Down On The Farm: August 15

It was a mixed bag down on the farm Tuesday. Some wins, mostly losses, and individual Renegades performances in the NYPL All-Star Game were spotty.

AAA Durham Bulls (58-67)

Durham rode some early offense in their 6-3 win over Columbus. After falling behind 1-0 one inning into the game, the Bulls battled back by scoring four runs over the next three innings as Matt Torra settled into the game. That included a 3rd inning solo home run by Henry Wrigley, his 12th since being promoted to Durham. Torra finished the game with a quality start, allowing two runs in 6.2 innings on three hits and no walks with three strikeouts. While Tim Beckham and Rich Thompson failed to reach base in 10 plate appearances tonight, the middle of the lineup set the table for the bottom with Leslie Anderson and Stephen Vogt combining for five hits and Will Rhymes and Reid Brignac each driving in a pair of runs.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (29-22)

Merrill Kelly turned in another strong start in Montgomery's 4-1 win over Huntsville. Omar Luna got the scoring started early in the 1st inning and in exciting fashion. His inside the park homer put Montgomery up 1-0 and was his 3rd home run of the season. With the early lead, Kelly delivered five scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and walking one. The Biscuits got some valuable insurance in the 9th inning when a Huntsville error allowed two runs to score, making it a 4-1 game. Kirby Yates, the reigning Southern League pitcher of the week, struck out three to earn the save, his 14th of the year.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (19-31)

A four run 3rd inning by Bradenton doomed Charlotte in their 5-4 loss to the Marauders. Thanks to a Philip Wunderlich two run single in the 1st, the Stone Crabs took an early 2-0 lead before Bradenton had their big inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Jeff Niemann served up consecutive doubles to Alex Dickerson and Elevys Gonzalez to hand Bradenton a 4-2 lead. Niemann needed 64 pitches (41 strikes) to get through 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Another ML rehabber, Luke Scott, contributed positively with a 2/4 game that included a two run homer. Todd Glaesmann added two more hits, including a double.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (30-20)

Bowling Green was off.

Short Season-A Hudson Valley Renegades (35-19)

The AL All-Stars fell to the NL All-Stars 8-1 in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game. Jeff Ames was charged with the loss after giving up the game's first run on two hits in an inning. Taylor Guerrieri struck out two in an inning but allowed an inside the park home run to Philadelphia track star and emerging baseball player Roman Quinn. Jose Molina struck out two in a perfect inning. Thomas Coyle was 1/2 with a triple and a strikeout, Leonardo Reginatto hit a pinch single, and Joey Rickard was 0/1.

Rookie Princeton Rays (28-25)

Burlington used three home runs to power past Princeton by a 8-2 score. After an Ariel Soriano triple gave the P-Rays a 1-0 lead, the Royals scored eight of the next nine runs in their runaway victory. Eli Echarry was hit hard again for the Rays, giving up all three Burlington homers and four runs in five innings in total. The home run barrage included the 9th in 39 games for former 5th overall pick Bubba Starling, having a very good pro debut in 2012. Although the Rays cut the Burlington lead to 4-2, the Royals scored valuable insurance runs against Christopher Kirsch who allowed four runs (three earned) in 1.1 IP. Oscar Hernandez had a two hit game.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (22-28)

A back and forth affair eventually went against the GCL Rays in their 7-5 loss to the GCL Red Sox. In a game that featured four lead changes, the Red Sox scored runs against all four Rays pitchers that appeared, including 2012 picks Nolan Gannon and Damion Carroll. Although the staff combined to give up only six hits, they also combined to walk nine Red Sox hitters as the Rays defense committed four errors behind them. Five Rays did reach base multiple times, including the top two hitters in the lineup, Bralin Jackson and Spencer Edwards. Rehabbing outfield Isaias Velasquez went 0/4. Benjamin Kline and Jiminson Natera each had two hits.

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Star of the day- Remarkably, Luke Scott's home run did not come against Cleveland's high-A affiliate.

Goat of the day- Jeff Ames contributed to giving NYPL NL All-Star fans another year of bragging rights by allowing a run Tuesday.

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

Durham @ Columbus 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Cesar Ramos (4-4, 2.80) v. David Huff (5-6, 5.52)

Montgomery @ Huntsville 7:43 PM
Kyle Lobstein* (6-6, 4.02) v. Ariel Pena* (0-1, 5.74)

Charlotte @ Bradenton 6:30 PM
TBA v. Jameson Taillon (6-8, 3.83)

Bowling Green @ Great Lakes 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Trevor Shull* (4-6, 5.38) v. Greg Wilborn* (2-1, 4.23)

Hudson Valley @ Connecticut 7:05 PM
TBA v. Tim Kelley* (0-2, 5.08)

Princeton @ Burlington 7 PM
Kevin Brandt (2-2, 2.61) v. Patrick Conroy (4-1, 4.40)

GCL Rays v. GCL Twins 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on MiLB.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
64-60 (2nd in IL West)
Offense: 599 R (1st) .771 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.98 ERA (7th) 1.30 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Chen Lee (4), LHP Scott Barnes (9), RHP Tyler Sturdevant (12), 2B Cord Phelps (15), LHP T.J. McFarland (21), 1B Lars Anderson

Huntsville Stars (Milwaukee)
24-27 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 482 R (9th) .717 OPS (6th)
Pitching: (ERA)(ERA Rank) (WHIP)(WHIP Rank)
Top 30 Prospects: 2B Scooter Gennett (5), RHP Jimmy Nelson (10), RHP Santo Manzanillo (11), 1B Hunter Morris (14), OF Kentrail Davis (16), RHP Kyle Heckathorn (26), RHP Johnny Hellweg, RHP Ariel Pena

Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh)
26-24 (1st in FSL South)
Offense: 521 R (5th) .681 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.10 ERA (9th) 1.30 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jameson Taillon (2), 1B Alex Dickerson (11), OF Mel Rojas (29)

Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles)
23-27 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 531 R (11th) .674 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 4.18 ERA (14th) 1.39 WHIP (15th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF James Baldwin (11), C Pratt Maynard (25), 1B O'Koyea Dickson (29)

Connecticut Tigers
24-29 (3rd in Stedler)
Offense: 214 R (9th) .642 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.63 ERA (8th) 1.26 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Ramon Lebron (11), OF Danry Vasquez (18), OF Jake Stewart

Burlington Royals
33-17 (1st in APP East)
Offense: 281 R (3rd) .782 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.92 ERA (4th) 1.24 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Bubba Starling (2), C Cam Gallagher (23), SS Humberto Arteaga (29), 2B Kenny Diekroeger

GCL Twins
27-23 (2nd in GCL South)
Offense: 201 R (8th) .662 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 2.97 ERA (1st) 1.23 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: None