Rays prospects and minor leagues: Whitley, Renegades make it 12 in a row

Aside from Garrett Whitley's recent improvements, another lower-level outfielder has continued a great season -- Jesus Sanchez. In 50 games between the Rays' rookie affiliates, he's batting .335/.358/.545 with six home runs. He's one of 19 Appy League hitters younger than 19, and his plate approach as an 18-year-old has been good so far, albeit in just 10 games. He has eight strikeouts and three walks in 39 plate appearances with Princeton. The strikeout rate is a bit higher than his time in the Gulf Coast League, but his walk rate is a little better to.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (59-77)

Home runs from Dayron Varona and Casey Gillaspie helped Durham to a 10-6 win over Gwinnett Sunday. Varona broke the 3-3 tie with a home run to lead off the fourth, and Gillaspie's fifth home run with the Bulls, a three-run shot, gave them a lead they would not relinquish. On the mound, Jacob Faria was not at all efficient and fought to get through 4 1/3 innings. He struck out just one batter and allowed four runs with six walks. Casey Coleman got out of the fifth having only allowed one inherited runner to score, and Ryne Stanek was credited with the win with two scoreless innings of relief.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (35-26)

Montgomery was postponed, despite MiLB.com's insistence the two teams took the field, didn't actually play and declared the game final.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (31-30)

Diego Castillo could not shut the door in Charlotte's 4-3 loss to Bradenton in Game 1 of their doubleheader. Runs in three consecutive innings helped the Stone Crabs erase a 2-0 deficit, but Castillo was greeted with a tying home run to start the seventh. After a single, a wild pitch moved the winning run into scoring position, and he eventually came home on a sacrifice fly. Starter Greg Harris struck out seven and allowed two unearned runs on four hits and four walks in six innings.

A little more than a week after watching an old friend return to form, Charlotte got to Buddy Borden in its 6-2 win over the Marauders in Game 2. The Stone Crabs trailed 2-1 after one, but Borden could only record one out in a three-run third. Grant Kay's single tied the game, and Joe McCarthy delivered the finishing blow with a two-run double. Greg Maisto made his full-season debut and allowed the pair of unearned runs in the first inning, and Steve Ascher threw three scoreless innings of relief.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (42-21)

Bowling Green broke out with a five-run eighth to earn a 6-3 win over Dayton. Between Zacrey Law's groundout to start the inning and strikeout to end it, David Olmedo-Barrera and Kewby Meyer's RBI singles put the Hot Rods in front for the first time. Samm Wiggins, making his 2016 debut, drove in two with a double, and Landon Cray's RBI double also added insurance. Starter Blake Bivens allowed three runs -- two earned -- in six innings with seven strikeouts.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (44-22)

It took 13 innings, but Hudson Valley extended its winning streak to 12 games with a 7-5 victory over Aberdeen. Having not scored since the seventh inning, it looked like the Renegades would squander another chance after a leadoff walk was followed by back-to-back strikeouts. Jake Fraley walked to extend the inning, and a pair of wild pitches put Hudson Valley again. Garrett Whitley then tripled in an insurance run. Spencer Moran struck out five and allowed four runs in six innings, and J.D. Busfield and Garrett Fulenchek combined for five scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Rookie Princeton Rays (35-27)

Jesus Sanchez stayed hot in Princeton's 7-3 win over Bristol. He singled in the second and scored the opening run of the game, he doubled and scored his next trip up, and his two-run homer in the fifth helped break the game open. He finished with four hits to raise his average to .389 in his first 10 games with Princeton. Ethan Clark continued his solid season on the mound, allowing just a solo home run in six innings with three strikeouts.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (26-29)

The GCL Rays were off.

The preceding stories were not generated by the Associated Press computer using data from and in cooperation with MLBAM.

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Notable Performances

Triple-A

SS Jake Hager: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K
1B Casey Gillaspie: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
UT Taylor Motter: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB
3B Richie Shaffer: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
OF Jaff Decker: 3-for-5, 2 2B, 1 RBI
OF Johnny Field: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

RHP Jacob Faria: 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 1 K

Class A-Advanced

3B Andrew Velazquez (1): 0-for-4
SS Andrew Velazquez (2): 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
C Jonah Heim (1): 1-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K
OF Thomas Milone (1): 0-for-3
OF Joe McCarthy (2): 2-for-2, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 1 BB
C Nick Ciuffo (2): 0-for-4, 1 K
OF Nathan Lukes (2): 2-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

RHP Greg Harris (1): 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 7 K
RHP Diego Castillo (1): one-third IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
LHP Greg Maisto (2): 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K

Class-A

3B Kevin Padlo: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB

RHP Blake Bivens: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 7 K
RHP Fernando Baez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Short-season

OF Jake Fraley: 2-for-6, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
OF Garrett Whitley: 4-for-7, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 SB
1B Nathaniel Lowe: 1-for-3, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K

RHP Spencer Moran: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
RHP Garrett Fulenchek: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Rookie (Princeton)

SS Adrian Rondon: 1-for-5, 1 R, 3 K
1B Bobby Melley: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
OF Jesus Sanchez: 4-for-5, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
3B Joshua Lowe: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K

RHP Ethan Clark: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

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

Durham v. Gwinnett 6:35 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Justin Marks (6-11, 4.12) v. Shawn Morimando (5-1, 2.76)

Montgomery @ Mobile 7:35 PM ET (radio stream)
Taylor Guerrieri (12-6, 3.90) v. Taylor Clarke (7-6, 3.70)

Charlotte v. St. Lucie 6:35 PM ET (radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA v. TBA
TBA v. TBA

Completion of suspended game followed by apparent seven-inning game

Bowling Green v. Dayton 11:35 AM ET (radio stream)
Roel Ramirez (4-2, 3.24) v. Jesus Reyes (5-4, 2.10)

Hudson Valley @ Lowell 7:05 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. TBA

Princeton @ Bristol 7 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. TBA

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins 12 PM

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
79-57, clinched IL West
Offense: 591 R (2nd) .718 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.59 ERA (6th) 1.30 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Bradley Zimmer (1), SS Erik Gonzalez (12), RHP Adam Plutko (14), 3B Yandy Diaz (15), LHP Shawn Morimando (17), RHP Shawn Armstrong (21), LHP Ryan Merritt (22)

Mobile BayBears (Arizona)
31-29, 3rd in SL South
Offense: 539 R (4th) .704 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.57 ERA (4th) 1.35 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Gabriel Guerrero (11), IF Domingo Leyba (13), RHP Taylor Clarke (14), C The Oscar (22), RHP Adam Miller (23), 2B Jamie Westbrook (30)

St. Lucie Mets
34-28, 2nd in FSL South
Offense: 557 R (7th) .695 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.31 ERA (4th) 1.29 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Wuilmer Becerra (10), 3B Jhoan Urena (11), SS Luis Guillorme (12), RHP Chris Flexen (26), OF John Mora (28)

Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)
24-39
Offense: 463 R (14th) .631 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 4.30 ERA (16th) 1.43 WHIP (16th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Tyler Stephenson (4), RHP Tony Santillan (13), RHP Tanner Rainey (17), OF Narisco Crook (28), 3B Nick Senzel, C Chris Okey

Lowell Spinners (Boston)
42-26, 1st in NYPL Stedler
Offense: 316 R (3rd) .733 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.16 ERA (6th) 1.28 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Yoan Aybar (22), RHP Josh Pennington (29), SS C.J. Chatham

Bristol Pirates
24-41
Offense: 257 R (10th) .632 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.78 ERA (10th) 1.41 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: None

GCL Twins
30-26, 2nd in GCL South
Offense: 196 R (15th) .617 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 2.74 ERA (3rd) 1.13 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Huascar Ynoa (25), SS Jose Miranda, OF Akil Baddoo