chattanooga he is hitting .278/.276/.393 in 28 PAs. Let’s hope he doesn’t lose his patience which has made him a DOTF favorite for a couple of years now.

Palm Beach 8, Sarasota 1

21 year-old Sean Watson was knocked around a bit in his Sarasota debut. Watson pitched 4.1 innings giving up 5 H, 3 BB, and 4 ER while striking out 3. In 71.2 IP at Dayton he recorded 85 Ks, 13 BB and 58 hits with a 1.88 ERA.

Dayton 2, South Bend 1 Suspended after 2

Billings 8, Great Falls 3

21 year-old Brandon Waring (Reds #7 - 2007) went 4 for 5 with a HR and 5 RBI. He is hitting .276/.417/.414 in 35 PAs.

21 year-old shortstop Angel Cabrera (Reds #40 - 2005) went 2 for 4 with a 2B and 2 R. He is hitting .462/.533/.615 in 15 PAs.

GCL Orioles 16, GCL Reds 7

18 year-old shortstop Neftali Soto (Reds #3 - 2007) went 3 for 4 with a BB and an RBI. He is hitting .538/.536/.731 in 27 PAs.

20 year-old third baseman Brett Barties (Reds #30 - 2007) went 2 for 4 with a BB. He is hitting .462/.533/.462 after 14 PAs.

19 year-old outfielder Tony Brown (Reds #23 - 2006) went 2 for 5 with HR and 2 RBI. He is hitting .261/.333/.391 after 26 PAs.

Game two of the series at Citizens Bank Park, and all we can do is hope that tonight is better than last night’s debacle.

There’s a pretty good chance it will be, since Aaron Harang is on the mound, and he’s been awfully good lately. Pitching for Philly is Jamie Moyer. He’s been around a while.

Discuss!

Just a quick update on Billings RHP Matt Klinker, one of our Spotlight Players and a contributor here at Redleg Nation.

I know it was referenced in today’s Down on the Farm feature, but Matt made his professional debut last night in Billings’ 7-0 victory over Great Falls. Klinker pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two batters and allowing one hit.

Nice debut, Matt! Redleg Nation hopes there are many more to come.

The Hardball Times is running a series on the 2007 first round draft picks by Carlos Gomez. It’s probably a good idea to read the beginning of the first installment to get an idea of what he’s evaluating and how.

 Here is the installment where he’s evaluating Mesoraco (halfway down, pick 15).

 It’s also fun to go back and read last year’s evaluations. He was NOT a fan of Drew Stubbs.

Richmond 6, Louisville 0

24 year-old Calvin Medlock continues to sit hitters down. He pitched two innings giving up 0 H, 0 BB, and 0 ER with 2 Ks.

31 year-old Ryan Freel went 1 for 3, and went a whole game without injuring himself or a teammate. In 3 games at Louisville, he is hitting .231/.231/.308

Chattanooga 10, Huntsville 1

20 year-old Jay Bruce went 2 for 5 with a 2B. He now has a 4 game hitting streak and is batting .435/.485/.913. Not a bad start.

21 year-old Johnny Cueto pitched 6 innings in his AA debut, giving up 5 H, 2 BB, and a ER with 6 Ks.

Sarasota 9, Vero Beach 1

24 year-old catcher Craig Tatum went 3 for 5 with a HR, and 2 RBI. He is hitting .320/.348/.525. That walk rate is not very good. Anybody know what his defense is like?

20 year-old Travis Wood pitched 5 innings giving up 4 H, 3 BB with 6 Ks. His ERA fell to 4.97 with 40 Ks, 24 BB, and 41 H in 38 IP. Looks like a Homer Bailey line.

South Bend 13, Dayton 5

22 year-old Carson Kainer went 2 for 4. He is hitting .286/.318/.381 in 5 games since his demotion.

21 year-old Chris Valaika went 2 for 4. He is hitting .320/.364/.509. He only has 15 BB in 296 PAs. He has only 1 SB in 5 attempts.

Billings 7, Great Falls 0

22 year old RHP — and Redleg Nation Spotlight Player/contributor — Matt Klinker made his professional debut going an inning giving up a H and striking out 2.

22 year-old Kyle Maunus went 4 for 5 with 3 2B and 2 RBI. In 29 PAs he is hitting .407/.433/.593

22 year-old Michael McKennon went 3 for 4 with 2 2B, and a 3B. In 33 PAs he is hitting .500/.543/.781

20 year-old Michael Jones went 3 for 4 with an RBI. In 27 PAs he is hitting .400/.429/.480

GCL Twins 1, GCL Reds 0

19 year-old 2007 1st round pick Devin Mesoraco went 1 for 4 in his professional debut with a 2B.

18 year-old shortstop Neftali Soto went 2 for 4 with 2 2B. In 22 PAs he is hitting .500/.478/.727. He must have a SAC to have an OBP below his BA.

Start number three for Homer Bailey today against the Phils, who will counter with Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick, oddly enough, will also be making his third big league start.

I don’t have any idea what that means for today’s game. But you can discuss it here!