Blake Snell had a nice start for Bowling Green in their loss.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (70-41)
Durham jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went on to beat Toledo 6-2. Five of their six runs were scored against former Rays farmhand Kyle Lobstein. Vince Belome drove home the first run of the game in the first inning, and they got two more in the third thanks to a Mud Hens error and Ryan Roberts sac fly. Merrill Kelly allowed just one run in five innings on four hits and three walks, but he didn't strike out anyone. Ryan Roberts was removed from the game early, and at the time this was written, it was believe to be trade related. Shelley Duncan reached base three times, and that included a solo home run late in the game to provide insurance.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (16-22)
Three multi-run innings by Mississippi proved to be too much for Montgomery in their 7-4 loss. The Braves took a 2-0 first inning lead, but the Biscuits bounced right back in the second with a three run inning that included a two run double from Curt Casali. Mississippi took the lead for good in the fourth with an RBI triple, sac fly and then a solo home run to cap off the inning. For good measure, the Braves scored two more runs in a seventh inning that included another solo home run. Mike Colla started and was charged with all seven Braves runs, striking out five and allowing 10 hits and a walk in six innings. Casali had three hits and drew one of Montgomery's nine walks.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (21-16)
Back to back three run innings by Lakeland sunk Charlotte in an 8-4 loss to the Flying Tigers. Run scoring hits by Drew Vettleson and Willie Argo in the first gave the Stone Crabs a 2-0 lead in the first, and they extended their lead to 4-1 when an error allowed a pair of runs to score in the fourth. A half inning later, starter Roberto Gomez would cough up the lead in his final inning of work by allowing three runs. He allowed Lakeland's first four runs on nine hits and three walks in four innings. Shay Crawford got the early relief appearance and couldn't settle in either, allowing three runs himself in his first inning of work. Vettleson, Argo, Jake Hager and Jake DePew had two hit games.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (24-14)
Dayton came back and pulled away from Bowling Green in a Hot Rods 6-2 loss. Andrew Toles scored on a Tyler Goeddel single in the seventh inning to give them a 2-1 lead, but the game unraveled when Nick Sawyer replaced Blake Snell in the bottom half of the inning. In a five run Dragons inning, Sawyer could only record one out and was charged with all five runs, including one that he walked in. He walked four batters total, and it meant that Snell had nothing to show for his good start. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks in six innings with seven strikeouts. Bowling Green actually outhit Dayton 11-7, but they hit into three double plays. Toles had three hits, and Goeddel was one of three players with two.
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (24-19)
Hudson Valley's lineup rebounded to actually score in a 4-2 win over Vermont. A solo home run by B.J. Boyd in the third gave the Lake Monsters a 1-0 lead, but the Renegades took advantage of an error with no outs to tie the game right up. An inning later, RBI doubles by Pat Blair and Granden Goetzman got the lead, but they could only hold it for a couple innings. The decisive run would come in the seventh, again with help from the Vermont defense. James Harris walked to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a stolen base and error, and he came home to score on Ariel Soriano's RBI single. Aaron Griffin started and pitched well again, allowing two runs on four hits and no walks in six innings with six strikeouts.
Rookie Princeton Rays (8-30)
They nearly blew a 7-0 lead, but Princeton hung on to beat Johnson City 8-7. In the first inning, the Rays scored three runs: one on a throwing error, one on a wild pitch and a sac fly by Elias Torres. Four fourth inning runs extended their lead to 7-0, and all of them were scored with two outs. Spencer Edwards doubled home one, Bralin Jackson singled home two more, and Jesus Ariaza brought in the fourth. Nolan Gannon started and exited just before the Cardinals came storming back. He allowed just one run in five innings on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts. In the ninth, Hunter Lockwood singled home what proved to be the winning run, and they were able to strand Johnson City's tying run at third base. Enmanuel Paulino, Edwards and Jackson all had two hit games.
Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (15-18)
A trio of Rays arms combined to shut down the GCL Red Sox in a 3-1 win. The GCL Rays got on the board first with a first inning sac fly, and two innings later, Kean Wong and Alexander Simon had back to back RBI hits. Grayson Garvin made his longest rehab appearance of the season, striking out two in three scoreless innings, only allowing two hits. He was relieved by last year's two big July 2nd arms, first Jose Castillo who struck out four and allowed a run in three innings. Castillo got the win, and Jose Mujica got the save striking out two over the final three scoreless innings. All seven Rays hits came from three players: Wong with three, and Simon and Riley Unroe each had two.
Star of the day- Princeton Rays
Goat of the day- Gomez and Crawford struggled for Charlotte.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham @ Toledo 7 PM (MiLB.TV)
Matt Buschmann (5-0, 3.23) v. Jair Jurrjens (6-6, 4.18)
Montgomery @ Mississippi 8 PM (MiLB.TV)
Jake Thompson (8-9, 4.74) v. Michael Lee (5-7, 4.24)
Charlotte @ Lakeland 6:30 PM
Sean Bierman* (0-1, 2.35) v. Wilson Palacios (5-7, 3.42)
Bowling Green @ Dayton 7 PM (MiLB.TV)
Dylan Floro (8-2, 1.68) v. Amir Garrett (0-1, 5.63)
Hudson Valley v. Vermont 7:05 PM
Ben Griset* (1-2, 3.94) v. Lou Trivino (1-2, 3.49)
Princeton @ Johnson City 7 PM
TBA v. Will Anderson (0-1, 5.24)
GCL Rays @ GCL Red Sox 12 PM
TBA v. TBA
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
48-64 (4th in IL West)
Offense: 479 R (8th) .709 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (4th) 1.34 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Nick Castellanos (1), OF Avisail Garcia (2), LHP Casey Crosby (8), RHP Jose Ortega (16), LHP Kyle Lobstein (19), C Bryan Holaday (24), 1B Jordan Lennerton (31), RHP Luis Marte (32)
Mississippi Braves
19-17 (2nd in SL South)
Offense: 427 R (6th) .673 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.10 ERA (1st) 1.28 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP J.R. Graham (2), C Christian Bethancourt (3), 3B Edward Salcedo (17), RHP Juan Jaime (20), OF Robby Hefflinger (29), RHP Aaron Northcraft (30)
Lakeland Flying Tigers
16-17 (4th in FSL North)
Offense: 393 R (11th) .673 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.69 ERA (6th) 1.32 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Steven Moya (15), SS Dixon Machado (27)
Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)
22-16 (3rd in MWL East)
Offense: 493 R (5th) .694 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 4.58 ERA (15th) 1.44 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Robert Stephenson (2), RHP Nick Travieso (6), OF Jesse Winker (7), LHP Ismael Guillon (9), OF Jeff Gelalich (14), LHP Amir Garrett (15), 3B Seth Mejias-Brean (19), 3B Tanner Rahier (20), RHP Sal Romano (30)
Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland)
22-21 (3rd in Stedler)
Offense: 153 R (9th) .637 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 2.98 ERA (6th) 1.23 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF B.J. Boyd (12), RHP Bobby Wahl, 3B Chad Pinder
Johnson City Cardinals
17-20 (4th in APP West)
Offense: 176 R (4th) .703 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.71 ERA (6th) 1.48 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Steve Bean (20)
GCL Twins
15-18 (T-3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 144 R (7th) .667 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.23 ERA (3rd) 1.31 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Kohl Stewart, LHP Stephen Gonsalves