Tagged: Reds
Back to the Bats
Louisville Bats vs. Columbus Clippers (International League)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: After the long drive back from Michigan, you’d think we’d take it easy for a bit, but no, not while the Bats are in town. We took the weekend to recover and unpack, however, and then took in a Monday night game. Despite the weather actually being pretty nice, there was a pretty sparse crowd at Slugger Field. That would come into play later, as Brian was lucky enough to take home a couple of game balls.
The first ball he got was thrown to him by right fielder Rosell Herrera. After the third out, he tossed the ball to Brian as he was coming off the field. We were really surprised that this was a Major League ball in play here in the minors, but I’ll explain that momentarily.
As for Herrera, he went 1-3 on the night, driving in the lone Bats run. Louisville didn’t have much in the way of offense this game. Oh, and the reason why the game ball was a Major League one was because the Reds’ Brandon Finnegan was on the bump in a rehab stint, and that’s what the rehabbing pitchers use (thanks to Jeff Perro/@MiLBClubbie for that info off Twitter).
Ok, and speaking of Finnegan, he took the loss for the Bats, throwing five innings while giving up eight hits, four runs, and striking out two. On a lighter note, Brian got another game ball, this time just a normal International League one, from the Clippers relief pitcher Jeff Beliveau, who threw him a foul ball that came his way while warming up. As I said, there wasn’t much of a crowd, and there was a group of kids who got way more than Brian! Final: Bats 1, Clippers 7.
A rough outing for our first Bats game of the season, but we’re still looking forward to more to come. The weather turned a little cool once that sun went down, but I’m sure we’ll have some hot days at the ballpark this summer. Don’t forget to follow me on Snapchat: @MinorBaseball for live game action!
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Color Labor Day Red
Cincinnati Reds vs. Milwaukee Brewers (National League)
Great American Ballpark-Cincinnati, OH: Oh, Labor Day. When most people are smart enough to take a day off and relax, we decided to head up to the Queen City for some Reds baseball. As usual, we parked in Newport and took the boat over to the ballpark. Since the boat always drops us off at the back of the park (duh, like, it can’t travel down the street and around the corner…), Trevor and I decided to walk around and check out the façade. I took a photo of some of the statues featured out front, such as the greatest catcher ever Johnny Bench and ‘Charlie Hustle’ himself, Pete Rose. The Rose statue is new to the ballpark this season.
I thought we had great seats again, in the bleachers, but the front row which gave us a great view of the field.
The game started a little slow, and the Reds finally took a 1-0 when Joey Votto took a walk in the third inning to drive in a run. Not very exciting, I know, but a run is a run.
Trevor wasn’t happy in the hot sun, so we found some seats with some shade, and a little closer to the action. The Reds scored another run in the 6th, when Eugenio Suarez earned a walk. Yeah, I know. Yawn. But then Tucker Barnhart hit a double that plated two, so business was picking up. The Reds were up 4-0, and I was feeling pretty good about the game.
The Brewers came storming back top of the seventh, however. Homer Bailey got the start for the Reds, and he pitched a solid six innings, giving up three runs and striking out four. A pair of home runs tied the game at four going into the late innings.
Still tied at four bottom nine, it was hero time for Billy Hamilton. He hit his first right-handed home run of the season to set off the fireworks and give the Reds the win! Relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias got the win for Cincy. This was a great way to spend Labor Day, even though I only got a half-hour nap in before working all night. It was worth it for a fun day of baseball with Trevor. FINAL: Reds 5, Brewers 4.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Meeting the Bats
Louisville Bats vs. Rochester Red Wings (International League)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: This was such a bitter-sweet game, as it was the last Bats game for us this season. It’s hard to believe the season, and summer, has gone by so quickly, but here we are, ready to say goodbye to Louisville Slugger Field for a while. A good way to send us off, though, is the Bats held their autograph day for their last weekend home series. Brian was excited to meet the players and get his baseball signed. Most of the players were good with the kids, coach Jody Davis was great with the fans, while new-comer Scott Van Slyke skipped over some kids to sign a folder full of cards (look them up on eBay!!!).
It was another warm day, so we made sure to get seats out of the sun. While the weather was warm, the Bats’ bats were hot. Alex Blandino and Brandon Dixon hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, while Scott Van Slyke hit a RBI single to put Louisville up 3-0. Dixon had a career game for the Bats, going 4-5 with three home runs, a double, and seven RBI’s in the game. He was a big part of the Bats’ seven run fourth inning, chasing top Twins prospect Stephen Gonsalves.
On the mound for Louisville, Rookie Davis earned the win, throwing six innings, giving up five runs on six hits, while striking out four. Evan Mitchell came in to take care of the last three innings, giving up one run and striking out one. FINAL: Bats 13, Red Wings 6.
Again, a fun day, but sad that it’s our last Bats game of the season. Hopefully this isn’t the end of baseball season as a whole for us, though. Brian starts fall ball this week, the Florence Freedom are in the playoffs, and we hope to catch another Reds game this fall. The Bats are also hosting a movie night next month which should be fun. I’ll leave off with a photo of Brian up on the #BatsBoard after the autograph signing. Remember to add me on SnapChat @minorbaseball to follow the live game action.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Great American Birthday
Cincinnati Reds vs. Washington Nationals (National League)
Great American Ballpark-Cincinnati, OH: I love it that I have a summer birthday. One perk is that it’s a good even split from presents at Christmas. My sister has a birthday on December 29th. It just seemed like Christmas presents simply flowed into birthday presents a few days later. Another perk of a summer birthday is that I can enjoy it at a ballgame. This year the Cincinnati Reds were nice enough to host a day game in celebration, so Brian and I made the short journey to enjoy some Major League Baseball. As usual, we parked over in Newport, KY, and took the boat across the Ohio River to the Great American Ballpark.
It was a super hot day out, but Brian still wanted to play on the kids’ field for a bit. Good gravy, the game hasn’t even started yet and this kid looks so hot and disheveled…
Our seats were amazing, even in the upper deck. We had front row and had a phenomenal view of the game taking place before us, sitting behind home plate. Unfortunately, as northern boys, the sun and heat were not making it comfortable for us, so we had to move down under some shade. At least we had a solid look at Eugenio Suarez’s home run in the second inning. And that was pretty much all the offense the Reds could muster.
Here’s a hit by Scooter!
If Tucker Barnhart is looking at me for a sign on what to throw to Bryce Harper, I have no clue. That guy can hit just about anything…
The game itself wasn’t a great one for the Reds. Scott Feldman started out on the mound, but only lasted one inning. He gave up five runs on five hits, including two home runs. One was a three-run blast by Harper. Well, he’s now on the DL… Asher Wojciechowski (who was just on Louisville last month) came in to throw five solid innings, giving up one run on two hits, while striking out four. And again, the only offense for the Reds was Suarez’s home run. FINAL: Reds 1, Nationals 6.
Despite the score and the heat, this was a great birthday. Lily and Trevor were up visiting Michigan, so I really missed them, but Brian and I had a good time. I definitely want to take in another game here before the season is over, but maybe in September, and maybe a night game so it’s cooler. We’ll be back at the Bats this weekend, but I can’t believe the season is half-way over, and we only have a few more games planned…
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Bat Boys & Indians
Louisville Bats vs. Indianapolis Indians (International League)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: We were back at it last weekend for another Bats game. I really wanted to hit 80’s night the day before, but just couldn’t make it happen. That promotion is simply tailor made for me, but Bri and I still had a great time on Sunday. And the weather was perfect for baseball, as it’s been lately. Also, coming in the gate Brian got a free mini-bat from the Louisville Slugger Museum. We already have a few of these, but you can never have too many mini-bats. We’ll be making it back to the museum soon to check out their Lego exhibit, anyway!
On to the game, starting on the mound for Louisville was Cody Reed, who only lasted through the first two innings. He held Indy off the board, though, waling two, striking out three, and giving up one hit. Asher Wojciechowski pitched three innings, giving up one Indian run on four hits while striking out five. Kyle McMyne gave up the only other Indy run, but still earned the win. He pitched two innings and struck out one batter. Earning the save was Kevin Shackelford, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Also during the game, Brian got a game ball thrown to him by Indians manager Andy Barkett. He managed for a few years in the Detroit organization, and must have sensed we were Tiger fans!
The Bats scored one run in the first, and went on to take the lead with three in the seventh. Leading the offense for the Bats, was catcher Rob Brantly, who went 2/4 with an RBI. Helping out was Sebastian Elizalde who went 1/3 with an RBI and run scored. Alex Blandino started the scoring for Louisville in the first, and was 1/2 with an RBI and run scored in the game. FINAL: Bats 4, Indians 2.
Another fun day for us, and the Bats had BBoy McCoy, the break dancing bat boy, in attendance to entertain the fans between innings. I still think that break dancing is very cool, and the movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo still holds up, today. Unfortunately, the times he was out, we were either at the playground, or I couldn’t get my camera or phone focused in in time to catch a photo or video. I did find a nice video of him on YouTube, though, that I’ll share. I highly recommend seeing him if he’s at a ballpark near you!
Video courtesy of the Skillville Group
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Swashbuckling at Slugger
Louisville Bats vs. Toledo Mud Hens (International League)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: Another beautiful day at the ballpark, and this time we had Pirates and Princesses on hand to entertain the kids. Lily went through a Disney princess stage when she was younger, so I’m familiar with Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, but I don’t know the name of the newer one, the Frozen one. As far as the pirates go, Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook were there for some looting and pillaging.
The Bats were hosting the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate, Toledo Mud Hens, so my allegiance was a little torn. The Mud Hens, however, jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning, and really never looked back. Tyler Collins hit a three run blast to help the Hens out in that first inning, as Toledo sent all nine hitters to the plate. For the Bats, Dilson Herrera answered with a two-run homer of his own to cut into the lead in the second inning. In the fourth inning, and Matt den Dekker triple, a JaCoby Jones double, and a Bats’ error restored the five run lead for the Mud Hens. That was about it for the offence in the game, so Brian and I went to meet the pirates. Lucky for us, the line was a lot shorter than the one for the princesses.
On the mound for the Bats, Sal Romano took the loss, throwing five innings and allowing seven runs on 10 hits. Matthew Boyd got the win for Toledo, pitching six innings and giving up two runs on five hits while striking out five. FINAL: Bats 2, Mud Hens 7.
Another fun day for Brian and I at the ballpark. There were tons of kids at this game, especially girls, for the princesses, which made the line to run the bases really long. Brian opted not to run, and really, he was just playing on the field the day before. Rough loss for the Bats, but this one I didn’t mind as much…
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Pork Roast
Louisville Bats vs. Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (International League)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: Bri and I back at Slugger Field, but this time for more Bats baseball. This game they were hosting the Iron Pigs, which Brian thought was hilarious, and kept making jokes about all night. Yep, that’s my guy…
Nachos and cheese for that cheesy grin!
It was another beautiful night, as Robert Stephenson took the mound for the Bats. He threw a perfect four innings, giving up no hits or runs. The Louisville offense came alive in the fifth inning, however, starting out with a Brandon Dixon solo home run. Hernan Iribarren would later smack a two-run single, extending his team’s lead to 3-0.
Brian and I needed a little snack during the game, again, and this time went with some Kizito cookies. The cookie lady walks around the ballpark with a basket of cookies on her head, and it’s hard to say no! The cookies are really good and priced right, also, which helps to feed hungry kids.
Nothing beats a Kizito chocolate chip cookie
Brian also got a foul ball, and we picked one up in the gift shop with the retro logo on it. It gave us something to throw around at the game, anyway:
The wheels fell of a bit for the Bats in the eight inning, though, as the Iron Pigs tapped relief pitcher Kyle McMyne for four runs on four hits to take the lead. Louisville tied the game at the bottom of the inning, after Phillip Ervin’s base hit that scored Stuart Turner. With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Sebastian Elizade hit an infield single to bring home Zach Vincej for the walk-off win! FINAL: Bats 5, Iron Pigs 4.
Another fun game with Bri. We had another busy week in baseball, and another Bats game the next weekend, so stay tuned. I’ll leave off with a pic of Bri and Buddy Bat:
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Bats get Clipped
Louisville Bats vs. Columbus Clippers (International League)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: Another fun night of baseball, this time back in the ‘Ville. This was the last game my dad would be at on this visit. He plans on coming back next month, though, for some more minor league ball and the ACC Championships. It was a beautiful night, as the weather just seemed to get better as the weekend went along. Brian played on the playground most of the game, but was happy to spend some time with his papa, too.
Brian won this hat, but gave it to his Papa for his golf games
This was a good game, with the Bats down, but certainly not out. Louisville was lead offensively by catcher Rob Brantly, who went 3-6 with four RBI’s, including a 2-run homer in the seventh and a game tying double in the eighth. Jesse Winker helped out by going 2-4 with an RBI and run scored, and Philip Ervin went 2-5 with two runs scored.
On the mound, Jackson Stephens got the start for Louisville. In four innings pitched, he gave up five runs while striking out four. Luckily the offense and bullpen bailed him out, so he didn’t get the decision. Evan Mitchell ended up taking the loss, though, after giving up the winning run in the 10th. He pitched two innings and gave up three hits. Final in 10: Bats 8, Clippers 9.
Another fun night, with it being capped off with Brian getting to meet Jake the Diamond Dog. We saw him a couple of times last season, as he acted as bat boy and brought water to the umpires. He was hot and tired by the end of the night, though. We look forward to our next game, which will probably be right back here at Louisville Slugger Field.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Opening week in Cincy
Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies (National League)
Great American Ballpark-Cincinnati, OH: We’re used to taking my dad to a ballgame for his birthday up in Michigan, but since we’re down here now, we decided to invite him down here for a game (or two, or three). We’re also used to some crummy weather up there, so a little cold and rain certainly didn’t keep us from the ballpark down here. This was his first game in Cincy, also, so it was a special day. Lucky for us the usher we met was also a Tiger fan, so he took good care of us. He was nice enough to take a photo of us together, as well as get my dad a certificate for his birthday and first Reds game.
There wasn’t much of a crowd, but we enjoyed our seats in the front row of the upper level. There was a little rain, but we donned our ponchos and kept dry. There wasn’t much of a crowd, so we could pretty much sit where we wanted. After a few innings on the upper level, we moved below to enjoy the rest of the game from there.
On the mound, Rookie Davis was getting his first Major League start, as he is, well, a rookie. He didn’t pitch horrible, but did give up a couple of home runs, allowing four runs in five innings of work, while striking out four batters. Despite being down a few runs, the Reds bullpen was strong. Cody Reed ended up getting the win, throwing two scoreless innings. Drew Storen earned the save by pitching a scoreless ninth and striking out two.
Cincinnati was lead offensively by Adam Duvall, who went 2-4 with a home run and two RBI’s. Also pitching in were Zach Cozart, going 2-3 with two RBI’s; Eugenio Suarez, going 2-3 with two runs scored; and Billy Hamilton, going 2-5. Pitcher Michael Lorenzen also stepped up to the plate and hit a pinch-hit home run! It was a solid day all around offensively for the Reds. Final: Reds 7, Phillies 2.
Despite the weather that seemed to keep most fans away (and the fact that it was a weekday day game), this was a fun game to watch. I’m not sure when we’ll make it back to Cincy again, lots of minor league and college ball the next couple of months to keep us busy!
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Bats vs. Reds…sort of
Louisville Bats vs. Cincinnati Reds (Exhibition)
Louisville Slugger Field-Louisville, KY: We’re so glad that Bats baseball is slowly creeping back into our lives! On Friday night the Bats (sort of) hosted the Cincinnati Reds for an exhibition game. I say ‘sort of’ for the Bats because in all reality, this was a Red’s Futures team, which probably very few from this roster will be actually seeing time in Louisville this summer. Probably more guys from the Reds roster will be here, but it’s still baseball, and it was still a fun game. We got there as early as we could, to get our Adam Duvall bobble-head and our free Reds hats (we still cheered for our ‘Bats’, though). As the Reds were warming up, we noticed catcher Rob Brantly, who we saw play up in Michigan for the Whitecaps. Since they were old pals, Brian decided to go chat with him a bit.
And here were the starting line-ups for the teams:
The obvious big pop for the night was for Louisville’s own Adam Duvall. He had a nice game, too, going 2-2 with a double.
The game was low scoring, with both runs coming in the first two innings. Rookie Davis started on the bump for the Reds. He pitched three innings, allowing one earned run and three hits with two walks, two strikeouts and a hit batsman. Tyler Mahle started for the Bats/Futures team, hurling five solid innings and allowing one run and seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 87 pitches. He gave up his only run in the first inning, when Billy Hamilton scored on a Joey Votto base-hit RBI. The Bats scored their lone run on a Aristides Aquino solo home run. Final: Bats 1, Reds 1.
The game didn’t have a lot of action, but still a fun night with Brian. We have tickets for the Reds game on Thursday, but the weather calls for lots of rain, so I’m doubting we’ll get that game in. The Bats also start this week (officially), so we’ll still try to get a game in somewhere, somehow. I’ll leave off with a pic of Brian and Buddy Bat, who we were both glad to see for the first time in 2017!
Brian with Buddy Bat
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Minoring In Baseball 