Meanwhile in Bowling Green, beat writer Micheal Compton reports that the Hot Rods will be going with a six man rotation.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (12-6)
Norfolk tacked on some late runs against the Bulls in Durham's 8-4 loss, the first game with Hak-Ju Lee on the DL. It wasn't the fault of replacement Tim Beckham though, although he did commit an error and was caught stealing. He picked up two more hits, raising his average to .273 and OPS to .704 thanks to an on-going six game hitting streak. Down by three in the fourth, Durham scored three runs. They loaded the bases with no outs and played small ball the rest of the way, getting a run on a sac fly by Cole Figueroa, squeeze bunt by Rich Thompson and then a two out single by Brandon Guyer. Unfortunately, Alex Colome struggled and couldn't hold the tie. He allowed four runs in 5.2 innings on seven hits and two walks while striking out three. Norfolk extended their lead against Will Inman and Adam Liberatore, but newcomer Jeff Beliveau struck out three in a scoreless inning in his Durham debut. Wil Myers got a hit, walked once, stole his first base and struck out twice.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (9-8)
A late rally set up Montgomery's three run 11th inning in their 9-6 win over Tennessee. In that inning, they actually only had one hit, an RBI triple by by Mikie Mahtook that scored the third run. Before that, Kevin Kiermaier led off the inning with a walk and was followed by Riccio Torrez being hit by a pitch, and after a sacrifice bunt moved both players up, they came around to score on a Ronald Torreyes throwing error. Mayo Acosta was in the middle of the offense earlier in the game, driving in three of Montgomery's final four runs, including a two run homer, in the first nine innings to tie the game at six and send it to extras. Acosta had four RBI on the game and was a triple shy of the cycle, and Kiermaier reached base four times. Matt Buschmann struck out seven, but he was charged with five runs (four earned). C.J. Riefenhauser got the win after throwing three scoreless innings.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (7-10)
Felipe Rivero made what was certainly his best start of the season, but Charlotte couldn't score in their 1-0 loss to St. Lucie. He only lasted four innings plus a couple batters in the fifth, but he struck out seven, walked just two and only allowed four hits. Rivero left the fifth with two runners on base, and after recording a strikeout, Bruedlin Suero thought he would get out of the inning with a ground ball double play, but Hector Guevara's throwing error on the turn allowed St. Lucie's Robbie Shields to score the lone run of the game. Steven Tinoco was the only Stone Crab to reach base twice with two hits as Charlotte was totally shut down by St. Lucie's Hansel Robles, striking out six in six scoreless innings.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (12-4)
Held silent most of the game, the Bowling Green offense broke out for six runs in the final two innings for a 7-5 win. In a four run eighth inning, three out of the first four Hot Rods hit singles, but they wouldn't get another hit the rest of the inning. Patrick Leonard walked to force in the first run of the inning, two more scored on a throwing error, and Marty Gantt brought the fourth home with a groundout. Leonard would pick up two more RBI in the next inning with a two run go-ahead single. Eduar Quinonez was charged with all five Dayton runs in five innings despite striking out seven, but Reinaldo Lopez and Marcus Jensen each fired two scoreless innings to settle the game down late. Andrew Toles picked up two more hits, a walk and his fifth stolen base.
Star of the day- Patrick Leonard has struggled so far in Bowling Green, but he had a couple key plate appearances late in Sunday's game.
Goat of the day- It would've been nice for Charlotte's offense to back up Felipe Rivero and the pitching staff.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham is off
Montgomery @ Tennessee 7:15 PM (MiLB.TV)
Merrill Kelly (1-1, 3.65) v. Eric Jokisch (2-0, 1.00)
Charlotte v. St. Lucie 6:30 PM
Jesse Hahn (0-0, 1.00) v. Marcos Camarena (0-1, 8.31)
Bowling Green v. Ft. Wayne 8:05 PM
Taylor Guerrieri* (0-0, 0.00) v. Erik Cabrera* (0-1, 9.64)
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
10-7 (1st in SL North)
Offense: 92 R (1st) .694 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.33 ERA (3rd) 1.21 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Arismendy Alcantara (10), 3B Christian Villanueva (12), RHP Alberto Cabrera (13), OF Matt Szczur (14), RHP Tony Zych (22), RHP Trey McNutt (24), RHP Matt Loosen (27), RHP Marcus Hatley (29)
St. Lucie Mets
11-6 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 78 R (6th) .633 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.51 ERA (5th) 1.32 WHIP (8th)
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)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
9-6 (3rd in MWL East)
Offense: 98 R (1st) .781 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.61 ERA (7th) 1.44 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Max Fried (2), RHP Walker Weickel (12), RHP Joe Ross (14), RHPH Zach Eflin (16), OF Mallex Smith (28)