Rays prospects and minor leagues: McKay hits clutch homer

Since Nick Ciuffo’s average bottomed out at .202 on July 12, he’s been on fire. He’s batting .406 (26-for-64), raising his average to .245. His on-base percentage is over .300 again, and his slugging percentage is up 60 points.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (70-44)

Michael Roth had a tough time keeping Louisville in the park in Durham’s 5-2 loss Monday. The lefty gave up three home runs and allowed all five Bats runs. After he departed, Chih-Wei Hu and Hunter Wood combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

SS Willy Adames: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
OF Jake Bauers: 0-for-4
RF Taylor Featherston: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

LHP Michael Roth: 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 2 K
RHP Chih-Wei Hu: 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
RHP Hunter Wood: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (25-19)

Brandon Lowe’s first Double-A home run gave Montgomery an 11-inning, 8-7 win over Mobile. After the Biscuits lost their lead in the ninth, Lowe restored their advantage two innings later with his second run driven in on the night. Starter Logan Darnell allowed six runs -- four earned -- in seven innings.

OF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-3, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K
OF Justin Williams: 1-for-6, 1 2B, 1 RBI
C Nick Ciuffo: 5-for-5, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI
2B Brandon Lowe: 2-for-6, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
IF Grant Kay: 0-for-6, 1 R, 1 K
1B Dalton Kelly: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K

LHP Logan Darnell: 7 IP, 8 H, 6 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 0 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (23-20)

Eduar Lopez dominated in Charlotte’s 5-0 win over Jupiter. Over eight scoreless innings, he dominated the Hammerheads, striking out four, walking none and allowing just three singles. After Lopez departed, Nathaniel Lowe broke the game open with a bases-clearing double in the eighth.

SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-2, 3 R, 2 BB
OF Ryan Boldt: 1-for-4, 1 K
C David Rodriguez: 0-for-3, 2 K
OF David Olmedo-Barrera: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI
1B Nathaniel Lowe: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 K

RHP Eduar Lopez: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (28-16)

Bowling Green used three solo home runs to earn a 3-1 win over South Bend Monday. A half inning after South Bend went up 1-0, Emilio Gustave and Miles Mastrobuoni went back-to-back to put the Hot Rods in front. An inning later, Bobby Melley went deep to add insurance. Starter Spencer Moran allowed a run in five innings.

CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
OF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, 1 K
OF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-4, 1 K
3B Adrian Rondon: 0-for-3, 1 K
IF Miles Mastrobuoni: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
1B Bobby Melley: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
OF Emilio Gustave: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB

RHP Spencer Moran: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (23-24)

Brendan McKay’s clutch hit helped Hudson Valley to a 10-inning, 6-5 win over Vermont. After the Renegades fell behind 5-2 in the top of the ninth, McKay’s three-run homer with two outs sent the game to extras. In the 10th, Carl Chester delivered a walkoff single. Mikey York was impressive again, striking out four in five scoreless innings.

2B Vidal Brujan: 1-for-3, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K
SS Taylor Walls: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K
1B Brendan McKay: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
OF Carl Chester: 2-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
OF Oscar Rojas: 2-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Bill Pujols: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K

RHP Mikey York: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
RHP Zack Mozingo: 2 IP, 5 H, 4 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K

Rookie Princeton Rays (17-27)

Princeton was postponed.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (14-23)

Despite a late rally, the GCL Rays came up short in their Game 1, 6-5 loss to the GCL Red Sox. Trailing 6-2 in the sixth, Pedro Diaz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and two more runs scored on a two-out throwing error. They put the tying run on in the seventh but could not cash in. Wilson Garcia was charged with all six GCL Red Sox runs, although only four were earned.

Offense was nowhere to be found in the GCL Rays’ 1-0 loss in Game 2 of their doubleheader. The GCL Rays hit just three singles, and the GCL Red Sox only had one hit at all. Wanderson Linares started and threw five scoreless innings, and Chris Carden gave up an unearned run.

3B Carlos Vargas (1): 1-for-4, 1 R
SS Carlos Vargas (2): 1-for-3, 1 K
OF Pedro Diaz (1): 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

RHP Wilson Garcia (1): 4+ IP, 5 H, 6 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 0 K
RHP Wanderson Linares (2): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 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. Louisville 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Brent Honeywell (11-7, 3.95) v. TBA

Montgomery @ Mobile 7:35 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Jose Mujica (9-8, 3.37) v. TBA

Charlotte v. Jupiter 6:35 PM (radio stream)
Brandon Lawson (4-4, 4.10) v. Merandy Gonzalez (4-2, 1.96)

Bowling Green v. South Bend 1:05 PM (radio stream)
J.D. Busfield (4-8, 3.59) v. TBA

Hudson Valley @ State College 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. TBA

Princeton v. Pulaski 5 PM (radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA v. TBA
TBA v. TBA

Both games will be seven innings

GCL Rays v. GCL Red Sox 12 PM

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Louisville Bats (Cincinnati)
45-68 (4th in IL West)
Offense: 425 R (13th) .696 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 4.45 ERA (12th) 1.50 WHIP (13th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Cody Reed (2), LHP Amir Garrett (3), RHP Tyler Mahle (12), RHP Jimmy Herget (13), OF Phillip Ervin (18), RHP Barrett Astin (20), RHP Ariel Hernandez (21), LHP Ismael Guillon (29), RHP Austin Brice, OF Adam Brett Walker, OF Tyler Goeddel

Mobile BayBears (Angels)
23-21 (1st in SL South)
Offense: 423 R (5th) .671 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.67 ERA (6th) 1.25 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: 1B Matt Thaiss (2), C Taylor Ward (6), RHP Grayson Long (7), RHP Jaime Barria (10), RHP Justin Anderson (25), RHP Tyler Carpenter (27), OF Brennon Lund (28), RHP Jake Jewell (29), OF Troy Montgomery (31)

Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami)
24-19 (T-2nd in FSL South)
Offense: 390 R (10th) .650 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 2.83 ERA (1st) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Stone Garrett (9), RHP Cody Poteet (14), RHP Jeff Brigham (19), C Roy Morales (20), 2B Justin Twine (28), RHP Pablo Lopez (31), RHP Merandy Gonzalez

South Bend Cubs
18-26 (T-6th in MWL East)
Offense: 561 R (3rd) .719 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 4.02 ERA (9th) 1.37 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF D.J. Wilson (9), 3B Wladimir Galindo (18), RHP Erling Moreno (20), LHP Jose Paulino (21), LHP Bryan Hudson (25)

State College Spikes (St. Louis)
26-21 (4th in NYPL Pinckney)
Offense: 237 R (1st) .724 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.48 ERA (8th) 1.45 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Johan Oviedo (30), OF Scott Hurst

Pulaski Yankees
29-14 (1st in AL East)
Offense: 215 R (9th) .719 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.24 ERA (4th) 1.36 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: None

GCL Red Sox
19-18 (T-2nd in GCL South)
Offense: 176 R (T-6th) .693 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.20 ERA (11th) 1.41 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Cole Brannen