He's still going to the All-Star game though, not long after the Florida State League had theirs. There was one Stone Crab who stood out.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (42-29)
Durham's offense wasted no time getting to work in their 9-2 win over Indianapolis. In the start of his rehab appearance, Brandon Guyer led off the first with a single and scored the first of five runs that inning. After a bases loaded walk by Vince Belnome, Jayson Nix's sac fly to make it a 3-0 game was the first out of the inning for the Indians. Robby Price and Hak-Ju Lee drove in runs after that.
Mike Montgomery pitched well with that run support, only running into a bump in the road in the third inning when a two out double scored two runs. After that, he finished the game retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced, finishing with the two runs allowed on four hits and a walk in five innings with seven strikeouts. Mahtook's three run homer in the sixth inning blew the game open, and he drove in five of Durham's nine runs. Cole Figueroa and Justin Christian had three hits. Guyer finished 1/6 with two strikeouts as Durham's DH.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (34-35)
Montgomery went ahead early and added some insurance late in their 5-2 win over Birmingham. Ryan Brett helped them get on the board in the first inning when he led off the game with a single and came home to score on a Taylor Motter RBI hit, and he would score again two innings later in the two run Biscuit third inning when Jake Hager doubled home a pair of runs. In the ninth, Alejandro Segovia singled home a pair of runs to extend Montgomery's lead to three runs and put the game out of reach.
With the early run support, Roberto Gomez was solid in earning his second Southern League win. He retired the first nine batters he faced, and he finished with two runs allowed on five hits and a walk in six innings with two strikeouts. Matt Lollis struck out two in a perfect ninth inning to earn a save. Brett led the Biscuits with three hits, and Motter and Joey Rickard each had a pair.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (31-34)
The FSL North All-Stars staged a late comeback to top the FSL South 6-4. The North scored four runs in the ninth inning to win the game. No Stone Crabs pitched, but former Ray minor league infielder Reid Redman did, and he allowed a run in an inning of work. Patrick Leonard was a standout performer with three hits, and Maxx Tissenbaum had a pinch single. Leonardo Reginatto and Justin O'Conner were both 0/2.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-37)
Ryne Stanek was roughed up a bit in Bowling Green's 8-4 loss to Fort Wayne. In what was by far his worst outing as a professional, Stanek was hammered for six runs on eight hits and a walk in 2.1 innings with two strikeouts. He lost a pair of early 2-0 leads and allowed the TinCaps to go ahead for good. Aaron Griffin allowed two runs in 3.2 innings, but Brad Schreiber pitched well, striking out five in two scoreless innings.
The Hot Rods offense managed consecutive two run innings to start the game, but for the most part, they checked out after that. Kean Wong and Johnny Field each had RBI doubles in the first, but Field getting picked off at second base with nobody out short-circuited what could've been a bigger inning. In the second, they picked up a pair of unearned runs thanks to a two out error that extended the inning. Wong and Field were the only Hot Rods with multi-hit games.
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (2-0)
Hudson Valley walked off as winners again, this time beating Aberdeen 4-3 in 10 innings. After the IronBirds scored a pair of late runs to tie the game at three, the Renegades only needed one inning to notch their second win in as many games. 2014 6th rounder Mac James singled to open the inning, and with two outs, Elias Torres singled him home. James was not the only 2014 pick to make his debut; Casey Gillaspie went 0/5 with a pair of strikeouts, and Alec Sole was 0/3 with a walk.
He's not a 2014 draft pick, but Enderson Franco, picked up from Houston in the minor league Rule 5 draft, started for Hudson Valley and was outstanding. He struck out six in five innings, only allowing an unearned run on five hits with no walks. Four Renegade pitchers combined to strike out 14 IronBirds and walk just one. Hunter Lockwood homered for the second straight game, and Bralin Jackson also went deep, part of a two hit game that included a stolen base.
Star of the day- Leonard did well in the All-Star Game.
Goat of the day- Stanek will have better days.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham @ Louisville 6:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Alex Colome (2-0, 0.44) v. Brett Marshall (0-1, 4.91)
Montgomery @ Birmingham 4 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Mike Colla (2-8, 5.96) v. Mike Recchia (2-1, 2.57)
Charlotte is at the All-Star break
Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 1:05 PM (Radio stream)
Jaime Schultz (1-0, 0.78) v. Erik Cabrera* (2-4, 3.97)
Hudson Valley v. Aberdeen 5:05 PM (Radio stream)
TBA v. TBA
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Louisville Bats (Cincinnati)
35-35 (3rd in IL West)
Offense: 304 R (4th) .705 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.75 ERA (12th) 1.57 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP David Holmberg (7), C Tucker Barnhart (10), RHP Chad Rogers (15), OF Donald Lutz (16), RHP Brett Marshall (27), RHP Curtis Partch (28)
Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
29-40 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 287 R (8th) .704 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.31 ERA (9th) 1.42 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Trayce Thompson (7), RHP Chris Beck (8), RHP Chris Bassitt (15), LHP Scott Snodgress (16), 1B Rangel Ravelo (30)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
30-38 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 369 R (1st) .722 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.87 ERA (16th) 1.58 WHIP (16th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Walker Weickel (19), Dustin Peterson (22)
Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore)
0-2 (4th in McNamara)
Offense: 4 R (12th) .751 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 2.79 ERA (9th) 1.14 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Alex Murphy (31)