Down On The Farm: July 18

Seemed like a pretty run of the mill day in the minors, but two players did hit their first pro homers.

AAA Durham Bulls (44-54)

Durham's offense pounded former... major leaguer Scott Elarton in their 8-6 win over Lehigh Valley. After five innings, the Bulls led 8-3, and it took a late rally against Cesar Ramos to make it a close score. The bottom of the lineup proved to be the catalyst for the offense with #8 and 9 hitters Matt Mangini and Jesus Feliciano combining for six hits and driving in six of Durham's runs. Stephen Vogt led off and reached base three times, including his 8th double of the season. As Durham's DH, Sam Fuld went 0/4 with a walk and strikeout. Durham's pitching struck out no batters tonight, led by Jim Paduch allowing two earned runs in 5.2 innings.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (15-11)

Although strikes seemed to be optional for Alex Colome, Montgomery came away with a 3-2 win over Mobile. Colome only allowed two runs in 5.1 innings, but he walked five and allowed three hits. Hak-Ju Lee didn't record a hit, but his on-base streak was extended to 30 games. The eventual winning run eventually scored on a wild pitch by Mobile's Gaby Hernandez who dropped to 0-7 on the season. Montgomery only had five hits, but three of them went for doubles. Neil Schenk and Kirby Yates combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings to preserve the win for the Biscuits.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (9-16)

Charlotte's offense was shut down in their 6-1 loss at Daytona. After pulling within two runs in the top of the 7th, Charlotte sent Albert Suarez back out to try and get through seven innings, but he ended up being charged for three more runs. Suarez has now pitched six or more innings in four straight starts. On the other side, Cubs starter Matt Loosen allowed just a run through 7.1 innings. Five of Charlotte's six hits were off the bat of Derek Dietrich or Riccio Torrez. Robi Estrada drove in the lone run of the game with a sac fly.

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

Bowling Green was off.

Short Season-A Hudson Valley Renegades (17-12)

Two Renegades pitched effectively to lead Hudson Valley to a 4-1 win over Brooklyn. Jesse Hahn started and lasted a career long four innings while only allowing a single baserunner. Eduar Quinonez allowed a run over the last five frames, but already up 4-0, it proved to be inconsequential. Luke Maile's first professional home run opened the scoring in the second inning, but the Renegades waited until the 4th for a big inning. With one out, three straight Renegades reached base, and then a Michael Williams single and Leonardo Reginatto double drove home three runs to put the game out of reach. Ryan Dunn reached base three times.

Rookie Princeton Rays (14-14)

The P-Rays erased a 4-0 deficit late in the game, but they ultimately fell to Bluefield 5-4. Starter Kevin James left the game after just one inning, so Princeton needed to lean on Hugo Duarte for some long relief, and he couldn't deliver. He allowed four runs over four innings of work, but it was Alex Keudell who gave up what proved to be the winning run. Five of Princeton's 11 hits went for extra bases, including a double and triple by Reid Redman. Redman scored the tying run in the 8th on a wild pitch, but the Rays couldn't capitalize when they got the tying run in scoring position in the 9th. Andrew Toles collected two more hits to continue the hot start to begin his pro career.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (10-16)

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the GCL Rays ending up falling to the GCL Red Sox 4-3 in 10 innings. In the first inning, shortstop Spencer Edwards hit his first professional home run. Cesar Perez hit a two run double three innings later, but the game was all downhill from there. After Jorge Rodriguez exited with four strikeouts in five scoreless innings, Kyle Pelchy allowed a run, and Alex Moshier would eventually allow two inherited runners to score as the Red Sox tied the game. Nevin Ashley went 1/3 before being removed from the game. Boston's strikeout king Shaq Green-Thompson struck out five more times, and he now has 31 strikeouts in 32 at-bats.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

Star of the day- Kudos to Luke Maile and Spencer Edwards each hitting their first pro homers.

Goat of the day- Hugo Duarte has certainly had a rough year.

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

Durham v. Lehigh Valley 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Matt Torra (8-6, 4.22) v. Pat Misch (7-10, 4.50)

Montgomery is off

Charlotte @ Daytona 12:05 PM
TBA v. P.J. Francescon (1-3, 3.44)

Bowling Green v. Kane County 8:05 PM
Jake Floethe* (8-1, 3.76) v. Kellen Moen* (3-6, 5.50)

Hudson Valley v. Brooklyn 7:05 PM
Sean Bierman* (1-1, 4.15) v. Gabriel Ynoa* (1-1, 3.30)

Princeton @ Bluefield 7:05 PM
Eli Echarry (0-1, 9.50) v. Daniel Norris (1-1, 3.31)

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on MiLB.com

Scouting the opposition

Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia)
54-43 (1st in IL North)
Offense: 384 R (13th) .688 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.66 ERA (5th) 1.34 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Phillippe Aumont (4)

Daytona Cubs
12-14 (5th in FSL North)
Offense: 451 R (2nd) .711 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.00 ERA (9th) 1.33 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Matt Szczur (3), RHP Robert Whitenack (19), 2B Ronald Torreyes

Kane County Cougars (Kansas City)
14-10 (1st in MWL West)
Offense: 428 R (9th) .699 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 4.08 ERA (12th) 1.37 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Jorge Bonifacio (15), RHP Bryan Brickhouse (16), SS Mike Antonio (24), SS Jack Lopez (25), 2B Danny Mateo (28)

Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
18-11 (1st in McNamara)
Offense: 121 R (9th) .667 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 2.86 ERA (3rd) 1.10 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Brandon Nimmo (3), LHP Juan Urbina (18), SS Phillip Evans (21)

Bluefield Blue Jays
11-15 (4th in APP East)
Offense: 126 R (6th) .721 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.52 ERA (3rd) 1.21 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Daniel Norris (4), 3B Matt Dean (11), OF Dwight Smith Jr. (16), RHP Kevin Comer (17), RHP Joe Musgrove (20), OF Jake Anderson (21), SS Dickie Joe Thon (27), 2B Christian Lopes (29), RHP Roberto Osuna (30)

GCL Twins
15-9 (1st in GCL South)
Offense: 96 R (10th) .670 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 2.80 ERA (2nd) 1.18 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Byron Buxton