Rays prospects and minor leagues: Gillaspie stays hot

Jake Bauers is getting more and more attention for his nice results in the Southern League at such a young age, but don't overlook Casey Gillaspie. He's absolutely hammering the ball right now. His 14 extra-base hits are among the league leaders, and he's walking more than he's striking out. It was pretty easy, and maybe even fair, to respond to his results at Bowling Green by saying a collegiate first-rounder should have the success he did. I don't think it's so easy to do that today.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (15-19)

Nick Franklin's RBI double in the eighth lifted Durham to a 3-2 win over Buffalo. A half inning after the Bisons tied the game, Richie Shaffer started a two-out rally with a single and scored on Franklin's double, thanks to a Junior Lake throwing error. Last season, Jaime Schultz walked four or more batters in 11 appearances. Wednesday, his four walks were a season high. He struck out seven and only allowed a run in six innings.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (19-13)

Taylor Guerrieri took on the minor league ERA leader and came out on top in Montgomery's 8-1 win over Tennessee. Paul Blackburn entered the contest with just a 0.24 ERA, but that quickly went up when the Biscuits tagged him for three runs in the first. With the early run support, Guerrieri was solid, only allowing one run in six innings despite striking out just one. Casey Gillaspie hit his fifth home run, and Juniel Querecuto's bases-clearing double in the eighth punctuated the win.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-15)

Benton Moss was hammered in Charlotte's 10-3 loss to Palm Beach. A two-run triple in the first put the Stone Crabs in a quick 2-0 hole, but they kept digging from there and saw Palm Beach build a 7-2 lead through three innings. Moss was charged with all seven of those runs in 4 1/3 innings despite eight strikeouts. Infielder Pat Blair finished the game on the mound and allowed a solo home run.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (19-14)

Henry Centeno's dominant season continued in Bowling Green's 6-1 win over Lansing. Over a season-long seven scoreless innings, Centeno struck out seven and allowed just two hits and a walk. The Hot Rods did a majority of their damage in the five-run third, starting with a Zacrey Law solo home run to open the inning. After Michael Russell and David Rodriguez executed a double steal, Manny Sanchez capped that inning's scoring with a two-run single.

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Notable Performances

AAA IF Daniel Robertson: 1-for-4, 1 RBI
AAA UT Taylor Motter: 0-for-4
AAA IF/OF Richie Shaffer: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K

AAA RHP Jaime Schultz: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K

AA OF Johnny Field: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB
AA IF Jake Hager: 0-for-3, 1 K
AA 1B Jake Bauers: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
AA SS Willy Adames: 1-for-4, 1 R
AA 1B Casey Gillaspie: 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB

AA RHP Taylor Guerrieri: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
AA RHP Jeff Ames: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

A+ OF Cade Gotta: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
A+ IF Cristian Toribio: 0-for-5, 1 K
A+ OF Thomas Milone: 2-for-3, 1 2B, 1 BB

A+ RHP Benton Moss: 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
A+ RHP Edwin Fierro: 2 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
A+ RHP Pat Blair: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

A 3B Kevin Padlo: 0-for-3, 1 K
A OF Zacrey Law: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K

A RHP Henry Centeno: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
A RHP Taylor Hawkins: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Today's probables (All probables courtesy milb.com)

Durham v. Buffalo 11:05 AM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Austin Pruitt (2-1, 2.93) v. Wade LeBlanc (3-1, 2.21)

Montgomery v. Tennessee 8:05 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Ryne Stanek (1-4, 3.98) v. Tyler Skulina (1-2, 3.94)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 6:35 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Ian McKinney (2-2, 2.86)

Bowling Green v. Lake County 7:35 PM ET (radio stream)
Genesis Cabrera (3-1, 0.81) v. Sam Hentges (1-2, 4.91)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
15-18 (6th in IL North)
Offense: 106 R (12th) .632 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.57 ERA (9th) 1.33 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Arnold Leon (20), 1B Casey Kotchman

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
15-18 (3rd in SL North)
Offense: 130 R (5th) .707 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.27 ERA (3rd) 1.33 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Billy McKinney (7), RHP Duane Underwood (4), 3B Jeimer Candelario (10), OF Mark Zagunis (11), RHP Paul Blackburn (19), RHP Jen-Ho Tseng (20), RHP Brad Markey (23), C Victor Caratini (24), OF Jacob Hannemann (26), RHP Andury Acevedo (29)

Lake County Captains (Cleveland)
21-12 (1st in MWL East)
Offense: (Runs)(R Rank) (OPS)(OPS Rank)
Pitching: (ERA)(ERA Rank) (WHIP)(WHIP Rank)
Top 30 Prospects: C Francisco Mejia (10), IF Tyler Krieger (20), IF Willi Castro (26), OF Ka'ai Tom (31)