Unfortunately, the affiliate Montgomery's pitching was not quite as sharp.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (39-27)
Mike Montgomery was sharp again in Durham's 8-0 win over Norfolk. Only 53 of his 92 pitches were strikes, but he was able to get through seven innings and only walk one batter. At one point in the game, he retired 13 straight batters, and he only allowed three hits and struck out five batters. C.J. Riefenhauser's two scoreless innings of relief completed the shutout.
Wilson Betemit's solo home run in the second inning was the only run the Bulls needed, but they added on plenty later in the game. Mike Fontenot hit a two run homer in the fifth to extend the lead, and after scoring a run in the sixth, they really poured it on in the seventh. Betemit's two out double plated two more runs and capped off a four run inning. Justin Christian had three hits, and Cole Figueroa reached base three times.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (31-34)
Montgomery's offense couldn't take advantage of their opportunities in their 6-2 game one loss to Pensacola. The Biscuits outhit the Blue Wahoos 12-9, but they were just 3/12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Roberto Gomez wasn't good either, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk in four innings with three strikeouts, and Matt Lollis followed that by allowing two runs in the fifth. Four Biscuits had two hit games, including Taylor Motter with their only extra base hit.
Things didn't get any better in their 9-2 game two loss. Mike Colla had another rough start, allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks in 4.1 innings with three strikeouts. Santiago Garrido allowed two inherited runners to score, and he was charged with two of his own. This time, Montgomery only had four hits, including Richie Shaffer with a double. Evidently, he was benched in game one for not running out a batted ball.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (30-32)
A four run Bradenton ninth inning sunk Charlotte in their 5-1 loss to Bradenton. Parker Markel quickly got the first two outs, but he was his own worst enemy as the inning unraveled. After walking the next batter to extend the inning, he issued two wild pitches to move the go-ahead run to third, and a single knocked that runner in. He allowed another hit to put runners on the corners, and Ryan Garton allowed two hits to score those inherited runners and get charged with one of his own.
Obviously, the lack of offense was a problem too, and they failed to support Leonel Santiago in his strong start. He allowed just one run on three hits and a walk in seven innings with six strikeouts. Justin O'Conner's two out double in the fourth to score Patrick Leonard broke a 0-0 tie and proved to be their only run of the game. O'Conner collected three hits, two of which were doubles.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (30-33)
Jaime Schultz baffled Midwest League hitters again in Bowling Green's 2-1 win over Fort Wayne. After his last start was cut short after two innings by rain, he came back sharp with eight more strikeouts in six innings, only allowing three hits and three walks. He now has 38 strikeouts in 23 innings this year. The TinCaps tied the game immediately after Schultz was relieved by Stone Speer, but he held on to only allow that run in 2.2 innings.
Fort Wayne was unable to secure the shutdown inning though, and the Hot Rods took the lead right back in the bottom half of the seventh. Oscar Hernandez led off the inning with a triple, and he came home to score later in the inning on an Alexander Simon sac fly. Their first run of the game came in the fourth when Granden Goetzman's two out triple scored Johnny Field. Bowling Green only had five hits, but four of them were for extra bases.
Star of the day- Montgomery's rebound season should probably be taken seriously at this point.
Goat of the day- I'm not sure things are working out for Colla in Montgomery's rotation.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham @ Norfolk 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Alex Colome* (1-0, 0.00) v. Suk-min Yoon (2-5, 5.86)
Montgomery is off
Charlotte @ Fort Myers 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
Blake Snell* (1-1, 1.80) v. Tim Shibuya (3-2, 4.11)
Bowling Green @ Dayton 7 PM (MiLB.TV, Radio stream)
German Marquez (2-3, 3.98) v. Amir Garrett (1-4, 5.17)
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
27-38 (3rd in IL South)
Offense: 321 R (1st) .736 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.79 ERA (13th) 1.45 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: DH Henry Urrutia (7), RHP Mike Wright (8), LHP Chris Jones (27), RHP Josh Stinson (28)
Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
36-27 (1st in FSL South)
Offense: 310 R (1st) .691 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.01 ERA (3rd) 1.29 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: CF Byron Buxton (1), RHP J.O. Berrios (5), 2B Jorge Polanco (10), OF Max Kepler (11), OF Adam Brett Walker (17), LHP Mason Melotakis (18), 3B Travis Harrison (25), SS Niko Goodrum (26), RHP Tyler Jones (27)
Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)
32-30 (3rd in MWL East)
Offense: 284 R (11th) .687 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.61 ERA (4th) 1.26 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Phil Ervin (3), RHP Nick Travieso (8), LHP Ismael Guillon (12), LHP Amir Garrett (18), RHP Sal Romano (25), OF Sebastian Elizalde (26), 3B Tanner Rahier (27), RHP Dan Langfield (30)