Rays Dotf 5/12: Nathaniel Lowe and Jose Mujica turn in big performances

Jose Mujica continued his strong work in Montgomery while Brent Honeywell kept missing bats in AAA. Willy Adames and Nathaniel Lowe each hit home runs.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (21-11)

In a quiet day for the Durham bats, and the Columbus Clippers took advantage for a 3-1 victory. An early Willy Adames home run put the Bulls on their way, but the Durham failed to score off Ryan Merritt the rest of the way. After Richie Shaffer tied it in the top of the third, Columbus combined for four singles and two runs aided by errors from Kean Wong and Adames. It clouded an otherwise noteworthy outing for top prospect Brent Honeywell, who pitched to a line of 6 IP 8 H 3 R (2 ER) 0 BB and 10 K. Ryne Stanek chipped in with a scoreless inning, which included two strikeouts. The defeat extends the Bulls' losing streak to three.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (18-15)

The Biscuits mixed dominant pitching and timely hitting to down the Chattanoonga Lookouts 7-1. With two outs Braxton Lee opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning. Michael Russell followed with another RBI single. After Joe McCarthy walked to load the bases, Cade Gotta singled two more runs home, making it 4-0. Grant Kay chipped in with an RBI single of his own, and Justin O'Conner blew it open with a two-run double (his second double of the inning). After receiving a 7-0 lead, Jose Mujica was nearly flawless. Yielding just four base runners (2 hits and 2 walks) over eight innings, Mujica kept the Lookouts off the board until the fifth and finished the night with one run and four strikeouts. The effort dropped Mujica's ERA down to 1.87.

Advanced-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (17-17)

Both offenses got started early, but the Stone Crabs sneaked out with a 3-2 win. Rehabbing Matt Duffy went 1-for-3, while Jose DeLeon struck out seven over a brief 3 ²⁄₃ start. He also allowed two runs on five hits and no walks. Chris Paul got Fort Myers on the board in the first inning with an RBI single. Jake Cronenworth replied with an RBI single himself in the bottom half of the first. Brandon Lowe and Dalton Kelly smacked back-to-back doubles to bring the Crabs up to a 3-1 lead. Fort Myers brought it to 3-2 in the second inning but neither team was able to move the score after the second inning. Eduar Lopez got the win in relief while Lachlan Wells took the loss. The win brought Charlotte back to .500.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (16-16)

The Hot Rods hit their way to a commanding 10-0 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Rene Pinto singled in a run in the fourth, later scoring on a wild pitch. Nathaniel Lowe went deep to make the score 4-0. Lucius Fox added a sac-fly and Rene Pinto picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice to raise the lead to 6-0. Jonah Heim capped off the offensive attack with a late grand slam. The game ended 10-0, with Travis Ott pitching seven scoreless with four strikeouts. It was his third victory of the season, while his counterpart Sean Poppen picked up his first loss of the season.

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Notable Performances

AAA

Johnny Field 1-for-3 2B BB K SB

Willy Adames 2-for-4 HR RBI R K

Jake Bauers 1-for-4 K

Patrick Leonard 1-for-4 K

Casey Gillaspie 0-for-4 2 K

Brent Honeywell 6 IP 8 H 3 R (2 ER) 0 BB 10 K

Ryne Stanek IP 2 K

AA

Justin O'Conner 2-for-4 2 2B 2 RBI R 2K

Joseph McCarthy 1-for-2 2 BB R K

Braxton Lee 2-for-5 RBI R K

Cade Gotta 2-for-4 RBI R

Jose Mujica 8 IP 2 H ER 0 BB 4 K

A+

Brandon Lowe 2-for-4 2B RBI R K

Dalton Kelly 2-for-4 2B RBI

Jake Cronenworth 1-for-4 RBI

Ryan Boldt 1-for-4 R SB K

Matt Duffy 1-for-3

Jose De Leon 3 ²⁄₃ IP 5 H 2 ER 0 BB 7 K

A

Jonah Heim 1-for-4 HR 4 RBI R

Nathaniel Lowe 2-for-5 HR 2 RBI 2 R 2B K

Lucius Fox 1-for-4 RBI K

Joshua Lowe 1-for-4 K SB

Jesus Sanchez 0-for4 BB R 2 K

Miles Mastrobuoni 2-for-3 2 R BB

Travis Ott 7 IP 4 H 0 ER 2 BB 4 K