The Rays farm system had a rough day, going 2-5, including a sweep in a doubleheader on Sunday. However, there were positives, as Bruedlin Suero combined with three relievers on a 1-0 shutout. Here is your morning recap of yesterday’s action.

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Durham Bulls 3

The Bulls jumped out to an early lead, but the Toledo Mud Hens came right back, and scored a 4-3 victory Sunday night. Durham scored three times in the top of the first, as Stephen Vogt and Chris Gimenez each had RBI singles, and Brooks Conrad hit a sacrifice fly. The Mud Hens came right back with three of their own in the bottom of the inning, tying the game on Don Kelly‘s three run home run. Toledo pulled ahead in the bottom of the fourth, as Jerad Head doubled, plating Justin Henry for a 4-3 lead. The Bulls had a scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth, with Rich Thompson on third and one out, but were unable to cash in the runner. Toledo pitching then shut down the Bulls the rest of the way, as the Mud Hens won 4-3. Chris Archer picked up the loss, allowing 4 earned runs on 9 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 5 in 6 innings of work. Thompson was 2-4 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base.

Montgomery Biscuits 5, Jackson Generals 2

The Generals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, as they loaded the bases with no one out in the top of the first inning. After a fly out, Rich Poythress had a two run single, putting the Generals up 2-0. The Biscuits got one of the runs back in the bottom of the second, as Derek Dietrich singled, moved to third on Kyeong Kang‘s double, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brett Nommensen. Montgomery took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, as Mark Thomas tripled to lead off the inning. Shawn O’Malley singled, driving in Thomas to tie the game, and came around to score on Mikie Mahtook‘s two out, two run home run. The Biscuits tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth, as O’Malley singled again, and scored on a single by Omar Luna, providing the final run in the Biscuits’ 5-2 victory. Nick Barnese picked up the win, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 over 6 innings of work. O’Malley and Kang each had 3 hits in the win.

Jupiter Hammerheads 5, Charlotte Stone Crabs 4 (Game One, 7 innings)

In the first game of a rain induced doubleheader, the Hamerheads and the Stone Crabs were tied at 1-1 through four innings. In the fifth, Jupiter took the lead as Marcell Ozuna hit a three run home run with one out, putting the Hammerheads up 4-1. Charlotte got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, as they loaded the bases with one out on a single, an error, and a hit batsman. Lucas Bailey hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Steven Tinoco to trim the lead to 4-2. Jupiter got the run back in the top of the seventh, as Christian Yelich doubled, and scored on Ozuna’s RBI single. The Stone Crabs rallied, scoring two runs in the bottom of the frame on Tinoco’s two out single, but the Hammerheads were able to hold on to the 5-4 victory. Albert Koronis took the loss, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk over 3 innings. Tinoco went 4-4 with a run scored and 2 RBI in the loss.

Jupiter Hammerheads 6, Charlotte Stone Crabs 1 (Game Two, 7 innings)

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Hammerheads jumped out to an early lead, and cruised to a 6-1 victory. Jupiter scored five times in the top of the second, highlighted by a two run double by Christian Yelich and a bases loaded walk for Mark Canha. Charlotte got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third, as Robbie Price tripled with two outs, and came around to score on Todd Glaesmann‘s double. The Hammerheads got the run back in the top of the sixth, as Blake Barber singled, moved to third on a single by Yelich, and scored on a sacrifice fly. Eliazer Suero was hammered in the loss, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 3 hits and 4 walks over 1.1 innings of work. Glaesmann was 1-3 with a double and an RBI in the loss.

West Michigan Whitecaps 3, Bowling Green Hot Rods 2

The Whitecaps used a two run third inning to take the lead, and held on to defeat the Bowling Green Hot Rods 3-2. The Hot Rods scored first, as Ryan Brett led off the game with a home run to put Bowling Green up 1-0. The Whitecaps got the run back in the bottom of the inning, as Chad Wright walked, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a two out single by Aaron Westlake. West Michigan took the lead in the bottom of the third, as Brandon Loy doubled with one out, and scored on a single by Eugenio Suarez. Suarez scored on an RBI double by Westlake, giving the Whitecaps a 3-1 lead. Bowling Green got a run back in the top of the eighth, as Juniel Querecuto scored on a double by Jeff Malm. With the bases loaded and one out, Nicholas Avila struck out Kes Carter and got Joshua Sale to pop out, ending the threat, as West Michigan held on for the win. Felipe Rivero took the loss, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk over 3 innings, striking out 2 batters. Westlake was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI in the defeat.

Lowell Spinners 5, Hudson Valley Renegades 2

The Spinners completed the sweep of the Renegades, handing them a 5-2 defeat on Sunday. Lowell loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first, and scored a run on a double play. The Renegades tied the game in the bottom of the second, as Jake DePew drove in Luke Maile with a two out single. Lowell loaded the bases again with none out in the top of the fifth, and scored another run on a double play. Deven Marrero singled, driving in Matthew Gedman to give the Spinners a 3-1 lead. The Renegades got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, as Richie Shaffer singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and came around to score on two groundouts. The Spinners scored again in the top of the eighth, as Dreily Guerrero hit a one out, two run double, giving Lowell a 5-2 victory. Sean Biermann took a tough loss, giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 1 in 6 innings of work. DePew went 2-4 with an RBI in the defeat.

Princeton Rays 1, Greeneville Astros 0

Scoreless into the bottom of the fourth, the Rays scratched a run across, providing the final margin of victory. With one out, William Argo was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a single by Omar Navarez. The Rays threatened to put more runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh, with runners on second and third with two out. However, James Harris struck out, ending the threat. The one run was all that Rays starter Bruedlin Suero needed, as he and three relievers combined on a five hit shutout. Suero gave up 5 hits and struck out 2 in 6 innings of work, picking up his fourth victory. John Alexander was 2-3 with 2 stolen bases.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 5, Birmingham Barons (CHW) 1

Matt Buschmann pitched well and Hak-Ju Lee had a huge hit as the Biscuits came away with a nice win. Buschmann went 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 6 while walking 3 and posting a 5-3 groundout to flyout ratio. The game was tied at 1 after 6 innings, with the only Biscuits run coming on a Greg Sexton RBI double, but the Biscuits’ offense came alive in the 7th. The Biscuits strung together three consecutive singles, with Brett Nommensen‘s single giving Montgomery a 2-1 lead. A few batters later, Lee came to the plate with the bases loaded and 2 outs and came up huge in the clutch, drilling a bases-clearing triple to extend the lead to 5-1 and that was the final margin. The Biscuits managed just 7 hits and only Sexton (2 for 4) had a multi-hit game, but they came up huge in the clutch, especially in the 4-run 7th.

High-A Florida State League: Clearwater Threshers (PHI) 9, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2

C.J. Riefenhauser got off to an incredible start in 2012, but his season has gone the other way of late as he hasn’t managed an ERA below 4.50 in a start since June 22nd. Unfortunately, Saturday was no exception. Reifenhauser did throw 5 innings for the first time since June 29th, but he allowed 6 runs on 5 hits, striking out 5 while walking 3 and allowing 2 home runs. His groundout to flyout ratio was 4-4. You have to hope that Riefenhauser can get back on track soon. Steven Tinoco did go 3 for 4 for Charlotte, while Hector Guevara went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored, and David Wendt went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Derek Dietrich had the other RBI for the Stone Crabs.

The Hot Rods had a lot of fun with Goeddel following his walk-off walk. (Credit: Starter

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 5, Clinton LumberKings (SEA) 4 (11 innings)

The Hot Rods had a 4-0 lead and a no-hitter going before everything fell apart in the 8th, but they rallied in extra-innings to win the game albeit in less graceful fashion. Starters Felipe Rivero and Roberto Gomez each tossed 3 innings in the game as the Rays are trying to limit their innings the rest of the year, and their line was the same: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.  Through 6 innings, Hot Rods pitchers had a no-hitter going while striking out 10. An Alejandro Segovia solo home run in the second inning gave the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead and was still the margin in the game. But after Charlie Cononie worked around a walk and a hit batsman to pitch a scoreless 7th with the no-hitter intact, Tyler Goeddel had an RBI single and Jake Hager had a 2-run single in the bottom of the inning to give Bowling Green a 4-1 lead. But in the 8th, Cononie allowed 2 singles and a walk before walking in a run and allowing a Michael Dowd 2-run single to tie the game. The game went into extra-innings and kept going until the 11th, where a hit-by-pitch, a walk, an intentional walk, and finally a Tyler Goeddel walk plated the winning run as the Hot Rods won on a walk-off walk. Austin Hubbard tossed two 1-hit innings, striking out 3 while walking just 1 for the win, and the offensive heroes were Segovia, who went 2 for 4 with his homer and 2 runs scored, Drew Vettleson, who went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored, Hager, who had a 2-run single, and finally Goeddel, who went 1 for 4 with a walk and 2 RBI.

Short Season-A New York Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 4, Aberdeen Ironbirds (BAL) 3

The Renegades overcame an inconsistent start with great bullpen and an outstanding late rally that was reminiscent of some of the Rays’ great wins this year. And to top it off, the win brought them into a tie with the Brooklyn Cyclones for first in the New York-Penn League’s McNamara Division. Jeff Ames got the start for Hudson Valley and had a tough day, going 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, striking out 2 while walking 4 and managing just a 3-5 groundout to flyout ratio. He left with the Renegades trailing 3-1, with the only run coming on a 3rd inning Tommy Coyle RBI triple. But in relief of Ames, Jose Alberto Molina tossed 2 shutout frames and Kris Carlson chipped in another to keep it a 2-run game heading to the 9th. The Renegades were in striking distance, and they were lucky enough to put something together. Joel Caminero led off with a single and a Jake DePew single two batters later gave Hudson Valley first and second with 1 out. That brought up Deshun Dixon, who had come on of late. And in this spot, Dixon came up big drilling a 2-run double to tie the game. Two batters later, Marty Gantt singled in Dixon for the go-ahead run and the Renegades had come all the way back. Marcus Jensen tossed a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts for the save as the Renegades won 4-3 in exciting fashion. Tommy Coyle went 3 for 5 with his RBI triple and DePew went 2 for 4 with a double, but the difference was the clutch hits of Dixon and Gantt.

Rookie Appalachian League: Game 1: Bluefield Blue Jays 2, Princeton Rays 0 (7 innings)

7 innings, the minor league prerequisite for doubleheaders, is certainly shorter than 9, but it is never enjoyable to get 1-hit by the opposition. Blake Snell delivered another incredible start for the P-Rays, going 5 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits, striking out 6 while walking none and posting a 5-1 groundout to flyout ratio. But Tucker Jensen was a little better for Bluefield allowing just an Alvin Toles single and a John Alexander walk in 6 innings, striking out 5 while walking 1 and posting an 11-1 groundout to flyout ratio. But Jon Weaver allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the 6th, and Brandon Dorsett tossed a perfect 9th for the save as the Blue Jays won 2-0. Toles was the only one with a game that he could possibly write home about, going 1 for 3.

Game 2: Princeton Rays 4, Bluefield Blue Jays 2 (7 innings)

This game went a lot better for the P-Rays. Bruedlin Suero continued the P-Rays’ great pitching of the day with his second straight strong outing following 5 disaster appearances to begin the season. He tossed 5 innings allowing just an unearned run on 2 hits, striking out 5 while walking 2 and posting a 5-3 groundout to flyout ratio. Nice to see Suero turning his season around. And the offense was able to deliver for him as well to help the P-Rays earn a split in the twin bill. Willie Argo had a great game, going 2 for 2 with a homer and 3 RBI, and Brandon Martin went 1 for 3 with a solo homer.

Rookie Gulf Coast League: GCL Rays 5, GCL Orioles 3

The Rays 6th rounder in 2012, Damion Carroll, made his first professional start following four relief appearances, and he showed some encouraging signs. He went 2.2 innings allowing 1 run on just 1 hit but striking out 1 while walking 4. The walks aren’t good, but his groundout to flyout ratio was great 6-0. Carroll has experienced control problems earlier in his career, and hopefully those can be smoothed out. Nolan Gannon, the Rays’ 4th round selection made the other half of the start for the GCL Rays, going 3.1 innings of shutout ball allowing just 2 hits and a walk, but he couldn’t strike out a batter and his groundout to flyout ratio was a ghastly 2-8, a far cry from his previous performance. Gannon was off on Saturday, but he was able to survive without his best command. In terms of the offense, Spencer Edwards went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI, Cesar Perez went 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, and Adderly Rosa went 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

Triple-A International League: Charlotte Knights (CHW) 4, Durham Bulls 0

11 hits, three separate 3-hit games, and zero runs. That is pretty embarrassing. Lance Pendleton was certainly not great, going 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1 but allowing a 4-6 groundout to flyout ratio and 2 home runs. Josh Lueke was great in the final two innings, allowing just a hit while striking out 3 and walking none and posting a 3-0 groundout to flyout ratio. But the Bulls went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and couldn’t mMuster a single run. Henry Wrigley went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, and Leslie Anderson and Matt Mangini each went 3 for 4 as well, but they just could not score.

Double-A Southern League: Mobile Baybears (ARI) 11, Montgomery Biscuits 3

Matt Buschmann has to wonder what the heck just happened. He forced groundball after groundball. His groundout to flyout ratio in the game was a perfect 13-0. His groundball to flyball ratio was 16-4. Even his groundballs to flyballs, line drives, and pop-ups ratio was 16-10. Yet his start was an absolute disaster. He went 6 innings allowing 9 runs on 11 hits, striking out 2 and walking out 2 as well. He managed to allow just 4 flyballs, but 2 home runs! That is known is terrible luck. Sorry, Matt. It happens. Ryan Garko did slam a 2-run homer for the Biscuits.

Nice to see Joyce back in the batter's box, and hopefully he'll rejoin the Rays soon. (Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

High-A Florida State League: Daytona Cubs 4, Charlotte Stone Crabs 3

Nice to see Matt Joyce back in a game for the first time since July 4th. Joyce started in right field had a nice showing, going 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and an RBI. A bizarre chain of events happened after Joyce left the game. Kevin Kiermaier entered the game as a defensive replacement and then was pinch-hit for by Riccio Torrez without getting an at-bat, and Torrez got a huge RBI single to tie the game at 3. Backtracking, C.J. Riefenhauser had his first non-disaster start since June 22nd, although he was by no means dominant. He went 4 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, on 5 hits, striking out 2 while walking 4. His groundout to flyout ratio was 4-3. More dominant was Alex Koronis, who relieved Riefenhauser and came through with his best appearance, since, interestingly, July 15th, 2011, a year prior to the day. Wow. He went 4.1 shutout innings allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 4. Unfortunately, Chris Rearick entered with 1 out in the 9th and allowed a walk, a double, and a walk-off sac fly by Rubi Silva to end it.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 4, Peoria Chiefs (CHC) 2

It’s that’s time of year at the Low-A level. The pitchers in Low-A are all coming from Short Season-A or Rookie Ball and came into this year with a relatively small amount of innings under their belt. At this point in the season, the Rays have started to limit the innings of their Low-A pitchers to make sure that their workload doesn’t increase by too much from year to year in order to keep them healthy. Roberto Gomez was the first starter for Bowling Green and pitched well, allowing no runs on 3 hits in 3 innings, striking out 2 while walking 1. Felipe Rivero followed and was pretty unimpressive, allowing 1 run on 4 hits in his 3 frames, striking out just 1 while walking 2. Charlie Cononie tossed the final third of the game, allowing 1 run on 2 hits in 3 innings, striking out 5 while walking 4. They held the Chiefs to 2 runs and the Hot Rods got them the run support they needed to win. Cameron Seitzer was moved into the three-hole with Drew Vettleson getting a day off and sure hit like it, going 4 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. He raised his batting average from .297 to .306 in the process. Jake Hager also had a nice game, going 1 for 3 with a big 2-run single, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. And in addition, Josh Sale was by no means flashy but had an encouraging performance, going 0 for 1 but with 3 walks and a run scored.

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Game 1: Burlington Royals 2, Princeton Rays 0 (7 innings)

Blake Snell finally lost his first game of the season with what can be called a bad outing. Boy, what some people would give for Blake Snell’s bad outings. Snell went 4.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 while walking 3 and posting a 6-4 groundout to flyout ratio. Zach Butler and Randy Davis combined to hold the Royals down for the rest of the game, but the P-Rays couldn’t generate any offense and fell in the opener of the doubleheader. They managed just 3 hits, by Willie Argo, who went 1 for 2 with a walk, and Brandon Martin and Daniel Duran, who had a hit apiece.

Game 2: Princeton Rays 3, Burlington Royals 1

The P-Rays’ fate reversed in Game 2, as often appears to be the case. Bruedlin Suero, a lean 6’4″, 170 lefty, had his best start of the season by an exorbitant amount, going 5 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 4 while walking 1. His groundout to flyout ratio was a great 9-2. He managed a 1.80 start ERA after not getting below 7.20 in any of his other 5 appearances, 4 of which were starts. Congrats to Bruedlin, and hopefully he has turned a corner. Jon Weaver tossed 2 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts for the save. The offense was supplied by a few different contributors, with Omar Narvaez going 2 for 3 with a run scored, Alvin Toles going 1 for 2 with a walk, an RBI, and 2 stolen bases, and Daryl George and John Alexander each lacing an RBI single.