Eye Black

LINK: The Brewers 25th round selection LHP Blake Lillis (and Riley Pint HS teammate) has made up his mind he will not be signing and is instead attending Arkansas.

Final: Brevard County 6, Bradenton 4 Derby tosses eight innings, helps Manatees to victory By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score Manatees break up the losing streak tonight. Longest outing from a Brevard County starter this season with Bubba Derby lasting 8.0 innings. A pair of hits from the newly acquired Wendell Rijo (2-for-4) as well as Clint Coulter (2-for-4, 2B). Plenty of other performances worth reviewing in the game story and box score/game log links. Brevard County Game Log

Ohiocat, appreciate your perspective here and I do see the Indians as a legitimate contender to acquire Lucroy, but in my opinion there isn't an organization in baseball that could tell the Brewers their top five prospects were untouchable and still have a reasonable hope of landing Lucroy.

Manateees' Coulter breaks out with five hits No. 13 Brewers prospect lofts game-tying homer on career afternoon By Kelsie Heneghan / MiLB.com Clint Coulter didn't think he was particularly locked in at the plate Sunday, but one couldn't tell based on the results. Milwaukee's No. 13 prospect collected a career-high five hits, including a game-tying homer in the ninth inning, before Class A Advanced Brevard County fell to Bradenton, 6-5, in 11 frames at McKechnie Field. He scored three times and plated two runs. "I had a couple of cheap hits, I got jammed on a couple balls that found holes. I battled late in some counts and found some barrels," Coulter said. "So I mean, it looked pretty on the stats sheet, but if you were at the game, I'm sure some guys were like, 'How many hits did you have?' They didn't even know." The 22-year-old grounded out in the second to push his slump to 2-for-25. But it marked the final time he returned to the dugout empty-handed. "I was due," he said with a laugh. Not overthinking his tough stretch and just trusting that hits would come, Coulter slapped a run-scoring double to left field in the third to snap a three-game stretch without an RBI. "I don't really go into any at-bat looking to do anything besides get a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it," he said. "So that's all I was trying to do, not really worried about where the runners are or anything, just trying to get a good pitch to hit and drive it." With a single to center in the fifth and another knock to left in the seventh, Coulter amassed his first game with at least three hits since talling four on April 17 against St. Lucie. In the ninth, Coulter came up with his team trailing, 5-4, and down to its final out. The cleanup hitter lofted a fly ball to left off reliever Nick Neumann for his fifth home run of the season. "[Neumann] threw a fastball outside and a fastball inside and I'm down 0-2, so I was just in protect mode and I got lucky," the right-handed hitter said. "A slider slipped out of his hand and just hung up for me. I put the right part of the bat on it and got lucky. Felt good I gave my team chance to come back and win." Coulter got another opportunity in the 11th. With Corey Ray on second and Dustin DeMuth on first, the Washington native grounded a single to second baseman Pablo Reyes. The Marauders infielder threw home to get Ray out, but Coulter picked up his fifth hit. "It was deep in the hole, [Reyes] made like a sliding grab to get it, so I was safe at first. [Ray] was at second base, but he rounded third hard, thinking it might squeak through the infield," Coulter said. "But [Reyes] saved it and then [Ray] just kept going home. The guy made like a spinning throw and a perfect throw [to tag him] at home." In the 11th, Jerrick Suiter singled and came around to score on a fielding error by shortstop Jose Cuas, making a winner out of Luis Heredia (4-1). The Marauders reliever allowed two hits and a walk over three scoreless frames. While his average now at .238, Coulter hopes he's gotten back on track. The 2012 first-round pick tallied his first multi-RBI contest since driving in three in on June 4 -- also against St. Lucie. "Whenever you have success, it's going to help your confidence going into the next day," he said. "I did square one of my singles up and the double was squared up pretty good and the home run obviously, but there were a couple in there that helped out the stat line for sure."

Final (11 innings): Bradenton 6, Brevard County 5 Marauders walk-off Manatees in Sunday matinee By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score Manatees fall victim to a second straight walk-off loss in extra innings. Clint Coulter (5-for-6, 2B, HR) had quite an offensive game statistically, although he downplayed it in his post-game interview with MiLB.com. Coulter became the second Manatee in consecutive days to have an MiLB feature story (Ponce yesterday). Corey Ray (2-for-6) with consecutive multi-hit games. Ray was thrown out at home in the 11th inning on Coulter's infield single. Other multi-hit games were SS Jose Cuas (2-for-4, 2-2B, BB) who had a pair of doubles and C Fidel Pena (2-for-5). Recently acquired in the Aaron Hill trade, 2B Wendell Rijo got an unfriendly 0-for-5 welcome to the Florida State League. Brevard County Game Log In his first appearance with the Manatees Marcos Diplan faced six batters and only retired one. Full appearance included in the 7th inning game log. Bradenton Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Marcos Diplan replaces Jon Perrin. Connor Joe singles on a line drive to center fielder Omar Garcia. Elvis Escobar walks. Connor Joe to 2nd. With Pablo Reyes batting, wild pitch by Marcos Diplan, Connor Joe to 3rd. Elvis Escobar to 2nd. Pablo Reyes out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Malik Collymore. Connor Joe scores. Elvis Escobar to 3rd. Tito Polo singles on a ground ball to right fielder Clint Coulter. Elvis Escobar scores. Cole Tucker doubles (4) on a fly ball to right fielder Clint Coulter. Tito Polo to 3rd. With Elias Diaz batting, passed ball by Fidel Pena, Tito Polo scores. Cole Tucker to 3rd. Elias Diaz walks. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Wyatt Mathisen replaces Elias Diaz. Pitching Change: Clint Terry replaces Marcos Diplan. Jerrick Suiter walks. Wyatt Mathisen to 2nd. Cole Tucker out at home, catcher Fidel Pena to pitcher Clint Terry. Wyatt Mathisen to 3rd on the throw. Jerrick Suiter to 2nd. Chase Simpson grounds out, second baseman Wendell Rijo to first baseman Dustin DeMuth.

I would agree that Rafael Devers appears to be the most likely center-piece for a deal with the Red Sox. One interesting note on Devers is that according to the writers at SoxProspects.com Devers changed his approach and eliminated his pre-pitch bat movement and motion beginning on May 28th this year. He now holds the bat still prior to each pitch. Since the adjustment he has batted over .350 with an OBP of nearly .400. Trading for Devers and Kopech would be taking on a lot of risk, but it would also provide the potential upside of adding future all-star caliber difference makers to the organization.

Final (13 innings): Bradenton 2, Brevard County 1 Ponce fans 12, Marauders walk-off in 13 By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score Holy cow Cody Ponce, 6.0 innings with only 3 hits and 0 runs is very nice, but 12 strikeouts and 0 walks is the kind of stuff Link Report legends are made of. Of Ponce's 73 pitches thrown, 52 were strikes. Nice to see Freddy Peralta join the Manatees staff, he did labor a bit over his 2.1 innings throwing 52 pitches and allowing 2 hits, 1 run, 3 walks with 1 strike out. During July this has started to sound like a broken record, Dustin DeMuth (3-for-4, 2B, BB) had his 6th straight multi-hit game and stretched his hitting streak to 7 games. DeMuth is 15-for-24 (.625) over the past six games. Corey Ray (2-for-6) had his first multi-hit game as a professional, but unfortunately was thrown out at second base in his first career stolen base attempt. Brevard County Game Log The Manatees losses continue to pile up (currently at 5 straight), but there are plenty of intriguing players in Brevard County to keep our attention on a nightly basis despite the team's struggles.

With the Red Sox starting to look like one of the most logical landing spots for Lucroy, one player that would be a very interesting piece in return is RHP Michael Kopech. The 20-year old returned to the mound this week (LINK w/ VIDEO) and was reportedly throwing over 100-mph and allegedly hit 103-mph (per Boston Globe LINK). For those not familiar with Kopech, he was a 2014 first round pick of the Red Sox (#33 overall) out of high school. Just turned 20 years old at the beginning of the season, Kopech has had some set backs in his career that evoke whispers of the dreaded "makeup issues" tag including a 50-game suspension for a banned stimulant (amphetamine use), and an injury to his pitching hand as a result of a fight with a teammate. Despite these negatives surrounding Kopech, he appears to possess the physical talent to become an elite front of the rotation type of pitcher. I for one would be intrigued enough to take a chance on Kopech, not necessarily as a "center-piece", but as a return trade piece. It would fall into the "high risk, high reward" category, but I think the risk just might be worth it in this case.

Final: Bradenton 6, Brevard County 4 Marauders eighth inning rally sinks Manatees By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score Corey Ray knocked in his 3rd RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly. Ray is just five games into his professional career so it's certainly not worth dwelling on the stats at this point, but surely a 2-for-23 start with 6 strikeouts and 0 walks wasn't exactly the start he was hoping for. Dustin DeMuth (2-for-4, 2B) had his 5th straight multi-hit game, and is 12-for-20 over that stretch. He also has a current six game hitting streak. Kodi Medeiros went 5.0 innings giving up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, and striking out 2. The primary damage came on a 2-run homer in the 4th inning. The Manatees left 10 runners on base. Bradenton tallied 6 runs despite hitting just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Brevard County Game Log The Manatees took the lead with a wild 4-run 4th inning which included twice as many hit batters than batters with hits. The lead held until the 8th inning. Brevard County Top of the 4th Elvis Rubio called out on strikes. Clint Coulter hit by pitch. George Iskenderian walks. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Fidel Pena singles on a line drive to right fielder Michael Suchy. Clint Coulter scores. George Iskenderian to 2nd. Jose Cuas doubles (5) on a line drive to left fielder Elvis Escobar. George Iskenderian scores. Fidel Pena scores. With Omar Garcia batting, wild pitch by Buddy Borden, Jose Cuas to 3rd. Omar Garcia hit by pitch. Pitching Change: Tate Scioneaux replaces Buddy Borden. Corey Ray out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Tito Polo. Jose Cuas scores. Blake Allemand hit by pitch. Omar Garcia to 2nd. Dustin DeMuth hit by pitch. Omar Garcia to 3rd. Blake Allemand to 2nd. Elvis Rubio flies out to left fielder Elvis Escobar. The Manatees mounted a 9th inning rally, but a rally killing out at home in the 9th is followed by manager Joe Ayrault's 2nd ejection in the past three games. Brevard County Top of the 9th Pitching Change: Nick Neumann replaces Junior Lopez. Blake Allemand singles on a line drive to left fielder Elvis Escobar. Dustin DeMuth doubles (16) on a line drive to right fielder Michael Suchy. Blake Allemand to 3rd. Blake Allemand out at home, catcher Erik Lunde to pitcher Nick Neumann. Dustin DeMuth to 3rd. Brevard County Manatees Manager Joe Ayrault ejected by HP umpire Matt Snodgrass. Elvis Rubio pops out to shortstop Pablo Reyes. Clint Coulter flies out to center fielder Tito Polo.

Final: Daytona 12, Brevard County 3 DeMuth has four-hit night in loss to Daytona By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score The 1-2 punch in the Manatees lineup, Corey Ray and Blake Allemand, were a combined 0-for-10. Dustin DeMuth faired much better against Daytona pitching going 4-for-4 with a walk. The only extra base hit for the Manatees was Clint Coulter's double, he finished 1-for-3 with a walk. Not much to brag about on the pitching side of things as the Manatees hurlers combined to allow 14 hits and 7 walks (not to mention too many runs). Third baseman Blake Allemand was assessed one error during the game and according to Donald's game notes was credited a second error following the game when a 5th inning Daytona hit was switched to an error. Brevard County Game Log Down 12-0 in the 9th the Manatees mounted a rally effort... but unfortunately it fell 9 runs short. Brevard County Bottom of the 9th Pitching Change: Jeremy Kivel replaces Conor Krauss. Dustin Houle hit by pitch. Jose Cuas walks. Dustin Houle to 2nd. Malik Collymore singles on a ground ball to right fielder Aristides Aquino. Dustin Houle to 3rd. Jose Cuas to 2nd. Corey Ray strikes out swinging. Blake Allemand grounds out to pitcher Jeremy Kivel. Dustin Houle scores. Jose Cuas to 3rd. Malik Collymore to 2nd. Dustin DeMuth singles on a line drive to right fielder Aristides Aquino. Jose Cuas scores. Malik Collymore scores. Elvis Rubio walks. Dustin DeMuth to 2nd. Pitching Change: Nolan Becker replaces Jeremy Kivel. Clint Coulter strikes out swinging.

Three Brewers prospects listed in Baseball Prospectus' BP Top 50, their ranking of the best mid-season prospects (note: recent draftees and international signings are excluded from this list).

Three Brewers prospects listed in Baseball Prospectus' BP Top 50, their ranking of the best mid-season prospects.

Final: Dunedin 6, Brevard County 4 'Tees ninth inning rally stalls in loss to Dunedin By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball Some very solid game photos once again embedded within the game story. *** Brevard County Box Score In his past two starts (4.0 innings apiece) Bubba Derby has given up 11 earned runs combined. In addition to the 5 earned runs scored against him tonight, Derby gave up 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. The damage occurred in 4th inning as well as the 5th inning in which he was unable to record an out before being replaced. At this point just pencil Dustin DeMuth in for a 2-for-4 day, it was his third straight game with two hits in four tries. The other multi-hit Manatee was Elvis Rubio (2-for-4). Corey Ray was back in the DH role and finished 1-for-5 including an RBI single in the 3rd inning. Brevard County Game Log The Manatees plated a pair in the 3rd inning to take a 2-0 lead. Brevard County Bottom of the 3rd Jose Cuas grounds out, third baseman Dickie Joe Thon to first baseman Ryan McBroom. Omar Garcia singles on a line drive to right fielder Josh Almonte. Corey Ray singles on a line drive to right fielder Josh Almonte. Omar Garcia scores. Corey Ray to 2nd. Fielding error by right fielder Josh Almonte. Blake Allemand strikes out swinging. Dustin DeMuth singles on a line drive to right fielder Josh Almonte. Corey Ray scores. Dustin DeMuth to 2nd on the throw. Elvis Rubio strikes out on a foul tip. Clint Terry inherited the jam left by Derby. A run scored on what according to the game story may have been a phantom hit by pitch. The call ignited arguing and the subsequent ejection of Brevard County manager Joe Ayrault. Dunedin Top of the 5th Richard Urena singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Bubba Derby. Jonathan Davis singles on a line drive to right fielder Clint Coulter. Richard Urena to 3rd. With Ryan McBroom batting, Jonathan Davis steals (23) 2nd base. Ryan McBroom singles on a ground ball to second baseman George Iskenderian. Richard Urena scores. Jonathan Davis to 3rd. Gunnar Heidt singles on a line drive to left fielder Elvis Rubio. Jonathan Davis scores. Ryan McBroom to 2nd. Pitching Change: Clint Terry replaces Bubba Derby. Andy Fermin reaches on a fielding error by first baseman Dustin DeMuth. Ryan McBroom to 3rd. Gunnar Heidt to 2nd. Dickie Joe Thon grounds into a double play, third baseman Blake Allemand to catcher Dustin Houle. Ryan McBroom out at home. Gunnar Heidt out at 3rd. Andy Fermin to 2nd. Dickie Joe Thon to 1st. Mike Reeves singles on a line drive to right fielder Clint Coulter. Andy Fermin to 3rd. Dickie Joe Thon to 2nd. Josh Almonte hit by pitch. Andy Fermin scores. Dickie Joe Thon to 3rd. Mike Reeves to 2nd. Brevard County Manatees Manager Joe Ayrault ejected by HP umpire Dave Attridge. Andrew Guillotte lines out to right fielder Clint Coulter.

Wow, it keeps getting better. Isan Diaz's two home runs tonight and overall dominant past month-plus just continue to fuel my unhealthy prospect-crush on the guy. He appears to be a special talent between how he carries himself on the field coupled with how well he consistently squares baseballs. I will try to temper the irrational expectations slightly, but outside of Arcia I am not sure there is a position player in the system I am more excited about than Diaz. It's a loooooong way from low A-ball to the majors, but as Mass Haas pointed out it is going to be one heck of a fun ride.

Baseball America posted batting cage footage from what appears to be last month's Midwest League All-Star Game (June 21st) for a pair of Rattlers... David Denson Video

Today's Baseball America Prospect Report includes Isan Diaz... Hard contact is an apt way to explain Diaz, the ball often explodes off his bat. Looking at his splits, since June 1st Diaz is batting .330 (37-for-112) including 12 doubles, 1 triple, and 6 home runs.

Final: Dunedin 6, Brevard County 1 Ray Earns First Pro Hit in Loss to Dunedin By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball A couple of nice photos of Corey Ray available at the game story link. *** Brevard County Box Score Over 5.2 innings pitched Jon Perrin gave up 7 hits, 6 runs (only 3 earned runs however), and 2 walks. Perrin did strikeout 6 and now has 96 strikeouts total in his 92.2 innings between low-A and high-A this year. Zach Hirsch appeared in his first game since June 24th and pitched 2.1 innings without allowing a baserunner. Hirsch has put together some solid numbers with Brevard County including a 1.09 WHIP over 43.0 innings and has recorded 35 strikeouts to just 8 walks. Dustin DeMuth went 2-for-4 for the second game in a row. Story of the game from the Manatees side was Corey Ray's first professional hit, but he also made his debut in center field. He was the only Sea Cow outfielder without an error as both RF Clint Coulter and LF Omar Garcia committed fielding blunders. Brevard County Game Log

Congratulations to Corey Ray on his first professional hit. Dunedin brought in LHP Jose Fernandez to face Ray in the 8th inning. Corey responded by hitting a line drive to left field.

Final: Brevard County 3, Dunedin 0 Fourth of July crowd gets glimpse of Manatees future By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score It's a winning streak! This match-up featured the team with the highest OPS (.715) in the Florida State League in Dunedin versus a Brevard County team with the league's lowest OPS (.614). Despite facing the offensively stout Blue Jays the Manatees hurlers, Cody Ponce and Angel Ventura, combined on an impressive 3-hit shut out. Ponce went 5.0 innings allowing just 2 hits and 0 walks. Ponce struck out 5 and improved his WHIP to 1.16 over his six appearances this season. Ventura was also very effective pitching the final 4.0 innings and allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, and striking out 4. Dustin DeMuth and George Iskenderian both went 2-for-4 and each now sport identical .253 batting averages. As the whole country celebrated Independence Day lesser corners of the baseball universe also celebrated Corey Ray Day. Ray's professional debut was strictly with the bat as he served as the Brevard County designated hitter. His four at-bats were documented earlier in the Link Report, but expect a full interview/story on Corey's debut game to also be posted soon by Donald Rieber, Jr. Brevard County Game Log A scoreless game heading into the bottom of the 7th inning, Corey Ray's sacrifice fly to center field broke the scoreless tie. The Manatees then proceeded to plate two additional runs on Blake Allemand's single. Brevard County Bottom of the 7th George Iskenderian singles on a ground ball to right fielder Josh Almonte. Dustin Houle strikes out swinging. With Jose Cuas batting, George Iskenderian steals (5) 2nd base. Jose Cuas walks. Omar Garcia walks. George Iskenderian to 3rd. Jose Cuas to 2nd. Corey Ray out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Anthony Alford. George Iskenderian scores. Jose Cuas to 3rd. With Blake Allemand batting, Omar Garcia steals (6) 2nd base. Blake Allemand singles on a line drive to left fielder Andrew Guillotte. Jose Cuas scores. Omar Garcia scores. Blake Allemand to 2nd on the throw. Dustin DeMuth grounds out, second baseman Dickie Joe Thon to first baseman Ryan McBroom. *** PHOTO LINK: Too large to post, but check out this high resolution picture of Corey Ray taken by Manatees photographer Tim Holle.

Full Brevard County game story coming a little later, but below is a Twitter recap of each at-bat of Corey Ray's debut as shared by Manatees reporter Donald Rieber, Jr. (@TeesReport). At-Bat #1 At-Bat #2 At-Bat #3 At-Bat #4

Bam, signed! Here is the LINK to the Jonathan Mayo tweet.

Final: Brevard County 6, Clearwater 1 Medeiros shines, Manatees salvage series finale By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball The picture in the linked article is from a previous game, but wow is that a mesmerizing photo of Kodi Medeiros throwing from a nearly straight on angle. *** Brevard County Box Score For a second straight outing Kodi Medeiros had some success on the road. Prior to his previous start (June 27th) Medeiros had allowed 30 earned runs in 28.1 innings on the road this season (9.53 ERA) while allowing just 4 earned runs at home in 20.1 innings (1.77 ERA). Over the past two road starts Kodi has pitched 9.1 innings allowing just 1 earned run. While Medeiros didn't allow a run in his 5.1 innings pitched tonight, the 4 walks stand out as too many and the 2 strikeouts tied his fewest in an outing this season. As you read in the game story, quite a controversy surrounded the 5th inning run scored by Malik Collymore which was initially ruled an easy out at home. Based on the depiction provided it is easy to see why a delayed reversal of the call drew the ire and eventual ejection of Clearwater's manager. Clint Coulter had a pair of hits in his first two at-bats and continues to hit well (.371) over the past ten games (13-for-35). Second straight night with a home run from George Iskenderian, his fourth of the season. Every Brevard County hitter recorded a hit except for Blake Allemand (he did have 2 BB's) and every Manatee batter struck out with the lone exception of Dustin Houle. One other notable offensive effort was Elvis Rubio's 2-for-5 with a double. Att: 9,012. Impressive Clearwater crowd showed up to experience baseball and fireworks on this Independence weekend. Brevard County Game Log Any time the Manatees score 3 runs in an inning it is mention worthy, but a unique start to the inning with Jose Cuas reaching base on a leadoff strikeout and ultimately scoring on a wild pitch. Brevard County Top of the 9th Pitching Change: Austin Davis replaces Matt Hockenberry. Jose Cuas strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Austin Davis. Jose Cuas to 1st. Malik Collymore singles on a ground ball to shortstop Drew Stankiewicz. Jose Cuas to 2nd. Omar Garcia out on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Mitch Walding to second baseman Scott Kingery. Jose Cuas to 3rd. Malik Collymore to 2nd. With Blake Allemand batting, wild pitch by Austin Davis, Jose Cuas scores. Malik Collymore to 3rd. Blake Allemand walks. Dustin DeMuth strikes out swinging. Blake Allemand steals (1) 2nd base. Elvis Rubio singles on a line drive to left fielder Herlis Rodriguez. Malik Collymore scores. Blake Allemand scores. Clint Coulter strikes out swinging. *** Still not certain when Corey Ray will make his professional debut, but with the Manatees returning home to host their final Fourth of July game at Space Coast Stadium it would seem like a nice setting for it.

Final: Clearwater 8, Brevard County 5 Brevard County falls short at Clearwater By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score Clint Coulter (1-for-2, HR, BB) hit his 4th home run of the season and is batting .367 in his past nine games (11-for-30). Unfortunately Coulter also committed one of the Manatees three errors in this game. Other multi-hit games included leadoff hitter Omar Garcia (2-for-4, BB) as well as George Iskenderian (2-for-4, HR) who recorded his 3rd home run of the year. Dustin DeMuth went 0-for-5 at the plate for a second consecutive game. Shortstop Blake Allemand had a double which was his 2nd extra base hit in 14 high-A games this season. On the year he is 8-for-55 in games played with Brevard County. Allemand also committed two errors in the game, one fielding and one on a throw. For the second straight night the Manatees gave up four runs in the first frame to Clearwater. Also for the second game the Brevard County starter was tagged for two home runs. For starter Eric Hanhold it was his 10th loss of the season. In 79.1 innings Hanhold has a 1.46 WHIP which can be attributed more due to the number of hits allowed (96) than walks (20). Florida State League opponents are hitting .299 against Hanhold including 9 home runs. Brevard County Game Log Corey Ray is having some fun with his Sea Cow teammates (TWEET LINK), or maybe some strange mid-season FSL player initiation ritual? Ray will be a welcome addition to the Brevard County lineup, the team is now 1-8 in the second half and 24-53 on the season.

Final: Clearwater 6, Brevard County 3 Clearwater triumphs over Brevard County in series opener By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** The linked game story is now located at 27 Outs Baseball with a slightly new look as well, but luckily they will continue to be written nightly by Donald. The articles provide the most thorough source of information and insight on each game so please keep checking them out. Brevard County Box Score Brevard County just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and had 9 left on base. To be fair Clearwater wasn't much better going 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranding 9 themselves. Clint Coulter (2-for-4) has recorded hits in 7 of last 8 games and has raised his season batting average from .213 to .233 over that same span. He has also only struck out once in his past 6 games. A forgettable outing for Bubba Derby. With the two long balls he gave up tonight he is now tied for the Florida State League lead in home runs allowed this season with 12 total. Derby only recorded 2 strikeouts in the game, but his season total of 67 K's does rank 8th in the Florida State League. Brevard County Game Log After retiring the first two batters of the game Bubba Derby allowed four straight batters to reach base culminating in four runs and an ominous start for the Manatees. Clearwater Bottom of the 1st Carlos Tocci grounds out, shortstop Blake Allemand to first baseman Dustin DeMuth. Malquin Canelo grounds out, second baseman George Iskenderian to first baseman Dustin DeMuth. Scott Kingery doubles (25) on a fly ball to center fielder Omar Garcia. Kyle Martin walks. Mitch Walding singles on a ground ball to right fielder Clint Coulter. Scott Kingery scores. Kyle Martin to 3rd. Jiandido Tromp homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Kyle Martin scores. Mitch Walding scores. Drew Stankiewicz grounds out, second baseman George Iskenderian to first baseman Dustin DeMuth.

According to the game story he threw 46 pitches, 34 for strikes. Check out the link for quotes from Manager Joe Ayrault about the cautious approach being applied to Cody's pitch counts.