Rays down on the farm August 2: Franklin hitless in debut

Willy Adames did not debut for Bowling Green, but I'd imagine arranging travel for traded players in the Midwest League is tougher than someone in Triple-A.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (59-53)

An early deficit turned into a big loss in Durham's game one 7-1 loss to Charlotte.  Already facing a 3-0 hole in the suspended game, they scored their only run on an infield single by Jeremy Moore, but the Knights tacked on runs late with three home runs.  Mike Montgomery started the game Thursday and allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in two innings with no strikeouts.  C.J. Riefenhauser threw three scoreless relief innings.

Durham wound up dropping a back and forth game in their game two 4-3 loss.  An inning after the Bulls tied the game at three, Steve Geltz allowed a two out, walkoff single in the seventh to give Charlotte the doubleheader sweep.  Enny Romero struck out eight in 4.2 innings, but he allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks.  Nick Franklin was 0/3 in his Rays organization debut, but Justin Christian hit two doubles.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (21-21)

Dylan Floro had a bizarre first inning in Montgomery's 6-2 loss to Jackson.  The Generals were due, and they scored five runs in an inning Floro issued three walks.  Two errors in the inning didn't help, and Floro would go on to allow six runs (four earned) on eight hits and five walks in five innings with two strikeouts.  The five walks tie a career high with a start early last season.

The Biscuits answered with a run of their own in the top of the second, but they wouldn't come close to erasing that early deficit.  That run was unearned, and their second run in the ninth would be as well.  Jake Hager and Richie Shaffer each had two hits.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (20-21)

Charlotte rode Austin Pruitt's great start to a 7-0 win over Daytona.  Pruitt tossed eight scoreless innings, giving him a new career high, previously set three weeks ago.  He struck out six batters, only allowed six hits, including one by Dan Vogelbach, and didn't walk anyone.  Pruitt has allowed one or fewer runs in four of his last five starts.

Josh Sale's single to score Marty Gantt in the second inning would be the only run the Stone Crabs needed, but it would start the first of three innings with crooked numbers.  Sale would double home another run in the fifth, and Tommy Coyle's two run triple in the eighth added some insurance.  Gantt had three hits including two doubles, and Patrick Leonard reached base three times.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (16-24)

Lake County jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning, and it was downhill for Bowling Green from there in their 8-1 loss.  After getting through the first couple innings with little trouble, D.J. Slaton ran into major trouble in the third, allowing the first six batters of the inning to reach base.  Slaton exited after 2.1 innings, having allowed four runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  Andrew Hanse followed and allowed three runs (one earned) in 3.2 innings, but he did strike out six.

The Hot Rods scored their only run of the game in the seventh.  Julian Ridings doubled to start the inning, and an Elias Torres single moved him up to third.  Pat Blair drove Ridings in with a ground ball the infield failed to turn into an out.  Ridings had two hits, and James Harris reached base three times.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (33-15)

A late hit by Wilmer Dominguez provided the winning run in Hudson Valley's 2-1 win over Jamestown.  After Bralin Jackson singled to start the inning and stole second, Dominguez's hit brought home the Renegades' second run of the game.  They had an opportunity to add on with two runners in scoring position and one out, but they couldn't pick up another hit.  Jackson and Dominguez each had two hits, and the Renegades combined to steal six bases.

Three Hudson Valley pitchers combined to jam up the Jamestown bats.  Jose Alonzo gave up their only run, but he was solid in five innings, giving up just three hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Justin McCalvin struck out three and allowed one hit in two innings, and Gerardo Reyes struck out two while facing the minimum over the final two innings.

Rookie Princeton Rays (22-19)

A solo home run from Nic Wilson wasn't enough in Princeton's 3-1 loss to Burlington.  The Rays actually outhit the Royals 10-7, but all of the hits besides Wilson's home run were singles.  Two runners making the first out of the inning at third base late in the game probably didn't help either.  David Garcia had three hits, and Wilson and Manny Sanchez each had two.

Freddy Alvarez faced the minimum through the first three innings, but Burlington got to him for two runs in the fourth.  A one out walk was followed by two singles to give the Royals the lead, and the Rays conceded what proved to be the winning run.  Alvarez allowed the two runs on four hits and two walks in 5.2 innings with a strikeout.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (24-13)

A five run lead proved to be just enough in the GCL Rays' 5-4 win over the GCL Orioles.  They got a run in the first without even getting a ball out of the infield when Zacrey Law reached on an error, moved to second on a hit batter, stole third and came home on a balk.  In the second, they only needed one hit to score two runs, and they got two more in the third with two hits.  Four Rays had two hit games, including Tim Beckham going 2/5 with a double and strikeout, and Bill Pujols also had two.

Henry Centeno was not his best, and the amount of earned runs scored against him this season doubled.  All four Oriole runs came in the fourth inning, but one of them was unearned because of a Centeno error.  Two of the runs came on passed balls, and two were on a one out single.  Centeno finished with four runs (three earned) allowed on four hits and three walks in five innings with three strikeouts.

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Star of the day- Pruitt's starts are helping Charlotte get back to a respectable place in the standings.

Goat of the day- I'd imagine Floro won't have many innings as bad as that first going forward.

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

Durham v. Lehigh Valley 6:35 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Matt Andriese (11-5, 3.58) v. Sean O'Sullivan (4-9, 4.77)

Montgomery @ Jackson 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Albert Suarez (2-2, 3.47) v. Stephen Landazuri (6-2, 3.26)

Charlotte v. Daytona 6 PM (Radio stream)
Blake Snell (3-5, 4.59) v. Juan Paniagua* (1-1, 4.50)

Bowling Green @ Lake County 7 PM (Radio stream)
Jake Faria (6-6, 3.73) v. Jordan Milbrath (3-10, 3.33)

Hudson Valley @ State College 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
TBA v. Daniel Poncedelon (1-2, 3.10)

Princeton v. Burlington 7:05 PM
Hyrum Formo (1-0, 4.61) v. Foster Griffin (0-0, 1.26)

GCL Rays v. GCL Orioles 10 AM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia)
52-62 (6th in IL North)
Offense: 453 R (14th) .686 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 4.55 ERA (11th) 1.42 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Maikel Franco (1), RHP Miguel Gonzalez (6), RHP Ethan Martin (10), OF Cameron Perkins (11), C Cameron Rupp (13), RHP Ken Giles (18)

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
18-23 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 474 R (7th) .717 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.13 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
25-15 (1st in FSL North)
Offense: 480 R (5th) .702 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 4.35 ERA (11th) 1.44 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)
19-20 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 455 R (13th) .693 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 4.35 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

State College Spikes (St. Louis)
32-16 (1st in Pinckney)
Offense: 265 R (1st) .756 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.19 ERA (3rd) 1.20 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Kenny Peoples-Walls (18), 3B Danny Diekroeger

Burlington Royals
19-22 (4th in APP East)
Offense: 157 R (10th) .631 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.62 ERA (5th) 1.37 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Marten Gasparini (20), LHP Foster Griffin, C Chase Vallot, RHP Scott Blewett

GCL Orioles
15-22 (3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 104 R (16th) .567 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 3.00 ERA (4th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: C Jonah Heim (26)