Rays prospects and minor leagues: Guerrieri solid again

I noted recently that Jake Bauers has been hitting pretty well lately, but Casey Gillaspie has been struggling. In June, he's batting just .246 with a .646 OPS, and his only extra-base hits are a pair of doubles. He was so good the first two months and was bound to slump at some point, but hopefully it does not last much longer.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (30-37)

A grand slam sunk Durham in its 5-1 loss to Buffalo. The Bulls tied the game in the third when the Bisons failed to turn a double play, and the game was decided on Matt Dominguez's homer in the sixth. Dominguez drove in all five Buffalo runs. Justin Marks was responsible for all five runs on four hits and two walks in six innings with four strikeouts. Jake Hager had two of Durham's five hits.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (32-33)

Taylor Guerrieri turned in one of his better efforts in Montgomery's 7-1 win over Pensacola. In his second scoreless outing of the year, he struck out four and allowed just three hits and a walk in five innings of work. Jared Mortensen allowed the lone Blue Wahoos run, but he struck out six in three innings of relief. Already up 2-0, the Biscuits busted the game open in the seventh with a five-run inning that featured a bases-clearing double from Patrick Leonard.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (32-33)

Charlotte was hit hard in its 8-5 loss to Dunedin. Starter Greg Harris allowed three runs in the first, but his offense had his back, getting two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Harris was unable to settle in and would be charged with six runs in five-plus innings of work. Jonny Venters allowed an inherited runner to score and was charged with two of his own on a home run hit by a right-handed batter.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-32)

Bowling Green was postponed.

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Notable Performances

AAA SS Daniel Robertson: 0-for-4, 2 K
AAA C J.P. Arencibia: 0-for-4, 2 K
AAA 3B Jake Hager: 2-for-3, 1 R

AAA LHP Justin Marks: 6 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

AA 2B Juniel Querecuto: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
AA 1B Casey Gillaspie: 0-for-5
AA OF Jake Bauers: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB
AA UT Tommy Coyle: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B

AA RHP Taylor Guerrieri: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
AA RHP Jared Mortensen: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

A+ 2B Riley Unroe: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
A+ SS Andrew Velazquez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 K
A+ OF Justin Williams: 0-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
A+ OF Thomas Milone: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K

A+ RHP Greg Harris: 5+ IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
MLB LHP Jonny Venters: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
A+ RHP Brian Miller: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Today's games (probables courtesy milb.com)

Durham @ Buffalo 7:05 PM ET (MiLB.tv, radio stream)
Eddie Gamboa (2-1, 1.80) v. Faustberto Carmandez (2-4, 4.47)

Montgomery v. Chattanooga 8:05 PM ET (MiLB.tv, radio stream)
Chris Kirsch (3-2, 3.54) v. D.J. Baxendale (6-6, 3.23)

Charlotte v Dunedin 10:05 AM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. TBA

Bowling Green v. Lake County 11:35 AM ET (radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA v. TBA
TBA v. TBA

Both games will be seven innings

*Listed TBA on MiLB.com

Scouting the opposition

Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
34-31 (4th in IL North)
Offense: 240 R (10th) .685 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.40 ERA (4th) 1.30 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Chad Girodo (17), RHP Arnold Leon (20), 2B Andy Burns (27), 1B Casey Kotchman