Rays prospects and minor leagues: Betts makes Hudson Valley debut

Later Thursday, look for my post on some short-season bats that are standing out.

Nathan Lukes joins Jonah Heim on Charlotte's roster according to the transactions page. As I'm writing this, none of the other new minor leaguers appear to have been assigned.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (51-61)

The moribund Durham offense from earlier this season returned in a 6-0 loss to Norfolk. A night after scoring one run on six hits, the Bulls managed just one hit -- a single by Juniel Querecuto with one out in the ninth, one batter after an error ended the Tides' bid for a perfect game. Austin Pruitt was hammered for three home runs in six innings and six runs total.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (21-18)

Montgomery's offense was again nearly as bad as Durham's in a 4-0 loss to Jackson. For the second straight game, the Biscuits were shut out by the Generals, this time only managing three hits against a trio of Jackson arms. Braxton Lee had two of those hits. Starter Chris Kirsch was charged with four runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (19-18)

Chris Pike had a problem finding the strike zone in Charlotte's 6-1 loss to Palm Beach. He walked three batters in the four-run second inning and finished with six total in five innings that saw him allow five runs -- four earned. The Stone Crabs finally got on the board in the eighth on Grant Kay's two-out double to score Thomas Milone. Mikie Mahtook was 1-for-3 and played right field.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (25-13)

Behind Blake Bivens, Bowling Green extended its winning streak to six games with a 7-2 win over Lansing. After allowing two runs in the first, Bivens went on to pitch a career-high seven innings and tie a career-best with nine punchouts. Over the final six innings, he faced just two over the minimum. The Hot Rods tied the game in the third with back-to-back doubles from Brandon Lowe and Michael Russell, and Kewby Meyer's fifth-inning sacrifice fly provided what proved to be the winning run.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (25-19)

Hudson Valley's lineup took the night off in a 3-0 loss to Brooklyn. The Renegades had just four hits, and that was certainly not enough to overcome Florida's Pete Alonso's three-run home run in the third inning. Starer Eduard Rosillo walked five and allowed all three runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Rookie Princeton Rays (21-17)

Princeton was off.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (13-22)

The GCL Rays' backslide continued with a 3-2 loss to the GCL Twins. In their eighth consecutive loss, they actually held a 2-0 lead until the late innings until it crumbled apart. Mikey York entered the game in the eighth and was greeted by four consecutive singles that scored a run. The GCL Twins tied the game with a sacrifice fly off Tyler House, and they were gifted a walkoff win on a wild pitch in the ninth. Justin O'Conner his his second rehab home run, Nick Ciuffo went 1-for-4 with a walk, and starter Austin Franklin struck out seven in five scoreless innings.

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, 2 K
OF Dayron Varona: 0-for-4, 2 K
1B Casey Gillaspie: 0-for-3, 3 K
3B Taylor Motter: 0-for-3

RHP Austin Pruitt: 6 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Double-A

OF Cade Gotta: 0-for-4, 2 K
SS Willy Adames: 1-for-3, 1 BB
1B Jake Bauers: 0-for-4, 1 K
OF Justin Williams: 0-for-4, 3 K

LHP Chris Kirsch: 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Class A-Advanced

SS Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
OF Mikie Mahtook: 1-for-3
OF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
UT Grant Kay: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
IF Alec Sole: 0-for-4, 3 K
3B Andrew Velazquez: 1-for-4
OF Thomas Milone: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 K

RHP Chris Pike: 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R (4 ER), 6 BB, 2 K

Class-A

2B Brandon Lowe: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB
SS Michael Russell: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB
OF Manny Sanchez: 0-for-4, 2 K

RHP Blake Bivens: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
RHP Fernando Baez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Short-season

OF Jake Fraley: 1-for-4, 1 K
OF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, 2 K
C Chris Betts: 0-for-4, 1 K

RHP Eduard Rosillo: 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

Rookie (GCL Rays)

C Justin O'Conner: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
SS Kevin Santiago: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB
C Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-4, 1 BB
OF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-5

RHP Austin Franklin: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K
RHP Mikey York: one-third IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

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

Durham v. Norfolk 7:05 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Eddie Gamboa (4-3, 2.71) v. Odrisamer Despaigne (1-6, 3.59)

Montgomery v. Jackson 8:05 PM ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Chase Whitley v. Paul Blackburn (6-5, 3.13)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 6:35 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Matt Pearce (8-8, 2.42)

Bowling Green @ Lansing 7:05 PM ET (radio stream)
Genesis Cabrera (7-4, 3.78) v. Angel Perdomo (3-5, 3.00)

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

Princeton @ Pulaski 6 PM ET (radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA v. TBA
TBA v. TBA

Both games will be seven innings

GCL Rays v. GCL Twins 12 PM

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
46-65, 4th in IL South
Offense: 377 R (14th) .678 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.66 ERA (9th) 1.33 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: 1B Trey Mancini (8), RHP Mike Wright (10), OF Dariel Alvarez (13), 1B/OF Christian Walker (14), RHP Oliver Drake (21), LHP Ariel Miranda (23), OF Mike Yastrzemski (25)

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
23-15
Offense: 481 R (3rd) .734 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.45 ERA (3rd) 1.29 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Edwin Diaz (2), OF Tyler O’Neill (4), OF Guillermo Heredia (7), RHP Andrew Moore (8), 1B D.J. Peterson (10), LHP Ryan Yarbrough (14), RHP Paul Blackburn (19), RHP Dan Altavilla (24), OF Ian Miller (31)

Palm Beach Cardinals
12-27, 6th in FSL South
Offense: 358 R (11th) .613 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.60 ERA (9th) 1.32 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Jack Flaherty (3), SS Edmundo Sosa (7), RHP Junior Fernandez (9), RHP Sandy Alcantara (19), SS Oscar Mercado (26)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
19-20, 4th in MWL East
Offense: 448 R (9th) .668 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.67 ERA (12th) 1.31 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Max Pentecost (8), RHP Justin Maese (9), LHP Ryan Borucki (14), RHP Tom Robson (21), 3B Carl Wise (25), LHP Angel Perdomo (26)

Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
23-22, 3rd in NYPL McNamara
Offense: 155 R (11th) .595 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 3.18 ERA (7th) 1.20 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Ali Sanchez (15), RHP Justin Dunn, 1B Pete Alonso

Pulaski Yankees
17-21, 5th in AL East
Offense: 183 R (8th) .733 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.42 ERA (7th) 1.37 WHIP (5th)
Top 30 Prospects: SS Wilkerman Garcia (9), LHP Jeff Degano (23), SS Dermis Garcia (31), OF Blake Rutherford

GCL Twins
19-16, 2nd in GCL South
Offense: 114 R (14th) .597 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 2.67 ERA (3rd) 1.14 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Huascar Ynoa (25), SS Jose Miranda, OF Akil Baddoo