Rays down on the farm May 19: Durham goes deep

In former Rays prospect news, Nevin Ashley joined the Pirates and will be added to the roster if Tony Sanchez has to go on the DL.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (26-19)

Three home runs backed an inconsistent Mike Montgomery in Durham's 6-2 win over Louisville.  Working with a 1-0 lead, Montgomery allowed both Louisville runs in the third inning with two outs.  After a walk and single to extend the inning, Montgomery allowed another single that tied the game, and he followed that up with a wild pitch that gave the Bats the lead.  He would settle in after that though and last into the seventh inning, finishing with the two runs allowed  on six hits and four walks in 6.1 innings with four strikeouts.

The Bulls took the lead back for good in the fourth inning on a two run homer by Mikie Mahtook, his first of the season.  Two innings later, Wilson Betemit and Vince Belnome hit solo home runs to add insurance runs for the bullpen.  Mahtook and Belnome each had three hit games.  Mahtook's day also included a double and stolen base.  In relief of Montgomery, Jake Thompson and Kirby Yates combined to strike out five batters in 2.2 innings while only facing one batter over the minimum.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (23-20)

After taking a 1-0 lead, things quickly went south for Montgomery in their 8-1 loss to Jackson.  Montgomery's only run came in the fifth inning on a Jeremy Moore solo home run.  It was his second straight game with a homer after posting just a .264 OPS in his first eight games of the season.  That was one of just four hits for the Biscuits, but Luke Bailey did manage to reach base three times.

Roberto Gomez pitched pretty well through the first four innings, but the wheels came off in the fifth.  Two batters into the inning, the Generals took the lead on a two run homer, but the hit parade didn't stop there.  Three hits, an ejection and two errors later, Jackson led 4-1 and knocked Gomez out of the game.  He finished with four runs (two earned) allowed on seven hits and a walk in five innings with two strikeouts.  Jackson would tack on four more runs against Montgomery's bullpen with Matt Neil and Matt Lollis allowed two each.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (21-21)

A five run sixth inning helped Charlotte to top Clearwater by a 6-2 score.  They only needed four hits to score those runs, all unearned, thanks to a series of Thresher gaffes.  Leonardo Reginatto led off the inning by reaching base on an error, and he eventually came around to score after a wild pitch and a second error.  The inning was capped off by a two run Jonathan Quinonez single.  Andrew Toles reached base three times.

Although he allowed a run in the second inning, struggling starter Austin Pruitt turned in his best outing of the year.  In that inning, he allowed two hits and uncorked a wild pitch, but he wouldn't allow a baserunner in any other inning and finished his outing retiring 13 straight batters.  He finished with the one run allowed on two hits and no walks in six innings with four strikeouts.  Leonel Santiago allowed Clearwater's second run in one inning of work in relief.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (19-23)

Bowling Green jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and barely held on for a 5-4 win over Great Lakes.  Three batters into the game, the Hot Rods took a 2-0 lead on an Armando Araiza double that scored Johnny Field and Kean Wong.  Field singled home another run an inning later, and with two outs in the third, Oscar Hernandez doubled home another run to make it 4-0.  They scored their fifth run in the fifth on a Granden Goetzman sac fly.  Four batters had two hit games, including Wong.  Alexander Simon reached base three times and stole a base.

Jake Faria could have been in trouble right away, but after the first two batters of the game reached base, he induced a double play to start a string of 12 out of 13 straight batters being retired.  With three hits and a squeeze bunt, the Loons scored a pair in the fifth to get on the board, and they scored an unearned run an inning later.  Faria finished with three runs (two allowed) on six hits and no walks in six innings with three strikeouts.  After pulling within one run in the seventh, Great Lakes failed to record a baserunner against Bowling Green's bullpen over the last two innings.

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Star of the day- After a disastrous April, Belnome is turning his season around.

Goat of the day- Bailey reached base three times, but Montgomery could've done without his two errors and three passed balls.

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

Durham v. Louisville 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Merrill Kelly* (4-1, 2.47) v. Chien-Ming Wang (3-4, 4.79)

Montgomery @ Jackson 12:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Mike Colla (1-5, 5.23) v. Cam Hobson (3-3, 2.96)

Charlotte v. Clearwater 6:30 PM (Radio stream)
Reinaldo Lopez (2-2, 4.25) v. Jon Prosinski (0-4, 5.49)

Bowling Green @ Lansing 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
Chris Kirsch* (2-5, 5.86) v. Jeremy Gabryszwski (2-2, 3.45)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Louisville Bats (Cincinnati)
20-23 (3rd in IL West)
Offense: 191 R (5th) .684 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 4.96 ERA (14th) 1.52 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP David Holmberg (7), RHP Chad Rogers (15), OF Donald Lutz (16), RHP Curtis Partch (28)

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
18-25 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 168 R (6th) .658 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.91 ERA (6th) 1.29 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Victor Sanchez (7), 3B Patrick Kivlehan (12), SS Ketel Marte (20), C John Hicks (23)

Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia)
9-31 (6th in FSL North)
Offense: 125 R (12th) .599 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 4.65 ERA (12th) 1.54 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Andrew Knapp (19)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
21-21 (4th in MWL West)
Offense: 201 R (6th) .705 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.97 ERA (8th) 1.47 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF D.J. Davis (3), 3B Mitch Nay (4), RHP Alberto Tirado (8), SS Dawel Lugo (9), RHP Chase De Jong (11), RHP Tom Robson (16), C Santiago Nessy (23), 1B Matt Dean (25)