Down on the farm July 15: Romero, Riefenhauser pitch on big stage

This year's Futures Game featured a little better pitching compared to last year's.

Futures Game

Team USA came back from an early deficit to win the Futures Game 4-2. Enny Romero allowed one of the four runs on two hits in an inning and also struck out two. Christian Yelich's RBI double was hit hard to dead center field, but Gregory Polanco looked more like someone auditioning to replace Mike Wallace for the Steelers than a center fielder on the play. His fastball was consistently in the 94-97 MPH range, and he earned six swinging strikes. C.J. Riefenhauser needed just six pitches to record a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth. His fastball was 90-92, and he threw a high-70's curveball.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (63-35)

Josh Lueke had a rough ninth inning, but he was able to preserve a 2-1 Durham win. With two runners in scoring position and one out still up 2-0, Lueke struck out Brandon Boggs for the 26th out of the game. A wild pitch scored a run and moved the tying run to third base, but Ernesto Mejia flew out to end the game. This secured J.D. Martin's 11th win of the season. Martin pitched five scoreless innings, striking out five and only allowing two hits and a walk. Durham struck first in the second inning with an Evan Frey sac fly against rehabbing major leaguer Brandon Beachy, but the eventual winning run came off the bat of Leslie Anderson when he hit a sixth inning solo home run. Anderson had three hits and was the only Bull to reach base more than once.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (10-15)

Montgomery went down early and checked out quickly in a 7-0 loss to Pensacola. The Blue Wahoos used four first inning hits to score three runs before Montgomery could even bat, and the Biscuits conceded another run for an out an inning later. Against Erik Hamren in the eighth, Pensacola would tack on three more innings in a five hit inning. Jake Floethe's struggles with Montgomery continued. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings with three strikeouts. Kevin Kiermaier had two hits, but the Biscuits only had five total.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (13-11)

Charlotte hammered Clearwater pitching for 17 hits in an 8-1 Stone Crabs win. Drew Vettleson singled home Ryan Brett for a first inning run, and they were able to continue adding on throughout the entire game. After the Threshers made it a 3-1 game in the fourth, Charlotte piled on five runs over the last four innings, including a pair of two run innings. Seven Stone Crabs had multi-hit games, and Jake DePew was the only player to not reach base more than once. Richie Shaffer hit two doubles as part of a three hit game to continue a solid second half to date. Ryan Brett, Jake Hager and Drew Vettleson were among the players with two hits. Jesse Hahn allowed just a solo home run in five innings of work with four strikeouts.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (15-9)

Bowling Green's comeback fell just short in a 7-6 loss to Cedar Rapids. After allowing three runs in the sixth to fall behind 7-2, the Hot Rods used four hits and an error in the seventh to score four runs, two of which came off the bat of Leonardo Reginatto on a single. In the ninth, Andrew Toles hit a one out double, but since he was caught stealing, he was unable to score on the Tyler Goeddel single that followed. Jordan Harrison was given a 2-0 lead before even coming out to pitch, but he could not hold it. Harrison allowed four runs on six hits and three walks in 4.1 innings with five strikeouts. Despite the crucial caught stealing, Toles did have three hits and was successful on an earlier attempt. Reginatto, Goeddel and Marty Gantt each had two hits.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (16-12)

Hudson Valley's two run eighth inning broke a 2-2 tie in a Renegades 4-2 win. The game was scoreless through four and a half innings, and James Harris broke the deadlock with a two out single in the bottom of the fifth. Oscar Hernandez's RBI single an inning later broke a 1-1 tie, and their eighth inning denied State College of a shutdown inning again. Ty Young's ground rule double broke the tie, and Hernandez drove in his second run of the game on a sac fly for insurance. Aaron Griffin once again pitched well for the Renegades, allowing just one run on five hits and a walk in six innings with three strikeouts. Cory Jordan was given the win despite blowing the lead, and Andrew Hanse earned a save. Young had two hits and reached base three times.

Rookie Princeton Rays (5-18)

Princeton's offense was nowhere to be seen in a 4-0 loss to Danville. They had six hits compared to Danville's eight, but none of them came with runners in scoring position. David Garcia and Elias Torres each hit a double, and Torres had two hits. Jorge Rodriguez allowed all four Braves runs, three of which were earned. He allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out six in five innings.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (7-13)

The GCL Rays were off.

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Star of the day- Romero and Riefenhauser had the rare opportunity to get national exposure.

Goat of the day- It seems like Montgomery has really struggled against Pensacola lately.

Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham is at the All-Star break

Montgomery is at the All-Star break

Charlotte @ Clearwater 6:30 PM
Parker Markel (4-6, 6.19) v. Ethan Stewart (0-3, 7.00)

Bowling Green @ Cedar Rapids 1:05 PM
Taylor Guerrieri (6-2, 2.08) v. J.O. Berrios (5-4, 3.53)

Hudson Valley v. State College 11:05 AM
Ben Griset* (0-2, 6.11) v. Willy Paulino (1-1, 1.76)

Princeton @ Danville 7 PM
Nolan Gannon (0-2, 3.38) v. Andry Ubiera (1-1, 4.42)

GCL Rays v. GCL Red Sox 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia)
11-10 (4th in FSL North)
Offense: 410 R (3rd) .728 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.94 ERA (8th) 1.43 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Kenny Giles (19), OF Aaron Altherr (30)

Cedar Rapids Kernels (Minnesota)
16-7 (T-1st in MWL West)
Offense: 537 R (1st) .790 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 4.18 ERA (12th) 1.38 WHIP (11th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP J.O. Berrios (7), OF Max Kepler (10), LHP Mason Melotakis (13), 2B Jorge Polanco (14), 3B Travis Harrison (17), RHP Madison Boer (22), RHP Tyler Jones (23), SS Niko Goodrum (26), OF Adam Brett Walker (31), RHP Hudson Boyd (34)

State College Spikes (St. Louis)
13-12 (3rd in Pinckney)
Offense: 140 R (2nd) .755 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 2.47 ERA (1st) 1.22 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Carson Kelly (9), RHP Victor De Leon (16)

Danville Braves
12-9 (3rd in APP East)
Offense: 88 R (5th) .691 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 3.81 ERA (8th) 1.40 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Luis Merejo (22), C Bryan De La Rosa (23)

GCL Red Sox
10-9 (3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 69 R (14th) .662 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.87 ERA (12th) 1.32 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Trey Ball, C Jon Denney