Rays down on the farm August 31: Delmon homers

Contrary to things previously said by me, Charlotte apparently clinched a postseason berth two days ago.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (86-54)

Mike Montgomery sailed through five innings but ran into sixth inning trouble in Durham's 5-1 loss to Gwinnett. The Braves scored five sixth inning runs after only managing two hits through the first five innings. With one out, two Gwinnett baserunners executed a double steal, and that was followed by a single and double that scored the first three runs of the game. Montgomery got the second out, but he allowed a two run home run to put Durham behind 5-0. Montgomery would last two more innings, allowing five runs on six hits and no walks with four strikeouts. A two out double in the ninth by Craig Albernaz scored Kevin Kiermaier for Durham's only run. Luke Scott was 2/4, and Brandon Guyer was 0/4 with a strikeout.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (33-34)

Delmon Young hit his first home run in the organization since the Devil Rays era in Montgomery's 6-2 win over Birmingham. The two run blast in the fifth inning extended their lead to 5-1 at the time, and it came an inning after a three run frame that put the Biscuits ahead. Shawn O'Malley led off the fourth with a home run, and a double by Todd Glaesmann later in the inning would score two more. In his first start since throwing a no-hitter, Victor Mateo pitched well again. He allowed two runs (one earned) in seven innings on four hits and no walks with three strikeouts. O'Malley, Mikie Mahtook and of course Curt Casali had two hit games. Jeff Beliveau and Erik Hamren each struck out two in a perfect inning of relief.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (36-27)

Three late runs sunk Charlotte in their 4-1 loss to Palm Beach. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but the Stone Crabs answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning when Palm Beach conceded a run on an Alejandro Segovia groundout. Only three Stone Crabs would reach base the remaining five innings. Dylan Floro pitched well again, allowing just the one run on three hits and two walks in six innings with four strikeouts. In relief, Luis Cabrera made his Charlotte debut and was welcomed rudely. He got out of a two out, bases loaded jam in his first inning of work, but a two out rally by the Cardinals gave them the lead. Cabrera finished with three runs allowed in three innings on five hits and four walks in five innings. Charlotte only had five hits and one walk.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (41-26)

South Bend posted three multi-run innings in Bowling Green's 9-2 loss to the Silver Hawks. The first of which came in the second inning when they scored three runs against starter Blake Snell. Snell lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing those three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He was relieved by Jose Molina, but after the Hot Rods scored a run in the fifth to pull within two, South Bend scored four more runs in the bottom half of the inning. After recording the first two outs, Molina walked three consecutive batters before a bases clearing double that blew the game open. A single later in the inning would score the fourth run of the frame. A Tommy Coyle single on the eighth got Bowling Green on the board again, but South Bend promptly scored two more runs to extend the lead further. Andrew Toles picked up two more extra base hits.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (35-35)

Hudson Valley survived a late rally to beat Aberdeen 6-5. The IronBirds scored the first run of the game in the first, but the Renegades quickly answered by scoring all six of theirs in the following three innings. John Alexander had a two run single in the second to give Hudson Valley their first lead, and RBI hits by James Harris, Johnny Field and Omar Narvaez extended the lead to 6-1. Starter Chris Kirsch sailed through the next five innings, but he ran trouble when they tried to extend him through seven innings. He retired the leadoff batter, but after allowing the next two to reach, he was replaced by Cory Jordan. He retired his first batter as well, but the next three reached, scoring three runs, and Aaron Griffin replaced Jordan. Griffin then walked two straight batters to score another run and put the tying run at third base, but he got the last out of the inning and recorded the last six outs for the save. Kirsch allowed three runs in 6.1 innings on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Four Renegades had two hit games, including Darryl George with two doubles.

Rookie Princeton Rays (25-43)

Princeton's offense broke out late to close out their season with an 8-4 win over Bristol. The White Sox scored a run in each of the first four innings, but the Rays stuck with them and tied the game at four in the fifth. Thanks to three Rays errors and a passed ball, all four of the Bristol runs were actually unearned and charged to Jake Faria. He allowed the four unearned runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings with seven strikeouts. In the seventh, the Rays scored a pair of runs to take the lead without the benefit of a hit. With two outs, Yoel Araujo walked to extend the inning and advanced a base on a throwing error. Two walks and a wild pitch later, and Princeton led 6-4. Hunter Lockwood extended the lead in the ninth with a two run homer. Johnny Eierman had two extra base hits, and David Garcia reached base four times. Oscar Armenta and Jorge Rodriguez each had two scoreless innings of relief.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (27-33)

The GCL Rays season is over.

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Star of the day- Garcia's pro debut with Princeton wasn't great, but he finished strong.

Goat of the day- Jumping from Princeton to Charlotte might've been too much for Cabrera.

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

Durham @ Norfolk 5:05 PM DOUBLEHEADER (MiLB.TV)
Merrill Kelly* (8-4, 3.10) v. Tsuyoshi Wada* (5-6, 4.28)
TBA v. TBA

First game is the resumption of a suspended game and will be followed by a seven inning game

Montgomery @ Birmingham 7:30 PM (MiLB.TV)
Joe Van Meter (0-3, 6.92) v. Chris Beck (1-2, 3.43)

Charlotte @ Palm Beach 6:34 PM
Ryan Carpenter* (7-6, 4.67) v. Kyle Hald (5-8, 4.45)

Bowling Green v. Lake County 8:05 PM
Kevin Brandt (2-0, 1.42) v. Luis Lugo (0-0, 2.89)

Hudson Valley v. Staten Island 7:05 PM
TBA v. Caleb Smith (1-2, 1.89)

Princeton's season is over

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
74-66 (2nd in IL South)
Offense: 627 R (4th) .729 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.87 ERA (7th) 1.35 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: IF Jonathan Schoop (3), OF Henry Urrutia (13), RHP Steve Johnson (16), LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (21), LHP Michael Belfiore (24)

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
31-36 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 605 R (2nd) .706 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.54 ERA (6th) 1.24 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
35-30 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 512 R (11th) .695 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.61 ERA (4th) 1.29 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Tyrell Jenkins (8), 3B Patrick Wisdom (11), RHP Jordan Swagerty (18), 2B Colin Walsh (31)

Lake County Captains (Cleveland)
31-36 (6th in MWL East)
Offense: 582 R (10th) .698 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.20 ERA (14th) 1.39 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Dorssys Paulino (2), LHP Luis Lugo (12), OF Anthony Santander (13), RHP Dylan Baker (16), OF LeVon Washington

Staten Island Yankees
30-40 (4th in McNamara)
Offense: 271 R (8th) .654 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.25 ERA (8th) 1.29 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Eric Jagielo, OF Michael O'Neill