As you can see, today's schedule is a bit slow. Charlotte does begin their playoff series though, and I'll have a preview of all three Rays affiliates in the playoffs coming later this morning.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (87-57)
A 10th inning run gave Durham a 1-0 win over Norfolk and also eliminated the Tides from playoff contention. The story of the game was Enny Romero's very effective Durham debut. He only struck out two, but he threw eight scoreless innings and only allowed four hits and two walks. 61 of his 90 pitches were strikes. The Bulls scored their run on the 10th when Kevin Kiermaier, Leslie Anderson and Jason Bourgeois hit three consecutive singles. It could've been a bigger inning, but Cole Figueroa lined into a double play. C.J. Riefenhauser struck out two in a scoreless innings to get credited with a win, and Kirby Yates struck out three in an inning to get the save. Bourgeois had three hits.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (34-36)
Montgomery scored seven unanswered runs in their season ending 9-2 win over Birmingham. After scoring two runs in the top of the first, the Biscuits immediately coughed up their lead two batters into the bottom half on a two run homer by Cody Puckett. In the fourth, some Barons wildness aided Montgomery in their five run inning. They did have four hits, including three for extra bases, but a wild pitch on a third strike, two additional wild pitches and a walk kept the inning moving along. Cameron Seitzer drove in the last two runs of that inning on a double. Two innings later, he singled home two more runs. Jim Patterson got the spot start, just his second in the last two years, and pitched pretty well, only allowing the two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings with six strikeouts. Ryan Brett had three hits and scored three times.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (38-27)
Charlotte was off.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (44-26)
Bowling Green used four homers to hammer Lake County 10-2. Leonardo Reginatto hit his first of the year to get the Hot Rods off to a 1-0 start in the first, and they went on to score six runs in the first four innings. The three run third also included a Ryan Dunn solo homer. Lake County finally kept them off the board in the fifth, but Brandon Martin's two run home run in the sixth extended their lead. Tyler Goeddel led off the eighth with a solo homer to start another two run inning. Bruedlin Suero made the spot start and was decent, allowing a run on five hits in three innings with three strikeouts. Nick Sawyer struck out four and walked three in two innings, and Jose Molina was credited with the win with two perfect innings. Reginatto had three hits and reached base four times, and Joey Rickard stole three bases.
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (36-37)
Hudson Valley hung onto their slim playoff hopes with a 4-0 win over Connecticut. A two run single by Omar Narvaez with two outs in the third capped off a three run inning, and the Tigers conceded a fourth run an inning later. Derek Loera was outstanding with the early run support, striking out nine in six scoreless innings and only allowing one hit and one walk. Isaac Gil picked up a three inning save with two strikeouts in three scoreless innings. Ariel Soriano, James Harris and Julian Morillo all had two hit games.
Star of the day- Loera was great for Hudson Valley, but I'll give this to Romero anyway. It's not like it counts for anything.
Goat of the day- No one on a 4-0 day.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham's regular season is over
Montgomery's season is over
Charlotte v. Fort Myers 6:30 PM
Felipe Rivero* (9-7, 3.40) v. Matt Summers* (6-5, 2.47)
Game one in a best of three series
Bowling Green's regular season is over
Hudson Valley v. Connecticut 6:35 PM
Jaime Schultz* (1-2, 3.05) v. Alex Phillips (4-3, 3.46)
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
79-56 (1st in FSL South)
Offense: 653 R (1st) .729 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.46 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Byron Buxton (2), RHP Luke Bard (12), SS Levi Michael (16), RHP Tyler Jones (23), LHP Jason Wheeler (25), RHP Adrian Salcedo (27), LHP Chad Rodgers (28), 1B Kennys Vargas (29), RHP Matt Summers (30), OF Nate Roberts (32), RHP Zack Jones (33)
Connecticut Tigers
33-40 (3rd in Stedler)
Offense: 259 R (10th) .609 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.17 ERA (8th) 1.29 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Austin Schotts (5), LHP Kevin Ziomek, 1B Dominic Ficociello