Down On The Farm: June 7

Another night down on the farm that wasn't particularly good. Henry Wrigley hit another home run for Durham though.

AAA Durham Bulls (26-35)

Russell Branyan continued tormenting his former organization in Durham's 9-4 loss. The veteran slugger hit his third home run of the series and reached base four times as Durham's pitching staff got battered again to the tune of 13 hits, seven of which went to extra bases. Although Lance Pendleton struck out seven in 5.2 innings, he allowed five runs on nine hits and four walks. Josh Lueke relieved him and wasn't any better, allowing four runs in 2.2 innings. On the positive side, Henry Wrigley hit a home run in his second straight game as part of a three hit effort that also included a double. Ramon Ortiz, yes, that Ramon Ortiz, was credited with a quality start, allowing three runs in seven innings for Empire State.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (31-29)

A late push wasn't enough in Montgomery's 3-2 loss to Tennessee. Down one in the 9th, the Biscuits loaded the bases with one out. Tyler Bortnick grounded out which scored a run, but Michael Sheridan followed with a fly out to end the game. Alex Colome struggled mightily with his control, only throwing 49 of his 87 pitches for strikes. He lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks, but he did manage to strike out five. The Montgomery bullpen didn't fare much better with Marquis Fleming and Adam Liberatore combining to walk five in 4.1 innings. The Biscuits drew their fair share of walks as well with nine, but they hit just 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base. Omar Luna had two hits to raise his average to .300 while Bortnick and Ryan Garko each reached base three times.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (25-32)

Charlotte scored four runs over the first three innings and cruised to a 4-1 win in game one. Enny Romero was sharp again, allowing just an unearned run in 5.1 innings on four hits and two walks while striking out six. Chris Rearick recorded three strikeouts over the last five outs to record the save. Derek Dietrich, batting second and playing second base, was one of two Stone Crabs to collect two hits, including a double. Luke Bailey had a game to forget; he doubled his error total in the game with four more.

In game two, Charlotte scored one in the first again, but Lakeland countered with four and didn't look back in Charlotte's 10-3 loss. Victor Mateo, making his second start of the season on just three days rest, got hit hard, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. Theron Geith followed Mateo and also got shelled, allowing four runs in an inning of work. He's now allowed runs in four of his six appearances for Charlotte this year. There were not many highlights offensively for the Stone Crabs. Derek Dietrich, back at shortstop in the nightcap, did manage to hit his 7th triple of the year.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-27)

Bowling Green was suspended in the 10th inning in a 4-4 tie. Jake Hager's hot streak continued with a home run. Ryan Carpenter had a quality start, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks in six innings with four strikeouts. Bowling Green continued to do something other teams in the Midwest League haven't been able to do: score against Blue Jays prospect Justin Nicolino. The Hot Rods have scored six of the eight runs he's allowed this year. The game will be completed tonight at 6:05 PM with a seven inning game to follow.

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Star of the day- Enny Romero's start was encouraging.

Goat of the day- I know he was injured early in the season, but Alex Colome has to be better.

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

Durham v. Empire State 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Jim Paduch (2-3, 3.82) v. Nelson Figueroa (3-2, 4.54)

Montgomery v. Chattanooga 8:05 PM
Kyle Lobstein* (3-2, 4.61) v. Aaron Miller* (3-4, 4.96)

Charlotte @ Lakeland 6:30 PM
Victor Mateo (0-1, 5.66) v. Shawn Teufel (1-2, 7.71)

Bowling Green @ Lansing 6:05 PM
Roberto Gomez (4-2, 3.09) v. Jesse Hernandez (4-3, 2.51)

Completion of suspended game will be followed by a seven inning game

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Empire State Yankees
33-27 (4th in IL North)
Offense: 260 R (6th) .742 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.90 ERA (10th) 1.38 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)

Chattanooga Lookouts (Los Angeles)
29-31 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 285 R (1st) .714 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.86 ERA (7th) 1.39 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Allen Webster (2), LHP Chris Reed (5), RHP Chris Withrow (7), LHP Aaron Miller (12), RHP Ethan Martin (17), OF Kyle Russell (20), SS Jake Lemmerman (27), C Gorman Erickson (28) OF Blake Smith (30)

Lakeland Flying Tigers
29-28 (3rd in FSL North)
Offense: 254 R (4th) .704 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.16 ERA (10th) 1.39 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Alex Burgos (8), C James McCann (9), OF Avisail Garcia (10), RHP Bruce Rondon (12), OF Tyler Collins (13), LHP Brian Flynn (24), SS Dixon Machado (25), RHP Kevin Eichhorn (26), OF Daniel Fields (27), 2B Hernan Perez (30)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
40-17 (1st in MWL East)
Offense: 279 R (4th) .721 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 2.84 ERA (1st) 1.20 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Justin Nicolino (5), RHP Aaron Sanchez (6), RHP Noah Syndergaard (7), C Carlos Perez (14), 3B Kellen Sweeney (13), OF Chris Hawkins (25)