Christian Franklin – Picture by Todd Johnson

I will keep this brief…or not.

The Birds in Myrtle Beach continue to be riding the bat of Brian Kalmer, who drove in two more runs tonight. He’s got 15 RBI in just 13 games in Low-A.

As well, Jefferson Rojas went yard and he’s looking like he’s becoming a top 10 guy in the system.

As well, Brett Bateman is starting to become one of my guys. He continues to get on base at a pretty high clip. Tonight, he had one hit and a walk in 5 plate appearances. His OBP is currently .429 for his short stint at the Beach.

As for the pitching, Kevin Valdez went scoreless over 4 innings. He allowed 1 hit and walked 4 on the night. But, he did strike out three. The Birds did hold on to win 5-3.

The 3 Hit Club

Tonight’s member is none other than Josh Rivera, the Cubs third round pick out of Florida. He went 3-for-4 tonight and drove in a run during South Bend’s 6-5 win over West Michigan.

The difference in that game was a Christian Franklin dinger in the ninth as the White Caps crawled back from a 5 run to deficit to almost win. Matt Shaw also had two RBI on the night.

Good News of the Day

And the good news about the man who hit that dinger…was pretty cool to see.

The Dinger Parade

The Smokies won 10-5 tonight and increased their lead over the Trash Pandas to 7.5 games for the final playoff spot in the Southern League. It’s looking like a playoff berth is imminent thanks in part to four homer runs from BJ Murray, Cole Roederer, Jordan Nwogu, and Haydn McGeary. Tennessee still has 20 games left in their season. So, their magic number is getting close to single digits.

Starting Pitcher of the Day

Walker Powell went six innings like the innings eater he is and he also struck out 8 Trash Pandas on the night.

Clutch Pitcher of the Day

Blake Whitney shut down a Trash Panda rally to get his fourth save on the year and third in the last two weeks. I’d say Blake is on a roll.

Most Vicious Pitcher of the Day

Web Gem of the Day

Des Moines 3 Hit Club

Yup, Mr. Mervis joined this evening. He’s now hitting .294 with a .958 OPS. After tonight, he now has 15 HRs and 58 RBI in just half a season’s worth of games in Triple-A.

The One That Got Away

The first place Iowa Cubs raced out to a 4-1 lead as Luis Vazquez and Matt Mervis hit homer runs to give the I-Cubs a solid chance to win and lengthen their first place lead.

When the ninth inning came around, the Cubs had a 4-2 lead but could not hold it. The Bats scored three runs to win 5-4.