Rays down on the farm August 14: Floro dominates Charlotte debut

Oscar Hernandez had the big "hit" in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (76-48)

Chris Gimenez hit a solo home run in the ninth to provide some insurance, but Durham ended up falling to Gwinnett 3-2 in 10 innings. After getting a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, Kirby Yates came out for his second inning of work. He quickly recorded the first out of the inning, but a double and single got the Braves within one run. He then got the second out, but a single to move a runner to third base and wild pitch allowed Gwinnett to tie the game. Durham went 1-2-3 in the 10th, and the Braves would score the winning run on a two out throwing error by Tim Beckham. Jake Odorizzi didn't allow a run, but he wasn't particularly efficient in five innings. He needed 94 pitches, and 57 of them were strikes. He struck out four and allowed three hits and two walks. Brandon Gomes struck out two in a perfect inning of relief, and Jesus Flores had two hits.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (23-28)

Montgomery came up short in a long pitchers duel, falling to Jackson 2-1 in 14 innings. Cameron Seitzer's two out double in the eighth inning provided Montgomery with their only run. The teams combined for only 17 hits, but they also drew 15 combined walks. Victor Mateo delivered a very good start, only allowing a run on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 7.2 innings, but he was obviously long gone before the game was decided. Braulio Lara and Juan Sandoval threw 2.1 and two scoreless innings of work respectively. In the 14th inning with one out, Erik Hamren allowed consecutive singles before a Robby Price error allowed the winning run to score. Mikie Mahtook was the only Biscuit with more than one hit. Ryan Brett was 0/6.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (27-20)

After allowing a first inning run in his Charlotte debut, Dylan Floro settled in and fired a complete game in the Stone Crabs' 3-1 win. Jupiter greeted Floro with a double and single to start the inning, and Charlotte would concede the run to turn a double play. In the final eight innings, the Hammerheads were only able to get three runners into scoring position. Floro struck out five, walked none and allowed eight hits in his first career complete game. For much of the game, it looked as if he wouldn't get any run support, but Charlotte broke out with three runs in the seventh. Willie Argo singled home Hector Guevara, and Drew Vettleson's two run single with two outs gave Charlotte the lead. Vettleson and Guevara each had two hits, and Vettleson reached base four times.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (29-22)

Bowling Green was off.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (26-27)

The AL All-Stars beat the NL All-Stars in a walkoff 4-3 win. A solo home run led off the inning to tie the game, and Oscar Hernandez beat out a potential inning ending double play which allowed the winning run to score. Hernandez was 0/2 with a strikeout. Darryl George also drove in a run with one hit and a strikeout, and Ariel Soriano reached via walk and stole a base.

Rookie Princeton Rays (16-36)

After a rain delay, the Princeton pitching staff settled in to earn a 2-0 win in game one. D.J. Slaton was an out away from pitching a complete game, but he allowed consecutive singles to let the go-ahead run come to the plate. Isaac Gil got the last out for the cheap save. Slaton struck out three, walked none and only allowed six hits. The Rays picked up both of their runs in the fourth inning with Spencer Edwards and Hunter Lockwood singles.

Princeton kept the pressure on in game two and won 6-2. The Rays scored four runs in the first two innings, including two run-scoring triples from Hunter Lockwood. In the fourth inning, they scored two more runs, first on a wild pitch, and then on Enmanuel Paulino's first home run with Princeton. Besides a solo home run he allowed in the sixth, Jake Faria pitched very well, allowing just the one run on four hits and a walk in six innings with seven strikeouts. In addition to his two triples, Lockwood would also hit a double, and Spencer Edwards had three hits himself.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (19-27)

The GCL Rays survived a ninth inning rally from the GCL Red Sox in a game one 2-1 win. Nick Ciuffo and Cristian Toribio each had RBI hits, and the Rays held a 2-0 lead going into the seventh inning. Ruben Paredes came on for the save, but a one out hit and throwing error put a pair of runners in scoring position. After a sac fly plated their only run, Paredes induced a groundout to end the game. Trevor Shull made his first appearance of 2013 and walked a batter in a scoreless inning, and Hyrum Formo made his first appearance for the Rays since June. Geisel De La Cruz struck out three in four scoreless innings to earn the win.

In game two, the Red Sox scored another run in the bottom of the seventh, and this time it decided the game in the Rays' 2-1 loss. Alexander Simon drove home Kean Wong with two outs in the first inning, but the offense was shut down for the remainder of the game. They had several runners in scoring position with less than two outs but were unable to bring them home. With two outs in the seventh, a Taylor Hawkins throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed a runner to move up to third base, and he would score on a walkoff single. Andres Gonzalez started and pitched well, only allowing a run on five hits and a walk in five innings with five strikeouts. Yael Regalado was charged with the unearned run in 1.2 innings of work.

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Star of the day- Floro's debut was impressive.

Goat of the day- I wanted to go to bed, couldn't Montgomery and Jackson have wrapped that up a little faster?

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 6:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Mike Montgomery (7-5, 4.24) v. Yohan Flande (7-7, 4.46)

Montgomery @ Jackson 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
TBA v. Anthony Fernandez (8-6, 3.95)

Charlotte @ Jupiter 6:35 PM
Lenny Linsky (6-5, 3.77) v. Jake Esch (1-7, 4.33)

Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 7:05 PM
Reinaldo Lopez (7-4, 2.23) v. Matthew Shepherd (4-4, 3.87)

Hudson Valley @ Brooklyn 7 PM
Ben Griset (1-2, 3.35) v. TBA

Princeton @ Kingsport 7 PM
Jorge Rodriguez (0-5, 4.89) v. Chris Flexen (6-1, 2.39)

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

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Braves
53-72 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 476 R (13th) .691 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 4.05 ERA (8th) 1.45 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Todd Cunningham (12), RHP Cody Martin (13), RHP David Hale (16)

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
23-23 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 442 R (7th) .670 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.38 ERA (5th) 1.25 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Carson Smith (16), OF Leon Landry (17), 2B Jack Marder (20), C John Hicks (21), OF Julio Morban (23), OF Jabari Blash (24), SS Chris Taylor (28), 3B Ramon Moria (29), LHP Anthony Fernandez (30)

Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami)
24-28 (5th in FSL South)
Offense: 452 R (11th) .662 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.20 ERA (1st) 1.26 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jose Urena (8), RHP Jake Esch (23), RHP Angel Sanchez (25), OF Brent Keys (30), 2B Noah Perio (34)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
19-31 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 553 R (4th) .709 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.68 ERA (5th) 1.40 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Max Fried (2), RHP Walker Weickel (12), RHP Joe Ross (14), RHP Zach Eflin (16), OF Mallex Smith (28), OF Hunter Renfroe

Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
26-26 (2nd in McNamara)
Offense: 175 R (13th) .628 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 2.69 ERA (2nd) 1.13 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Gavin Cecchini (2), OF Jared King, 2B L.J. Mazzilli

Kingsport Mets
29-22 (2nd in APP West)
Offense: 234 R (5th) .718 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.64 ERA (5th) 1.23 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: None

GCL Twins
22-24 (3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 191 R (9th) .652 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 2.89 ERA (2nd) 1.25 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Kohl Stewart