The Undercards: Rained-Out Tampa Bay Rays Affiliates the Happy Ones

The Tampa Bay Rays were having a really good game on Thursday night until it ended extremely badly. The Montgomery Biscuits lost by 6 runs, the Bowling Green Hot Rods by 4. At least the Durham Bulls and Charlotte Stone Crabs were rained out, providing the movie-esque rain after a sad scene but not actually losing themselves. Tampa Bay Rays affiliates did not have a good day.

Double-A Southern League: Jackson Generals (SEA) 8, Montgomery Biscuits 2

We’ll start with the good news. Riccio Torrez went 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored, Joey Rickard went 2 for 4 with the other RBI, and Taylor Motter also went 2 for 4. Motter has multiple hits in 3 straight games. Jake Hager went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, extending his hitting streak to 6 and raising his line to .286/.352/.420 on the year. Then on the pitching side, Kevin Brandt tossed 3 shutout relief innings before Bryce Stowell finished the game with 2 strikeouts in a perfect 8th. Only one problem: Jared Mortensen allowed 8 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings of work.

Low-A Midwest League: Great Lakes Loons (LAD) 6, Bowling Green Hot Rods 2

This game began quite promisingly for the Hot Rods. Juniel Querecuto led off with a double before scoring on a single by Kean Wong, who got all the way to 3rd on an error. It was all downhill from there. Querecuto did have a great game, going 2 for 4  with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Since being moved up to the leadoff spot to stay on 4/25/14, Querecuto has a .328/.405/.375 line in 75 plate appearances. Ty Young and Alexander Simon both went 1 for 4 with a double to highlight the rest of Bowling Green’s offensive effort.

On the mound, German Marquez got the start but was ineffective, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in 3.1 innings pitched. He did strike out 4 while walking 2. Brad Schreiber was strong in relief behind him, allowing 2 hits and 3 walks in 3.2 innings but just 1 run. The 3 walks were actually quite uncharacteristic of Schreiber as he had never walked more than 1 batter in a game this season and has a 22-8 strikeout to walk ratio overall in 21.2 innings pitched. Unfortunately for him, two rough outings have left his ERA at 4.98.