Rays down on the farm August 1: Durham and Bowling Green make additions

It's still hard for me to believe the David Price trade happened.  I was sure they were going to play out this season and make another run at the playoffs before parting ways in the off-season, and then the trade was suddenly made.

I'm in the camp that it was an underwhelming return, and that probably makes the timing of the deal harder to digest.  Drew Smyly is a solid pitcher, and Nick Franklin could be a nice second baseman down the road.  When you get players like Chris Archer and Wil Myers in previous deals involving good pitchers, 'solid' and 'nice' are disappointing.

Willy Adames was the last player announced, and MLB has already ranked him second in the organization behind Casey Gillaspie.  Right now, that seems a bit high to me, but he's certainly having a breakout year as the youngest everyday player in the Midwest League.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (59-51)

Durham's game was suspended and please do not make any suspension jokes.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (21-20)

A pair of three run home runs helped lead Montgomery to a blowout 12-1 win over Jackson.  The Biscuits were actually losing 1-0 after one inning, but Richie Shaffer's three run dinger in the second gave them a lead they wouldn't let go.  They would score five more in the fourth for their biggest inning, and that included a two run single by Leonardo Reginatto and two run double by Cameron Seitzer.  In the sixth, Seitzer came up big again with a three run homer to start a four run inning.

After allowing the first inning run, Mike Colla settled in to have another really nice start.  He didn't allow a single runner to reach base from the second through the fifth innings, but the Generals hit a solo home run in the sixth to add another run to his line.  He finished with two runs allowed on two hits and a walk in six innings with five strikeouts.  Jeff Malm had four of Montgomery's 17 hits, and Shaffer drove in four runs while reaching base three times.  Jake Hager had three hits.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (19-21)

A pair of errors by actual former first rounder Cito Culver helped Charlotte in their 7-3 win over Tampa.  Down 3-1 in the fourth, the Stone Crabs loaded the bases with one out.  On a Juniel Querecuto ground ball, Culver threw the ball away, and that allowed all three runners to score.  He would score himself on a second Culver throwing error.  Querecuto drove in two runs and scored two, and Marty Gantt reached base three times.

Jordan Harrison ended up with the bare minimum quality start, but he finished strong after a bumpy start.  Three doubles in the third inning scored two runs to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead, but he retired the last 10 batters he faced.  He finished with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks in six innings with six strikeouts.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (16-23)

A ninth inning meltdown cost Bowling Green in their 8-7 loss to South Bend.  Luis Cabrera was called on to hold a comfortable 7-3 lead, but he would leave with the bases loaded and no outs in the inning.  After a strikeout, Brad Schreiber allowed a game-tying grand slam.  Following another out, he allowed back to back doubles that ended the game.  Jaime Schultz and German Marquez combined to pitch the first eight innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits and a walk with nine strikeouts.

The Hot Rods built an early cushion with six runs over the first four innings.  Ty Young got the scoring started with a two run homer in the first, and Bowling Green continued to add extra base hits after that.  Seven of their 11 hits went for extra bases, including James Harris bashing three doubles, driving in two runs.  Young drove in three runs with three hits, and Oscar Hernandez and Darryl George each reached base three times.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (32-15)

Hudson Valley's offense couldn't get anything going in their game one 4-1 loss to Jamestown.  After a runner was thrown out at home in the first, they only had one player reach scoring position until the seventh inning, and that was the result of two balks.  Down 4-0, they finally scored in the seventh on a two out double by Clayton Henning.  Chris Pike allowed four runs on five hits and a walk in five innings with four strikeouts.

The Renegades got off to a better start with two first inning runs in game two, but they then allowed four in a 4-2 loss.  Starter Hunter Wood struggled from the first pitch, and an error by him helped facilitate the inning.  It was capped off by a two run double by David Andriese.  Wood allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk in four innings with two strikeouts.

Rookie Princeton Rays (22-18)

Roel Ramirez rebounded from a rough outing in Princeton's 6-1 win over Burlington.  After allowing four runs in a relief outing last time out, he came back with six scoreless innings, limiting the Royals to two hits with three strikeouts and no walks.  Burlington only picked up four hits in the game, and their only run of the game against Damion Carroll was unearned.

There were two big hits in the game for the Rays, and the first came in the second inning.  With two outs, Blake Grant-Parks singled home a pair of runs.  Riley Unroe led off the sixth with a double and scored on Thomas Milone's single, and Nic Wilson followed that with a two run homer to add insurance.  Grant-Parks and Milone had two hits each.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (23-13)

A ninth inning rally provided the GCL Rays a 5-4 win over the GCL Twins.  With runners on first and second and no outs, Tim Beckham struck out, and Matt Reida grounded into an out at second base, leaving runners on the corners with two outs.  Jose Rojas doubled home a run to make it a 4-3 game, and David Rodriguez followed that with a walkoff single that scored two runs.  Although he struck out in the ninth, Beckham made a big contribution earlier with a first inning solo home run.  Jaime Ayende reached base three times.

After a scoreless first inning, Angel Yepez struggled.  They scored runs in three consecutive innings to take a 3-1 lead, and he was out after 3.2 innings, having allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.  Nick Sawyer had a brief outing, and Tommy Lawrence got the win after allowing one run on four innings.

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Star of the day- Seitzer had a rough July, but he ended it with a nice game.

Goat of the day- Not the finest day for Bowling Green's bullpen.

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

Durham @ Charlotte 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Enny Romero (4-11, 5.29) v. Erik Johnson (5-6, 6.48)

Montgomery @ Jackson 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Dylan Floro (9-9, 3.36) v. Tyler Olson (5-6, 4.53)

Charlotte v. Tampa 6:30 PM (Radio stream)
Ryne Stanek* (1-1, 5.73) v. Jose Rosario (4-6, 5.70)

Bowling Green @ Lake County 7 PM (Radio stream)
D.J. Slaton* (0-1, 7.20) v. Mitch Brown (3-8, 4.15)

Hudson Valley @ Jamestown 7:05 PM
TBA v. Jake Brigham (0-0, 0.00)

Princeton v. Burlington 7:05 PM
Freddy Alvarez (2-3, 4.18) v. Foster Griffin* (0-0, 1.26)

GCL Rays @ GCL Orioles 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
50-63 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 539 R (1st) .765 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 4.97 ERA (14th) 1.53 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Erik Johnson (2), 3B Matt Davidson (4), 2B Marcus Semien (5), 2B Micah Johnson (6), 2B Carlos Sanchez (12), OF Michael Taylor (27)

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
17-23 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 468 R (8th) .716 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.17 ERA (8th) 1.36 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B D.J. Peterson (2), RHP Victor Sanchez (7), 3B Patrick Kivlehan (12), LHP Tyler Pike (16), SS Ketel Marte (20)

Daytona Cubs
25-14 (1st in FSL North)
Offense: 480 R (4th) .703 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 4.32 ERA (11th) 1.43 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: 1B Dan Vogelbach (9), OF Jacob Hannemann (17), LHP Rob Zastryzny (20), OF Billy McKinney, LF Kyle Schwarber

Lake County Captains (Cleveland)
18-20 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 447 R (13th) .692 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 4.38 ERA (14th) 1.37 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Clint Frazier (2), OF Dorssys Paulino (6), RHP Dace Kime (16), OF Anthony Santander (20), LHP Luis Lugo (21), RHP Mitch Brown (24), 1B Nellie Rodriguez (27), 1B Mike Papi

Jamestown Jammers (Pittsburgh)
21-26 (T-5th in Pinckney)
Offense: 205 R (7th) .695 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 4.18 ERA (12th) 1.28 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Elvis Escobar (25), 1B Matt Andriese, C Taylor Gushue

Burlington Royals
18-22 (5th in APP East)
Offense: 154 R (9th) .634 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.69 ERA (5th) 1.37 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Marten Gasparini (20), LHP Foster Griffin, C Chase Vallot, RHP Scott Blewett

GCL Orioles
15-21 (3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 100 R (16th) .562 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 3.09 ERA (4th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: C Jonah Heim (26)