Rays prospects and minor leagues: Biscuits nearly unhittable

With the GCL Rays scheduled to start their season Friday, all seven domestic affiliates will be in action. Adrian Rondon being assigned to Princeton does remove quite a bit of drama from seeing who will be playing in the Gulf Coast League, though.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (34-41)

Durham hammered Charlotte, 9-1, in a 4 1/2 inning, rain-shortened game. Dayron Varona led off the second with a home run, and he capped the six-run frame with a two-run double with two outs. In the third, Jake Goebbert hit a sacrifice fly, and Richie Shaffer followed with a two-run double of his own. In what will likely be the shortest complete game of his career, Austin Pruitt allowed a run in five innings.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (1-0)

Montgomery was just three outs from a no-hitter before surviving a scare in its 3-2 win over Biloxi. Hunter Wood had to exit after six innings after being hit on the hand by a batted ball, but Ryne Stanek picked up where Wood left off until the ninth. He walked the first two batters and allowed back-to-back singles that pulled the Shuckers within one. Kyle Winkler relieved him and put out the fire with three consecutive outs. Patrick Leonard's solo homer in the fourth gave the Biscuits a 3-0 lead.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (1-0)

Jace Conrad's ninth-inning single put Charlotte ahead in its 5-4 win over Bradenton. The Stone Crabs lost a a 4-2 lead in the eighth half an inning after taking it, but Cristian Toribio led off the ninth with a single and would come around to score. Despite allowing a one-out triple, Nick Sawyer was able to prevent the tying run from crossing the plate and earn a save. Starter Chris Pike allowed two runs -- one earned -- in 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (0-1)

Bowling Green was on the losing end of a rain-shortened game, a 4-0 decision against Fort Wayne. The Hot Rods accumulated five hits in six chances at the plate but were unable to do anything with them. Starter Jose Mujica allowed four runs in five-plus frames.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (3-4)

A tight game got away from Hudson Valley late in an 11-inning, 5-2 loss to Lowell. After allowing the Spinners to go up 2-0 through half an inning, the Renegades pitching staff shut them down but ran out of pitchers. Infielder Jonathan Popadics allowed the three extra-inning runs. Starter Adrian Navas allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings, and Deivy Mendez provided great relief with six punchouts in 4 1/3 innings. Miles Mastrobuoni's eighth-inning single to score Garrett Whitley to tie the game at two.

Rookie Princeton Rays (1-0)

Princeton jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held on for a 7-4 win over Burlington on Opening Night. A pair of doubles from 2016 picks Bobby Melley and Isaac Benard keyed a three-run second, and two more 2016 picks, Jean Ramirez and Robbie Tenerowicz, drove in runs in a three-run fifth. Starter Willy Ortiz allowed three runs in five innings, and reliever Reimin Ramos struck out three in 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.

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Notable Performances

AAA SS Jake Hager: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K
AAA 3B Richie Shaffer: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
AAA OF Dayron Varona: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI

AAA RHP Austin Pruitt: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

AA SS Willy Adames: 1-for-4, 1 RBI
AA OF Jake Bauers: 0-for-4
AA 1B Casey Gillaspie: 0-for-4, 2 K
AA 3B Patrick Leonard: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K

AA RHP Hunter Wood: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
AA RHP Ryne Stanek: 2+ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

A+ SS Andrew Velazquez: 0-for-5, 4 K
A+ OF Justin Williams: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
A+ OF Thomas Milone: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K

A+ RHP Chris Pike: 6 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K

A C David Rodriguez: 2-for-3
A 3B Kevin Padlo: 0-for-1, 1 BB

A RHP Jose Mujica: 5+ IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

A- OF Ryan Boldt: 1-for-5, 2 K
A- OF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 SB
A- 1B Nathaniel Lowe: 0-for-5, 1 K

A- RHP Adrian Navas: 2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
A- RHP Deivy Mendez: 4 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
A- RHP Jonathan Popadics: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

R+ OF Eleardo Cabrera: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
R+ C Rafelin Lorenzo: 0-for-5, 1 K
R+ 1B Bobby Melley: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
R+ SS Adrian Rondon: 1-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
R+ OF Isaac Benard: 1-for-3, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K

R+ RHP Willy Ortiz: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
R+ RHP Reimin Ramos: 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

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

Durham v. Lehigh Valley 7:05 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Adam Wilk (2-7, 3.70) v. David Buchanan (3-4, 4.77)

Montgomery @ Biloxi 8:10 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Chih-Wei Hu (2-4, 2.01) v. Javier Salas (3-2, 3.44)

Charlotte v. Bradenton 6:35 PM ET (radio stream)
Benton Moss (3-5, 3.99) v. Yeudy Garcia (2-4, 2.51)

Bowling Green v. Fort Wayne 7:35 PM ET (radio stream)
Michael Velaasquez (2-6, 5.51) v. Jerry Keel (3-6, 2.92)

Hudson Valley v. Lowell 7:05 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Enmanuel De Jesus (1-0, 0.00)

Princeton @ Burlington 7 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Andre Davis (0-0, -.--)

GCL Rays @ GCL Orioles 12 PM

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia)
42-32 (3rd in IL North)
Offense: 317 R (4th) .733 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.57 ERA (6th) 1.20 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: SS J.P. Crawford (1), OF Nick Williams (2), RHP Jake Thompson (3), C Andrew Knapp (4), RHP Mark Appel (8), RHP Edubray Ramos (17), 2B/OF Darnell Sweeney (26), RHP Ben Lively (27)

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
0-1 (T-3rd in SL South)
Offense: 249 R (T-10th) .660 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.79 ERA (7th) 1.29 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Brett Phillips (4), OF Tyrone Taylor (7), C Jacob Nottingham (11), RHP Adrian Houser (20), OF Victor Roache (24), LHP Hobbs Johnson (25), RHP Brandon Woodruff (31)

Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh)
0-1
Offense: 296 R (3rd) .708 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 2.95 ERA (2nd) 1.23 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Cole Tucker (7), 3B Jordan Luplow (14), RHP Yeudy Garcia (16), LHP Stephen Tarpley (17), 2B Kevin Kramer (28)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
1-0 (T-1st in MWL East)
Offense: 289 R (7th) .655 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.49 ERA (8th) 1.27 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Rudy Giron (4), LHP Logan Allen (8), RHP Austin Smith (9), OF Michael Gettys (10), RHP Jacob Nix (11), RHP Enyel De Los Santos (15), RHP Phil Maton (26), RHP Emmanuel Ramirez (30), 1B Brad Zunica (31)

Lowell Spinners (Boston)
7-0 (1st in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 21 R (3rd) .680 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 1.95 ERA (3rd) 1.08 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Michael Kopech (5), OF Yoan Aybar (22), RHP Josh Pennington (29)

Burlington Royals
0-1 (5th in APP East)
Offense: Stats included next series
Pitching: Stats included next series
Top 30 Prospects: Rosters not yet available

GCL Orioles
0-0
Offense: 0 R No OPS
Pitching: No ERA No WHIP
Top 30 Prospects: Rosters available next week