Fun fact of the day: Nick Castellanos is currently batting .000 on the season.
Sunday:
AAA: Louisville 5, Toledo 1
Toledo got dominated by an old friend in the form of Dontrelle Willis, who posted five strikeouts as he three-hit the Mud Hens. Duane Below was lit up for four runs and three homers over four innings, and the Hens offense failed to post even a single extra base hit.
Casey Crosby got lit up for six runs (five earned) over 2.2 innings. That's the bad news. The good news is that the offense was roaring, to the tune of seven extra base hits. Bryan Holaday homered and Jamie Johnson was 2-5 with a double and a homer.
Jared Wesson had a three inning start in which he walked four and gave up two earned runs. So the starting pitching stunk. But Shawn Teufel threw four innings of shutout ball, striking out three. That was enough to keep Lakeland in the game. Tony Plagman was 2-4 with a homer and Jordan Lennarton was 1-2 with a double and two walks.
A: West Michigan 13, Lansing 12
Kyle Ryan gave up seven runs (five earned) in 3.2 innings. Bruce Rondon struck out two in a scoreless ninth. That consists of pitching highlights for West Michigan. Dixon Machado was 4-5 with a walk and a stolen base, James Robbins was 2-5 with a double and a homer and Rob Brantly was 2-4 with a double and two walks.
Saturday:
Charlie Furbush probably wishes he could get some support. He gave up a mere two runs on five hits with six strikeouts, but walked away with the loss. Al Alburquerque struck out two in his inning of work, and both Cale Iorg and Andy Dirks doubled.
Luke Putkonen allowed one run over five innings, which was pretty good. Rob Waite allowed three earned runs over two innings which was not (though it would probably be an improvement over Brad Thomas). The offense was mediocre: Rawley Bishop had two walks and Jamie Johnson was 2-4.
Cole Nelson put in a pretty good start, allowing two earned runs over six innings with six strikeouts to a single walk. He lost due to tepid offensive support that consisted of a home run by Brent Wyatt and not much else.
A: West Michigan @ Lansing doubleheader postponed
Friday:
Thad Weber put in a decent five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts. But the 'Hens still lost this one due to a poor relief outing by Chris Oxspring. Scott Sizemore was 3-3 with a double and a homer, and seems to be taking out any frustration over his demotion on AAA pitching.
LJ Gagnier got lucky: giving up one run in five innings is good, but when you walk four, allow two hits and give up a homer, you dodge a bullet. Chance Ruffin picked up a save and Brandon Douglas doubled.
Drew Smyly gave up one run over 5.2 innings, striking out six. Julio Rodriguez was 2-4 with a triple, which was cool considering that he's a catcher. Brent Wyatt was 2-5 with two doubles.
A: West Michigan @ Lansing doubleheader postponed