Rays prospects and minor leagues: Sullivan triples twice in Charlotte rout

In the Rays' never-ending quest to develop a long-term solution at catcher, maybe it's time to pay more attention to Brett Sullivan. Defensively, he probably still has some work to do since this is still only his second season behind the plate, but that bat. His .911 OPS after Friday's big game is close to being one of the 10 best among minor league catchers. He has some nice pop, and it's really, really hard to strike him out.

He's just a little older than the Florida State League average. I wonder if he's going to be able to hit himself into an opportunity at a higher level later this season.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (21-12)

Shane Peterson tied the game in the ninth with a home run, but Durham couldn't get another run in its 12-inning, 6-3 loss to Toledo. After that pinch-hit home run, the Bulls only got one runner on base over the remaining three innings. Steven Moya broke the tie in the 12th with a three-run homer off Kyle Winkler. Mallex Smith led off the game with his first home run in the organization, and Ryan Yarbrough allowed three runs in six innings with six strikeouts.

SS Willy Adames: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 K
OF Jake Bauers: 1-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K
1B Casey Gillaspie: 1-for-5, 1 K
OF Shane Peterson: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

LHP Ryan Yarbrough: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
RHP Kyle Winkler: 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (18-16)

Chattanooga hammered Montgomery for nine unanswered runs in the Biscuits' 9-2 loss to the Lookouts. Nick Ciuffo started the scoring with a second-inning solo homer, and starter Tyler Brashears was able to work through five innings with only two runs allowed. Chattanooga then jumped all over the Montgomery bullpen. Fernando Baez struck out the leadoff hitter in the sixth before the Lookouts scored three runs without even getting a hit thanks to four walks, a hit batter, stolen base and wild pitch.

OF Joe McCarthy: 1-for-5, 1 K
C Nick Ciuffo: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
IF Michael Russell: 3-for-5, 2 K
SS Andrew Velazquez: 3-for-4, 1 K

RHP Tyler Brashears: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
RHP Fernando Baez: one-third IP, 0 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-17)

Charlotte scored four in the first inning and rolled to an 11-2 win over Fort Myers. The Stone Crabs didn't even need a hit to score their first run, and Brett Sullivan, Ryan Boldt and Dalton Kelly each had RBI hits. Jake Fraley drove in two with a single in the three-run third, and Sullivan's second RBI triple of the game an inning later helped blow open the game. Despite walking four in six innings, Genesis Cabrera only allowed a run on one hit.

2B Ryan Brett: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
OF Ryan Boldt: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
OF Jake Fraley: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
2B Brandon Lowe: 0-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB
C Brett Sullivan: 3-for-4, 3 R, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 1 K
1B Dalton Kelly: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB

LHP Genesis Cabrera: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (16-17)

Bowling Green fell in a hole early and never got out of it in a 7-3 loss to Cedar Rapids. The Kernels got two runs off Peter Bayer in both the first and third innings before Robbie Tenerowicz's RBI single scored Josh Lowe in the Hot Rods' half of the third. However, Cedar Rapids scored again in the fourth and fifth innings to continue putting the game out of reach. Bayer allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings.

OF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-4, 1 RBI
3B Adrian Rondon: 0-for-4, 3 K
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 K

RHP Peter Bayer: 2 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

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

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

Durham v. Columbus 6:35 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Yonny Chirinos (2-0, 4.15) v. Drew VerHagen (2-1, 4.70)

Montgomery @ Tennessee 7 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Hunter Wood (2-2, 5.35) v. TBA

Charlotte v. Ft. Myers 6:05 PM (radio stream)
Blake Bivens (2-3, 4.24) v. Dereck Rodriguez (2-2, 2.31)

Bowling Green v. Cedar Rapids 7:35 PM (radio stream)
Adrian Navas (2-4, 5.53) v. Clark Beeker (4-1, 1.65)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
17-15 (1st in IL West)
Offense: 111 R (14th) .636 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.59 ERA (7th) 1.37 WHIP (9th)
Top 30 Prospects: CF JaCoby Jones (6), OF Steven Moya (9), RHP Joe Jimenez (11), RHP Logan Kensing

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
21-13 (1st in SL North)
Offense: 147 R (3rd) .744 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.50 ERA (6th) 1.18 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Trevor Clifton (8), RHP Duane Underwood (15), OF Jacob Hannemann (23), 2B David Bote (26)

Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
16-20 (4th in FSL South)
Offense: 135 R (T-7th) .671 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.73 ERA (8th) 1.31 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: 2B Luis Arraez (12), Historically significant baseball stealer Doug Mientkiewicz

Cedar Rapids Kernels (Minnesota)
19-15 (T-1st in MWL West)
Offense: 130 R (9th) .692 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.08 ERA (4th) 1.17 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: DH Travis Blankenhorn (10), C Ben Rortvedt (23), 1B Lewin Diaz (26)