Down on the farm April 17: Ames nearly untouchable

The Rays have been moving him through the system slowly, but Jeff Ames has been very good as a professional.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (9-3) ***Featured game of the day***

Great Lakes could only muster one hit against Bowling Green's pitching staff in the Hot Rods' 2-0 win over the Loons. That hit came against Jeff Ames with two outs in the second inning on an Eric Smith double, and he reached third base on a wild pitch before Ames was able to get out of the inning. Ames struck out eight and walked none in five scoreless innings, but it would be Jose Molina being credited with the win since it took until the eighth inning for Bowling Green to score. A squeeze bunt by Justin O'Conner allowed Ryan Dunn to score, and that was followed by a run scoring triple from Andrew Toles, his fifth of the year. Toles had three more hits.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (8-5)

He was able to limit the damage effectively, but Alex Colome wasn't effective in Durham's 2-1 loss. Both runs were charged to Colome, but one was unearned due to a Jason Bourgeois error. Colome lasted five innings and struck out seven, but he allowed five hits, walked four and hit another batter with a strike percentage of 57.1%. Down 1-0 in the third, Durham scored their lone run of the game when a two out single by Chris Gimenez plated Wil Myers who had reached base on a triple. The Knights immediately got that run back in the bottom half of the inning though. Myers had two hits total, and Hak-Ju Lee reached base three more times with a single and two walks, and he also stole his sixth base. Recent acquisition Steve Geltz struck out four in two clean innings.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (6-6)

Montgomery got out in front quickly Tuesday morning and added insurance late in their 9-3 win over Mobile. After the BayBears got on the board in the top half of the first, Mark Thomas hit a grand slam in the bottom half to give the Biscuits all the runs they would need. That was the first of three Montgomery home runs on the day, the latter two coming in the final innings of the game as they scored four unanswered runs to close it out. Greg Sexton's solo shot in the sixth gave the Biscuits a 6-3 lead, and Riccio Torrez hit a two run homer in the eighth to extend the lead to six. It was Torrez's second home run of the season, and he has a .972 OPS through 10 games. Starter Matt Buschmann just missed pitching a quality start, allowing all three Mobile runs in 5.2 innings on five hits and two walks while striking out six.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (4-8)

Felipe Rivero's early season struggles continued in Charlotte's 13-3 loss to St. Lucie. In the fourth inning, the Mets extended their lead to 7-1, and all seven of those runs were charged to Rivero. Only five were earned because of a Jake Hager throwing error, but regardless, it wasn't pretty for Rivero. He finished with five earned runs allowed in 3.1 innings on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. The bullpen provided no relief, and all six runners that were inherited in the game came around to score. Eliazer Suero was charged with five runs (four earned) in 1.2 innings, and three of those runs were allowed to score by Shay Crawford. The bulk of Charlotte's offense was provided by Alejandro Segovia's two run homer, his third of the season. Infielder Steven Tinoco pitched a scoreless inning.

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Star of the day- Jeff Ames is a pretty easy pick for this, no?

Goat of the day- I think the same goes for Felipe Rivero, unfortunately.

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

Durham v. Charlotte 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Alex Colome (1-0, 0.00) v. Andre Rienzo (0-1, 10.45)

Montgomery v. Mobile 8:05 PM
Matt Buschmann* (1-1, 4.66) v. David Holmberg* (0-0, 1.80)

Charlotte @ St. Lucie 6:30 PM
Felipe Rivero* (1-1, 5.40) v. Domingo Tapia* (0-1, 4.05)

Bowling Green @ Great Lakes 6:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Jeff Ames (1-0, 1.80) v. Miguel Sulbaran (1-0, 3.38)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
5-8 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 71 R (2nd) .770 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 4.49 ERA (9th) 1.46 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Carlos Sanchez (3), RHP Andre Rienzo (7), OF Jared Mitchell (9), RHP Jhan Martinez (13), RHP Brian Omogrosso (17), C Josh Phegley (18), RHP Simon Castro (20)

Mobile BayBears (Arizona)
7-5 (2nd in SL South)
Offense: 50 R (5th) .698 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 2.68 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP David Holmberg (6), RHP Zeke Spruill (9), SS Nick Ahmed (11), RHP Anthony Meo (13), 1B Jon Griffin (17), RHP Kevin Munson (28)

St. Lucie Mets
9-3 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 59 R (4th) .631 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 2.23 ERA (1st) 1.21 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Noah Syndergaard (3), RHP Luis Mateo (4), RHP Domingo Tapia (9), RHP Jake deGrom (11), RHP Hansel Robles (12), 3B Aderlin Rodriguez (19), SS Matt Reynolds (23), C Cam Maron (30)

Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles)
5-5 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 43 R (10th) .665 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.45 ERA (7th) 1.21 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Corey Seager (3), RHP Scott Griggs (18), RHP Zach Bird (19), OF James Baldwin (22), RHP Angel Sanchez (25), OF Jeremy Rathjen (29)