Rays down on the farm April 16: Sands socks a pair

Bowling Green was finally back on the field, but the results were more of the same.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (10-3)

Jerry Sands and the rest of the Durham lineup continued to batter Charlotte pitching in their 9-2 win over the Knights. Later in the third inning after Eddy Rodriguez tied the game at one with a solo home run, Sands belted a three run dinger to make it a 4-1 Bulls lead, and his day wasn't over. After Durham added three more runs in the next inning, Sands provided more insurance with a solo shot, his fourth home run of the season. He was one of five Durham batters with multi-hit games. Mikie Mahtook remained hot with four more hits and was just a home run shy of the cycle, and Robby Price added three hits from the nine hole.

Enny Romero did in fact make his scheduled start, and he ran into trouble early. After allowing a first inning run that briefly put Charlotte ahead, he settled in a bit to finish with just the one run allowed in five innings on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. 54 of his 92 pitches (58.7%) were for strikes. Matt Andriese allowed a run in two innings out of the bullpen, and Jeff Beliveau struck out four and walked one in two innings.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (6-6)

After trading first inning runs, the Biscuits fell behind to Pensacola and couldn't catch up in Montgomery's 7-4 loss. In the top of the first, Jeff Malm's bases loaded walk gave Montgomery a quick 1-0 lead, but the Blue Wahoos answered with a two out rally against Dylan Floro to tie the game. Things fell apart for Floro in a four run third inning. A Richie Shaffer throwing error didn't help matters, but all four runs were earned regardless. Two innings later, Floro couldn't complete the fifth and allowed two more runs. Floro finished with seven runs allowed in 4.1 innings on 11 hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

The bullpen was able to settle things down, and Braulio Lara struck out four and walked none in 2.2 innings of relief. Unfortunately, the Biscuits were unable to respond offensively until the eighth inning. A Shaffer triple scored Curt Casali for the first run of the inning, and Alejandro Segovia and Jake Hager would each drive in a run that inning. Shaffer had two of Montgomery's five hits, and Casali drew four of the team's nine walks.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (4-8)

A late rally bolstered by a big home run led Charlotte to a 6-4 win over Fort Myers. The Stone Crabs fell behind by two runs on two occasions, and both times it was Kes Carter in the middle of the comeback. Down 2-0 in the fifth, his RBI single to score Marty Gantt cut the deficit to one, and Patrick Leonard's solo home run an inning later tied the game. After the Miracle went up 4-2 in the eighth, Charlotte got to work with two outs in the bottom half of the inning. Gantt's RBI single made it a one run game, and Carter followed him with a three run home run that proved to be the game winner.

Roberto Gomez was solid in the win despite not being credited with the victory. He allowed two runs on six hits and two walks in six innings with five strikeouts. Marcus Jensen was the pitcher that got the win, allowing two unearned runs due to a Leonardo Reginatto throwing error. Carter had a three hit game, and Leonard and Gantt each added two of their own.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (2-9)

Bowling Green had an extremely forgettable doubleheader, first losing 2-0 and then 1-0 in game two. In the first game, the Hot Rods actually outhit Kane County 7-2, but except for a two hit third inning, all of them came in separate innings. Kean Wong and Darryl George each had two hits, but the team combined to strike out 10 times and draw no walks. This wasted a solid performance from German Marquez who allowed only an unearned run on two hits and a walk in five innings with a strikeout.

In game two, the offense was even more non-existent, picking up only one hit, a single by George. They did manage to draw two walks though, and Johnny Field was hit by a pitch. Blake Snell allowed the run on 4.1 innings on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

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Star of the day- Sands has played a big role in Durham's hot start.

Goat of the day- Oscar Hernandez stood out today for not hitting and committing an error with two passed balls.

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

Durham v. Norfolk 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Mike Montgomery (2-0, 0.90) v. Steve Johnson (0-0. 5.87)

Montgomery @ Pensacola 7:30 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Dylan Floro (0-0, 7.71) v. Daniel Corcino (0-2, 5.40)

Charlotte v. Fort Myers 10 AM (Radio stream)
Reinaldo Lopez (1-1, 10.57) v. Tyler Duffey (2-0, 2.25)

Bowling Green v. Kane County 11:35 AM (Radio stream)
Jake Faria* (0-1, 3.24) v. Tyler Skulina (1-0, 3.86)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
3-9 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 36 R (12th) .661 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.71 ERA (13th) 1.50 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Kevin Gausman (2), DH Henry Urrutia (7), RHP Mike Wright (8), LHP Chris Jones (27)

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Cincinnati)
7-5 (1st in SL South)
Offense: 45 R (5th) .715 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.12 ERA (4th) 1.14 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Robert Stephenson (1), OF Yorman Rodriguez (5), RHP Michael Lorenzen (6), RHP Carlos Contreras (7), RHP Daniel Corcino (13), OF Donald Lutz (16), RHP Jon Moscot (23)

Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
7-5 (T-1st in FSL South)
Offense: 67 R (1st) .702 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.11 ERA (6th) 1.34 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP J.O. Berrios (5), 2B Jorge Polanco (10), OF Max Kepler (11), OF Adam Brett Walker (16), LHP Mason Melotakis (18), 3B Travis Harrison (25), SS Niko Goodrum (26)

Kane County Cougars (Cubs)
9-3 (1st in MWL West)
Offense: 56 R (5th) .600 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.48 ERA (7th) 1.33 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Paul Blackburn (12), OF Jacob Hannemann (17), RHP Tyler Skulina (19), 2B Danny Lockhart (30)