Cincinnati Reds Minor League Game Review: September 8, 2026

Leo Balcazar came through with a clutch hit to help Louisville win, Ruben Ibarra homered and drove in two runs for Chattanooga, Tyson Lewis went 3-3 in Dayton’s opening playoff game, and Vai Levu had two hits in Daytona’s playoff game.

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The Louisville Bats won 4-3. Box Score

• Jay Allen II went 1-3 with a walk and a run.
• Dominic Fletcher went 2-3 with a walk, run, and an RBI.
• Michael Chavis went 2-4 with a run and an RBI.
• Will Benson went 1-4 with a run.
• P.J. Higgins went 1-3.
• Leo Balcazar went 1-1 with a double and 2 RBI.
• Ben Wereski allowed 2 runs in 5.2 innings with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts.
• Zach McCambley threw 1.1 hitless innings with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
• Chase Petty allowed a run in 2.0 innings with 3 strikeouts.

Game Notes

Louisville trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the 9th but they put together a 3-run rally with RBI hits from Michael Chavis and Leo Balcazar to take a lead and eventually hold on for the win.

Chavis went 3-27 in the seven games before Sunday. He’s gone 2-4 in each of the last two games to break out of that slump.

Chase Petty allowed five runs in 1.2 innings on August 11th. Since then he’s given up just two earned runs in 10.2 innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts for the Bats.

Top Pitch Velocity: Chase Petty – 97.6 MPH (strikeout)

Top Exit Velocity: Leo Balcazar – 102.0 MPH (double)

Furthest Hit Baseball: Dominic Pitelli – 379 feet (flyout)

The Chattanooga Lookouts lost 11-6. Box Score

• Carter Graham went 1-3 with 2 walks and a run.
• Alfredo Duno went 2-4 with a walk, triple, run, and an RBI.
• Ruben Ibarra went 1-3 with 2 walks, a home run (21), 2 runs, and 2 RBI.
• Carlos Sanchez went 1-4 with a double and a run.
• Yerlin Confidan went 1-4 with an RBI.
• Austin Hendrick went 1-4 with a home run (15) and 2 RBI.
• Peyton Stovall went 1-3 with a double.
• Thomas Farr threw 2.0 hitless innings with a strikeout.

Game Notes

Chattanooga never had a lead and the only time the game was tied was in the top of the 1st inning before Rocket City scored. But the Lookouts were able to make it a 1-run game in the 4th, and then again in the 6th before the Trash Pandas put the game away with a 4-run 7th inning to make it 11-6.

Ruben Ibarra hit 14 home runs in 37 games between May 15th and June 30th, with the final two homers in that time coming on the 30th of June. Since then he’s struggled to hit in general, playing in 42 games and hitting just .209/.298/.378 with six home runs.

Since Alfredo Duno returned from the injured list on August 26th he’s gone 14-37 (.378) with five walks and seven strikeouts in 10 games. Four of those games have been multi-hit games.

Carter Graham has been on fire, too. Over his last 11 games he’s hit .359/.457/.769 with four home runs. The first two games of that stretch saw him hit four home runs and drive in eight. He hasn’t homered since and only has one RBI in the other nine games, but he’s piled up singles and doubles along the way.

The Dayton Dragons lost 6-0. Box Score

• Ty Doucette went 1-4 with a walk.
• Kien Vu went 1-4 with a walk.
• Ryan McCrystal went 2-4.
• Tyson Lewis went 3-3 with a walk.
• Johnny Ascanio went 1-1 as a pinch hitter.
• David Lorduy allowed a run in 3.0 innings with 4 strikeouts.
• Jimmy Romano threw 2.1 perfect innings with a strikeout.
• Jacob Edwards threw a shutout inning.

Game Notes

This game was over almost as soon as it started. Edgar Colon faced four batters in the 1st inning and gave up a double, back-to-back home runs, and then a double before he was removed from the game. That made it 3-0. Great Lakes would get another home run to lead off the 2nd inning and then another run came across the plate later in the inning on a sacrifice fly that made it 5-0. Dayton and Great Lakes both had nine hits on the day, but the Dragons were 0-8 with runners in scoring position – including stranding the bases loaded two times. The Loons only went 1-8 with runners in scoring position, but they hit three home runs in the game.

The two teams will have Wednesday off before the play game two of the series in Dayton. Game three will also be in Dayton if necessary.

The Daytona Tortugas lost 6-1. Box Score

• Jalen Hairston went 1-4 with a double.
• Arnaldo Lantigua went 1-3 with a double.
• Vai Levu went 2-3 with a run.
• Rafhlmil Torres went 1-3.
• Jirvin Morillo went 1-2 with a walk.
• Steele Hall went 1-2 with a walk.
• Ethan Norby allowed a run in 3.0 innings with a strikeout.
• Dusty Revis allowed a run in 3.0 innings with a walk and 3 strikeouts.

Game Notes

The game was delayed for two hours and 56 minutes before it started. Thanks to such a long delay the game was turned into a 7-inning contest. This game was close until the top of the 5th inning. Iker Redona faced four batters in the 5th and allowed a walk then three singles before being removed from the game. Dusty Revis then came in with the bases loaded and walked in a run and hit a batter to bring in another run – both being charged to Redona. A 3-run inning made it 5-1 and put the game out of reach.

Daytona went 0-9 with runners in scoring position during the game.

These two teams will have Wednesday off. The series then moves to Jupiter for game two and if necessary, game three.

9/9 Game Preview