Reds Minor League System Endures Brutal Friday Night

The Bats dropped their third consecutive game on Friday, after starting the season winning three straight. Davis Daniel struggled on the mound, allowing five earned runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. Two of his five hits were home runs. After Daniel, the bullpen did not walk a better the remainder of the game. Sam Benschoter and Luis Mey each allowed a run. Benschoter pitched 2 2/3 innings with four hits and two strikeouts. Luis Mey pitched an inning, allowing a run.

Edwin Arroyo hit leadoff, going 2-4. His batting average climbs to .321 with his OPS now at .942. Hector Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the first. He went 1-4 with two strikeouts. Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit his second home run of the year; he went 1-4. Rece Hinds had his first hitless game, going 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Hinds is batting .393 with a 1.307 OPS. JJ Bleday, Garrett Hampson, and Will Banfield each went 1-3, and Michael Toglia went 0-2 with two walks. 

The Bats return to action on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Darren McCaughan gets the start. He had six strikeouts in his last outing.

Comeback Kids! Chattanooga Lookouts Defeat Columbus 8-6

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, Carlos Jorge tripled to lead off the game. Leo Balcazar drove him in on a two-run home run. Columbus tied the game in the second and took the lead in the third after Tristin English hit a solo home run to give the Clingstones a 3-2 advantage. They added on in the seventh on a two-run home run to lead 6-2. The Lookouts offense was stagnant for much of the game up until the eighth inning, where they loaded the bases for Austin Hendrick to drive in two on a single to right field. In the ninth, Carlos Jorge and Cam Collier singled, followed by a Rubin Ibarra walk, loaded the bases for Michael Trautwein. He hit the first pitch he saw to the opposite field for a grand slam, giving the Lookouts the lead and eventually the win.

Carlos Jorge went 3-5 with two runs scored. He is the Reds’ 17th-ranked prospect. Cam Collier went 1-4 with a single, Austin Hendrick went 3-5, Michael Trautwein went 2-4 with a grand slam and a walk, and Leo Balcazar went 1-4 with a two-run home run, a walk, and two strikeouts.

Jose Acuna struggled on the mound in his season debut, pitching 1 1/3 innings with six walks, two earned runs, but did not allow a hit. Jonathan Lavalle pitched an inning to earn the win; he allowed a hit and had two strikeouts. Taylor Floyd earned the save with a hit allowed and two strikeouts.

Chattanooga plays on Saturday; first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. 

Dayton Dragons Lose to Lansing 5-1

The Dragons offense never got going on Friday night. Kien Vu drove in the only run for Dayton in the eighth on a single to center field. He went 1-4 with a RBI. Carlos Sanchez went 1-3 with a walk and his first stolen base of the season. Alfredo Duno went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Alfredo Alcantara went 0-4 with a strikeout. Peyton Stovall went 1-4. Esmith Pineda went 1-3. John Michael Faile went 1-2 with a walk and a run scored. Pineda and Stovall each doubled but failed to score.   

Nestor Lorant pitched a strong 4 1/3 innings with four hits, seven strikeouts, and just one run allowed. Victor Diaz relieved Lorant, allowing four runs (two earned) with three hits, two walks, and a strikeout. Drew Pestka made his High-A debut and tossed a perfect 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Pestka is 21 years old and was the Reds’ 18th-round pick out of John A. Logan Junior College in Illinois. 

Dayton plays Saturday with first pitch at 1:05 p.m. Reynardo Cruz makes his High-A debut. He was 6-3 with a 4.36 ERA between the ACL and Daytona last season. 

Daytona Falls to Jupiter 3-2

The Torgugas had just four hits on Friday, two coming off the bat of top-100 prospect Tyson Lewis. Lewis went 2-4 with a home run and a stolen base. Kyle Henley went 1-4 with a run scored. Mason Neville, Rafhlmil Torres, and Jacob Friend each went 0-4. The Tortugas struck out 13 times on Friday night.  

Edgar Colon pitched well for Daytona. He went five innings with two hits allowed, two earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. Andrew Schaffner pitched two innings in relief of Colon. He got tagged with the loss after he allowed a run in the seventh. He allowed just one hit with two strikeouts in his organizational debut. He was drafted in the 15th round in the 2025 draft.

Daytona plays on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.