Down On The Farm: May 16

Hideki Matsui's debut was uneventful, but Josh Sale's coming out party has continued.

AAA Durham Bulls (15-25)

Hideki Matsui's return to baseball was uneventful in Durham's 8-2 loss against Pawtucket. Local fans responded by turning out in greater numbers than the typical Tuesday game, but they saw Matsui go hitless in four at-bats as Durham's DH. Pawtucket scored five runs in the first two innings against starter Matt Torra, all of which were scored on a pair of home runs by Josh Kroeger and Jose Iglesias. Durham's lone runs came in the 4th inning when both Matt Mangini and Leslie Anderson socked solo home runs. The pitching story of the night definitely belonged to Alex Torres. Although he allowed two runs in 4.1 innings of relief, he struck out six and walked none. Torres was in desperate need of something positive to build on, and perhaps this outing is it.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (19-21)

A former Biscuit foiled Montgomery's effort to take four out of five in their series with Jacksonville. Jake Jefferies' three run home run against Kirby Yates proved to be just enough in Jacksonville's 5-4 win. In the first four innings, the teams traded solo home runs, Montgomery's coming off the bat of Tyler Bortnick, his first of the season. Bortnick drove in another run two innings later as Montgomery took the lead. After Hak-Ju Lee came home on a groundout, a Kyeong Kang triple was followed by Bortnick's RBI single, his third hit of the day. In the bottom of the 9th, the Biscuits scored a run and had the tying run on base, but David Wendt and Brad Coon were both retired to end the game. After the solo home run he allowed in the first, Kyle Lobstein settled in and had a solid start, striking out six and only allowing the one run in six innings on three runs and three walks.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-19)

Mikie Mahtook's two-hit game streak came to an end, but his 9th inning double was instrumental in Charlotte's 3-2 win. After his leadoff double and a strikeout, Riccio Torrez hit an infield single to get him over to third. The Miracle attempted to turn a double play on Philip Wunderlich's ground ball, but they could only get one and Mahtook scored the winning run. Enny Romero had another solid start, allowing two runs in six innings while striking out four. He's pitched six or more innings in three of his last four starts, and he's walked two or fewer in four of his last five. C.J. Riefenhauser got a hard-earned win by recording one out, and he was one of three Charlotte relievers to combine for three scoreless innings. Wunderlich, Robby Price and Steven Tinoco each had two hit games.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-18)

Bowling Green built an early lead and held on in their 5-4 win against South Bend. After allowing a two run home run to the second batter of the game, Ryan Carpenter settled in for a solid start, retiring 15 of the next 16 batters. He finished with six strikeouts in five innings and only allowing the two runs on three hits. At the plate, it was a positive game for some of the Rays' prospects. 2010 first rounders Josh Sale and Drew Vettleson each hit solo home runs, and they now have three each on the season. Jake Hager hit two doubles, and that gives him three two-hit games in his last six. Tyler Goeddel singled and collected two more stolen bases. With two outs and the bases loaded and two runs already home in the 8th, Austin Hubbard retired Marc Bourgeois to end the threat.

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Star of the day- Alex Torres struck out six and walked none in 4.1 innings of relief. Other players may have contributed more for one of the affiliates that one, but individually that's pretty big for Torres.

Goat of the day- Matt Torra allowed a home run to Jose Iglesias.

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

Durham v. Pawtucket 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Lance Pendelton (1-1, 4.15) v. Doug Mathis (2-2, 5.01)

Montgomery @ Birmingham 8:05 PM
Joe Cruz* (2-5, 7.04) v. TBA

Charlotte @ Ft. Myers 7:05 PM
Albert Suarez* (1-2, 4.98) v. Jhon Garcia (0-4, 3.77)

Bowling Green v. Dayton 7:35 PM
Ryan Carpenter (4-2, 4.54) v. Stalin Gerson* (1-3, 4.66)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Pawtucket Red Sox
26-14 (1st in IL North)
Offense: 206 R (1st) .782 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.29 ERA (5th) 1.30 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: C Ryan Lavarnway (9), RHP Alex Wilson (11) SS Jose Iglesias (12), OF Alex Hassan (26), 1B Lars Anderson (28)

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
21-19 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 180 R (2nd) .716 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.62 ERA (4th) 1.38 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Nestor Molina (2), RHP Simon Castro (3), SS Tyler Saladino (8), 1B Andy Wilkins (13), OF Jared Mitchell (17), OF Jose Martinez (26), LHP Pedro Hernandez

Ft. Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
15-23 (6th in FSL South)
Offense: 155 R (8th) .667 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.15 ERA (10th) 1.45 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)

Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)
14-25 (8th in MWL East)
Offense: 126 R (15th) .609 OPS (15th)
Pitching: 3.43 ERA (5th) 1.27 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Kyle Waldrop (22), 2B Ryan Wright (23), 3B Sean Buckley (24)