Down On The Farm: Chris Mason And Jeremy Hellickson Continue To Pick Up Wins

Montgomery 3, Carolina 2. Chris Mason struck out 8 in 6 innings to pick up his 12th win on the year. He allowed 5 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs. Dale Thayer picked up his 18th save with 2 scoreless innings. Fernando Perez was 2-5 and stole 2 bases. He now has 21 steals on the year. Reid Brignac was 1-5 and is now hitting .259. Evan Longoria was 0-2 and is now hitless in his last 9 at bats.

St. Lucie 5, Vero Beach 4. Jake McGee allowed 3 runs in 5 innings. He struck out 3 and walked 4. Rhyne Hughes was 4-5 with a triple and his 19th double. He is now hitting .327 with a .900 OPS. Jackson Brennan picked up 3 hits and his 9th stolen base.

Columbus 7, Greenville 1. Jeremy Hellickson moved his record to 7-2 with a 2.45 ERA after striking out 7 and allowing 1 run in 5 innings. He gave up 3 hits and walked none. The Catfish stole 6 bases in the game including 2 by Desmond Jennings who now has 44 and 2 by catcher Nevin Ashley who now has 17. Jennings was 2-4 and is hitting .325. Joey Callender was 3-4 and drove in 3 runs.

State College 5, Hudson Valley 4.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• The Bulls were rained out last night.
• Mike Prochaska was promoted to AAA Durham. [Riverwalk Talk]
• Jason Pridie is 17-38 in the last 9-games. Pridie, the Rays 2nd round pick in the 2002 draft may finally be living up to his talent-level. Prior to the 2006 season, he was selected by the Twins in the Rule V draft despite only 28 games above A-ball. He did make the Twins roster and was returned to the Rays. He was assigned to AA in 2006 and struggled all season hitting .230/.281/.304. He was off to a good, if not spectacular start at AA this season, hitting .290/.331/.441 in 71 games for Montgomery. He was promoted to Durham and he found another gear. He is hitting .325/.367/.506 in 21 games and may have earned himself a September call-up. [OurSports Central]
• Evan Longoria and Wade Davis were named to Baseball America’s mid-season all-star team. [Riverwalk Talk]

Down On The Farm: Mike Prochaska Increases Scoreless Innings Streak To 21.

Rochester 12, Durham 0. A night that Tony Peguero would like to forget…Peguero allowed 11 runs in 4+ innings, on 9 hits and 5 walks including 4(!) home runs. After giving up 9 runs in the first 4 innings, we can’t imagine why Peguero was even allowed to start the 5th inning. Was he being punished? Were the Durham fans being punished? Former Bull Darnell McDonald had three hits and 5 RBI.

Montgomery 8, MIssissippi 0. BJ Upton made his first rehab start for the Rays, playing second base and going 0-3. Mike Prochaska ran his scoreless innings streak to 21 after he pitched 6 shutout innings to pick up his 4th win. He gave up 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. The lefty has not allowed a run since the 1st inning of his June 16th start against Jacksonville. Evan Longoria was 3-4 with his 16th double and John Jaso added 2 hits in 3 at bats including his 16th double.

Tampa 3, Vero Beach 2 (10 inn). JeffKamrath gave up 2 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks in 5.2 innings. Chris Kelly came on in the 10th and gave up 3 singles and added a wild pitch. The last single drove in the game-winner for the Yankees. No Rays managed more than 1 hit and only Rhyne Hughes had an extra-base hit, his 18th double.

Columbus 7, Rome 5. Jeremy Hellickson struck out 4 in 6 innings and gave up only 2 runs to pick up his 5th win in 7 decisions. His ERA is now 2.73. Four players had 2 hits apiece including Nevin Ashley who added his 11th stolen base, Ryan Royster who is now hitting .317 and Matt Fields who drove in 3 and had his 18th double. Desmond Jennings hit his 6th home run, a 3-run shot in the 6-run 6th.

Princeton 8, Greeneville 5.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• The Hudson Valley Renegades were rained out and will play a double-header on Friday.