Durham Bulls vs. Rochester Red Wings (International League AAA)

Result: Durham: 8 Rochester: 7    

W: Jason Childers(5-1)  L: Phil Humber(1-2) S: Winston Abreu(7)                                                                                              

Key Moments: Durham scored three runs in the top of 5th thanks to RBI doubles by Jon Weber and Ray Sadler. A fielding error in the 9th allowed Brandon Chaves to score, which would prove to be the difference in the game. 

The Bulls recorded seven doubles in the game.

Rays top prospects:

Matt Joyce: 0-2 3BB 1R 1SB

John Jaso: 0-4, BB

Record/GB: 30-17/1.5

Next game: May 29th at home against Buffalo. 

Probable Pitchers: Not yet known.

Montgomery Biscuits vs. Carolina Mud Cats(Southern League AA)

Result: Montgomery: 2  Carolina: 7

W: Travis Wood(4-3)  L: Heath Rollins(5-3)

Key Moments: Carolina took the lead for good in the 6th off extra base hits by Todd Frazier and Logan Parker. The Mud Cats would plate four in the inning, sending eight men to the plate. 

Rays top prospects:

Desmond Jennings: 1-4 2b 1K

Record/GB: 24-24/8.5

Next Game: 5/29 @ Carolina

Probable Pitchers: Aneury Rodriguez(2-6, 5.36) vs. Jordan Smith(4-0, 2.45)

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs. Clearwater Threshers(FSL A+)

Result: Charlotte: 1  Clearwater:10

W: Michael Cisco(1-0) L: Jesse Darcy(0-5)

Key Moments: Clearwater broke the game open in the 6th off the power of a Matthew Rizzotti grand slam. Rizzotti’s shot put the Threshers up by five, and they would not look back.

Rays top prospects:

Shawn O’Malley: 2-4

Matthew Fields: 2-4, 2B

Ryan Royster: 0-3

Record/GB: 22-20/5.5

Next Game: 5/29 @ Clearwater

Probable Starters: Unavailable

Anthony Scelfo was the only Hot Rod to record multiple hits, and scored one of their two runs. He went 2-5 with a double. 

Bowling Green starter Tyree Hayes struggled, giving up three runs and only lasting three innings. Josh Satow also gave up three runs in his inning and a third of relief. 

Manuel Banuelos would pick up the win for the Charleston River Dogs, giving up just one run in five innings. 

Charleston would win the game by the final of 7-2. 

Bowling Green is off tomorrow, and will return home tomorrow to begin a series again the Rome Braves.

Clearwater added two more in the second on Michael Durant’s 6th homer of the season. 

Though Fields hit his second home run of the game in the 5th, clear water tied it up in the 7th on the power of back-to-back solo shots by Cody Overback and Jesus Andino. The Threshers would win the game in the 11th with a walk-off single by Dominic Brown, scoring Andino. 

Cobb pitched a solid game for the Stone Crabs, going five innings and giving up three runs, two earned. He also record five punch-outs, walking none. He was settle for a no-decision. 

In game two of the double-header, Matthew Fields would hit his third home run of the night, coming in the second inning. 

Stone Crabs pitching Rayner Oliveros would pitch five scoreless innings, lowing his ERA to a miniscule 1.33. Oliveros has not allowed a run in his last 14 2/3 innings, yet has not recorded a win over the four game stretch.

Clearwater’s only run of the game would come on a sac-fly by Brown in the 6th inning. 

Drew Naylor pitched all seven innings in the shortened game, and would be credited with the loss. 

The two teams will play game three of the four game series tomorrow night in Clearwater.

All of the Montgomery offense would come in the 6th inning, scoring three runs. Fernando Cortez and Cesar Suarez would each double in the inning. 

Mann would pick up his third win of the season, and Calvin Medlock his 13th save after pitching a perfect 9th. 

The two teams will play tomorrow as Heath Rollins will pitch for the Biscuits and Travis Wood will go for Carolina. Montgomery currently sits third in the South division, 7.5 games out of first.

Matt Joyce lead the way for the offensive, going 3-5, and recording a game-high six RBI. Joyce, who the Rays traded Edwin Jackson for last offseason, is now batting .322 on the season, and has 12 RBI in his last 10 games. All three of Joyce’s hits were doubles. A call up should be in his near future if the Rays continue to struggle offensively from the right field position. 

Shortstop Brandon Chaves, playing in just his second game for the Bulls after being called up to replace Joe Dillon, also had a very impressive day at the dish. He reached all five times he stepped up to the plate, going 4-4 with two runs, a RBI and a walk. Chaves was batting .232 before being called up to AAA.

As a team, the Bulls collectively hit for eight doubles. Henry Mateo, Chris Nowak, Jon Weber, Ray Sadler and Matthew Hall had one each to go along with Joyce’s. 

Mitch Talbot had a very nice night on the mound, earning his fourth win of the season. He went six innings, giving up two runs and one walk on five strikeouts. The only damage came in the fourth inning, when Dustin Martin was driven in by a Trevor Plouffe single after he reached on a triple. Plouffe would later score on an error.

Julio DePaula and Joe Bateman pitched three combined scoreless inning in relief to secure the 12-2 victory. 

The Bulls will finish up the series with Rochester tomorrow afternoon, and Matt DeSalvo will make his first start in a Durham uniform. 

With the win, Durham moves to 29-17 on the season, a game and a half back for first place Norfolk. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Matt Moore, who was one of the players featured in this month’s top-10 list struggled mightily tonight. Moore lasted just three innings, giving up three runs and walking four. He did however tack on an impressive five strikeouts. Moore’s ERA rose to 4.33 despite holding batters to a .195 batting average on the season. Most of his struggles have come via the walk. He has already issued 33 free passes in 35.1 innings. In 2008 he only walked 19 guys in 51.1 innings. 

In a weird turn of events, despite scoring four runs, only one Bowling Green batter recorded a RBI. The other three game way of the wild pitch. Andrew Brackman, the Yankees’ first round pick in 2007, threw four wild pitches in the second inning. This lead to two Bowling Green runs. He recorded his fifth wild pitch of the game in the third inning which plated the #1 overall pick in 2008 Tim Beckham. In a Scott Kazmir like outing, Brackman walked 10 batters in 3.1 innings, but only surrounded one hit. 

Despite scoring the run, Beckham had a horrible night at the plate, going 0-4 with three stikeouts. His average fell to .305

Picking up the win in relief for Charleston was Casey Erickson pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, recording five strikeouts on two hits. Neil Schenk was saddled with the loss for Bowling Green. 

The series finale will take place tomorrow night as Tyree Hayes will go for Bowling Green against Manny Banuelos for Charleston.

Biscuits DH Fernando Cortez also added a home run of his own, going deep in the first for his second longball on the year. 

Unfortunately for Montgomery, their only other run of the game came in the sixth when both Rashad Eldridge and Drew Anderson recorded doubles. 

Biscuits starter Ryan Morse was solid going five innings on three runs and one earned. A fielding error by Montgomery shortstop Sean Henry in the third would eventually lead to two runs, ultimately costing the Biscuits the game. 

Montgomery pitchers Michael Wlodarczyk and Chris Mason each gave up a run in the seventh inning, which is all Carolina needed to seal the deal. Wlodarczyk and Mason have both struggled this year, following the game their ERA’s sit at 9.43 and 7.71 respectively. 

Carolina won the game 5-4, Mason was charged with a blown save and a loss, while Alex Smit picked up the win for the Mudcats. This was the sixth win in a row for Carolina.

The teams will continue the season tomorrow night as lefty Brandon Mann will take on Zach Stewart of the Mudcats. Stewart pitched a scoreless seven innings in his only appearance of the year for Carolina.

The Bulls got on the board first tonight. Chris Nowak scored in the second inning on a Matthew Hall single. That was both Hall’s first hit and RBI in a Bulls uniform this year. Hall has already played in A, AA and AAA this season. Nowak went 2-4 in the game, the only Durham batter to record multiple hits. 

Matt Joyce scored the Bulls’ only other run of the game on a wild pitch in the fourth, after recording his first triple of the season. 

James Houser pitched decently for the Bulls, going five innings, and giving up two runs on four hits and two strikeouts. Houser has an ERA of 4.78 on the season. 

Former Rays closer Chad Orvella pitched the final three innings of the game for the Bulls. He pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings before giving up a three-run homer to David Winfree in the eighth, which would be the difference in the game. 

The Red Wings would end up winning the game by the final of 5-2. Orvella was charged with the loss, and Kevin Mulvey, who the Twins received from the Mets as part of the Johan Santana trade, would pick up the win. 

The two teams will face off again tomorrow night as Mitch Talbot will take the hill for the Bulls, and Reid Santos pitches for Rochester.