Rays prospects and minor leagues: Red Scare rising

Joe McCarthy got off to a slow start for Montgomery. It took him four games to get his first hit of the season and 10 to get his first multi-hit game. As April nears a close, he has hits in 12 of his last 13. Before that stretch, he was batting .111/.273/.167. His line is now .290/.364/.391.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (16-6)

Johnny Wholestaff pitched well enough for Durham to earn a 6-3 win over Buffalo. Andrew Kittredge stepped in to start for the second time this season, and he allowed just a run in three innings, as did Yoel Espinal, who relieved Kittredge. In the fifth, the Bulls broke a 2-2 tie when Willy Adames stole home (on what appears to be a double steal in the play-by-play), and Patrick Leonard followed with an RBI single to score Jake Bauers.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (12-10)

Montgomery's ninth-inning rally was too little, too late in its 10-6 loss to Birmingham. The Biscuits scored five times in their last at-bat, but already losing by nine, it was clearly not enough. In the big inning, Michael Russell drove in two with a double, and Justin O'Conner hit an RBI triple. In what was perhaps the worst start of his career, Hunter Wood was charged with seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (9-13)

Michael Santos' first start in the organization went better than most of his relief appearances in Charlotte's 2-1 win over Bradenton. Santos, acquired in last season's Matt Moore trade with San Francisco, came out of the bullpen for his first six games this season, but he seemed comfortable in his return to the rotation. Although he only struck out two, he settled in after allowing an unearned run in the first inning and needed just 50 pitches to finish six innings. Dalton Kelly's squeeze bunt in the fourth scored the eventual winning run, and Jake Cronenworth extended his hitting streak to 23 games.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (10-12)

Adrian Navas struck out 10, but he still found himself on the losing end of a 3-2 Bowling Green defeat to Lansing. A solo home run in the first gave the Lugnuts a lead which they would not relinquish. Navas allowed all three runs on eight hits in six innings, but the 10 punchouts were a career-high. Rene Pinto remained hot with another multi-hit game to extend his hitting streak to five games.

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 Willy Adames: 0-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 SB
1B Jake Bauers: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 SB
1B Casey Gillaspie: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 K

RHP Andrew Kittredge: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Yoel Espinal: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 1 K

Double-A

OF Justin Williams: 1-for-1
C Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-5, 1 K
1B Joe McCarthy: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
C Justin O'Conner: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI

RHP Hunter Wood: 4 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Class A-Advanced

3B Kevin Padlo: 0-for-4, 2 K
OF Ryan Boldt: 0-for-4
C David Rodriguez: 1-for-3

RHP Michael Santos: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K

Class-A

SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
OF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-4, 1 K
3B Adrian Rondon: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 K
CF Garrett Whitley: 0-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB

RHP Adrian Navas: 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

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

Durham v. Buffalo 5:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Brent Honeywell (1-1, 3.86) v. TBA

Montgomery v. Birmingham 3:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Jose Mujica (0-1, 1.42) v. Michael Kopech (1-1, 2.50)

Charlotte v. Bradenton 12:35 PM (radio stream)
Michael Velasquez (0-2, 5.48) v. Mitch Keller (1-1, 4.87)

Bowling Green v. Lansing 7:35 PM (radio stream)
Kenny Rosenberg (0-2, 7.20) v. Mike Ellenbest (0-2, 8.10)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
13-8 (1st in IL North)
Offense: 79 R (7th) .715 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 2.81 ERA (1st) 1.18 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: 1B Rowdy Tellez (7), LHP Matt Darmody (29), LHP Jeff Beliveau, IF Jake Elmore, C Luke Maile, OF Jose Tabata

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
9-14 (5th in SL North)
Offense: 67 R (T-7th) .615 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.80 ERA (10th) 1.47 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Michael Kopech (5), RHP Spencer Adams (9), 3B Trey Michalczewski (13), 2B Jake Peter (16), RHP Connor Walsh (27), 1B Cameron Seitzer

Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh)
12-11 (2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 100 R (3rd) .765 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.39 ERA (6th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Mitch Keller (2), 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (6), SS Cole Tucker (8), 3B Will Craig (9), RHP Gage Hinsz (12), LHP Taylor Hearn (20)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
13-10 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 121 R (1st) .796 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 5.43 ERA (16th) 1.60 WHIP (16th)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1), SS Bo Bichette (9), RHP Justin Maese (11), OF J.B. Woodman (15), OF Josh Palacios (19), RHP Patrick Murphy (20), RHP Zach Johnson (21), RHP Osman Gutierrez (26), SS Yeltsin Gudino (27)