Indianapolis Indians (Pirates) 6, Durham Bulls 4 (Ten innings)

Kelly’s start began well, as he blanked the Indians over the first four innings, striking out seven batters. But he began to tire, and Indianapolis got to Kelly with two outs in the top of the fifth. Tony Sanchez singled, then scored on a double by Jerry Sands to break the scoreless tie. The Indians added on in the sixth, when Kelly gave up a leadoff walk, then surrendered a two run home run to Matt Hague. A one out base hit marked the end of Kelly’s night, and the Indians held a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. The Bulls took advantae of some sloppy defense by Indianapolis, as Wil Myers reached on an error, and moved to second on a base hit. After a line out to second, Josh Harrison attempted to double up Myers, but threw the ball away allowing the runners to advance. With two outs, Cole Figueroa drove in both runners with a base hit, cutting the lead to 4-2. Durham tied the game in the seventh, as Vince Belnome hit an RBI triple, then scored on a passed ball. The score remained tied into the top of the tenth, when the Indians got solo home runs from Brett Carroll and Sands to jump back on top. The Bulls were unable to mount a comeback in the bottom of the inning, as they fell to the Indians by a 6-4 score. Steve Geltz took the loss, giving up the two solo home runs in his inning of work. Kelly had a solid start, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out ten in 5.1 innings. Belnome and Jason Bourgeois each had two hits in the loss.

Jacksonville Suns (Marlins) 6, Montgomery Biscuits 2

After Mark Canha hit a solo home run to give the Suns a 1-0 lead, the Biscuits came back with a run of their own in the top of the third. Robi Estrada reached on an error, then moved up to third on a pair of ground outs. Mikie Mahtook doubled to left to even the score. Montgomery took the lead in the fourth, as Todd Glaesmann led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly. However, that lead would be short lived, as the Suns came back as they had the previous night. With two out and runners on first and second, Noah Perio doubled to give the Suns the lead, then came around to score on a double by Danny Black. The Suns added two more runs as Kyle Jensen and Jake Marisnick hit solo home runs en route to the 6-2 defeat of the Biscuits. Victor Mateo took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks, striking out six in four innings. Glaesmann and Mahtook were each 2-4 with two doubles in the loss.

Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays) 3, Bowling Green Hot Rods 1

Bowling Green starter Sean Bierman and Lansing starter Roberto Osuna found themselves locked in a pitcher’s dual, as both teams were scoreless heading into the fifth. There, the Hot Rods were able to put a run on the board, as Leonardo Reginatto singled to lead off the inning. After a pickoff attempt went awry, Reginatto moved up to third, where he scored on a base hit by Marty Gantt. Unfortunately, Bierman was unable to make that run stand up, as the Lugnuts came back in the bottom half of the inning. Kevin Patterson singled to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a passed ball. With one out, Carlos Ramirez reached on an error to put runners at the corners. Emilio Guerrero then followed with his first home run of the season to give Lansing a 3-1 lead. The Hot Rods had a couple of scoring chances, but were unable to push across any more runs as they fell by the 3-1 score. Bierman took the loss, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits and two walks, striking out six in six innings. Reginatto and Gantt each had two hits, and Tyler Goeddel was 1-4 with a double to account for the Hot Rods offense.

Triple-A International League: Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 1, Durham Bulls 0

The Bulls tried their best going up against 2011 No. 1 overall pick Gerrit Cole, but Cole was just too much, tossing 7 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 3. J.D. Martin gave the Bulls his best effort going against such a daunting task, tossing 7.2 innings allowing just an unearned run in 7.2 innings, but it was not enough. Brandon Guyer did go 1 for 3 in the loss.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 4, Pensacola Blue Wahoos (CIN) 2 (Completion of suspended game from Tuesday)

This game was very frustrating right when it was suspended, with Merrill Kelly allowing 2 runs in the 7th after tossing shutout ball in the first 6 innings to put the Biscuits behind 2-1, but the Biscuits put up 3 runs when the game resumed to win it 4-2. As it turned out, the game turned out to be Mark Thomas’ best of the year–and the Rays hope it’s his coming out party. Thomas gave the Bulls the lead with a homer in the 3rd to make it 1-0, and then he gave them the lead again in the 7th, drilling a 2-out, 2-run triple t- make it 3-2. Thomas is hitting just .139 on the season, but the Rays know he’s a lot better than this and hopefully he can start showing that. Thomas also did a great job catching Kelly, who nailed down his fourth straight quality start, going 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 3 while walking 2. Also, Keith Castillo stayed hot for Montgomery, going 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, and Riccio Torrez went 1 for 3 with a double and a run scored.

High-A Florida State League: Charlotte Stone Crabs 7, Dunedin Blue Jays 4

Ryan Carpenter had a nice start and the Stone Crabs rode clutch hitting to 7 runs as they beat the Blue Jays 7-4. Carpenter went 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, striking out 7 while walking 2. He has allowed just 2 runs in 11.2 innings in his last two starts after allowing 13 in 11.1 IP in his previous two. On the offensive side, Drew Vettleson went 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored, Kes Carter went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and a run scored, Willie Argo went 2 for 5 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored, and Jake Hager went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs scored. Vettleson is hitting just .257, but he’s hitting .286 in his last 10 games as he’s slowly but surely starting to heat up.

Low-A Midwest League: Dayton Dragons (CIN) 5, Bowling Green Hot Rods 3

5.1 innings of one-run relief weren’t enough as the Hot Rods lost their 7th in a row. Blake Snell got the start and struggles, allowing 4 runs, 3 earned, on 4 hits in 3.2 innings, striking out 2 while walking 1. Snell has been extremely inconsistent all year, managing just a 4.14 ERA with 41 strikeout but 27 walks in 41.1 IP. That being said, take out two 6-walk outings and his K-BB ratio is better than 2-1, so the potential is there if only Snell can harness it. 6’7″ lefty Matthew Spann followed Snell as he made his season debut, going 3.1 innings allowing just an unearned run on 2 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2 as well. Nice to see Spann get on a mound after a solid year at Hudson Valley last year, and we’ll have to see what he can do. Nick Sawyer and Ryan Garton each struck out 1 working around a hit in an inning of work to finish off the game. On the offensive side, Andrew Toles went 2 for 5 and stole his 34th base of the season (!!), Leonardo Reginatto went 2 for 5 with an RBI, and Joey Rickard managed 2 RBI without a hit. Patrick Leonard also had an encouraging game, going 1 for 2 with a double, 2 walks, and 2 runs scored. He’s hitting just .181 on the season but .265 in his last 10 games, so maybe he’s primed to break out.

Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 11, Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders (NYY) 6

How fun it is to have an offense to pair with an amazing starting rotation. If only the Bulls–and, of course, the Rays–could find themselves a bullpen. J.D. Martin is the only pitcher in the Bulls rotation who isn’t a legitimate prospect but pitched decently, going 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, striking out 5 while walking 2. Martin, 30, isn’t anything too special, but it’s astounding that he has walked just 1.7 batters per 9 innings in 10 starts, walking more than two just once. But it was the lineup that certainly stole the show in this one. This Wil Myers guy appears to be pretty good after he had a great game, going 2 for 5 with a homer, a double, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, but three different Bulls drove in more runs than he did. Vince Belnome went 2 for 5 with a double, 2 RBI, and a run scored, raising his average to .329 on the year, Cole Figueroa went 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, and Jason Bourgeois knocked in two runs as well. Myers getting his act together is obviously the story, but great to see the entire Bulls offense clicking on all cylinders and Myers isn’t be the only player with the ability to make an impact for the Rays over the next few years.

Double-A Southern League: Jackson Generals (SEA) 3, Montgomery Biscuits 1

Remember when the Rays use to lose not because their bullpen was terrible but because they didn’t score any runs? That was the Biscuits against Jackson. Merrill Kelly had a great start, going 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, striking out 4 while walking 1. His only real mistake was Leon Landry‘s second homer in as many days as he came through with a great performance. Marquis Fleming struck out 2 working around 2 hits in the final 2 frames to hold the Generals at 3 runs. However, in this game, that would be enough. Kevin Kiermaier slammed a leadoff home run in the first inning for the only Montgomery run while Mikie Mahtook went 2 for 4 with a double. The Biscuits haven’t hit or pitched at all for most of the year (it’s a miracle that they’re only two games under .500 despite being outscored by 42 runs), but at least they got the pitching and hopefully the offense can put something more together.

High-A Florida State League: Fort Myers Miracle (MIN) 6, Charlotte Stone Crabs 4

Want a quick encapsulation of your 2013 Tampa Bay Rays? Here we go. The Stone Crabs took a 4-2 lead with a 4-run 7th, but Felipe Rivero betrayed the trust of his manager by faltering after being allowed to come back out for the 8th before Lenny Linsky completely imploded as Charlotte lost 6-4. Rivero was really good up until the 8th, going 7+ innings allowing 4 runs, 2 earned, on 7 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1 and managing an outstanding 11-2 groundout to flyout ratio. That groundout to flyout ratio was especially surprising as Rivero’s groundout to airout ratio this season has been just 0.88 and command has never really been his forte. Rivero has shown flashes in his last three starts, managing a 1.83 ERA and a 16-5 strikeout to walk ratio in 19.2 IP. On the offensive side, it is a little hard to explain how the Stone Crabs scored 4 runs on 5 hits without a home run (best answer is that they managed 3 hits, a walk, an HBP, and a wild pitch in that 7th inning), but Taylor Motter went 1 for 3 with a 2-run triple and a couple of Stone Crabs had encouraging days at the plate. Jeff Malm went 2 for 3 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored while Richie Shaffer went 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. Malm is slowly breaking out of his early-season slump while Shaffer continues to break out of his. Tough loss for the Stone Crabs, and hopefully their starters and bullpen will be able to compose themselves and make sure the bleeding stops.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 5, Fort Wayne Tincaps (SDP) 3

Ladies and gentleman, Marty Gantt is a whole lot more than a gimmick. Gantt has shortened fingers on his right hand, and after he hit just .204 in his pro debut last season, he seemed like nothing more than a publicity stunt on the Rays’ part. This season, though, has been an entirely different story, and Gantt was at his absolute best against Fort Wayne. Gantt went 4 for 4 with a homer, 3 stolen bases, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored and you have to hear his numbers so far this season. Gantt has a .326/.391/.489 line with 6 doubles, 5 homers, 26 RBI, and 6 stolen bases in 43 games. Gantt actually wasn’t the only player to run all over the Tincaps in this one as Andrew Toles and Joey Rickard both stole two bases as well. In terms of the pitching, Eduar Quinonez had a good start, going 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, striking out 4 while walking 1 and forcing an 8-2 groundout to flyout ratio. Reinaldo Lopez was even better finishing off the game, going the last 4 innings giving up just 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 3 without walking a batter and forcing a 6-1 groundout to flyout ratio. The common refrain is that pitching is contagious, and for the Hot Rods in this one, stealing bases may have been contagious as well.