BJ Murray – Picture by Todd Johnson
Today was clearly “the calm before the storm.” It was possibly the last home game for Willson Contreras and Ian Happ. As for Minor League Baseball, they resumed games after taking Monday off. Me, I’m still not in the baseball swing of things after four days off last week from covering the games. However, that didn’t stop them from playing them tonight. And it was a home run bonanza in South Bend and Tennessee!
Let’s get to the action!
Web Gem of the Day
Andy Weber made a couple of slick plays, but this is not just about him as Bryce Ball made a nice grab of the high throw!
Fact of the Day
Think about how fun that factoid is!
Dinger of the Day
Jake Washer just crushed this ball to give South Bend an 8-4 lead.
Other players who went yard today – BJ Murray, Yonathan Perlaza (more on him later), Narciso Crook, and Luis Verdugo
Starting Pitcher of the Day
Mark Leiter, Jr. returned to Iowa today from Chicago. While not essentially stretched out, he did a yeoman’s job going three frames and striking out 5
Reliever of the Day
Hunter Bigge has not allowed an earned run all month and looks more like 2019 Hunter Bigge more and more each outing. Tonight, he came into the game with 2 batters on. After a wild pitch moved them up a base, he struck out the next two batters to end the threat. He came back for the ninth and set down the Captains, 1-2-3. This is a good sign!
Co-Hitters of the Day
Yes, you read that right.
Yonathan Perlaza hit 2 dingers and drove in 5 runs tonight going 2-for-4 for Tennessee. His last home run gave the Smokies the lead.
BJ Murray of South Bend went 3-for-5 and all he needed was a triple for the cycle. Murray began the day with a 2 run no doubter and then added a single and a 2 run double to drive in four. In July, he’s batting .406 in his first full month in South Bend since coming up from Myrtle Beach. The switch hitter can flat out rake!
I will be back tomorrow morning with an article on why Dan Kantrovitz is big on drafting prep pitchers.
Good night!
