Rays down on the farm August 13: Sale suspended

A lot has already been said about Josh Sale's latest misstep.  Baseball-wise, I was already leaning toward non-prospect status with him before the season, and I don't think that changed with his 2014 play.  Hopefully he's able to learn and get back on track, whether it's in baseball or not.

On a more positive note, James Harris has been hitting well lately.  Since returning from his rehab assignment in June, he's batting .285 with a .800 OPS.  It's just one hot streak for now, but remember how young he was in his draft class.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (63-60)

Durham's game was suspended due to a second positive test for weather of abuse.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (22-29)

Montgomery fell behind 7-0 before finally scoring in their 8-4 loss to Mississippi.  Mike Colla was charged with five of those runs, but only two were earned.  Already down 1-0, he allowed a solo home run, but a Richie Shaffer error after that led to three more Braves runs.  Colla was charged with five runs (two earned) on six hits in five innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

The Biscuits finally broke out in the seventh, but it was too little, too late.  Three doubles by Shaffer, Jake Hager and Cameron Seitzer helped them score three runs, and Kes Carter's RBI double in the eighth scored their fourth and final run.  It was Carter's second double of the game.  Justin O'Conner led Montgomery with three hits, and he also picked off a runner late in the game.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (25-24)

Charlotte hit three home runs, but they couldn't hold a late lead in their 10 inning 7-6 loss to Palm Beach.  With a three run lead after five innings, the Stone Crabs bullpen would give up four runs (only one earned) to give the lead right back to the Cardinals.  After Maxx Tissenbaum's solo home run with two outs in the ninth tied the game, Marcus Jensen allowed back to back doubles to start the 10th that won the game for Palm Beach.  Ryan Garton allowed three runs.

Tyler Goeddel's RBI single in the first gave Charlotte a quick 1-0 lead, but they fell behind 2-1 not long after that.  Marty Gantt's solo home run in the fourth tied the game, and Johnny Field's two run shot an inning later contributed to a three run frame.  Field and Patrick Leonard reached base three times.  Starter Jared Mortensen exited with a lead after allowing two runs on six hits and three walks in five innings with six strikeouts.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (23-27)

Bowling Green scored nine runs in the first three innings and held on for a 12-6 win over Great Lakes.  The first seven batters of the game reached base before starter Zach Bird finally got an out, and James Harris' two run single to make it a 6-0 game after that would knock him out of the game.  The Hot Rods would continue tacking on runs using extra base hits, including a solo home run by Harris two innings later.  Six Hot Rods had multi-hit games, including Kean Wong with three in addition to two walks.  Ty Young and Alexander Simon each had a pair of extra base hits.

Chris Kirsch turned in another good start with the early run support behind him.  He exited after five innings, but he only allowed one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts.  The Loons would do the remainder of their damage right after Kirsch was taken out.  Andrew Hanse was charged with five runs, but three errors in the inning meant only one of them was earned.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (39-19)

Hudson Valley scored two early runs and checked out in their 10 inning 3-2 loss to Tri-City.  After Alec Sole's two run double with no outs in the third inning, the Renegades would squander any further opportunities they had, including loading the bases in the fifth inning, albeit with two outs.  Coty Blanchard had two hits and also walked.

Starter Chris Pike was okay in six innings despite lacking control.  The only run he allowed was on a solo home run, and he only gave up two hits.  He also walked three and struck out six.  In the ninth, Justin McCalvin allowed a game-tying solo home run with two outs, but his 10th inning was worse.  He faced four batters and didn't retire any of them as the ValleyCats walked off with a win.

Rookie Princeton Rays (29-21)

Princeton survived a late rally to beat Pulaski 7-5.  Up 7-1 in the eighth, Kyle Bird allowed a triple and single that scored Pulaski's second run of the game, and he was pulled from the game after issuing a pair of two outs walks.  Tomas Michelson allowed a double that scored a run, and an error during the following at-bat played two more.  Michelson settled down after that and eventually finished the game.  Starter Trevor Lubking allowed one run on two hits and two walks in four innings with four strikeouts, and Steve Ascher struck out five in 2.2 innings.

The Rays fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but with two crooked numbers, they were able to score the next seven.  Cristian Toribio's bases loaded walk in the fourth tied the game, and Carter Burgess' double after that scored two more.  In the seventh, Thomas Milone and Hec Montes each had RBI hits, and after a balk move two runners into scoring position, Nick Ciuffo drove in both of them.  Milone, Ciuffo and Manny Sanchez had two hit games.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (26-20)

The GCL Rays' pitching cleaned up their act in their 5-1 win over the GCL Twins.  The Twins were able to accumulate a number of baserunners against three Rays pitchers, but they limited the damage.  Starter Angel Yepez struck out two and allowed five hits and a walk in four scoreless innings, and Junior Feliz gave up a run in three innings.  Tommy Lawrence finished the game by recording six straight outs.

Already up 1-0 in the fifth, the Rays broke out with a big inning to put the game away, with some help from the Twins.  They made two errors in the inning, and the Rays made them pay for the mistakes.  Chris DeMorais' RBI single made it a 2-0 game, and Matt Ford's triple with two outs cleared the bases.  DeMorais, Zacrey Law and Cade Gotta all had two hits, and Gotta reached base four times.

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Star of the day- Harris' solid performance has been under the radar.

Goat of the day- Defense seemed to be problematic for some of the affiliates.

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

Durham @ Rochester 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Matt Andriese (11-7, 3.63) v. Mark Hamburger (3-2, 3.52)

Montgomery @ Mississippi 8 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Dylan Floro (9-11, 3.82) v. Greg Ross (5-2, 3.29)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 6:30 PM (Radio stream)
Reinaldo Lopez* (6-4, 3.34) v. Tyrell Jenkins (5-3, 3.45)

Bowling Green @ Great Lakes 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
German Marquez* (3-5, 3.55) v. Victor Arano (4-6, 4.03)

Hudson Valley @ Tri-City 7 PM (Radio stream)
Hunter Wood* (2-3, 3.02) v. Robert Kahana (0-0, 1.80)

Princeton v. Bluefield 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
Freddy Alvarez* (2-4, 4.07) v. Jesus Tinoco (1-6, 5.88)

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota)
67-56 (3rd in IL North)
Offense: 545 R (7th) .726 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.44 ERA (1st) 1.29 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Alex Meyer (3), LHP Sean Gilmartin (10), C Josmil Pinto (14), RHP Mike Tonkin (15)

Mississippi Braves
30-21 (T-2nd in SL South)
Offense: 523 R (5th) .705 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.54 ERA (3rd) 1.26 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP J.R. Graham (3), RHP Jason Hursh (4), 2B Jose Peraza (6), OF Kyle Wren (18), 3B Kyle Kubitza (22), OF Matt Lipka (24), OF Robby Hefflinger (29)

Palm Beach Cardinals
31-20 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 553 R (3rd) .712 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.49 ERA (7th) 1.29 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Tyrell Jenkins (17), RHP Luke Weaver

Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles)
24-26 (5th in MWL East)
Offense: 494 R (13th) .668 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.59 ERA (6th) 1.28 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Jacob Scavuzzo (15), RHP Zach Bird (21), SS Jesmuel Valentin (22), RHP Victor Arano (29)

Tri-City ValleyCats (Houston)
39-19 (1st in Stedler)
Offense: 302 R (1st) .751 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.52 ERA (7th) 1.26 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Derek Fisher

Bluefield Blue Jays
24-28 (4th in APP East)
Offense: 219 R (7th) .657 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.71 ERA (7th) 1.32 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Matt Smoral (13), 1B Rowdy Tellez (18), SS Richard Urena (24)

GCL Twins
16-29 (4th in GCL South)
Offense: 154 R (15th) .601 OPS (15th)
Pitching: 3.65 ERA (9th) 1.35 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Amaurys Minier (24)