Rays down on the farm August 29: Bowling Green clinches

Charlotte should join them soon.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (85-53)

A first inning home run by Tim Beckham jump started Durham in their 5-1 win over Gwinnett. He led off the game with a solo shot, and a Leslie Anderson groundout scored a second run as the Bulls jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. Beckham hit an RBI double an inning later, and he finished the game with four hits and was just a triple shy of the cycle. With the early runs, J.D. Martin was able to roll to his 16th win of the season, allowing just the one run in 7.1 innings on seven hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Brandon Guyer picked up two extra base hits and reached base three times, and Luke Scott was 1/4 with a walk and run scored as Durham's DH. Vince Belnome had two hits despite not entering the game until the seventh inning.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (31-34)

Montgomery was off.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (35-26)

After scoring in the first inning, Charlotte's offense took the night off in a 10 inning, 2-1 loss to St. Lucie. Willie Argo led off the game with a double, and he came around to score on a sac bunt and then a Drew Vettleson groundout. Unfortunately, they would only pick up two more hits and five more baserunners the rest of the game. Jake Partridge allowed an unearned run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in four innings, but it was Lenny Linsky's work in long relief that kept Charlotte in the game. He struck out four and only allowed one hit in 3.2 innings. Matt Ramsey would take the loss after allowing the 10th inning run on a one out sac fly.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (40-25)

Bowling Green clinched a playoff berth in their 4-1 win over South Bend. A Michael Perez solo home run gave the Silver Hawks a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and it would be a while before the Hot Rods got on the board. They finally evened the score on a seventh inning when an Andrew Toles sac fly followed three straight singles to load the bases. In the ninth, Patrick Leonard singled home what would prove to be the winning run, and he would come home as the second run in a two run single by Joey Rickard to add insurance. Jeff Ames allowed a run on three hits and two walks in five innings with four strikeouts, and Bruedlin Suero's great relief work kept Bowling Green in the game before the offense finally scored. He struck out five and only allowed one hit and one walk in three scoreless innings.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (34-34)

Hudson Valley pitched well to earn a 12 inning, 4-3 win over Connecticut. Down 3-2 in the fifth inning, a wild pitch allowed Johnny Field to score the tying run, and that would be the last run until the winning one was scored in the 12th. That run would come off the bat of James Harris whose two out single scored Ty Young. In the bottom half of the inning, Anthony Tzamtzis loaded the bases with one out, but Rick Teasley replaced him and recorded the final two outs of the game. Four Renegades pitchers combined to strike out out 12 and only walk three. Starter Derek Loera allowed three runs (two earned) in six innings with six strikeouts, and Justin Choate struck out five and only allowed two hits in four scoreless innings. John Alexander had three hits and reached base four times.

Rookie Princeton Rays (24-42)

Princeton scored seven runs over the final two innings to take a commanding lead and almost coughed it up in their 9-7 win over Bristol. In the eighth, the Rays were down 4-2 until David Garcia hit a three run homer to put Princeton in front. An inning later, they batted around and scored four more runs, two of which came on a two out throwing error by the White Sox. Stepan Havlicek came on to pitch the ninth, but he ran into some trouble. He loaded the bases before striking out a pair of batters, but that's when Princeton made a pitching change and called on Oscar Armenta. He promptly allowed a bases clearing double to make it a two run game. He struck out the next batter though and was credited with a save. After striking out 12 batters in his last outing, Hunter Wood allowed a solo home run in four innings with four strikeouts. Only one of Bristol's runs was earned. Six Rays had two hit games, including Hunter Lockwood who picked up another extra base hit.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (27-32)

Four GCL Rays pitchers combine to shut down the GCL Red Sox in their 2-1 win. The rehabbing Damion Carroll struggled though despite not allowing a hit and striking out two in 1.1 innings. He allowed their only run on two walks and also hit two batters. Three relievers combined to finish the remaining 7.2 innings, only allowing three batters to reach base. Jose Castillo struck out three in 2.2 innings, and Jose Mujica struck out two in three innings. Eric Fredrick pitched the final two. The Rays scored a run each in the first and second innings with the eventual winning run coming on a single by Riley Unroe. Kean Wong had three more hits, and Nick Ciuffo had two. Adderly Rosa hit two doubles.

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Star of the day- Beckham has seven hits over his last two games.

Goat of the day- Charlotte is close to clinching, but the offense has to snap out of this funk.

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 6:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Matt Moore v. Omar Poveda (6-7, 3.53)

Montgomery @ Birmingham 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Mike Colla (5-2, 3.97) v. Scott Snodgress (10-11, 4.52)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 6:30 PM
Felipe Rivero* (9-7, 3.53) v. Ryan Sherriff* (4-3, 2.56)

Bowling Green @ South Bend 7:05 PM
Jordan Harrison (4-2, 2.75) v. Chase Edwards (0-1, 3.75)

Hudson Valley @ Aberdeen 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)
Jaime Schultz* (1-1, 3.22) v. Alex Santana* (1-1, 2.27)

Princeton @ Bristol 7 PM
Doug Slaton (4-2, 2.57) v. Chris Freudenberg (0-3, 7.17)

GCL Rays v. GCL Red Sox 10 AM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Braves
57-82 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 515 R (13th) .680 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 4.03 ERA (10th) 1.46 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Sean Gilmartin (4), OF Todd Cunningham (12), RHP Cody Martin (13), RHP David Hale (16)

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
31-34 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 601 R (1st) .708 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.50 ERA (5th) 1.23 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Trayce Thompson (2), OF Keenyn Walker (5), LHP Scott Snodgress (6), OF Jared Mitchell (9), RHP Chris Beck (10), RHP Kevin Vance (19), 2B Tyler Saladino (26), Nestor Molina (28), C Mike Blanke (33), OF Brandon Jacobs

Palm Beach Cardinals
34-29 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 508 R (9th) .696 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.66 ERA (7th) 1.30 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Tyrell Jenkins (8), 3B Patrick Wisdom (11), RHP Jordan Swagerty (18), 2B Colin Walsh (31)

South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona)
34-31 (5th in MWL East)
Offense: 594 R (8th) .724 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (8th) 1.29 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: C Michael Perez (12), RHP Kyle Winkler (23), 2B Andrew Velasquez (24), RHP Tyler Green (27), OF Socrates Brito (29), OF Alex Glenn (31), IF Brandon Drury

Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore)
34-31 (2nd in McNamara)
Offense: 274 R (5th) .650 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.41 ERA (12th) 1.29 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Hunter Harvey, OF Mike Yastrzemski

Bristol White Sox
19-44 (5th in APP West)
Offense: 231 R (10th) .627 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.91 ERA (10th) 1.49 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Sammy Ayala (22)

GCL Red Sox
34-25 (won GCL South)
Offense: 213 R (15th) .646 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.06 ERA (4th) 1.24 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Trey Ball, C Jon Denney