Kevin Made – Picture by Todd Johnson
Once you get past all the big news of the transactions, there were four games played tonight with DJ Herz returning to Tennessee, James Triantos debuted with South Bend, while Manny Espinoza was going to be returning to South Bend in an undefined role. At Iowa, Kyle Hendricks was going to be making his third rehab start.
Let’s Get Down to Tacks
If I was to give out a Starting Pitcher of the Day, that would go to Kyle Hendricks. He pitched five innings, allowed two hits, did not walk a guy, and struck out four. He threw 61 pitches, 41 of them for strikes. One more start like that and he should be back in Chicago. Jake Slaughter, who I mentioned yesterday, I continue to rake as he went to for four with two RBI as Iowa cruised out to a 6 to 0 lead when Hendricks left the game.
However, I cannot give a Starting Pitcher of the Day award to a pitcher that’s rehabbing from Chicago.
It’s also hard to give it to two guys who only threw 3.2 innings. Both DJ Herz at Tennessee and Grant Kipp went the same length today. DJ struck out four, but walked three and he did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. Unfortunately a pickoff throw gone wild resulted in a runner getting to third, and then he later scored on a sack fly to give the Biscuits a 1 to 0 lead. As for Kipp, he struck out three but walked three and he did not allow any runs.
Brandon Birdsell also pitched well for South Bend as he gave up one run over four innings he only struck out one. Then again, he only walked one as he scattered three hits. As for Manny Espinoza, he came on in relief and threw two scoreless frames. Espinoza came on strong to start last year before struggling in June, and getting shut down for the year. Tonight, he looked very good spotting every pitch that he throws. He struck out one walked one and gave up one hit over 35 pitches, 23 of them for strikes.
South Bend Bats Turned It On with Some New Blood
The original highlight of the day was when South Bend scored seven runs in the first inning. Kevin, Made cleared the bases with a three-run double and Ethan Hearn hit a two run dinger. Later, Yohendrick Pinango homered in the secondo to make it 8 to 0 and then the Cubs added one more in the top of the seventh to make it 9 to 1. They would go on to win 10-1.
When you look at the box score, you’ll see that Kevin Made went 4-for-5 with three runs batted in. Ezekiel Pagán went 3-for-5 on the night and is now hitting .441 on the season. He’s not going to be long for South if he keeps it up.
James Triantos made his High-A debut. You’ll see his first hit below, but he went 1-for-3 on the day with an RBI.
Web Gem of the Day
The ultimate in web gems is always a triple play!
Comeback of the Day
And the reason I said original highlight of the day earlier was that Tennessee topped it in the bottom of the ninth against Montgomery. Trailing 4 to 0, the Smokies came back and tied it at 4 with a series of singles and walks. Owen Caissie hit the game winner with one out to drive-in Jordan Nwogu to win it 5 to 4. It was a crazy play!
As for the Rest…
As for the rest of the Iowa game, they gave up a run in the eighth but cruised to a 6-1 victory.
As for the Pelicans, it was a pitcher’s duel all night and then Lynchburg scored one in the eighth and the Pelicans scored one in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extras. Unfortunately, Lynchburg scored two in the top of the 10th, and went on to win 3 to 1. Felix Stevens is showing that he’s just about ready for South Bend as he went 2-for-4 and is now hitting .321. And Parker Chavers still continues his comeback tour as he went 1-for-3.
So Let’s Give Out Some Awards Today.
Socks of the day – This goes in a cup to PCA
Hitter of the Day – Kevin Made
Murder of the Day – Ethan Hearn just killed this baseball.
Swing of the Day – This shows just how beautiful Kevin Made’s swing is becoming.
Ginja Ninja of the Day – Owen Caissie went 3-for-5. He also had to walk up winner were things got a little crazy. He’s now hitting .290 with a .961 OPS.
Award of the Day – PCA – A Gold Glove will do it!
Thanks Todd! Saw no strikeouts for Cassie either! Prayerfully he keeps it up and continues to increase his trajectory!
When I look at the big league club, and Swanson’s contract and Horner’s contract and Happ’s contract and Suzuki’s contract, I start wondering if the big league club, i.e. Hoyer, look at things like: when Horner’s contract is up W may replace him, when Suzuki’s contract is up, X may replace him when, Swanson’s contract is up Y may replace him, when Happ’s contract is up Z might replace him; or do you think they don’t even look at projections that far out?
I think they have to. It’s ovious that Happ and Suzuki are tied together. Still that leaves a CF, a bench or two spots and DH spot to fill in with the kids. until then.
I think they do, but they don’t put any certainty on a guy being ready when the time comes. It’s more of a fallback but You can’t depend on a guy being ready.