Rays prospects and minor leagues: Honeywell highlights Opening Day slate

Brent Honeywell was one of a couple starters for the Rays who pitched well on MiLB's Opening Day. There were also a lot of forgettable performances, but that's why they play roughly 140 games.

This was actually Honeywell's third straight start on Opening Day, and Jacob Faria made his second in a row.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (1-0)

Durham jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on for a 10-8 win over Gwinnett. Johnny Field led off the season with a home run, and Dayron Varona's bases-clearing triple capped a five-run first inning. In the fourth, Patrick Leonard's three-run homer provided what proved to be important insurance runs. Although he struck out nine, Jacob Faria was unable to finish five innings, allowing four runs -- three earned -- on three hits and two walks. Ryne Stanek and Diego Moreno each allowed two runs in relief. Field, Leonard, Varona, Willy Adames and Casey Gillaspie all had multi-hit games.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (0-1)

He was charged with a loss, but Brent Honeywell dominated in Montgomery's 6-2 defeat at the hands of Biloxi. Honeywell hit a couple batters in the fourth when the Shuckers scored twice, but they couldn't get anything going otherwise. The Biscuits ace struck out 12 and allowed just two runs on three hits and a walk in six innings. Cade Gotta and Granden Goetzman drove in Montgomery's runs.

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

Genesis Cabrera had a tough outing in Charlotte's 8-4 loss to Bradenton. The rehabbing Colby Rasmus helped give Cabrera a 2-1 lead with an RBI groundout in the third, but the Marauders responded immediately with five of their own in the fourth. Cabrera would finish after five innings, having allowed six runs on five hits and three walks. Batting second and playing left field, Rasmus was 0-for-3. In his second shot at the Florida State League, Jake Cronenworth had three of the Stone Crabs' eight hits.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (0-1)

J.D. Busfield was good, but he was outdueled by Jesse Scholtens in Bowling Green's 4-1 loss to Fort Wayne. After allowing a first-inning run, Busfield settled in to retire 13 of the last 14 batters he faced, finishing with a run allowed on two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in five innings. Michael Brousseau tied the game at one with a two-out, RBI double in the fifth, but the TinCaps promptly scored three against Adrian Navas in the sixth.

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

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

Notable performances

Triple-A

OF Jake Bauers: 0-for-6, 2 K
SS Willy Adames: 2-for-3, 3 R, 1 3B, 2 BB
1B Casey Gillaspie: 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
OF Johnny Field: 2-for-6, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K
3B Patrick Leonard: 4-for-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
OF Shane Peterson: 0-for-5, 2 K
OF Dayron Varona: 2-for-5, 1 R, 2 3B, 3 RBI

RHP Jacob Faria: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 9 K
RHP Ryne Stanek: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Double-A

OF Justin Williams: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K
1B Joe McCarthy: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
C Nick Ciuffo: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
SS Andrew Velazquez: 0-for-5, 1 K
OF Cade Gotta: 2-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
C Justin O'Conner: 0-for-4, 2 K

RHP Brent Honeywell: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K
RHP Brad Schreiber: 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Class A-Advanced

OF Colby Rasmus: 0-for-3, 1 RBI
SS Jake Cronenworth: 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 K
3B Kevin Padlo: 0-for-4, 2 K
C David Rodriguez: 0-for-4, 1 K
OF Ryan Boldt: 1-for-4, 1 K
C Brett Sullivan: 1-for-3, 1 3B, 3 RBI

LHP Genesis Cabrera: 5 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
RHP Reece Karalus: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
RHP Michael Santos: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Class-A

SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-4, 4 K
CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-4, 4 K
3B Adrian Rondon: 1-for-4, 1 K
OF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-4, 1 K
OF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
C Jonah Heim: 0-for-4, 2 K

RHP J.D. Busfield: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
RHP Adrian Navas: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
LHP Dalton Moats: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Chih-Wei Hu (0-0, -.--) v. Sean Newcomb (0-0, -.--)

Montgomery v. Biloxi 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Hunter Wood (0-0, -.--) v. Jorge Lopez (0-0, -.--)

Charlotte v. Bradenton 6:35 PM (radio stream)
Blake Bivens (0-0, -.--) v. Pedro Vasquez (0-0, -.--)

Bowling Green v. Fort Wayne 7:35 PM (radio stream)
Brock Burke (0-0, -.--) v. Logan Allen (0-0, -.--)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Braves
0-1 (T-3rd in IL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top 30 Prospects: 2B Ozzie Albies (2), LHP Sean Newcomb (8), RHP Lucas Sims (14), 3B Rio Ruiz (20), RHP Luke Jackson (28), OF Adam Walker

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
1-0 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Luis Ortiz (3), SS Mauricio Dubon (11), C Jacob Nottingham (14), RHP Jorge Lopez (15), OF Michael Reed (30)

Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh)
1-0 (T-1st in FSL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
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)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
1-0 (1st in MWL East)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top 30 Prospects: OF Jorge Ona (12), 3B Hudson Potts (14), SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (17), LHP Logan Allen (19)