Feb 22, 2013; Goodyear, AZ, USA; Partch pitches during the second inning against the Cleveland Indians at Goodyear Ballpark. (Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports)

Bats Lose in Extras

Looked like a “W” was headed the way of the Bats heading into the home half of the 8th. The Bison got to Curtis Partch (pictured) for the game-tying run on an Andy LaRoche single. In the 11th, LaRoche struck again. This time, it was a game-winning double off Mike MacDougal to plate Mauro Gomez and 10,249 Bison fans left happy.

W: Perez, J (1-1, 1.74) ; L: MacDougal (0-1, 2.57)

Henry Rodriguez: 2-6
Felix Perez: 2-5, R
Emmanuel Burriss: 2-4
Greg Reynolds: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

Next Game: 5/4 @ Buffalo, 1:05 PM ET

Pensacola Blue Wahoos

How Do You Lose on a Walk?

The Blue Wahoos jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Ryan LaMarre drove one home with a double and Steve Selsky singled in the other. Unfortunately, those would be the last and only runs the Blue Wahoos would score. They lost the lead in the 8th (same inning as the Bats) when Lee Hyde walked Montgomery’s Mark Thomas with the bases loaded and Mikie Mahtook would score the game-winning run.

Pensacola made an exciting bid to tie it in the 9th as LaMarre started things off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Selsky. A Tucker Barnhart ground out sent LaMarre to third with two outs. After Bryson Smith was plunked to put runners at 1st and 3rd, Brodie Greene grounded out to end the game.

W: Nevarez (2-0, 0.00) ; L: Hyde (1-3, 7.59) ; SV: Sandoval (6)

Ryan LaMarre: 3-4, RBI (5)
Daniel Renken: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO

Next Game: 5/4 v. Montgomery, 7:30 PM ET

Speaking of LaMarre. Catch this form the other night…

Bakersfield Blaze

Aw, Nuts!

Back and forth early, but the Nuts posted two bigger innings than the Blaze. Marquez Smith continues to blast the ball in California as he accounted for half of the Blaze runs with his 4th home run since being signed in mid-April. The other Blaze home run came from an inside-the-park jaunt from Kyle Waldrop, but Modesto took advantage of the Blaze’s poor fielding and plated four unearned runs.

W: Alsup (2-2, 4.03) ; L: Allen, J (1-3, 5.81) ; SV: Oberg (6)

Marquez Smith: 3-4, HR (4), 2 RBI (6), R

Next Game: 5/4 @ Modesto, 10:05 PM ET

Dayton Dragons

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

Well, the rain wouldn’t go away, forcing the cancellation of the tilt with the LumberKings. The game will not be rescheduled.

Next Game: 5/4 @ Kane County, 7:30 PM ET

Transactions

Bakersfield – Assign Wes Mugarian from Dayton
Dayton – Assign Joseph Housey from Billings

To hear all of the games of Reds affiliates, simply go here. A complete listing of all MiLB teams and their audio feeds are on that page. Best part, it’s FREE!

(Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Louisville Bats

The Bats were off. They will travel to Buffalo for tonight’s 7:05 PM ET game. Armando Galarraga (1-1, 1.40 ERA) gets the call for Jim Riggleman.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos

W: Thompson, J (2-2, 4.88) ; L: Rogers, Ch (2-1, 1.47) ; SV: Sandoval (5)

Chad Rogers: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
Chris Manno: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R

Rogers pitched a whale of a game, but a fielding error led to the ony run the Biscuits would score on him. Tucker Barnhart led off the 9th with his second home run of 2013, but that was all the scoring the Blue Wahoos would do on this night.

Next Game: 5/2 v. Montgomery, 8:00 PM ET. Ryan Dennick (1-1, 2.74 ERA) will be on the hill for Pensacola.

Bakersfield Blaze

W: Doyle (2-0, 4.12) ; L: Bandilla (0-2, 3.57) ; SV: Pearl (3)

Kyle Waldrop: 2-5
Dominic D’Anna: 2-4, RBI (13)
Chris Berset: 2-3
Juan Silverio: 1-4, 3 RBI (11)
Pat Doyle: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 SO

Doyle grabs the win in support of Tanner Robles going the first 4 innings. Marquez Smith swatted another homer (3). Brian Pearl threw 2 pitches in order to get his 3rd save.

Next Game: 5/2 @ San Jose, 3:05 PM ET. Carlos Contreras (1-2, 2.92 ERA) gets the nod for the Blaze.

Dayton Dragons

W: Stephenson (1-3, 5.79) ; L: Holman (0-1, 3.68)

Junior Arias: 3-5, HR (4), 3 RBI (12), 2 SB (11), 2 R
Zach Vincej: 2-4, RBI (4), R
Seth Mejias-Brean: 1-3, 4 RBI (13)

The bats were alive somewhere. Could say this was the Junior Arias show as he came within a double of hitting for the cycle. The Dragons managed to score multiple runs against all four LumberKings pitchers. Robert Stephenson recorded his first win of 2013, but he did allow 4 runs in 5 innings. He also struck out 4, but also walked 4.

Next Game: 5/2 @ Clinton, 7:30 PM ET. Ismael Guillon (0-3, 8.64 ERA) will look to garner his first win of the season.

Transactions

Louisville – Assigned Mark Teahen. Assigned Ray Chang to Pensacola.
Dayton – Activated Nick O’Shea from 7-day disabled list.

From 2012: Negron is congratulated by left fielder Ryan Ludwick (48) and right fielder Jay Bruce (32) at the end of the game against the Cleveland Indians at Great American Ball Park. The Reds defeated the Indians 12-5. (Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports)

The month of April wasn’t all that kind to the Reds affiliates. In looking at the standings for each league, none of the four teams that are currently in action are over .500. I know the whole gig about the farm is to develop these guys into the next Reds star. Plus, the managers and coaching staffs of these teams have certain edicts from Cincy that they must adhere to or face the music.

There have been some good things in the personal development area. We will be touching upon that within the next few days.

Now, to the games…

Louisville Bats

W: Arredondo, J (1-1, 3.60) ; L: Friend (1-1, 7.07)

Felix Perez: 2-3, 3 RBI (13)
Denis Phipps: 2-4, RBI (7), SB (5)
Kristopher Negron: 2-4, HR (2), 4 RBI (7), R
Neftali Soto: 1-2, 3 R
Jose Arredondo: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 SO

Just a little time – like five innings – but once the offense got going, it got going. Call it the Perez and Negron show for last night. The Bats duo drove in 7 of their 9 runs including a grand slam from Negron in the Bats 6th inning.

Arredondo hurled three perfect innings of relief and rebounded from his effort where he went only 1.1 innings and allowed 3 runs to the Iron Pigs.

The Bats end April in 3rd place in the IL’s West Division, 7.5 games behind first place Indianapolis.

Next Game: 5/2 @ Buffalo, 7:05 PM ET

Pensacola Blue Wahoos

No game last evening. The Blue Wahoos will begin May in last place (tied with the Mobile BayBears) in the Southern League’s South Division, but only 4 games back of the Mississippi Braves.

Next Game: 5/1 v. Montgomery, 8:00 PM ET

Bakersfield Blaze

W: Johnson, J (2-1, 8.02) ; L: Soptic (2-1, 8.04) ; SV: Pearl (2)

Juan Perez: 2-3, 2 BB
Dominic D’Anna: 2-5, 3 RBI (12), R
Chris Berset: 2-4, 3 RBI (6)

The Blaze went into San Jose, who leads the Cal League North Division, got in an early hole, and pecked away at that deficit and eventually got the win. D’Anna returned from the disabled list to make an impact with a bases clearing double in the Blaze 7th. That would be the difference in the game.

Next Game: 5/1 @ San Jose, 10:00 PM ET

Dayton Dragons

W: Boyd, J (1-2, 3.68) ; L: Peralta (0-3, 5.29)

Alejandro Chacin: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 SO

Dragons starter Sal Romano was hit with a hard-hit grounder which led to his removal after only 1 inning of work. The Dragons offense only produced a pair of hits as Dayton ended April on a sour note.

They sit in 6th place (of 8 teams) in the Midwest League’s Eastern Division, 10.5 games behind 1st place Bowling Green.

Next Game: 5/1 @ Clinton, 7:30 PM ET

Transactions

Louisville – Assigned Ray Chang from Pensacola
Pensacola – Assigned Mike Gilmartin from Bakersfield
Bakersfield – Activated Dominic D’Anna from 7-day DL