Rays down on the farm May 22: Conrad homers again

With his third straight game with a home run, Jace Conrad is batting .326/.362/.545 with a 3.5 BB% and 8.5 K% plus 14 steals in 16 attempts. I'm not going to make any proclamations about a 22-year-old in the Midwest League when he came from a pretty significant program, but he has power, speed and provides steady defense, which the Rays are trying all around the diamond.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (21-22)

Dylan Floro went pitch-for-pitch against Masahiro Tanaka and then some, but Durham fell to Scranton, 4-3, in 10 innings. Floro exited with a 1-0 lead, and Eugenio Velez extended it to 3-0 with his second RBI double of the game before Andrew Bellatti fell apart in his first full inning of the game, allowing three runs. Ronald Belisario lost the game with two outs in the 10th. Dylan Floro struck out five and only allowed two hits and no walks in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (18-23)

Bradin Hagens was sharp in Montgomery's 4-3 win over Tennessee. After allowing seven earned runs in consecutive starts, Hagens rebounded to only allow one run on three hits and two walks in seven innings with five strikeouts. The Biscuits initially went in front in a three-run third when Boog Powell drove in two with a triple and scored himself on Joey Rickard's single. In the ninth, Bryce Stowell walked all four batters he faced, and Colton Reavis had to get out of his jam.

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (27-14)

Jacob Faria had to get out of some trouble, but he was good enough in Charlotte's 2-1 win over Tampa. After the Stone Crabs went down 1-0, they tied the game without the benefit of a hit in the third, and Pat Blair's two-out hit an inning later provided the decisive run. In the fifth, Marty Gantt threw out the potential tying run at the plate to end the inning. Faria finished with the one run allowed on four hits and four walks in six innings with four strikeouts, and Kyle McKenzie and Brad Schreiber combined to hold Tampa scoreless over the final three innings.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (24-17)

Bowling Green came up short in a 14-inning marathon, falling to West Michigan 6-3. The Hot Rods were on the ropes in the 12th when the Whitecaps scored, but Jace Conrad homered again in the bottom half of the inning. They were not as fortunate in the 14th when West Michigan scored three unearned runs off Edgar Gomez. Prior to Gomez entering, Kyle Bird was very good in relief despite allowing a run. He struck out eight in four innings.

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Notable performances

AAA OF Eugenio Velez: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI
AA OF Boog Powell: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
A IF Grant Kay: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
AAA RHP Dylan Floro: 6 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
AA RHP Bradin Hagens: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
A+ RHP Jacob Faria: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
A RHP Chris Pike: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
A LHP Kyle Bird: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

AAA C Curt Casali: 0-for-4, 3 K
A UT Coty Blanchard: 0-for-6, 1 K
AAA RHP Andrew Bellatti: 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
AA RHP Bryce Stowell: 0+ IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 0 K
A RHP Edgar Gomez: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 0 K

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

Durham @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Everett Teaford (2-3, 6.28) v. Kyle Davies (2-3, 5.17)

Montgomery v. Tennessee 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Jaime Schultz (4-1, 2.01) v. Frank Batista (4-0, 1.28)

Charlotte v. Tampa 6:30 PM (radio stream)
German Marquez (2-2, 3.00) v. TBA

Bowling Green @ South Bend 7:35 PM (radio stream)
Enderson Franco (3-2, 3.18) v. Ryan Williams (3-1, 0.72)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees) (updated through 5/19)
22-20 (4th in IL North)
Offense: 161 R (3rd) .706 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.46 ERA (8th) 1.32 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: 2B Rob Refsnyder (7), LHP Jacob Lindgren (8), RHP Bryan Mitchell (12), OF Tyler Austin (16), RHP Jose Ramirez (26), OF Ramon Flores (27), RHP Danny Burawa (31)

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs) (updated through 5/19)
22-19 (2nd in SL North)
Offense: 177 R (3rd) .735 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.21 ERA (2nd) 1.25 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: C Kyle Schwarber (4), RHP C.J. Edwards (5), OF Albert Almora (7), LHP Rob Zastryzny (14), RHP Corey Black (16), OF Jacob Hannemann (17), OF Bijan Rademacher (21), 1B Dan Vogelbach (25)

Tampa Yankees (updated through 5/19)
22-19 (2nd in FSL North)
Offense: 190 R (1st) .681 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.55 ERA (9th) 1.22 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Miguel Andujar (10), SS Tyler Wade (13), SS Abiatal Avelino (15)

South Bend Cubs (updated through 5/20)
18-23 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 191 R (2nd) .686 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.30 ERA (8th) 1.24 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Gleyber Torres (8), RHP Jake Stinnett (12), RHP Trevor Clifton (23), RHP James Norwood (29)