While Nick Ciuffo is hot, Riley Unroe is in a bit of a slump. However, he still has a .746 OPS with a nice plate approach.
Like Ciuffo, first round pick Casey Gillaspie is hitting well, owning a .359/.432/.641 line in his last 10 games, including eight extra base hits. His overall OPS is up to .848 now, and his splits from both sides of the plate are very similar. I wonder if they'd consider giving him a shot with Bowling Green to close the season,
Triple-A Durham Bulls (57-50)
Durham and Toledo combined to hit seven home runs in a wild 11-10 Bulls win. Toledo went up 4-0 with three home runs against Matt Andriese in the first inning, but the Bulls got all four back in the second inning. Ray Olmedo singled home the first run, and Justin Christian's three run homer tied the game. Andriese would allow three more runs and finish with seven runs (six earned) allowed on eight hits and two walks in 5.2 innings with five strikeouts.
After Andriese left, the Bulls stormed back to take the lead. Vince Belnome led off the sixth with a solo home run, and they would go on to score seven runs over the next two innings. They went ahead in the sixth on a wild pitch, and Ali Solis' two run triple helped add to the lead an inning later. Seven Bulls had multi-hit games, led by Belnome and Christian with three each. Belnome reached base four times and was a triple shy of the cycle. Durham scored their first four runs of the game against former Rays prospect Kyle Lobstein. Steve Geltz struck out five in two innings, and Josh Lueke allowed three runs.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (19-18)
A pitchers' duel opened up a bit late, and it ultimately resulted in a 4-2 Montgomery loss to Jacksonville. Taylor Motter's seventh inning solo home run made it a 1-0 game, but that would be the last time the Biscuits had the lead. Meanwhile, Dylan Floro was sharp again as usual, but he ran into trouble pitching into the eighth. With one out in the inning and a runner on first, a pair of Jake Hager throwing errors allowed two runs to score, and a fielding error by Jeff Malm later in the inning extended the Suns' lead to 3-1. Floro finished with three runs (one earned) allowed on six hits and a walk in 7.1 innings with two strikeouts.
Three Biscuit singles in the eighth pulled them within one, but that would be all the offense for them. Former Biscuit Matt Ramsey entered with the tying run on third and two outs, and he struck out Kes Carter to end the inning. After Jacksonville added their fourth run, Ramsey recorded a 1-2-3 inning to end the game. All five Montgomery hits came from different players, and no one reached base twice.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (15-21)
Charlotte blew their game open late in their 9-2 win over Dunedin. Josh Sale's two run single in the second started a three run inning that gave the Stone Crabs a 3-0 lead, but it took until later to add on. Patrick Leonard singled home two in the seventh, and Maxx Tissenbaum's solo home run in the eighth started a four run inning that was capped off by a bases clearing double from Leonardo Reginatto. Everyone except Justin O'Conner had a hit. Reginatto and Leonard had three hit games, and five other Stone Crabs had two each.
Austin Pruitt was solid, and he won his fifth straight start. He allowed at least one batter to reach base in every inning, but he was able to navigate out of trouble through the first five. A solo home run in the sixth would be the only run he allowed, and he finished with that run allowed on seven hits in six innings with three strikeouts and no walks.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-21)
Quad Cities scored early against Jake Faria, and they tacked on runs late in Bowling Green's 9-2 loss. J.D. Davis, drafted five rounds ahead of Faria in the Rays' 2011 draft, doubled home the first run of the game in the second inning, and they would be up 5-0 after three innings. That would be when Faria exited with five runs (three earned) allowed on six hits and a walk in three innings with two strikeouts.
Willie Gabay pitched great in long relief with five strikeouts in three scoreless innings, and the offense finally did something with him in the game, although it wasn't much. Juniel Querecuto singled home two fifth inning runs, and that would be it for the Hot Rods. Luis Cabrera allowed four runs in the eighth that broke the game open. Querecuto and Kean Wong had two hits each.
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (30-13)
Hudson Valley scored in the first five innings en route to a 9-5 win over Vermont. The Lake Monsters took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Casey Gillaspie's solo home run in the bottom half of the inning tied it. The Renegades would score again in the second, and they would add two runs in each of the next three innings. Gillaspie would single home another run in those innings, and they took advantage of several Vermont miscues. Gillaspie had three hits and was a triple shy of the cycle, and five Renegades had two hit games.
After allowing a first inning run, Enderson Franco settled in and pitched a decent outing. He allowed at least one baserunner in every inning, but he limited the damage to one run on seven hits in five innings with two strikeouts and no walks. Franco now has 33 strikeouts to just one walk in 40.2 innings this year. Justin McCalvin allowed three runs over the final two innings that made it a closer game.
Rookie Princeton Rays (18-18)
Pulaski's offense was relentless in Princeton's 9-7 loss to the Mariners. It was an Arby Fields night when he led off the game with a home run for Pulaski, but Jose Paez responded in the third with a two run shot. That was part of a three run inning, but Pulaski took the lead right back with a three run third of their own. That would happen again in the sixth when the teams traded three run innings. Cristian Toribio also drove in two runs, and Angel Moreno reached base four times.
Hyrum Formo struck out five in four innings, but he still allowed the first four Mariner runs on four hits and a walk in four innings. In relief though, Roel Ramirez struggled for the first time this season. He hadn't allowed more than a run in any of his first five outings, but Pulaski scored four (three earned) against him in 1.2 innings, his shorting outing of the year.
Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (20-12)
The GCL Rays were off.
Star of the day- Gillaspie was once again key in another Hudson Valley win.
Goat of the day- Ideally Andriese has better starts than this one.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham v. Toledo 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Nathan Karns (7-5, 4.91) v. Duane Below* (8-4, 3.78)
Montgomery v. Jacksonville 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Albert Suarez (1-2, 4.42) v. Robert Morey (2-1, 4.85)
Charlotte v. Tampa 6:30 PM (Radio stream)
Ryne Stanek* (1-1, 5.73) v. Brady Lail* (1-0, 7.36)
Bowling Green v. Quad Cities 1:05 PM (Radio stream)
Bruedlin Suero (2-2, 4.45) v. Adrian Houser (4-4, 4.46)
Hudson Valley v. Vermont 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
Edgar Gomez* (4-3, 2.78) v. Jerad Grundy (1-4, 4.57)
Princeton @ Bristol 7 PM (Radio stream)
Brent Honeywell* (0-0, 0.75) v. Mervin Del Rosario* (1-2, 4.63)
GCL Rays @ GCL Twins 12 PM
TBA v. TBA
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
54-56 (3rd in IL West)
Offense: 474 R (9th) .719 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.95 ERA (8th) 1.39 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Robbie Ray (5), 2B Hernan Perez (9), C James McCann (11), RHP Drew VerHagen (12), RHP Jose Ortega (13), RHP Melvin Mercedes (16), LHP Casey Crosby (17), 1B Jordan Lennerton (19), OF Tyler Collins (20), OF Daniel Fields (22), LHP Kyle Lobstein (23)
Jacksonville Suns (Miami)
23-14 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: 458 R (6th) .681 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.71 ERA (5th) 1.27 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Justin Nicolino (4), RHP Jose Urena (7), C J.T. Realmuto (10), RHP Nick Wittgren (18), OF Brent Keys (19), C Austin Barnes (20), RHP Tyler Higgins (25)
Tampa Yankees
20-16 (2nd in FSL North)
Offense: 423 R (7th) .688 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.37 ERA (5th) 1.26 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Eric Jagielo (5), OF Aaron Judge (6), 1B Greg Bird (8), 2B Angelo Gumbs (25)
Quad Cities River Bandits (Houston)
19-16 (T-4th in MWL West)
Offense: 498 R (3rd) .763 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (7th) 1.32 WHIP 8th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Michael Feliz (9), RHP Andrew Thurman (15), LHP Chris Lee (22), RHP Jandel Gustave (28), OF Brett Phillips (30)
Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland)
16-27 (4th in Stedler)
Offense: 178 R (11th) .673 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.38 ERA (13th) 1.34 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: None
Bristol Pirates
10-15 (5th in APP West)
Offense: 135 R (10th) .618 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.32 ERA (10th) 1.43 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jon Sandfort (28)
GCL Twins
13-20 (4th in GCL South)
Offense: 105 R (14th) .580 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 3.81 ERA (8th) 1.37 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Amaurys Minier (24)