Rays down on the farm April 11: Charlotte's slide continues

Early on, the upper level affiliates have had smoother seasons than the lower levels.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (5-3)

After going up 5-0 early, Durham held on for a morning 5-4 win over Charlotte. In the second inning, the Bulls scored three unearned runs thanks to a two out error that extended the frame. Eddy Rodriguez scored the third run when Cole Figueroa was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Two innings later, Rodriguez doubled home Durham's fourth run of the game and scored the fifth on a Ray Olmedo double. As the leadoff hitter, Olmedo reached base three times.

Including striking out the side in the first inning, Matt Andriese was sharp through the first four, only allowing three runners to reach base. He ran into trouble in the fifth though, allowing Charlotte's first run on back to back doubles and then serving up a two out, two run home run to make it a 5-3 game. Andriese finished with three runs allowed on five hits and two walks in five innings with eight strikeouts. In the seventh, the Knights pulled within one thanks to a two out rally against Adam Liberatore, but Brad Boxberger struck out five over the final two innings to secure the win.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (4-3)

A late seven run outburst led Montgomery to a 7-4 win over Mobile. Down 4-0 in the seventh, the Biscuits sent 11 men to the plate and scored all seven runs. They did it with seven hits, all of which were singles, a walk, and a hit batter with the bases loaded. The tying and go-ahead runs came across to score on an Alejandro Segovia single. In total, Montgomery piled up 15 hits, all singles, and eight batters reached base multiple times. Ryan Brett led the way with three hits, and five Biscuits had two hit games, including Segovia and Jake Hager.

Earlier in the game, the BayBears got to starter Dylan Floro who could not complete five innings. In 4.1 innings, he was charged with all four runs on nine hits and a walk with one strikeout. Jake Thompson got the win with 1.2 scoreless innings, but he allowed both inherited runners he had to score in the fifth. Santiago Garrido struck out three in two perfect innings to earn the save.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (1-6)

Charlotte scored a first inning run, but the offense checked out after that in a 4-1 loss to Fort Myers. After Leonardo Reginatto reached base on an error, Tommy Coyle and Patrick Leonard hit back to back singles to score the unearned run. Josh Sale grounded into a double play to end the inning, and the Stone Crabs would only get four more runners in scoring position the remainder of the game. Coyle had two hits and reached base three times.

Roberto Gomez only allowed one Miracle batter to reach base in the first three innings, but an Adam Brett Walker solo home run in the fourth tied the game. An inning later, Fort Myers piled up three more runs when the first six batters of the inning reached base. If not for Marty Gantt throwing out two runners from right field, it could've been worse. Gomez allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk in six innings with two strikeouts. Parker Markel threw two scoreless innings of relief.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (2-4)

Bowling Green jumped to a 3-0 lead, but they couldn't hold it in their 5-4 loss to Burlington. In the third with the bases loaded, the Hot Rods scored two runs after a throwing error, and Armando Araiza singled home the fourth. Starter Jordan Harrison pitched well with the run support, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk in five innings with a strikeout.

Bowling Green scored their final run on a wild pitch in the seventh, and the Bees scored three over the next two innings against the Hot Rods bullpen to take the lead. Brad Schreiber allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, and Andrew Hanse allowed two runs on four two out hits an inning later. In the ninth, Bowling Green got the tying run to third base with two outs, but Juniel Querecuto grounded out to end the game. Kean Wong had three more hits.

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Star of the day- Segovia was one of the better hitters on the day.

Goat of the day- Bowling Green's offense finally scored some runs, but the bullpen let them down.

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Mike Montgomery (1-0, 0.00) v. Hector Daniel Rodriguez (1-0, 1.80)

Montgomery @ Mobile 8:05 PM (Radio stream)
Jared Mortensen (0-0, 20.25) v. Michael Lee (0-1, 3.00)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 6:30 PM (Radio stream)
Reinaldo Lopez (0-1, 20.25) v. Joe Cuda (0-0, 2.25)

Bowling Green @ Peoria 7:30 PM (Radio stream)
Chris Kirsch (0-1, 1.80) v. Silfredo Garcia (0-1, 2.25)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Braves
4-3 (2nd in IL South)
Offense: 41 R (3rd) .739 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 5.25 ERA (14th) 1.48 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Christian Bethancourt (2), 2B Tommy La Stella (9), RHP Cody Martin (11), 3B Edward Salcedo (12), OF Joey Terdoslavich (15), OF Todd Cunningham (23), RHP Juan Jaime (27)

Mobile BayBears (Arizona)
4-3 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: 27 R (5th) .644 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 2.53 ERA (4th) 1.23 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Matt Stites (9), RHP Jake Barrett (11), 3B Jake Lamb (12), RHP Chase Anderson (23), LHP Andrew Chafin (24)

Palm Beach Cardinals
5-2 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 32 R (4th) .700 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 2.04 ERA (2nd) 1.01 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Marco Gonzales (5), OF Charlie Tilson (12), 2B Jacob Wilson (29)

Peoria Chiefs (St. Louis)
3-4 (T-7th in MWL West)
Offense: 18 R (16th) .570 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.16 ERA (6th) 1.40 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Alex Reyes (7), C Carson Kelly (11), OF Kenneth People-Walls (18), SS Juan Herrera (20), OF C.J. McElroy (24), C Steve Bean (28)