The Undercards: Granden Goetzman’s Stong Day Leads Hot Rods To Win

The Tampa Bay Rays had a rough day on Friday, as they lost via a walk-off in a heated game against the Boston Red Sox. Luckily, that wouldn’t run down to their minor league system. Two affiliates had nice 1 run wins, and another came back from a 5 run deficit to give the Rays’ system a sweep on the day.

Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 5, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (PHI) 4

Mike Montgomery was the starter for Durham, and while he wasn’t as dominant as he has been in past outings, he still turned in a nice performance. He would go 5.2 innings, ceding 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk, also striking out 3. Behind him, Jake Thompson threw 1.1 scoreless innings. Thompson was mediocre as a starter in Double-A for two seasons, but the former 2nd round pick has dominated since moving to relief this season, posting an ERA of 2.00 between Double-A and Triple-A. After him, Adam Liberatore gave up a run without getting an out, but Kirby Yates finished things off with a 2.0 inning save.

On the offensive side of things, Curt Casali‘s 2-run shot would lead the way for the Bulls, though that would be the only hit he’d have. Hak-Ju Lee also had a strong day, going 2-3 with a double and a walk. Mikie Mahtook also added a 2-RBI double to cap off a solid overall day for the offense.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 5, Jacksonville Suns (MIA) 4

Mike Colla has struggled mightily this year, but a 6.0 inning start in which he have up just 1 earned run indicates he might finally be righting the ship. Andrew Bellati added 2.0 scoreless as he continues a strong season in which his ERA stands at 2.61. Santiago Garrido made things interesting by allowing the Suns to plate two runs in the 9th and lower the lead to 1. But, he managed to fight through it and earn the save.

Both Willie Argo and Joey Rickard had strong days at the plate, each going 2-3 with a walk and a run scored. Argo is hitting just .224 this season, but has put up a .333 average in his last 10 games, so maybe he is finally beginning to turn things around. Jeff Malm added a 2-RBI single, and Alejandro Segovia smacked a double to cap off a decent offensive night.

High-A Port Charlotte was rained out

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 9, Fort Wayne Tincaps (SDP) 6

Thanks to a rough start from Jacob Faria, who gave up 6 runs in 5.0 innings, the Hot Rods got behind 6-1. But then, a trio of runs in the 5th, a run in the 7th, and 4 runs in the 8th enabled the Hot Rods to come back and win this game comfortably. They did get plenty of help from reliever Aaron Griffin, who held down the fort with 4.0 scoreless innings after Faria’s poor start. Granden Goetzman had a big day at the plate, going 3-4 with a double and 3 runs scored. Goetzman continues to mash this year, with his slash line now an outstanding .326/.365/.508, and he also has 6 steals in 7 attempts. Darryl George also added to the offense with a 1-2 effort, a pair of walks, and 3 runs scored. Then there was Juniel Querecuto, who went 3-5 with a pair of RBIs. Overall a great win for the Hot Rods to overcome the early adversity.