Saturday Links: Louisville’s Magic Number = 1

Chris Heisey

Reds prospect Chris Heisey was 3-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI in leading Louisville to a near division clinching victory. Check out how far the Bats are from sealing their playoff ticket and other storylines in Saturday’s hot links:

The Bats lowered their magic number to one game with a 10-4 victory over Columbus. A Louisville win or Toledo loss Saturday will clinch the West division for the Bats.
Lexington earned a series victory with a 6-2 win over Hickory.
Tim Beckham extended his hitting streak to 11 games in a 6-2 Bowling Green loss to West Virginia.
UofL sports has a news release about alum B. J. Rosenberg being named to the World Cup team.
EKU alum Neil Sellers was named a post-season AA Eastern League All-Star.

Thursday Afternoon Links: UK Alums to AFL

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Colling Cowgill; Photo: UK Athletics

Sorry for the late links post. The graduate school life isn’t always conducive to the blogger life. Here are some links from the last 24 hour, and I promise more posts this afternoon/evening to catch you up.

UK alums Ryan Strieby and Collin Cowgill will play for Peoria and Scottsdale in the prestigious Arizona Fall League following the season.
Louisville’s magic number to clinch the division moved to three even though the Bats’ game with Toledo was rained out.
Lexington won its second consecutive game with a 9-7 victory over Hickory.
Bowling Green ended a seven-game losing streak with a 13-3 win over West Virginia.
Baseball America looks at the arms on the Lexington pitching staff in Thursday’s “Daily Dish.”
UofL alum Trystan Magnuson extended his scoreless innings streak to 5.1 to start his AA career.
UK’s Chris Bisson was named the 39th best prospect in the Cape Cod League by PGCrosschecker.com.

Wednesday Links: Louisville’s Magic Number=5

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Lew Ford

Louisville moved closer to the playoffs as Bowling Green moved further away Tuesday. Check out those stories and more in today’s hot links:

Louisville defeated Toledo 3-2 and lowered its magic number to 5. The Bats also added former major league outfielder Lew Ford to the roster for the stretch drive.
Lexington earned its third consecutive victory after its 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Hickory.
Bowling Green fell to .500 in the second half with a 3-1 loss to West Virginia.
Former UK standout Michael Bertram was a single away from the cycle in AA Erie’s 8-5 loss to Reading. Bertram already hit for the cycle once this season.
Former Legend Hunter Pence won the Astros’ “Heart and Hustle” Award.

Saturday Links: Pellegrini Four from Record

College Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Brian Pellegrini

Lexington Legends slugger Brian Pellegrini launched his 21st home run of the season for Lexington Saturday to move within four home runs of the franchise record 25 long balls in a season. Astros outfielder Hunter Pence and former Legend Beau Herod currently hole the record of 25 home runs.

Pellegrini’s home run wasn’t enough for the Legends’ victory. West Virginia scored four runs in the last three innings to win 5-2.
Matthew Klinker and Pedro Viola combined on a three-hit shutout to give Louisville a 4-0 victory over Toledo in the series opener.
Chris Andujar allowed one run in six innings to lead Bowling Green to a 3-1 victory over Hickory.
EKU Sports writes about Christian Friedrich’s performance in high A ball.
Friedrich checks in at number six and Lexington Legend Jordan Lyles ranked number 11 on this week’s Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet. Bowling Green pitcher Matt Moore was listed “In the Team Photo.”
WKU sports reports that ground has been broken on the new Hilltoper clubhouse.
Don’t forget, the Russellville Little League team plays on ESPN at 7:00 in the finals of the Great Lakes Region tonight.

Friday Links: Bats Comeback

College Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Louisville Slugger Field

I’ll probably have fewer posts than normal over the next couple of days as I recover from having my wisdom teeth removed, but never fear here are some Friday links to hold you over. Look for a recap of UofL summer league action this afternoon.

The Bats scored five times in the eighth and ninth innings to come back and defeat Lehigh Valley 12-8.
The West Virginia Power used an eight-run sixth inning and a home run from first-round pick Tony Sanchez to defeat Lexington 12-6.
Matt Moore struck out nine in five innings to lead Bowling Green to a victory in the series-opener against Hickory.
Don’t look for team USA member and UofL pitcher Tony Zych to pitch in the Olympics anytime soon. The IOC decided Thursday that baseball would not return to the 2016 games.
UK Athletics reports about Braden Kapteyn’s NYCBL MVP.

Game Time Notes

Minor League Baseball

Matt Moore

Bowling Green Hot Rods vs. Hickory Crawdads

Bowling Green ace Matthew Moore will open the series against Hickory tonight on the mound for the Hot Rods. Moore is 7-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 100.2 innings this season. His 141 strikeouts rank third in the South Atlantic League, five behind Lexington’s Jordan Lyles for most in the league. Moore’s 2.68 ERA is fourth lowest in the league.
Hot Rods catcher Tyler Hauschild has one of the strangest hitting streaks you’ll ever see. Hauschild is currently enjoying a seven-game hitting streak stretched over 25 days. Hauschild joined the Hot Rods on July 14 and began his hitting streak on July 18. Tyler has found playing time hard to come by behind Rays prospect Jake Jeffries, who does most of the catching for Bowling Green. Hauschild has played in 11 games for Bowling Green this season and has at least one hit in nine of them.
The Hot Rods are 1-3 against Hickory on the season. Starting pitcher Chris Andujar has the only win for the Hot Rods and it came while he was pitching out of the Bowling Green bullpen. No Hot Rod with more than two games played against the Crawdads is batting over .250 against Hickory.
Hickory will send right-handed pitcher Jacob Brigham to the mound to open the series with Bowling Green tonight. Brigham is 2-6 with a 5.12 ERA in 19 games this season. One of Brigham’s two wins on the year came against Bowling Green when he shutout the Hot Rods through 5.1 innings on April 11, his first start of the season. As a starting pitcher Bigham is 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA in 11 games.
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Thursday Links: Cotuit Kettleers Eliminated

College Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Chris Bisson; Photo: UK Athletics

Wednesday was a losing night for Bluegrass Baseball teams, and Kentucky connections. Check out the Cape Cod League finals and other storylines in Thursday morning’s hot links.

UK infielder Chris Bisson and the Cotuit Kettleers lost in game two of the Cape Cod League finals, giving the title to the Bourne Braves. Bisson was 0-3 with a walk in the 5-1 loss.
Phillies top prospect Michael Taylor hit for the cycle to lead the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to their first win in seven games against Louisville this season with a 10-9 victory Wednesday.
Pirates first round pick Tony Sanchez and the West Virginia Power defeated Lexington 9-2 in the series opener.
“Cat Scratches” reports on Braden Kapteyn’s NYCBL MVP, which was first reported here and on the BluGrass Baseball twitter.
Baseball America named Louisville outfielder Drew Stubbs best baserunner, best defensive outfielder and best outfield arm in the International League in a survey of IL managers. (Subscriber only)
EKU Alum Christian Friedrich and Lexington Legend Jordan Lyles both received votes in the South Atlantic League best pitcher poll conducted by Baseball America to SAL managers.
Will Graves (Former Kernelite) at the Associated Press reports on UK Athletics 15x15x15 plan.
Jason Stella profiles Louisville Bat Kevin Barker at Examiner.com.

Game Time Notes

Minor League Baseball

Louisville Bats @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Louisville looks for the series victory against Lehigh Valley with Matt Maloney on the mound tonight. Maloney received a brief callup to Cincinnati earlier this season, but has spent most of the year with the Bats. Matt is 8-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 19 games for Louisville this season. Maloney’s 2.71 ERA ranks fifth best in the International League and his 106 strikeouts are tied for fourth most. Matt has shown exceptional control this season with only 19 walks in 126 innings.
Bats outfielder Darnell McDonald had only three hits in seven games in August entering Tuesday’s game, but he broke out of that slump in a big way. McDonald finished the game 4-4 with a double. The four hits tie a season high for McDonald achieved previously on July 6 against Indianapolis with a 4-5 performance.
Outfielder Drew Stubbs stole his 46th base of the season Tuesday. The 46 steals lead the International league and rank 11th in minor league baseball. Stubbs should easily break the 50 steal plateau with just under a month left in the season. Think 50 steals might be a Bats record? Think again, Vince Coleman stole 101 bases in 1984 for the franchise.
The IronPigs will counter with left-handed pitcher Gustavo Chacin. Chacin was once a top prospect, winning the AA Eastern League Pitcher of the Year award in 2004, but he has failed to make a dent past AAA in his career. This season Chacin is excelling with Lehigh Valley with a 7-3 record and 3.09 ERA in 13 games. Chacin has 48 strikeouts and 29 walks in 84.1 innings this season.

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