Rays down on the farm September 2: Durham on the brink despite win

If you missed it Tuesday, the Rays named six players they are sending to the Arizona Fall League. Another will be coming later.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (70-68)

Durham beat old friend Victor Mateo in its 6-3 win over Gwinnett. After Mississippi beat Montgomery in a pair of Mateo starts earlier this season, the Bulls finally got the best of him to cling to their playoff hopes. Gwinnett initially went up 2-0 in the fourth, but Nick Franklin led off the home half of the inning with a home run, and newcomer Jose Constanza and Ryan Brett later added RBI hits to put Durham in front. Starter Scott Diamond allowed two runs -- one earned -- on four hits in 7 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and no walks.

Finally promoted to Triple-A, Cameron Seitzer was 2-for-5.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (40-25)

Montgomery erased a 5-0 deficit, but Mobile's offense got a second wind in the Biscuits' 10-6 loss. Chris Kirsch was hammered for five runs in the second inning, but Montgomery tied the game a half inning later. Leonardo Reginatto singled home the first run, two more scored on Daniel Robertson's double, and Dayron Varona tied the game with a two-run homer. Kirsch finished with eight runs -- five earned -- allowed on nine hits and three walks in five-plus innings.

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (23-39)

Charlotte eliminated a potential playoff opponent with a 4-2 win over St. Lucie in game one. St. Lucie's loss left Palm Beach, Bradenton and Fort Myers vying for the Florida State League South second-half division title. After St. Lucie tied the game at two in the fifth, the Stone Crabs struck back immediately when Armando Araiza doubled and scored on Yoel Araujo's single in the sixth. Mike Franco got the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief after an uncharacteristically poor start by Brent Honeywell, who allowed two runs on five hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Charlotte's game-two comeback bid came up short in an 8-6 loss. St. Lucie hammered Chih-Wei Hu for seven runs over the first two innings, but the Stone Crabs stormed back with five in the fourth. In the fifth, Charlotte pulled within one when a run came home on a strike-three wild pitch but could not get any closer. Isaac Gil tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (29-34)

Bowling Green fell behind early and was eventually blown out in a 9-2 loss to South Bend. South Bend got on the board with a run in the first and added three more in the second before Cristian Toribio temporarily stopped the bleeding with a sacrifice fly in the third. South Bend tacked on three more in the fifth, and starter Henry Centeno allowed seven runs on eight hits and four walks in four-plus innings. Toribio later homered.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (36-33)

Hudson Valley's comeback came up short in a 6-5 loss to Lowell. However, due to Staten Island's loss, the Renegades remained in a tie for first place with Aberdeen just a 1/2 game behind. The Spinners went up 6-2 in the sixth, but Manny Sanchez's three-run homer in the eighth pulled Hudson Valley within one. In each of the final two innings, the Renegades had the potential tying run on base but were unable to come through. Starter Cameron Varga allowed three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and two walks in five innings.

Rookie Princeton Rays (37-31)

Princeton closed its regular season with a 5-0 loss to Greeneville. Starter Spencer Moran struck out six and allowed just a run in five innings but still took his first loss of the season. Greeneville tacked on four against Noel Rodriguez.

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Notable performances

AAA 2B Ryan Brett: 4-for-5, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
AAA IF Nick Franklin: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
AAA IF Jake Elmore: 2-for-2, 1 RBI, 2 BB
AA 2B Tommy Coyle: 3-for-5, 1 R
AA IF Leonardo Reginatto: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI
A+ OF Granden Goetzman: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
A+ OF Braxton Lee: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB
A IF Carter Burgess: 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 2B
A- OF Manny Sanchez: 3-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB
R+ 3B Brett Sullivan: 2-for-3, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
AAA LHP Scott Diamond: 7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 4 K
R+ RHP Spencer Moran: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

A- SS Michael Russell: 0-for-5, 2 K
R+ SS Bill Pujols: 0-for-4, 2 K
AAA RHP Parker Markel: two-thirds IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
AA LHP Chris Kirsch: 5+ IP, 9 H, 8 R (5 ER), 3 BB, 4 K
A+ RHP Brent Honeywell: 4 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K
A+ RHP Chih-Wei Hu: 1 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 3 K
A RHP Henry Centeno: 4+ IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
A- LHP Cristopher Crisostomo: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

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

Durham @ Charlotte 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Brad Penny (7-8, 4.10)

Montgomery is off

Charlotte is off

Bowling Green v. Lake County 8:05 PM (radio stream)
Chris Pike (9-7, 3.14) v. TBA

Hudson Valley @ Vermont 7:05 PM (radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
Roel Ramirez (3-3, 3.26) v. Dustin Driver (1-4, 4.47)
TBA v. TBA

Both games will be seven innings

Princeton is off

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox) (updated through 8/31)
72-66 (3rd in IL South)
Offense: 588 R (2nd) .720 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.72 ERA (8th) 1.30 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: 2B Micah Johnson (4), RHP Chris Beck (11), 3B Matt Davidson (14), C Kevan Smith (15), LHP Onelki Garcia (27)

Lake County Captains (Cleveland) (updated through 8/31)
33-31 (3rd in MWL East)
Offense: 609 R (3rd) .698 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 3.63 ERA (12th) 1.31 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Justus Sheffield (4), C Francisco Mejia (7), 1B Bobby Bradley (9), IF Yu-Cheng Chang (13), RHP Casey Shane (25)

Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland) (updated through 8/31)
29-39
Offense: 277 R (9th) .663 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.07 ERA (13th) 1.33 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Trace Loehr (30), SS Richie Martin, OF Skye Bolt