Rays down on the farm May 23: Bowling Green fires shutout

Matt Moore's Bowling Green single game strikeout record now has company.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (27-21)

After losing a 4-2 lead, Durham made a late comeback in their 7-5 win over Columbus.  Three batters into the game, Mikie Mahtook doubled home a pair of runs to put the Bulls up 2-0, but the lead did not last long.  In the fourth, a two run homer by the Clippers against Enny Romero tied the game.  It was an inefficient outing for Romero, lasting just four innings, allowing the two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five.  59 of his 96 pitches were strikes.

In his first appearance since being sent down by the Rays, Brandon Gomes struggled.  He threw an easy fifth inning, but he ran into a lot of trouble in the sixth.  A wild pitch allowed a runner to move into scoring position and come home on a two out single, and after a balk, he allowed a two run home run to George Kottaras that put Durham in a 5-4 hole.  In the eighth, Vince Belnome's RBI single tied the game, and in the ninth, it was Kevin Kiermaier's two run double with two outs that gave the Bulls the lead back.  Kirby Yates allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the ninth, but he recorded three more strikeouts to end the game.  Four Bulls had two hit games including Mahtook and Jayson Nix.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (25-21)

In a wild 13 inning marathon, Montgomery eventually came out on top in a 7-6 win over Huntsville.  Down 5-2 in the eighth, the Biscuits put up a three run frame, culminating in a two out RBI double by Jeremy Moore.  For the next few innings, the game remained scoreless, but in the 12th, Huntsville's Kentrail Davis completed the cycle by hitting a solo home run to give the Stars a 6-5 lead.  It only took two batters in the bottom half of the inning for Montgomery to keep the game going though, as Richie Shaffer doubled and came home to score on a throwing error.  An inning later, Moore led off with a single, advanced on a sac bunt and scored the winning run on a Cameron Seitzer ground rule double.

It was the Biscuits bullpen that did most of the heavy lifting.  Starter Victor Mateo allowed five Huntsville runs on eight hits and two walks in four innings with three strikeouts.  Despite the control problems, the relievers were up to the task, combining to allow just one run in nine innings of work.  Matt Ramsey likely had the most impressive line, striking out five in three hitless innings while only issuing one walk.  The Montgomery offense piled up 15 hits and seven walks, but they also struck out 18 times.  Shaffer had three hits, including his seventh home run of the season, and also walked.  Jeff Malm also had three hits.  After singling to start the game, Ryan Brett was removed for a pinch runner.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (23-23)

After scoring three first inning runs, Charlotte packed up and went home in their 6-4 loss to Lakeland.  With two outs in the first, Tyler Goeddel tripled home a pair of runs, and he came home to score on a wild pitch.  For the next five innings, they really didn't threaten at all until the seventh inning when they scored their final run on a Marty Gantt single.  Patrick Leonard had three of Charlotte's 10 hits.

For the first time in a month, Leonel Santiago delivered a decent start.  The only run he allowed came on a solo home run in the fourth inning, and he finished with just the one run allowed on three hits and a walk in five innings with three strikeouts.  After a clean first inning in relief of Santiago, Parker Markel ran into trouble, as did his defense.  Hector Guevara committed an error that allowed the leadoff batter to reach base, and with the bases loaded, Markel allowed a triple that tied the game.  After walking the next better and strikeout out the one after him, Markel was relieved by Ryan Garton, and he allowed both the inherited runner to score as well as one on his own line an inning later.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-25)

Jaime Schultz was dominant for the second straight outing in Bowilng Green's 5-0 win over Lake County.  He started the game by striking out the side, and he wasn't finished there.  He had to get out of some occasional trouble, but he continued mowing down Captains, finishing with two hits and three walks allowed in 5.2 innings and 12 strikeouts.  The 12 strikeouts was tied for a Bowling Green single game high with a guy named Matt Moore.  Ian Kendall and Colton Reavis wrapped up the shutout.

The Hot Rods scored the only run they needed in the second inning when Granden Goetzman led off with a single, stole second and advanced on consecutive groundouts.  They were fortunate Schultz was so good because Lake County starter Dace Kime only allowed one more baserunner in his five inning outing.  Lake County's bullpen was much more accommodating, and they scored four seventh inning runs, including a two run double by Ariel Soriano.  Goetzman had two of Bowling Green's seven hits.

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Star of the day- Maybe Schultz should have been up with Bowling Green sooner.

Goat of the day- Markel has pitched okay this year, but Thursday was not his night.

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

Durham @ Columbus 7:15 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Matt Andriese (3-3, 4.93) v. Travis Banwart (3-0, 3.35)

Montgomery v. Huntsville 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Dylan Floro (3-4, 4.50) v. Taylor Jungmann (4-4, 2.77)

Charlotte @ Lakeland 7:11 PM
Austin Pruitt (3-1, 5.36) v. Kevin Eichhorn (3-0, 1.66)

Bowling Green v. Lake County 8:05 PM (Radio stream)
Jake Faria* (3-2, 3.24) v. Jordan Milbrath (1-4, 2.79)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
22-23 (2nd in IL West)
Offense: 183 R (11th) .712 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.74 ERA (6th) 1.29 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP C.C. Lee (8), 2B Jose Ramirez (9), RHP Austin Adams (10), OF Carlos Moncrief (14), 1B Jesus Aguilar (15), LHP Scott Barnes (26)

Huntsville Stars (Milwaukee)
31-16 (1st in SL North)
Offense: 228 R (2nd) .704 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.13 ERA (2nd) 1.16 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Mitch Haniger (3), RHP Taylor Jungmann (6), RHP David Goforth (8), 1B Jason Rogers (20), RHP Kevin Shackelford (21), RHP Drew Gagnon (25), RHP Tyler Cravy (29), OF D'Vontrey Richardson (30)

Lakeland Flying Tigers
29-17 (2nd in FSL North)
Offense: 196 R (6th) .670 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.13 ERA (3rd) 1.23 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jake Thompson (4), RHP Calvin Drummond (29)

Lake County Captains (Cleveland)
16-31 (8th in MWL East)
Offense: 170 R (16th) .670 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 4.53 ERA (14th) 1.34 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Clint Frazier (2), SS Dorssys Paulino (6), RHP Dace Kime (16), RHP Adam Plutko (18), OF Anthony Santander (20), LHP Luis Lugo (21), RHP Mitch Brown (24), 1B Nellie Rodriguez (27)