Rays prospects and minor leagues: Varona, Shaffer lead Durham over Gwinnett

Since he homered in consecutive games, Kevin Padlo is 4-for-31 with 11 strikeouts and five walks. Bowling Green moved him down in the lineup, but young players are going to run hot and cold. Maybe he can relax a bit and get his bat going over the next couple weeks.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (17-23)

Austin Pruitt settled down after a rough first inning in Durham's 5-3 win over Gwinnett. Gwinnett struck first for a pair of runs in its first at-bat, but it could not get anything else off Pruitt. The righty retired seven of the last eight he faced and would strike out five and walk just one in seven innings. Dayron Varona's solo homer in the second got the Bulls on the board, and he tied the score with an RBI double two innings later.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (21-16)

Montgomery was postponed.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (20-20)

Grant Kay's home run was all Charlotte could muster in its 4-1 loss to Daytona in a rain-shortened game. His solo shot gave the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead, but they only had two hits in their final four trips to the plate before the game ended during the top of the seventh. Starter Greg Harris struck out five and allowed three runs in six innings.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-17)

Bowling Green was not particularly competitive in its 5-0 loss to West Michigan. The Whitecaps tallied three runs in the first, and that was all they needed with the Hot Rods only collecting two hits off a trio of Whitecaps pitchers. Bowling Green committed three errors.

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Notable Performances

AAA OF Mikie Mahtook: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
AAA IF Daniel Robertson: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI
AAA OF Dayron Varona: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
AAA 1B/3B Richie Shaffer: 2-for-2, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 BB

AAA RHP Austin Pruitt: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
AAA RHP Ryan Garton: two-thirds IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
AAA RHP Neil Wagner: 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

A+ IF Riley Unroe: 1-for-3, 2 K
A+ IF Grant Kay: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
A+ OF Thomas Milone: 1-for-2

A+ RHP Greg Harris: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
A+ RHP Jose Alvarado: one-third IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

A IF Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-4
A 1B Joe McCarthy: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 3 K
A 3B Kevin Padlo: 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K

A RHP Roel Ramirez: 6 IP, 10 H, 5 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 10:35 AM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Adam Wilk (1-3, 2.83) v. Tyrell Jenkins (3-2, 3.03)

Montgomery @ Jacksonville 12:05 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Ryne Stanek (1-4, 3.58) v. Patrick Johnson (1-1, 5.75)

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

Bowling Green @ West Michigan 11 AM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Matt Hall (4-0, 0.83)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Braves
19-21 (2nd in IL South)
Offense: 148 R (5th) .677 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.85 ERA (12th) 1.42 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Aaron Blair (2), SS Ozzie Albies (4), OF Mallex Smith (8), RHP Lucas Sims (11), RHP Tyrell Jenkins (14), RHP John Gant (16), 3B Rio Ruiz (17)

Jacksonville Suns (Miami)
16-22 (5th in SL South)
Offense: 167 R (2nd) .673 OPS (T-6th)
Pitching: 4.63 ERA (9th) 1.37 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Jarlin Garcia (3), OF Austin Dean (7), RHP Jake Esch (13), RHP Austin Brice (14), LHP Tim Berry (16), SS J.T. Riddle (22), 2B Avery Romero (23)