Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 5, Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 2

The most exciting moment in this one was obviously when Myers left in the 3rd inning ahead of his big league call-up, but this actually wound up being a rock-solid Bulls win. J.D. Martin got the start and pitched very well, going 7 innings allowing 2 run on 4 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1. Jeff Beliveau and Kirby Yates followed with 4 strikeouts while allowed just 1 hit in the final 2 innings to give the Bulls 10 K’s for the game. On the offensive side, Brandon Guyer, long Myers’ single-fiddle in the Durham outfield, finally had his chance to shine, going 1 for 3 with a homer, a walk, and 2 runs scored, Cole Figueroa went 2 for 4 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored, Mike Fontenot went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored, and Chris Gimenez returned to the lineup for the first time since his hand injury and went 1 for 4. The star power is gone for the Bulls, but this is still an excellent all-around team.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 5, Jacksonville Suns (MIA) 2

Enny Romero saw his streak of 6 straight quality starts come to an end, but he still pitched well as the Biscuits also found their way to an easy win. Romero went 5 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits, striking out 5 while walking 3, lowering his ERA to 2.86 on the season after it was just 5.58 in his first 7 starts.  He has just a 0.85 ERA since. There’s still plenty of work to do–Romero’s strikeout to walk ratio is just 59-34 in 73 innings pitched–but he has improved it to a more respectable 32-15 in 42.1 IP since his streak began. And even though Romero has a ways to go in his develop as a pitcher, this run of dominance has given him plenty of confidence and that will serve him extremely well moving forward. Marquis Fleming allowed a pair of runs behind Romero, but Austin Hubbard and Erik Hamren struck out 3 in the last 2 innings to seal the win. The run support for Romero and the Biscuits came primarily from Cameron Seitzer, who went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI, and Kevin Kiermaier went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored, Robby Price went 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Mikie Mahtook went 1 for 5 with his 15th steal on the season. Shawn O’Malley also departed early from this game after singling in his first at-bat. He seems to be Myers’ replacement at Durham. O’Malley saw time at Durham last year but managed numbers about as good as he has put up his entire career with Montgomery this season, managing a .263/.323/.378 line with 17 steals in 19 attempts.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 8, Lansing Lugnuts (TOR) 0

Taylor Guerrieri continued his rebound from a couple bad starts with his most dominant performance in a while as Hot Rods pitching wound up striking out 14 in this game. Guerrieri went 5 innings allowing no runs on 4 hits, striking out 7 while walking 1. Even after two horrific starts, his ERA on the season is still just 2.50 and he has a 43-10 strikeout to walk ratio in 54 IP. The promotion we’ve all been waiting for was Myers coming to the majors, but Guerrieri’s combination of pure stuff and polish is just too much for Low-A hitters and a promotion to High-A Charlotte could be in the works in the coming weeks. Just as encouraging had to be Nick Sawyer following Guerrieri as he went 1.1 perfect innings striking out 2. Sawyer’s 3.24 ERA belies the fact that he has walked 34 in 33.1 IP even as he has struck out 47 (12.7 K/9), but he finally nailed down his first appearance with two strikeouts and no walks, and hopefully this is something he can build on. Jose Alberto Molina struck out 2 more working around a hit and a walk in 1.2 IP before Marcus Jensen struck out the side in the 9th to give Bowling Green its 14-K total. Unbelievable what Guerrieri and this entire pitching staff can do. Certainly don’t forget about this offense either as it seems like everyone is heating up. Justin O’Conner cooled off, going 0 for 5, but Tyler Goeddel extended his hitting streak to 8 by going 3 for 5 with a 2-run home run, Joey Rickard went 3 for 3 with a homer, a double, a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, Brandon Martin went 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored, Luke Maile went 2 for 4, and Patrick Leonard drilled a 2-run home run. Goeddel is hitting .395 during his streak and is finally starting to tap into his power, drilling a homer, a triple, and a double in his last four games after registering just one extra-base hit in the first four games of the streak.

Triple-A International League: Louisville Bats (CIN) 5, Durham Bulls 1

Alex Colome was solid, but Greg Reynolds for Louisville was better as the Bulls fell 5-1. Colome went 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, striking out 4 while walking 2 and managing a 7-3 groundout to flyout ratio. It certainly was not his best outing, but it was nice to see him have a solid performance after suffering a letdown in his first Triple-A start following his scintillating MLB debut. Reynolds went 8 innings allowing just 1 run for Louisville. But even as Reynolds pitched great, a few different Bulls had his number. Wil Myers just cannot be stopped right now and went 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored in this one, Tim Beckham went 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Jesus Flores went 2 for 3. The Rays said that they wanted Myers to work on his baserunning, and that seems to be going extremely well as he has stolen 4 bases in his last 4 games. For some perspective, Myers stole 4 bases in his previous 95 games before this streak.

Double-A Southern League: Huntsville Stars (MIL) 7, Montgomery Biscuits 1

The issue with homer-robbing catches is that even the best outfielders can only make a few of them. When you’re allowing a lot of hard-hit balls, you’re in trouble. Between a tough outing from Merrill Kelly (4 IP, 6 ER) and a non-existent offense, the Biscuits got clobbered on Sunday. But boy did Mikie Mahtook look good. He had a nice day at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. And then in the 5th inning, he did this.

Wow. Mahtook’s prospect stock has declined significantly the past couple of years, but a few games like this and everything will change. He’s still an extremely athletic outfielder with power and speed, and you never know if a catch like that could start a good run for him.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 9, Lake County Captains (CLE) 1

Want some hope for Matt Moore? Look no further than Taylor Guerrieri in Low-A. Guerrieri got hit hard in a couple straight starts after dominating previously, allowing 10 runs on 14 hits in 10 innings, but on Sunday he was pretty much back to normal to help lead Bowling Green to victory. Guerrieri went 6 innings allowing no runs on 3 hits, managing just a 2-2 strikeout to walk ratio but forcing 13 groundout and just 2 flyouts. Great to see Guerrieri get right back on track and hopefully Moore can soon do the same. And looking at the score, Guerrieri did quite a bit of run support in this one. Justin O’Conner had a big game, going 1 for 3 with a homer, 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Tommy Coyle went 2 for 4 with a homer, a double, 2 RBI, and 3 runs scored, and Leonardo Reginatto went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Coyle has half of his season’s home run total (4) in his last 3 games, but the most impressive player right now has to be O’Conner. The Rays have been waiting for a long time for O’Conner to break through and maybe now it’s finally happening. In his last 10 games, O’Conner has a .306/.419/.528 line with 2 homers, 2 doubles, 6 RBI, and a 10-6 strikeout to walk ratio. It’s only 10 games, but in terms of contact, plate discipline, and power, everything is coming together, and maybe this streak can last.

Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 7, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 4

The star and the so-called lottery ticket in the James Shields trade had huge days as the Bulls pulled away early in their 7-4 win. Mike Montgomery delivered his first quality start at Triple-A since last June 23rd, going 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, striking out 4 while walking 1 and posting a 7-3 groundout to flyout ratio. He allowed 2 runs in a tough 5th but showed nice resiliency to escape that inning and toss the 6th. Montgomery’s ERA is just 5.03 in four Triple-A starts, but his peripherals have been encouraging as he has managed a 7.3 K/9, a 3.2 BB/9, and a 0.9 HR/9, including a 10-2 strikeout to walk ratio with only 1 home run allowed in his last two starts. He still has a long way to go, but Montgomery has pitched about as well as the Rays possibly could have hoped and could realistically end up in the major leagues by the end of the year if he just keeps making strides. In terms of Montgomery’s run support, Wil Myers had yet another huge game, going 3 for 4 with a homer, a triple, and 3 RBI (yes, he was a double short of the cycle). Myers extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and he’s hitting .409 with 6 home runs over the streak to raise his average to .280 on the season. Shelley Duncan, Cole Figueroa, and Juan Apodaca also went deep for the Bulls, with Figueroa and Apodaca both hitting their first home runs of the season. Great to see Myers surging and Montgomery progressing, and so far, so good for the returns on this James Shields trade.

Double-A Southern League: Pensacola Blue Wahoos (CIN) 11, Montgomery Biscuits 4

Keith Castillo continues hitting out of his mind, but the rest of the Biscuits were extremely lackluster as Montgomery fell 11-4 to Pensacola. Jake Floethe allowed 5 runs in 4 innings, but it was Marquis Fleming who really imploded, allowing 6 runs in the 7th that if avoided could have made this a much more interesting game. Things got bad enough that Steven Tinoco, an outfielder/first baseman, had to make his third relief appearance of the season, tossing a shutout 9th. On the offensive side, Kevin Kiermaier did go 2 for 5 with a double, but beyond him it was basically only Keith Castillo, who went 4 for 5 with a homer and a double. After demoted from High-A to Low-A in June of last year, somehow Castillo has been an impossible out of late at Double-A, hitting 11 for 25 (.440) in 7 games. This won’t keep up, but pretty amazing how well Castillo is hitting.

High-A Florida State League Game 1: Charlotte Stone Crabs 7, St. Lucie Mets 4 (7 innings)

Five runs in the final three innings made all the difference as the Stone Crabs came back to beat St. Lucie. Felipe Rivero struggled, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 3.1 innings, but Chris Kirsch and Lenny Linsky held the Mets to 1 run in the final 3.2 IP, working around 5 hits and 3 walks to do so. It was the offense who really shined, with every member of the lineup collecting a hit and just 3 runners left on base. Jeff Malm had a 2-run homer, Drew Vettleson had a 2-run double, and Ryan Brett went 2 for 4 with 3 triples, an RBI, and a run scored. Brett has been playing extremely well since returning from his suspension, managing a .277/.333/.489 line with 13 games. In sharp contrast to Josh Sale, he hasn’t really missed a beat.

Game 2: St. Lucie 5, Charlotte 3

Another tough game for the Charlotte pitching staff marred this one as the offense wasn’t nearly the same. Jacob Partridge and Eliazer Suero combined to allow 5 runs on 9 hits in the 7 innings, striking out 4 and walking 4 as well. The Stone Crabs’ entire offense was homers by Hector Guevara and Willie Argo, with Argo’s being a 2-run shot. Argo’s been playing great, managing a .357/.478/.554 line with 11 stolen bases in 20 games, but more interesting has to be Guevara. He’s hitting just .236 with a horrific .274 OBP yet has slammed 6 home runs in 177 plate appearances, as many as he hit in 657 plate appearances between 2011 and 2012. Guevara is going to have to do a better job getting on base, but it appears that he’s finally starting to tap into the raw power the Rays have always known he had and if keeps this up, good things should be ahead.

Low-A Midwest League: South Bend Silver Hawks (ARI) 8, Bowling Green Hot Rods 6

We knew it would happen eventually–Taylor Guerrieri would have a terrible start. Guerrieri went just 4 innings allowing 6 runs on 11 hits after never allowing more than 3 earned runs in any of his first 21 professional starts. He raised his ERA to (gasp) 3.14. Yes, that’s how great Guerrieri has been. Rough day for Guerrieri, but hopefully he can just get by this game without a hitch. Marcus Jensen struck out 3 while walking none as he allowed only an unearned run in 3 innings of relief for Bowling Green to keep the game close. In terms of the offense, Marty Gantt slammed a 3-run homer, Tyler Goeddel had a 2-run shot, and Patrick Leonard had an encouraging game, going 2 for 3 with a double, and walk, and a run scored. At the end of the day, this game was lost almost entirely because of Taylor Guerrieri’s struggles. Don’t think we’ll be saying that again for a long time.