Down On The Farm: May 14

Chris Archer had another mostly positive start. Over his last three, he's thrown 18 innings, struck out 20 and allowed four earned runs on 13 hits and seven walks.

AAA Durham Bulls (14-24)

In a pitching matchup of two guys with great stuff with a tendency to get wild, Chris Archer topped Manny Banuelos in a 3-1 Durham win. Archer did walk four in six innings, but he struck out a season high nine batters and only allowed one unearned run. Banuelos only allowed an unearned run of his own, striking out seven and walking none. Durham pushed the go-ahead run across in the 7th when Stephen Vogt tripled home Henry Wrigley who led the inning off with a walk. Against former Indians prospect Adam Miller, the Bulls tacked on an insurance run in the 8th after Kyle Hudson singled, reached second on a wild pitch and came home on a Shawn O'Malley single. Ryan Reid continued his strong season with four strikeouts in two clean innings.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (18-20)

Montgomery took a brief lead in game one of their doubleheader against Jacksonville, but the Suns were able to pull away in a 6-2 win. Jake Thompson struck out five in 4.2 innings, but he allowed three runs on five hits and three walks. With two outs in the 4th inning, Montgomery rallied for a 2-1 lead when a Tyler Bortnick walk was followed by three consecutive singles. Jacksonville fired back with five runs over the next two innings, and former Rays farmhand Jake Jefferies was in the middle of all of it. He scored twice, once in each inning, after reaching on a ground rule double and walk. Marquis Fleming's nightmare season continued with three more runs allowed in 1.1 innings.

In the second game, a five-run 5th inning lifted the Biscuits to a 7-1 win. Two errors by Jacksonville fueled the inning, and the big blow came when Kyeong Kang reached on an error by Jake Smolinski that allowed three runs to score. Four of the five runs came with two outs. In all, only two of Montgomery's runs were earned thanks to four Jacksonville errors. David Wendt was the offensive star of the day with three hits and three runs scored. It was a true bullpen game for Montgomery, opting to start Merrill Kelly and following him with two more relievers. Kelly, Alex Koronis and Kirby Yates all had very similar lines; they all allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one. Koronis and Yates pitched two innings, not three, and Yates allowed the lone Jacksonville run.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (16-19)

Charlotte enjoyed a day off.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (19-17)

Bowling Green was rained out.

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Star of the day- Chris Archer walked too many again, but he still seems to be getting on track.

Goat of the day- Jake Thompson had another poor start, and he hasn't pitched more than five innings all season.

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

Durham @ Empire State 7 PM PLAYED AT ROCHESTER (MiLB.TV)
Alex Cobb (1-4, 4.71) v. Dellin Betances* (2-2, 5.20)

Montgomery v. Jacksonville 8:05 PM
Kyle Lobstein* (2-2, 6.32) v. Graham Taylor* (2-3, 4.81)

Charlotte v. Ft. Myers 6:30 PM
Grayson Garvin (0-3, 5.65) v. Madison Boer (0-2, 14.09)

Bowling Green v. South Bend 6:35 PM DOUBLEHEADER
Felipe Rivero (2-2, 1.50) v. Archie Bradley (4-1, 2.57)
Trevor Shull* (0-1, 4.84) v. Jeffrey Shields* (0-4, 3.89)

Both games will be seven innings

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Empire State Yankees
18-17 (4th in IL North)
Offense: 142 R (9th) .710 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.68 ERA (8th) 1.39 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Manny Banuelos (1), RHP Dellin Betances (2), RHP Adam Warren (15), RHP D.J. Mitchell (16), 3B Brandon Laird (18), RHP Chase Whitley (29)

Jacksonville Suns (Miami)
18-20 (2nd in SL South)
Offense: 139 R (8th) .637 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.74 ERA (7th) 1.35 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Kyle Jensen (19), RHP A.J. Ramos (20), C Kyle Skipworth (21), RHP Evan Reed (24), RHP Joey O'Gara (25)

Ft. Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
15-21 (5th in FSL South)
Offense: 152 R (6th) .669 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.93 ERA (8th) 1.44 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Oswaldo Arcia (5), SS Levi Michael (6), RHP Madison Boer (12), RHP Adrian Salcedo (16), RHP Manuel Soilman (23)

South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona)
20-16 (2nd in MWL East)
Offense: 149 R (12th) .654 (13th)
Pitching: 3.66 ERA (13th) 1.28 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Archie Bradley (2), RHP Tyler Green (25), RHP Jesse Darrah (26), RHP J.R. Bradley (27), LHP John Pedrotty (29)