Meanwhile, Dylan Floro continues to be an absolute workhorse for the Biscuits.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (41-29)
Durham's offense finally managed to produce something in their 10 inning 2-1 win over Indianapolis. The Bulls put up eight more scoreless innings before finally breaking through in the ninth. After walks by Jayson Nix and Mikie Mahtook, Mike Fontenot singled home Nix to tie the game. In the 10th, Ali Solis led off with a single and eventually came around to score on a Cole Figueroa double that put Durham up for good.
Back in the rotation for another start, Merrill Kelly was sharp, only allowing an unearned run in his last inning of work. A passed ball moved a runner into scoring position that eventually scored on a base hit. He finished with just that run allowed on three hits and two walks in six innings with six strikeouts. The bullpen pitched four scoreless innings, although Brandon Gomes did walk three in an inning of work. Figueroa, Mahtook and Vince Belnome all reached base three times.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (33-35)
It took a while, but Montgomery's offense finally broke out in their 14 inning 5-3 win over Birmingham. The Biscuits went ahead 2-1 in the fourth, but it would take 10 innings for them to do so again as the Barons tied the game and sent it to extras. In the 14th, Taylor Motter singled to load the bases with one out, and back to back hits by Willie Argo and Jeff Malm gave Montgomery a 5-2 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Matt Ramsey allowed a run and the tying run to reach base before closing the game down to record the save.
The previous 13 innings were all pitched very well. Dylan Floro gave up two Birmingham runs, but he was incredibly efficient, using 87 pitches (62 strikes) to throw the first nine innings, allowing the two runs on six hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Santiago Garrido threw three scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts, and Braulio Lara chipped in a scoreless frame. Jake DePew led the Biscuits with three hits in his Montgomery debut, and Cameron Seitzer and Motter each had two. Despite the long game, Montgomery managed to avoid any ugly 0-fors.
Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (31-34)
Charlotte is at the All-Star break.
Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-36)
Bowling Green made a comeback, lost a lead and then went ahead again in a 10 inning 4-3 win over Fort Wayne. The Hot Rods were shut out for the first six innings, but back to back singles to lead off the seventh were followed by a three run homer by Pat Blair to make it a 3-1 game. That lead wouldn't last though, as Willie Gabay allowed a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras. In the 10th, Johnny Field hit a two out single to put Bowling Green ahead for good.
A pair of errors, including one by Chris Kirsch himself, led to Fort Wayne's first inning run. After that, he settled in for five innings, only allowing the unearned run on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Four Hot Rods had two hit games, including Blair and Spencer Edwards, who has three in his last two games and also stole two bases. Oscar Hernandez had two hits, and his average is now up to .273.
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (1-0)
Hunter Lockwood started off Hudson Valley's season with a bang with a walkoff homer to send the Renegades to a 2-1 win over Aberdeen. Down to their last out with non-existent offensive production the first two innings, Lockwood hit a two run home run that scored Bralin Jackson to win the game. Lockwood had three of Hudson Valley's six hits.
Hunter Wood, another 2013 pick, got off to a nice start too. In four scoreless innings, he allowed just four hits, didn't walk any batters, and struck out six batters. In the eighth, the IronBirds broke the scoreless tie with a two out solo home run off Edgar Gomez in his third inning of work. Isaac Gil was credited with the win despite narrowly getting out of trouble in the ninth.
Star of the day- Floro has pitched seven or more innings in eight of his 14 starts this year.
Goat of the day- Pretty nice Friday in the minors.
Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham @ Indianapolis 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Mike Montgomery (7-1, 3.36) v. Jay Jackson (4-1, 4.53)
Montgomery @ Birmingham 7:30 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Scott Snodgress (3-5, 4.54)
Florida State League All-Star Game 7:05 PM (Bradenton)
Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
Ryne Stanek (3-2, 2.16) v. Walker Weickel* (1-7, 5.93)
Hudson Valley v. Aberdeen 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
TBA v. TBA
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh)
40-28 (1st in IL West)
Offense: 322 R (2nd) .729 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.71 ERA (7th) 1.32 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Tony Sanchez (15), 1B Andrew Lambo (21), OF Jaff Decker (22)
Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
29-39 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 285 R (7th) .705 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.30 ERA (9th) 1.42 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Trayce Thompson (7), RHP Chris Beck (8), RHP Chris Bassitt (15), LHP Scott Snodgress (16), 1B Rangel Ravelo (30)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
29-38 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 361 R (1st) .718 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.91 ERA (16th) 1.58 WHIP (16th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Walker Weickel (19), Dustin Peterson (22)
Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore)
0-1 (4th in McNamara)
Offense: 1 R (12th) .750 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 2.08 ERA (7th) 0.92 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Alex Murphy (31)