Big Night for Brignac

Season: 34-42; Home Stand: 1-0; Bulls v. Bisons: 1-0; Standings

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

This has been a tough year for Reid Brignac. He had a great game, so let’s celebrate it.

The night didn’t start all that well for him. He came up in the 2nd with men on first and third and hit into a double play. When he came up in the 5th as the leadoff batter, the Bulls were behind 0-2. He hit a grounder through the middle, went to second base on a wild pitch, and came home on a Cole Figueroa single. In the top of the 6th, he started a very clean double play for the first two outs of a scoreless inning. By the time he came up in the bottom of the inning, runners were on first and second with one out. Brignac singled, sending the Chris Gimenez home as the tying run. Later in the inning, Cole Figueroa (again) hit a sacrifice fly to bring him across as the third run of the inning and the Bulls were ahead 4-2. In the 7th inning Brignac came to bat with runners on first and third and hit a double for his second RBI of the night. By the end of that inning, the Bulls were ahead 6-3. In the 8th there was a blemish on his night when he grounded out with the bases loaded. However, in the 9th he made a spectacular move to start a crucial double play that got Dane De La Rosa out of trouble.

Three hits, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, two double plays started. Darn good evening at the park.

In the meantime, the rest of the game was just plain fun once the rain stopped and the first couple of pretty dull innings got past us. Lance Pendleton worked really hard (99 pitches) to get his first win in a while. Frank De Los Santos, the Bulls new left-hander made his first AAA appearance and faced just three batters at the end of the 7th. With a man on first he gave up a triple, then an intentional walk,  followed by a strikeout. Not great, but OK. With a string of right-handed batters coming up, Dane De La Rosa came in for a two inning save. He did that, but it was a struggle. He was pitching with no rest from the day before, and it showed, especially in the 9th inning. 

Overall, the Bulls festival of hitting continued. They went through 6 Bison pitchers and collected 13 hits, all but one singles. In addition to Brignac, new guy Brandon Allen, Cole Figueroa, and Chris Gimenez had multi-hit games.

Then there was Shawn O’Malley essentially outrunning the Bison pitcher to beat him out covering first base for a single. That was fun. And Charley Montoyo should pat himself on the back for a 9th inning defensive move. He took Matt Mangini out of the game, moved Stephen Vogt from left field to first and Jeff Salazar came in to play left. Vogt made a spectacular play (following Brignac’s double play mentioned earlier) to end the game. 

Outside the game

• Tim Beckham is supposed to start today
• With Beckham back and Drew Sutton DFA’d and Thompson coming back, who’s out and where are they going? Stay tuned.