Rays prospects and minor leagues: Faria strong in Durham debut

Something that stood out to me in Jacob Faria's time with Montgomery is the elevated walk rate. He had always thrown strikes, but that rate had risen above 10 percent in Double A, including an ugly outing in April with seven free passes. That seemed to be changing lately. Over his last seven starts with the Biscuits, he walked just eight batters for a rate of 5.1 percent.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (34-44)

Jacob Faria's Triple-A debut was impressive, but not many other Bulls were in Durham's 10-inning, 3-2 loss to Lehigh Valley. J.P. Arencibia burned his old team again with an RBI double in the first inning, but then the offense shut down until it was too late. Although he struggled for parts of 2016 with Montgomery, Faria was in complete control all outing, striking out six and only allowing two hits and a walk in six scoreless frames. Dylan Floro allowed all three IronPigs runs, including two in the 10th inning.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (3-1)

A pair of ninth-inning runs lifted Montgomery to a 5-3 win over Biloxi. After losing a 3-0 lead, the Biscuits restored their edge when Jake Bauers led off the ninth with a single, stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on Kean Wong's squeeze bunt. Patrick Leonard, who was on first with Wong batting, was able to move up to third on another error and scored an insurance run on Cade Gotta's sacrifice fly. Starter Chris Kirsch allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings, and three relievers combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (1-2)

Charlotte's game was suspended.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (1-3)

A five-run fifth broke the game open in Bowling Green's 8-5 win over Fort Wayne. Down 5-3, Jake Cronenworth's RBI hit brought the Hot Rods within one, Kevin Padlo's two-run homer returned the lead to the Hot Rods, and David Olmedo-Barrera went back-to-back with Padlo. Brandon Lowe drove in the fifth run for good measure with two outs. Despite allowing five runs in six innings, Genesis Cabrera was credited with the win, and Fernando Baez struck out four in two innings of relief.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (4-6)

Hudson Valley's offense didn't get anything going in a 1-0 loss to Brooklyn. Cyclones pitching only faced five batters over the minimum, and Angel Perez's double was the Renegades' only extra-base hit. Jose Alonzo took the tough loss, only allowing a run in five innings with five strikeouts. Hudson Valley pitching was able to limit Jose Reyes, returning to the Mets following his domestic abuse suspension, to an 0-for-3 day with a strikeout.

Rookie Princeton Rays (3-1)

Princeton hammered another opponent, this time beating Danville by an 11-4 score. In the fourth, Princeton was already up 1-0 when it was able to score three runs within the benefit of a hit. An inning later, the game was broken open when two runs scored on an error, Devin Davis cleared the bases with a triple and came home to score on a sacrifice fly. Starter Edrick Agosto pitched five no-hit inning, and Mikey York was charged with three unearned runs in an inning out of the bullpen.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (0-2)

The GCL Rays were off.

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Notable Performances

Triple-A

SS Daniel Robertson: 2-for-5
3B Richie Shaffer: 2-for-5, 1 RBI

RHP Jacob Faria: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
LHP Dana Eveland: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
RHP Dylan Floro: 2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Double-A

SS Willy Adames: 0-for-4, 1 K
OF Jake Bauers: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
1B Casey Gillaspie: 0-for-4, 1 K

LHP Chris Kirsch: 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Class-A

3B Kevin Padlo: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
OF David Olmedo-Barrera: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K

LHP Genesis Cabrera: 6 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
RHP Fernando Baez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Short-season

OF Ryan Boldt 0-for-4, 1 K
OF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, 1 K, 1 SB

RHP Jose Alonzo: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Rookie (Princeton)

3B Blake Butera: 3-for-4, 1 BB
SS Adrian Rondon: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 K

RHP Edrick Agosto: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
RHP Mikey York: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 1 K

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

Durham @ Charlotte 7:05 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Jaime Schultz (5-4, 3.61) v. Anthony Ranaudo (3-2, 2.22)

Montgomery @ Biloxi 8:10 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Brandon Woodruff (2-4, 4.73)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 5 PM ET (radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
Greg Harris (4-5, 3.55) v. Matt Pearce (6-4, 2.67)
TBA v. TBA

Resumption of a suspended game followed by a seven-inning game

Bowling Green @ West Michigan 7 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Roel Ramirez (3-5, 4.82) v. Sandy Baez (2-7, 3.95)

Hudson Valley @ Brooklyn 7 PM ET
TBA v. TBA

Princeton v. Danville 7 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. TBA

GCL Rays @ GCL Red Sox 12 PM

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
37-41 (1st in IL South)
Offense: 338 R (1st) .729 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.54 ERA (14th) 1.40 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Jacob May (7), LHP Brian Clark (14), RHP Chris Beck (19), 1B Danny Hayes (29), 3B Matt Davidson (30), 1B Jerry Sands

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
1-3 (T-4th in SL South)
Offense: 265 R (9th) .665 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.83 ERA (7th) 1.29 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Brett Phillips (4), OF Tyrone Taylor (7), C Jacob Nottingham (11), RHP Adrian Houser (20), OF Victor Roache (24), LHP Hobbs Johnson (25), RHP Brandon Woodruff (31)

Palm Beach Cardinals
2-1 (T-1st in FSL South)
Offense: 256 R (8th) .621 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.36 ERA (7th) 1.29 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jack Flaherty (3), LHP Austin Gomber (14), SS Oscar Mercado (26)

West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit)
0-4 (T-7th in MWL East)
Offense: 288 R (9th) .662 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.21 ERA (3rd) 1.26 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Beau Burrows (2), OF Derek Hill (10), OF Jose Azocar (15), RHP Drew Smith (19), RHP Sandy Baez (26)

Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
4-6 (T-2nd in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 35 R (T-6th) .486 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 3.20 ERA (10th) 1.16 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Ali Sanchez (15)

Danville Braves
2-2 (T-2nd in AL East)
Offense: 21 R (4th) .664 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 4.50 ERA (4th) 1.42 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: Rosters available next series

GCL Red Sox
1-1 (T-2nd in GCL South)
Offense: 6 R (9th) .474 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 1.00 ERA (3rd) 0.89 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: Rosters available next series