The Undercards: Jake Odorizzi Handles Knights Easily in 5-1 Victory

Jake Odorizzi was considered the second main piece in the Wil Myers–James Shields trade during the offseason, as the Rays hope that, in time, he can develop into a front line starter. Last night, he flashed that potential as he held the Knights offense down for virtually the entire night.

Durham Bulls 5, Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 1

Jake Odorizzi is one of the pitchers that the Rays are expecting to be in the next crop of starters on the major league staff, but he has had his bouts of inconsistency this season. His outing last night, however, was much closer to what the Rays had been hoping for. While Odorizzi was holding the Knights down for most of the night, the Bulls provided him with plenty of support. Tim Beckham homered in the first to put Durham on the board, and Mike Fontenot had a sacrifice fly in the second as the Bulls built an early 2-0 lead. The Knights broke through in the sixth, when Odorizzi walked the leadoff hitter, then threw the ball away on a grounder back to the mound attempting to get the runner at second. With one out and runners at second and third, Mike McDade hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead in half. However, the Bulls put the game away in the bottom of the seventh, when Jesus Flores hit a three run home run to put Durham comfortably ahead, en route to the 5-1 victory. Odorizzi picked up the win, allowing one unearned run on two hits and two walks, striking out six in six innings. Beckham was 2-4 with a solo home run.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Reds) 5, Montgomery Biscuits 3

After trading runs in the second, the Biscuits took the lead in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Todd Glaesmann and Kyeong Kang hit back to back home runs to put Montgomery ahead 3-1. The tied the game back up in the top of the fourth, as Tucker Barnhart hit a solo home run and Ryan LaMarre hit an RBI double. Neither team had much of a scoring chance until the top of the ninth, when LaMarre hit a two run home off of Juan Sandoval to put Pensacola ahead. That home run proved to be the difference, as the Biscuits fell 5-3. Sandoval took the loss, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk over one inning of work. Keith Castillo was 2-3 with a double and a walk.

St. Lucie Mets 9, Charlotte Stone Crabs 4

The Stone Crabs put together a two out rally in the bottom of the first to get on the board. After a base hit and a walk, Alejandro Segovia singled to drive in the first run of the game for Charlotte. Jeff Malm followed with an RBI single, but Segovia was thrown out at third to end the inning. The Mets tied the game in the top of the second, as Dustin Lawley doubled to lead off the inning, and scored on a double by Kevin Plawecki, who scored on a base hit to tie the game at 2-2. The Stone Crabs went back on top in the bottom of the inning, as Kes Carter homered to right. St. Lucie answered again in the top of the third, when Jayce Boyd doubled in a run. Pawlecki followed with an RBI single one batter later to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. The Mets and Stone Crabs traded runs in the fifth before St. Lucie put the game away in the top of the seventh. The Mets loaded the bases with one out, bringing up Lawley, who belted a grand slam to left to give St. Lucie a 9-4 lead. That score held up, as the Mets defeated the Stone Crabs. Parker Markel took the loss, allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits and a walk over 5.1 innings before leaving with a possible arm injury. Four different Charlotte players had two hits in the loss.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 8, Quad City River Bandits (Astros) 2

The Hot Rods raced out to an early lead on the River Bandits, scoring three times in the second. Joey Rickard, Brandon Martin and Andrew Toles all had RBI singles as Bowling Green jumped out early. The Hot Rods extended that lead as Patrick Leonard homered in the fourth and Rickard had another RBI single to give Bowling Green a 5-0 lead through five innings. The River Bandits got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, the Hot Rods scored again in the top of the seventh. Toles drove in another run in the eighth on an RBI triple before scoring on a base hit by Thomas Coyle. Quad City did get a run back in the bottom of the inning, but the Hot Rods pulled away with an 8-2 victory. Marcus Jensen earned the win in relief, giving up one run on four hits and a walk in 2.2 innings of work. Toles finished a home run short of the cycle, going 3-5 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and a run scored.

Jamestown Jammers (Pirates) 8, Hudson Valley Renegades 4

The second inning started off well enough for the Renegades, as starter Ben Griset struck out the first two batters he faced. However, from that point, everything went downhill. However, a bunt single to the mound changed the inning. After a stolen base, Andrew Dennis singled to drive in a run, then the Jammers loaded the bases. Adam Frazier singled, driving in two runs as Jamestown took a 3-0 lead. Another two out rally in the third led to three more runs, highlighted by a two run single off the bat of Jeff Roy. The Renegades finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning, as Jonathan Quinonez hit a two run home run to cut the lead to 6-2. JaCoby Jones hit a two run inside the park home run in the seventh to put the lead back to six, before Oscar Hernandez  hit a two run home run of his own in the bottom of the ninth. The Renegades were unable to get any closer however, as the Jammers sent them to a 8-4 defeat. Griset took the loss, allowing six runs on ten hits and a walk in four innings. Hernandez was 2-4 with the two run homer in the loss.

Princeton Rays 10, Huntsville Astros 4

The Rays scored early and often in last night’s matchup against the Astros. After putting a run on the board in the second, the offense pushed four more runs across, highlighted by a bases loaded walk and a two run single for Leopoldo Correa. Greenville got two runs back in the fourth on a base hit by Ricky Gingras, but the Rays got one of those runs right back on another RBI base hit by Correa. The Astros scored twice more in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-4, but the Rays put the game away in the seventh. Bralin Jackson had an RBI single, and with runners on second and third, Hunter Lockwood had a two run double. Princeton tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, and came away with a 10-4 victory. Hunter Wood got the win in relief, allowing two runs on five hits in 2.1 innings. David Garcia was 2-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs scored. Jesus Araiza was 3-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored.

GCL Red Sox 5, GCL Rays 4 (Eight Innings)

Riley Unroe started off the game with a bang for the Rays, hitting the first home run of his professional career to lead off the game. The Red Sox scored in the second and third to take a 2-1 lead before the Rays tied the game in the fifth. Unroe walked with two outs, stole second, and scored on a double by Kean Wong.  After the Red Sox scored in teh bottom of the fifth, the Rays tied the game back up in the sixth, when Alexander Simon tripled to lead off the inning, and scored on a base hit by Nick Ciuffo. The Rays put runners on first and third with one out in the top of the eighth, bringing up Hector Montes, who drove in a run with a bse hit to give the Rays their first lead of the night. However, the Red Sox came back, as they used a ground out and a fielder’s choice to score twice, sending the Rays to a 5-4 defeat. Roel Ramirez took the loss, allowing two runs on a hit and a walk while recording one out. Unroe was 1-3 with a home run, a walk and two runs scored.