Down On The Farm: April 30

The Rays saw their minor league affiliates get swept again, and it was ugly. One was no-hit, and they combined to score only five runs. Check below the jump for the goose eggs.

AAA Durham Bulls (6-18)

Three Indianapolis pitchers combined to no-hit Durham in the Indians 2-0 win Sunday. Their losing streak now sits at 13, tied for a franchise record. The Bulls managed just two walks in the game, both off starter Justin Wilson. Wilson struck out nine in his 7.1 innings of work. After he walked Jeff Salazar in the 8th, large reliever Jose Diaz entered to record the last two outs of the inning. Doug Slaten closed the game by recording three groundouts. Reid Brignac made the final out when second baseman Anderson Hernandez charged and made a quick flip to first base to just beat Brignac. Starling Marte hit a solo home run for Indianapolis, and Jake Fox and Nick Evans each had two hit games.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (10-15)

Birmingham completed a five game sweep of Montgomery with a 5-3 win. The Biscuits couldn't take advantage of eight walks issued by the Barons, and they were 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position. Montgomery starter Joe Cruz allowed three extra base hits in Birmingham's three-run 3rd inning, including a two run home run by Corey Smith. Montgomery pulled within one after five innings, but the Barons tacked on a couple runs to put the game out of reach. Hak-Ju Lee continued his resurgence with a two hit game, and he also walked once and stole a base. Cole Figueroa walked three times and drove in two of Montgomery's runs without the benefit of a hit. The tying run came to the plate in the bottom of the 9th, but Henry Wrigley's flyout secured the game for Birmingham. Scott Shuman struck out two in 1.2 pertfect innings.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (11-12)

Charlotte's bats were silent yesterday evening in a 3-0 loss at the hands of Palm Beach. The Cardinals used three one-run innings, all runs against different Charlotte pitchers. Enny Romero wasn't bad, allowing just one run in six innings. Surprisingly, he walked only two batters, but he also only struck out two. Four singles and a walk was the only offense the Stone Crabs could muster, and no batter reached base twice. Palm Beach's Drew Benes had what was easily the best start of his season, striking out five and only allowing three hits and a walk in his seven scoreless innings. Maya Acosta struck out three times.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-10)

Wisconsin evened up their three game series with their 5-2 win over Bowling Green. Ryan Carpenter allowed a run in the first inning, but he settled in and had a nice start, striking out five and allowing two runs in six innings. The game was won late when the Timber Rattlers rallied for three runs in the 8th against reliever Stayton Thomas. Two of the runs came when there were two outs in the inning when Jason Rogers made Bowling Green pay for the intentional walk to Max Walla that brought Rogers to the plate. His double scored two runs, and Wisconsin wrapped the game up in the 9th by turning a double play to end the game. Catcher Matt Rice was the only Hot Rod with more than one hit, and Taylor Motter stole two bases.

Star of the day- N/A

Goat of the day- Everyone

Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham v. Indianapolis 1:05 PM
Matt Torra (1-2, 6.85) v. Jeff Locke (2-1, 3.86)

Montgomery is off

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 6:30 PM
Albert Suarez (0-0, 4.85 ERA) v. Carlos Martinez (0-1, 2.12)

Bowling Green @ Wisconsin 1:05 PM
Roberto Gomez (1-0, 4.95) v. Andrew Moye (1-0, 2.35)

Scouting the opposition

Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh)
12-10 (3rd in IL West)
Offense: 98 R (8th) .675 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.36 ERA (5th) 1.21 (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Starling Marte (4), LHP Jeff Locke (10), RHP Bryan Morris (12), LHP Rudy Owens (16), LHP Justin Wilson (17), OF Gorkys Hernandez (20)

Palm Beach Cardinals
10-13 (3rd in FSL South)
Offense: 78 R (11th) .662 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.32 ERA (5th) 1.21 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Carlos Martinez (2)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee)
13-11 (2nd in MWL West)
Offense: 87 R (14th) .641 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 3.53 ERA (8th) 1.27 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Yadiel Rivera (15), RHP David Goforth (17), RHP Drew Gagnon (23)