Rays DOTF 5/11: Faria Strikes Out 13, Leonard Grand Slam

The Durham Bulls and Montgomery Biscuits played extras. The Port Charlotte Stone Crabs and Bowling Green Hot Rods cruised to victory. Patrick Leonard continued his hot start with a grand slam. Jacob Faria got all the strikeouts, 13, but it took 108 pitches to get through 4.2 innings.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (21-10)

The Durham Bulls lost 13-9 in eleven innings to the Columbus Clippers. Johnny Field got the scoring started for the Bulls with a solo homer in the bottom of the first. Field added a RBI double in the third to put the Bulls up 2-0. Jacob Faria had quite a unique start. He struck out 13 in only 4.2 innings while allowing three runs on a homer to former Rays farmhand Richie Shaffer in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth Shane Peterson singled home Patrick Leonard to tie the game at three. The score would stay tied until a crazy eleventh inning. Field went to the mound to pitch in the tenth, but wasn’t able to keep the Clippers off the board in the eleventh. Field, Michael McKenry, and Kean Wong combined to allow ten runs in the eleventh inning. The Bulls didn’t go down without a fight as they put up sixth in the bottom of the inning capped off by a Patrick Leonard grand slam.

OF Mallex Smith: 2-for-6, R, RBI, 2 K

1B/OF Jake Bauers: 0-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB

DH/1B Casey Gillaspie: 0-for-5, K, BB

3B/SS Patrick Leonard: 2-for-6, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K, SB

2B Kean Wong: 1-for-4, 2 R, 2 K, BB, SB

RHP Jacob Faria: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 13 K, 2 BB, 1 HRA

RHP Chih-Wei Hu: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 K, 0 BB

RHP Ryan Kittredge: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (17-15)

The Montgomery Biscuits were able to outlast the Chattanooga Lookouts 4-3 in twelve innings. Mike Franco allowed two early runs to put the Biscuits down 2-0 early in the game. The Biscuits tied it at two in the bottom of the fifth. Nick Ciuffo started the inning off with a walk ahead of a Nathan Lukes triple, who also scored on an error. The score stayed tied at two until the eleventh inning. The Lookouts went ahead on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and no outs. Diego Castillo was able to limit the damage with a double play ball to end the inning. Michael Russell got the rally started with a hit by pitch. Russell took things into his own hands by stealing second and third before scoring on a wild pitch. Russell picked up the winning RBI with a walk off single in the bottom of the twelfth.

SS Michael Russell: 1-for-5, RBI, R, HBP, 2 SB

1B Joe McCarthy: 0-for-5

C Nick Ciuffo: 0-for-4, BB

DH Justin O’Conner: 1-for-4, R, 3 K, BB

OF Nathan Lukes: 2-for-5, 3B, RBI, R

2B Riley Unroe: 1-for-2, BB

RHP Mike Franco: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 7 K, 3 BB

LHP Kyle Bird: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K, 0 BB

RHP Diego Castillo: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 K, 1 BB

Class A-Advanced Port Charlotte Stone Crabs (16-17)

The Charlotte Stone Crabs defeated the Clearwater Thrashers 6-3. After falling behind 2-0 after the first, the Stone Crabs surged to a 4-2 lead midway through the fourth. Brett Sullivan put the Stone Crabs on the board with a solo homer to lead off the second inning. The Stone Crabs scored three in the fourth on an error, a walk, and three singles. In the eight they added their final two runs on a RBI double by David Olmedo-Barrera and RBI single by Jim Haley. Brett Sullivan, Jake Cronenworth, Dalton Kelly, David Rodriguez, and Jim Haley had multi-hit games. Michael Santos picked up a four inning save.

SS Jake Cronenworth: 2-for-5, K

OF Ryan Brett: 0-for-5, 2 K

C Brett Sullivan: 3-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, SB

DH David Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 2 R, BB

2B Brandon Lowe: 0-for-5, 2 K

1B Dalton Kelly: 2-for-5

RHP Michael Santos: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 K, 0 BB

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (15-16)

The Bowling Green Hot Rods sprinted out to a 10-2 victory over the Quad City River Bandits. The Hot Rods had a pair of three run innings in the first and second. Lucius Fox started off with a double and scored on a RBI single by Michael Brosseau. Brosseu scored on a wild pitch ahead of a RBI double by Miles Mastrobuoni. The Hot Rods loaded the bases in the bottom of the second after a single by Eleardo Cabrero and back to back walks by Josh Lowe and Lucius Fox. Brosseau got a RBI on a sacrifice fly ahead of RBI singles by Nathaniel Lowe and Adrian Rondon. The Hot Rods capped off their scoring with a four run fifth. Rene Pinto hit his first homer of the season with a three run shot.

3B Adrian Rondon: 1-for-5, RBI, 3 K

SS Lucius Fox: 3-for-5, 2B, 3 R, 2 K, BB

C Rene Pinto: 1-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R

OF Josh Lowe: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB

1B Nathaniel Lowe: 3-for-4, RBI, R, K, BB

RHP Brock Burke: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 2 BB

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