Down on the farm May 16: Beckham homer backs struggling Odorizzi

At the time I wrote this, it was believed that Price will miss at least one start with his triceps injury. Since he's on the same schedule as Price, Odorizzi could get the call.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (25-15) ***Featured game of the day***

A relentless Bulls lineup tacked on just enough insurance in their 10-7 win over Rochester. On the night of David Price's injury with call-up speculation starting to swirl, Jake Odorizzi struggled. He struck out six in 5.1 innings and only walked two, but for the second start this season, he served up three home runs. Six of the seven home runs he's allowed this year have come in two starts. The difference in the game was that Steve Geltz settled the game down in relief of Odorizzi, striking out three in 2.2 perfect innings while Durham kept hitting Rochester's bullpen. Durham banged out 19 hits in the game, eight of which went for extra bases. That included the first home run on the season for Tim Beckham, who had a four hit game and was a triple shy of the cycle. Chris Gimenez had four hits of his own, and Mike Fontenot had a pair of extra base hits.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (20-19)

Three ninth inning insurance runs proved crucial in Montgomery's 6-3 win over Birmingham. Up 2-1 in the ninth, Kevin Kiermaier tripled home Kyeong Kang after a leadoff single. Shawn O'Malley drove in Kiermaier with a single, and he came around to score himself on a throwing error after stealing second and third base. The Barons scored two runs with two outs in the ninth against Juan Sandoval, but the tying run never came up to the plate. He threw 6.2 scoreless innings, but starter Enny Romero wasn't sharp at all. He struck out two and only allowed two hits, but he walked four and only 59% of his pitches were strikes. The top three hitters in Montgomery's lineup, Kiermaier, O'Malley and Mikie Mahtook, combined for eight of the Biscuits' 10 hits. Mahtook had a pair of RBI for the second straight game.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (15-23)

The Stone Crabs extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-1 win over Daytona. The duo of Jesse Hahn and Jake Floethe again shut down an opposing lineup, and Hahn even pitched a season high... four innings. He allowed an unearned run on two hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Floethe finished up the final five innings, striking out six and walking one and allowing three hits. 23 Stone Crabs reached base with 15 hits, six walks and two hit batters. Every Stone Crab reached base multiple times with the exception of Steven Tinoco who didn't get on at all. Drew Vettleson and Alejandro Segovia each had three hit games. Jake Hager had two hits, drove in two runs and stole a base. Taylor Motter reached base four times and stole a pair of bases.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (24-13)

Blake Snell ran into trouble in the sixth inning and got no run support in Bowling Green's 3-0 loss to Ft. Wayne. He struck out four in five scoreless innings, but with one out in the sixth, Jeremy Baltz hit a two run home run that ended a streak of 21.1 innings of scoreless baseball thrown by Hot Rods starters. He would depart after a two out walk, and Marcus Jensen allowed that inherited runner to score the third run of the inning. Meanwhile, Padres star pitching prospect Max Fried dominated, striking out four in six scoreless innings. One of Bowling Green's six hits was for extra bases, a double by Justin O'Conner.

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Star of the day- Beckham now has one more home run than the number of players selected before him in 2008.

Goat of the day- Bowling Green's offense could have at least supported Snell a little, but it's not easy against a pitcher like Max Fried.

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

Durham @ Rochester 3:35 PM (MiLB.TV)
Chris Archer (4-2, 3.97) v. Sam Deduno (0-0, 0.87)

Montgomery @ Birmingham 8:05 PM
Victor Mateo (1-4, 8.29) v. Stephen McCray (4-2, 3.16)

Charlotte @ Daytona 7:05 PM
Roberto Gomez (1-5, 6.82) v. P.J. Francescon (3-2, 4.63)

Bowling Green @ Ft. Wayne 7:05 PM
Dylan Floro (3-0, 1.16) v. Justin Hancock (2-0,1.59)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota)
15-25 (6th in IL North)
Offense: 148 R (14th) .693 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.83 ERA (11th) 1.53 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Kyle Gibson (5), C Chris Herrmann (18), OF Joe Benson (19)

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
26-13 (1st in SL North)
Offense: 219 R (1st) .756 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.29 ERA (3rd) 1.19 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Trayce Thompson (2), RHP Erik Johnson (4), OF Keenyn Walker (5), LHP Scott Snodgress (6), OF Jared Mitchell (9), 1B Andy Wilkins (12), SS Marcus Semien (14), RHP Jake Petricka (16), RHP Kevin Vance (19), LHP Santos Rodriguez (21), 2B Tyler Saladino (26), Nestor Molina (28), C Mike Blanke (33)

Daytona Cubs
17-19 (4th in FSL North)
Offense: 170 R (5th) .707 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.68 ERA (12th) 1.49 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Javier Baez (1), OF Jorge Soler (3)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
23-14 (3rd in MWL East)
Offense: 192 R (4th) .726 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.46 ERA (2nd) 1.34 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Max Fried (2), RHP Walker Weickel (12), RHP Joe Ross (14), RHP Zach Eflin (16), OF Mallex Smith (28)