Rays DOTF 5/4: Gillaspie, Sanchez, and Whitley Homer

Down on the farm the Rays affiliates combined for three wins and a postponement. Top prospects Casey Gillaspie, Jesus Sanchez, and Garrett Whitley hit homers on the day. J.D. Busfield put up the best performance by a starting pitcher. Ryne Stanek and Ryan Kittredge highlighted the performance out of the pen.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (18-7)

Yonny Chirinos made his AAA debut and picked up the win in a Durham Bulls 5-4 victory over the Gwinnett Braves. The Bulls were first on the board with a homer by Kean Wong in the top of the third. The Braves rallied to take a 4-1 lead by scoring two runs in both the third and fourth innings. Yonny Chirinos allowed a home run to former NL MVP and 2008 Rays World Series nemesis Ryan Howard. Chirinos battled through 6.1 innings allowing only five hits and four runs while striking out four and not walking anybody. The Bulls took the lead with a seventh inning Casey Gillaspie homer in the seventh. Ryne Stanek converted the save by allowing two hits in the ninth, but didn’t allow a walk while striking out three.

OF Mallex Smith: 1-for-5, K

OF Jake Bauers: 1-for-5, 2 K

SS Willy Adames: 2-for-5, 2 2B, RBI

1B Casey Gillaspie: 3-for-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

3B Patrick Leonard: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 K

2B Kean Wong: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 K

RHP Yonny Chirinos: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 K, 0 BB, 1 HRA

RHP Ryan Kittredge: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB

RHP Ryne Stanek: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (13-11)

The Montgomery Biscuits vs Biloxi Shuckers game was postponed due to rain.

Class A-Advanced Port Charlotte Stone Crabs (12-14)

Blake Bivens did enough on the mound to give the bats an opportunity to beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers 6-5. Bivens completed seven innings on the mound. He allowed eight hits on the day that were all singles. Six of the singles came in a four run third inning for the Flying Tigers. After the third he allowed only one single. He struck out six and didn’t allow a walk. After falling behind 5-1 after three the Stone Crabs offense got to work. In the sixth inning they strung together some hits after Brandon Lowe singled to start the frame. Brett Sullivan followed with a RBI double. Ryan Boldt tacked on a RBI triple. David Olmedo-Barrera couldn’t come through with the homer to complete the cycle in four batters, but he did bring home the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. In the eighth the Stone Crabs went ahead with two runs with an RBI single by David Rodriguez and a force out by Dalton Kelly. Brett Sullivan, Dalton Kelly, and Peter Maris led the way with three hits a piece.

SS Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-4, BB

OF Ryan Boldt: 2-for-4, 3B. 2 R, RBI, BB, SB

C Brett Sullivan: 3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, SB

DH David Rodriguez: 1-for-4, RBI, K

2B Brandon Lowe: 1-for-5, R

1B Dalton Kelly: 3-for-4, 2B, R, CS

3B Peter Maris: 3-for-4, RBI

RHP Blake Bivens: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 K, 0 BB

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (11-13)

2016 seventh round draftee J.D. Busfield continued his impressive work with seven shutout innings in leading the Bowling Green Hot Rods to a 3-0 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Busfield scatttered four hits while striking out three and not allowing a walk. Solo home runs by outfielders Jesus Sanchez and Garrett Whitley would be enough offense to win the game. Josh Lowe and Eleardo Cabrera added doubles.

OF Jesus Sanchez: 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI

OF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI, 2 K

3B Adrian Rondon: 0-for-3, 3 K, BB

SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, R

OF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 2B, K

RHP J.D. Busfield: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB

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