Down On The Farm: August 8

A couple short season affiliates had late comebacks to win games while the offenses at the top of the organization were quieted.

AAA Durham Bulls (56-62)

Durham came out on the wrong end of a pitchers' duel in their 10 inning, 2-1 loss to Columbus. After allowing a run to the Clippers in the first, Chris Archer settled in and had a very good outing. He finished with one run allowed in 6.2 innings on five hits and two walks while striking out eight, even though fewer than 60% of his pitches on the night were strikes. In the 4th inning, Henry Wrigley doubled home Cole Figueroa to tie the game at one, and the score would remain there until the 10th when Jason Donald's RBI single against Brandon Gomes gave Columbus the lead. Gomes allowed that run in two innings of work with three strikeouts. Rich Thompson was the only Bull to reach base more than once with three hits.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (24-21)

Montgomery's offense couldn't get anything going in their 4-0 loss at Jacksonville. The Biscuits were dominated by Jose Alvarez who struck out five and only allowed two hits in a complete game shutout, albeit a shortened one due to rain. Omar Luna and Mark Thomas picked up Montgomery's two hits. While Alvarez fired strikes all night long, Nick Barnese did not. He allowed four runs in six innings of work that included five walks. Barnese threw two more pitches than Alvarez but had 12 fewer strikes.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (17-27)

A pair of four run innings propelled Charlotte to an 8-1 win over Bradenton. Home runs off the bats of Riccio Torrez and Robi Estrada provided the strength behind each inning with a two run and three run blast respectively. This nice cushion could have allowed Eliazer Suero to pitch relaxed and just throw strikes, but instead he walked six batters in 5.1 innings of work. Somehow, he stranded every runner he allowed and did not give up any runs. Although they only scored in two different innings, Charlotte appeared to be taking batting practice against Bradenton all night. Nine of their 13 hits went for extra bases, including two doubles by both Todd Glaesmann and Luke Bailey. Glaesmann reached based four times.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (27-17)

Bowling Green fell behind early and couldn't come back in their 7-3 loss to Fort Wayne. The Tincaps scored the first seven runs of the game, six of which came in the first four innings against Roberto Gomez and Felipe Rivero. Gomez allowed three runs (two earned) in three innings of work, and Rivero piggybacked him, allowing three unearned runs in three innings of work. Jake Hager and Ryan Brett set the table at the top of the lineup and both reached base two times, but for the most part, the hitters behind them struggled all night. In the 8th inning down 7-0, Ryan Brett doubled home Jake Hager to break up the shutout, and two batters later breakout king Alejandro Segovia hit his 14th homer of the season to make it a 7-3 game.

Short Season-A Hudson Valley Renegades (33-16)

After falling behind 5-0 with just four innings in the books, Hudson Valley scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Vermont 7-5. Starter Sean Bierman had one of his worst outings of the season despite striking out eight in five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits. Brandon Henderson and Jake Floro settled things down after that, combining for four scoreless innings. Hudson Valley's unique comeback began in a four run 5th inning. With the bases loaded, Richie Shaffer walked to bring the first run home, and then the Renegades hit three consecutive run scoring infield singles. With the tying run already home in the 8th, Hudson Valley took the lead on Luke Maile's two run triple with two outs. Maile had a big game, driving home three runs while reaching base four times. Richie Shaffer was 0/4 with a walk and three strikeouts.

Rookie Princeton Rays (26-21)

After blowing a 3-0 lead, Princeton walked off with a victory in their 4-3 win over Bluefield. With two outs in the 9th and Ariel Soriano standing on second after a stolen base, Brandon Martin delivered a walkoff single back up the middle to give the Rays the win. Unfortunately, Bruedlin Suero couldn't get credited with a victory despite pitching his best game of the season. He struck out five in six scoreless innings, only allowing six hits and walking no batters. Two struggling 2011 picks led the Princeton offense on this night. In addition to the walkoff single, Martin hit his 9th double of the year earlier in the game, and first baseman John Alexander hit his 4th home run.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (19-25)

The GCL Rays couldn't hold a late lead in their 4-2 loss to the GCL Twins. Leading 2-0 going into the bottom of the 7th, Kyle Pelchy and Lucas Goodgion each threw key wild pitches as part of a four run Twins inning that put the game away. The big hit in the inning came off the bat of John Murphy whose single drove in two runs after a wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed every runner to advance. The bullpen wasted a solid starting effort by Jordan Harrison who threw four scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Unlike last week, the Rays were able to score against the rehabbing Kyle Gibson, with a run coming on a Ryan McChesney groundout to score Jiminson Natera.

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Star of the day- Bruedlin Suero pitched his best game for Princeton.

Goat of the day-Nick Barnese has not been good since coming back from his injury.

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

Durham v. Columbus 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Alex Colome (0-0, 0.00) v. Jeanmar Gomez (5-2, 3.02)

Montgomery v. Jackson 8:05 PM
Merrill Kelly* (6-2, 3.61) v. Anthony Fernandez (4-1, 2.73)

Charlotte v. Bradenton 6:30 PM
Braulio Lara* (6-8, 6.05) v. Kenn Kasparek (0-4, 5.30)

Bowling Green v. South Bend 7:35 PM
Trevor Shull (3-6, 5.59) v. Archie Bradley (9-5, 3.90)

Hudson Valley v. Vermont 7:05 PM
Taylor Guerrieri* (0-2, 1.24) v. Nolan Sanburn* (0-0, 0.00)

Princeton v. Bluefield 7:05 PM
Jonathan Weaver (0-5, 6.23) v. Deivy Estrada (2-4, 3.82)

GCL Rays v. GCL Red Sox 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on MiLB.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
62-56 (2nd in IL West)
Offense: 582 R (1st) .778 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.94 ERA (6th) 1.31 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

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
25-19 (2nd in SL North)
Offense: 503 R (4th) .737 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.26 ERA (1st) 1.31 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Taijuan Walker (1), LHP James Paxton (3), 3B Francisco Martinez (6), RHP Forrest Snow (19), RHP Brandon Maurer (21), OF Chih-Hsien Chang (24), LHP Mauricio Robles (26), OF Johermyn Chavez (28), 1B Rich Poythress (29)

Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh)
22-22 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 505 R (5th) .685 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.22 ERA (11th) 1.31 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jameson Taillon (2), 1B Alex Dickerson (11), OF Mel Rojas (29)

South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona)
22-22 (5th in MWL East)
Offense: 546 R (3rd) .693 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 4.14 ERA (13th) 1.37 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Archie Bradley (2), RHP Tyler Green (25), RHP Jesse Darrah (26), RHP J.R. Bradley (27), LHP John Pedrotty (29)

Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland)
24-25 (2nd in Stedler)
Offense: 193 R (11th) .663 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.56 ERA (7th) 1.30 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Chris Bostick (24), RHP Michael Ynoa (27), SS Addison Russell, C Bruce Maxwell, RHP Nolan Sanburn

Bluefield Blue Jays
19-24 (4th in APP East)
Offense: 204 R (7th) .722 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.74 ERA (2nd) 1.26 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Daniel Norris (4), 3B Matt Dean (11), OF Dwight Smith Jr. (16), RHP Kevin Comer (17), OF Jake Anderson (21), SS Dickie Joe Thon (27), 2B Christian Lopes (29)

GCL Red Sox
24-20 (2nd in GCL South)
Offense: 204 R (2nd) .657 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.33 ERA (7th) 1.23 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: None