It is always interesting when a player comes out of nowhere to potentially establish himself as a legitimate prospect. It is even more interesting when that player happens to play a position that has been a perennially weak spot for the organization. With the Rays Curt Casali, he may be forcing the Rays to consider him as part of the future at catcher.
Gwinnett Braves 4, Durham Bulls 1
Hits were very hard to come by for either team, but the Braves were able to string enough hits together to come away with a victory. Gwinnett scored first in the third, when Sean Kazmar doubled to lead off the inning, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout. The Braves scored twice more in the fourth. Alden Carrithers singled to lead off the inning, and Philip Gosselin singled with two outs to put runners at first and second with two outs. Joe Leonard followed with an RBI single to right, scoring Carrithers. Chris Gimenez misplayed the single, allowing Gosselin to score from first to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. The Bulls got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Tim Beckham led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and came around to score on a groundout. Gwinnett tacked on another run in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly, and the Braves came away with a 4-1 victory. Merrill Kelly took a tough loss, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits and two walks while striking out seven in six innings. Beckham had the best day of anyone for Durham at the plate, going 1-3 with a double and a walk on a day when the Bulls only had four baserunners.
Montgomery Biscuits 4, Chattanooga Lookouts (Dodgers) 3
The Biscuits jumped on top in the bottom of the second. Curt Casali continued his hot streak with a one out single, and came around to score on a home run to right by Kyeong Kang. Jeremy Moore homered for the Lookouts in the top of the fourth to cut the lead in half, but Montgomery came back in the bottom of the inning as they loaded the bases with no outs. Kang grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring a run home, but Mayo Acosta grounded into a double play to end the threat. Todd Glaesmann homered in the bottom of the sixth to give the Biscuits a 4-1 lead, and that run would prove to be crucial. Juan Sandoval came in to close out the victory in the top of the ninth, and ran into trouble. The Lookouts put runners on first and second with one out, and Osvaldo Martinez singled to cut the lead in half. After an out, J. T. Wise singled to left, as Chattanooga was suddenly within a run. However, Sandoval was able to reach back and end the threat by striking out Jan Vazquez to end the game. Mike Colla had an excellent start, giving up a single run on four hits and three walks in seven innings. Caaili was 2-3 with a walk and a run scored. Kang was 1-3 with a home run and three RBIs in the win. And in his Double-A debut, Ryan Brett went 2 for 4 with a double, taking his tremendous bounce-back season up to Montgomery.
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers) 9, Charlotte Stone Crabs 6
The Manatees took an early lead in this back and forth game, scoring a run in the top of the second. The Stone Crabs came back in the bottom of the inning, as Jake DePew had a two run single to right to put Charlotte on top. The lead did not last for long, as the Manatees put together a two out rally. Mitch Haniger had a ground rule double to score a run, and Nick Delmonico followed with a two run single. Each team exchanged runs in the fifth, and the Manatees tacked on another run in the top of the sixth, but the Stone Crabs came back once again in the bottom of the eighth. Charlotte loaded the bases with one out, and after a strikeout, Jeff Malm singled to drive in a run and leave the bases filled. Alejandro Segovia followed with a ground rule double, and the Stone Crabs had come back to tie the game. However, Brevard County countered in the ninth, loading the bases with one out. After an out, D’ Vontrey Richardson lined a two run single to center and Yadiel Rivera followed with a run scoring base hit. That would prove to be enough as the Manatees held on for the 9-6 victory. Bruedin Suero took the loss, giving up a run on a hit while recording an out. Feleipe Rivero had a rough start, giving up six runs, five earned, on eleven hits and a walk over 5.1 innings. Jake Hager, Hector Guevara and Segovia each had two hits in the loss.
South Bend Silver Hawks (Diamondbacks) 5, Bowling Green Hot Rods 4
The Silver Hawks put together a two out rally in the top of the first to take an early lead. Brandon Drury had an RBI double and came around to score on a base hit by Michael Lang as South Bend took an early 2-0 lead. A two out single by Michael Perez gave the Silver Hawks another run, but the Hot Rods came back in the bottom of the fourth with a two out rally of their own. Justin O’Conner had an RBI double to put Bowling Green on the board. Tyler Goeddel followed with an RBI double of his own to plate O’Conner, and the Hot Rods trimmed the lead to one. The Silver Hawks extended the lead back to two when Lang had an RBI force out, but the Hot Rods came back once again. Goeddel drove in another run on his second double of the contest, and Joey Rickard tied the game on a sacrifice fly. Yet, the Hot Rods were never able to take the lead, as Alex Glenn homered to put the Silver Hawks ahead to stay. Jose Molina took the loss, giving up a run on two hits in two innings of relief. Goeddel was 2-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and a walk in the loss.
Auburn Doubledays (Nationals) 13, Hudson Valley Renegades 4
This game was an absolute disaster for the Renegades from the start. The Doubledays jumped out for four runs in the first, and the Renegades did starter Aaron Griffin no favors as they made two errors in the first, and four total for the game. Griffin deserved a better fate, taking the loss as he gave up six runs, but only one earned, on eight hits in six innings. On the positive side, james harris, Omar Narvaez and Granden Goetzman each had two hits. The Doubledays closed out the game by scoring seven runs over the final three innings as the Renegades bullpen imploded. Let’s move on.
Bluefield Blue Jays 13, Princeton Rays 3
Well, this game was actually worse. As hard as it is to believe, the game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Rays fell apart. Bluefield took advantage of some horrendous defense, as the Rays committed four errors in the inning while the Blue Jays put up ten runs in the frame. From that point, the game was essentially out of reach. Starter Nolan Gannon struggled, giving up eight runs, but only three earned, on six hits and a walk in 3.1 innings.Hunter Lockwood was the only Ray to get on base more than once, going 0-2 with an RBI and two walks.