OK, I would seriously blame no one if they chose not to come to the ballpark today. There are post-game fireworks. That’s great. But it’s 102 degrees according to the Stratus-ometer, and it feels every bit of 110. A moist, disgusting 110. I’m not a wuss when it comes to the heat. I spent a lot of time in Arizona and once helped my brother-in-law clean up a boat after Memorial Day weekend at Roosevelt Lake when the temperature sat at 118. The Arizona heat—in the 105-110 range—is tolerable. It’s true what they say. It’s a dry heat. It feels more like sitting in a dry furnace. You don’t just stew in a pool of your own sweat like you do here. And when the temperatures break 100 here? Yuck. I do not envy these guys who are out here trying to play baseball in this stuff. Not to mention our favorite furry friend Southpaw.

Moving on, a coverage note to my Hillcats/Reds readers: No Hillcat blog tomorrow, as I’ll be down in Greensboro with colleague Nathan Warters at the ACC football kickoff. I’ll handle Virginia duties, and cornerback Ras-I Dowling and quarterback Marc Verica will be in attendance. Coaches speak on Monday.

We’ll be tweeting and live-blogging the event at the Grandover Hotel, so be sure to check in if college football is your cup of tea.

Today’s lineup. Stats are avg.-HR-RBI-SB:

SALEM (14-13)

Mitch Dening rf (.289-1-36-10)

Peter Hissey cf (.252-1-26-18)

Oscar Tejeda 2b (.322-8-51-9)

Will Middlebrooks 3b (.295-8-54-3)

Alex Hassan lf (.262-5-33-4)

Tim Federowicz c (.258-4-49-1)

Jason Place dh (.250-2-3-0)

Drew Hedman 1b (.227-2-26-3)

Jon Hee ss (.256-1-13-33)

RHP Brock Huntzinger (7-5, 3.53 ERA, 18 G, 18 GS, 97 IP, 86 H, 38 ER, 27 BB, 49 K)

LYNCHBURG (10-17)

Josh Fellhauer lf (.257-5-32-7)

Cody Puckett 2b (.263-10-31-13)

Neftali Soto 1b (.256-13-50-0)

Denis Phipps cf (.353-4-10-2)

Kyle Day rf (.276-5-28-5)

Brodie Greene ss (.252-1-9-0)

Jose Gualdron 3b (.277-1-11-3)

Efrain Contreras rf (.226-4-15-3)

Chris McMurray c (.231-0-1-0)

RHP Curtis Partch (3-8, 5.80 ERA, 19 G, 15 GS, 80 2/3 IP, 114 H, 52 ER, 32 BB, 61 K)

Notes:

—Salem’s Alex Hassan is “hot, hot, hot,“ much like Appalachian State University. He had three homers and 25 RBIs in his first 64 games this season. In this series against the Hillcats, he has two homers and eight RBIs.

—Hillcats RHP Nick Christiani allowed three home runs last night and since returning from the disabled list, he’s 0-1 with a 9.90 ERA. On the bright side, season two of Jersey Shore begins Thursday.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION

Friday’s scores

MLB—Cincinnati 6, Houston 4
Joey Votto again made Canada proud, smacking three hits for the Redlegs.
Reds’ record: 54-44, t1st in NL Central with St. Louis (which lost to the Cubs today)

AAA—Louisville (Reds) 7, Gwinnett (Braves) 4
Four more dingers for the homer-happy Bats. Make it 16 homers in four games. Wow.
Bats’ record: 51-50, t2nd in IL North, 10 GB; t3rd in IL Wild Card, 3 1/2 GB

AA—Carolina (Reds) 4, Montgomery (Rays) 0
Former Hillcat Matt Fairel buttered the Biscuits to the tune of a four-hit shutout. Another former Hillcat—Devin Mesoraco—racked up a golden sombrero.
Mudcats’ record: 15-13, 2nd in SL North, 1 GB

HiA—Salem (Red Sox) 11, Lynchburg (Reds) 2
The Hillcats continue to stink up the litter box. That’s 10 losses in the last 11 home games. Kyle Day homered.
Hillcats’ record: 10-17, 4th in CL North, 6 GB

LoA—Cedar Rapids (Angels) 4, Dayton (Reds) 1
Mark Fleury’s three hits were the lone highlight for the Dragons.
Dragons’ record: 8-18, 7th in ML East, 13 1/2 GB

Rookie—Billings (Mustangs) 7, Idaho Falls (Royals) 6
Four different Mustangs had at least three hits and Billings scored four times in the bottom of the ninth.
Mustangs’ record: 17-15, 2nd in PL North, 1 GB

Rookie—Indians 7, Reds 5
Juan Arias hit his fifth homer for the Goodyears.
AZL Reds’ record: 12-15, 4th in AZL Central, 6 GB; 5th in AZL Wild Card, 2 1/2 GB