Rays down on the farm May 28: Romero struggles again

Besides Bowling Green, it wasn't the best day in the organization.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (31-22)

Enny Romero was not good in Durham's 12-4 loss to Toledo.  The Mud Hens batted around with five hits, including two for extra bases, and a double steal on their way to a five run first inning, and things didn't get much better in the second when he was charged with three runs and chased from the game without completing two innings.  Romero was charged with eight runs on six hits and three walks in 1.2 innings with one strikeout.  Doug Mathis didn't fare much better in relief, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks in 4.1 innings, but he did strike out eight batters.

The Bulls did manage to chase Mud Hens starter Robbie Ray pretty quickly, but the hole they were in was too big to overcome.  Wilson Betemit's fourth inning solo home run was part of a two run inning that knocked Ray out in 3.2 after allowing three runs.  Toledo's bullpen settled things down though, and the only run three relievers combined to allow came on a solo home run by Justin Christian.  Christian's other hit was a double, and he scored three runs.  Mikie Mahtook hit two singles.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (26-26)

Jacksonville went up early and rolled to a victory in Montgomery's game one 4-2 loss.  The Suns scored four runs (three earned) against Victor Mateo in the first two innings, but he hung in there and earned one of those silly minor league doubleheader complete games, allowing those runs on four hits and a walk in six innings with three strikeouts.  Both teams only had four hits, and two of Montgomery's were sixth inning RBI doubles by Jeremy Moore and Luke Maile.

A big inning against Matt Lollis cost Montgomery in their game two 6-3 loss.  Thanks to early solo home runs from Ryan Brett and and Riccio Torrez, the game entered the fifth in a 2-2 tie, but Lollis let it get away in his second inning of work.  After getting the first batter out, he walked consecutive batters and allowed a tiebreaking single before being lifted from the game.  Bryce Stowell replaced him, and after issuing a walk to load the bases, Rich Poythress cleared the bases with a double to make it a 6-2 game.  In the seventh, Alejandro Segovia hit Montgomery's third solo home run, but that was as close as they'd get.  Spot starter Jim Patterson allowed two runs in three innings.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (25-25)

Charlotte was shut down by one of Toronto's top prospects in their 7-0 loss to Dunedin.  Jeff Ames allowed one run in both the first and second innings, and that would be all the Blue Jays needed.  He didn't allow any runs after that, but Ames did not pitch well, allowing the two runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings with no strikeouts.  Dunedin would tack on runs against Charlotte's bullpen and took advantage of poor defense.  Four unearned runs were scored against Nick Sawyer because of errors from Leonardo Reginatto and Justin O'Conner, and they scored an (earned) run two innings later.

Meanwhile, Daniel Norris completely shut down the Charlotte lineup.  After loading the bases in the first inning, the Stone Crabs were not even close to threatening the rest of the game.  Norris finished with eight strikeouts in 5.1 scoreless innings, and a pair of relievers didn't have much trouble going through the lineup either.  Reginatto had three of Charlotte's four hits.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (23-27)

For the second straight game, West Michigan was no match for the Hot Rods in Bowling Green's 10-3 win.  Once again, they got on the board early and took advantage of Whitecap mistakes.  They scored three first inning runs with only two hits, thanks to a hit by pitch, passed ball and two out error.  They added two more an inning later with a two out single by Johnny Field, and the Hot Rods cruised from there.  They scored five more runs in the sixth through eighth innings, including a two run double by Pat Blair.  Field had three hits and drove in three runs.  Kean Wong also had three hits.

German Marquez finally rebounded from three straight poor outings.  With the early run support, he had his best start of the year.  He lasted a season high six innings, allowed just one run on four hits and a walk and struck out six, also a season high.  Ian Kendall allowed two late runs (one earned), but it wasn't nearly enough for West Michigan to get back in the game.

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Star of the day- At least Bowling Green hit again.

Goat of the day- Romero's decent start to the season seems like a long time ago.

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

Durham @ Toledo 10:30 AM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Matt Andriese (4-3, 4.44) v. Derek Hankins (2-4, 6.22)

Montgomery @ Jacksonville 1:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Dylan Floro (4-4, 3.90) v. Jay Rogers* (0-1, 12.60)

Charlotte v. Dunedin 6:30 PM (Radio stream)
Leonel Santiago* (1-4, 8.15) v. Kendall Graveman (3-1, 3.38)

Bowling Green v. Fort Wayne 8:05 PM (Radio stream)
Jaime Schultz (1-0, 0.00) v. Erik Cabrera* (1-3, 4.40)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
24-28 (4th in IL West)
Offense: 227 R (6th) .707 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.87 ERA (7th) 1.37 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Robbie Ray (5), SS Eugenio Suarez (7), 2B Hernan Perez (9), C James McCann (11), RHP Drew VerHagen (12), RHP Jose Ortega (13), RHP Melvin Mercedes (16), LHP Casey Crosby (17), 1B Jordan Lennerton (19), OF Tyler Collins (20), OF Daniel Fields (22), LHP Kyle Lobstein (23)

Jacksonville Suns (Miami)
27-25 (3rd in SL South)
Offense: 221 R (4th) .688 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.88 ERA (5th) 1.31 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Justin Nicolino (4), RHP Jose Urena (7), C J.T. Realmuto (10), RHP Angel Sanchez (16), RHP Nick Wittgren (18), OF Brent Keys (19), LHP Edgar Olmos (23), RHP Tyler Higgins (25)

Dunedin Blue Jays
36-15 (1st in FSL North)
Offense: 224 R (4th) .706 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 2.48 ERA (1st) 1.06 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Daniel Norris (6), OF Dalton Pompey (17), OF Dwight Smith Jr. (27)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
22-29 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 277 R (2nd) .705 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.83 ERA (16th) 1.58 WHIP (16th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Walker Weickel (19), Dustin Peterson (22)