Rays prospects and minor leagues: McKay clutch in best pro outing

A pair of lefties pitched Rays affiliates to postseason wins on Tuesday. Brendan McKay’s season on the mound is certainly over, but I’m interested to see if he can impact the New York-Penn League championship series at the plate.

If you missed it yesterday, you have a chance to vote for the organization’s August/September players of the month. I hope you do so.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (4-1)

Durham took a 1-0 championship lead with a dominant 7-0 victory over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. For the second straight series, lefty Ryan Yarbrough got the Bulls off to a great start, and he was even better than he was against Indianapolis. Over seven scoreless innings, he struck out four, gave up just three hits, and did not walk a batter. Durham took a 3-0 lead in the first on a wild pitch, Patrick Leonard RBI single, and Shane Peterson run-scoring groundout.

SS Willy Adames: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB
1B Jake Bauers: 2-for-4, 1 R
OF Justin Williams: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K

LHP Ryan Yarbrough: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (2-1)

Brendan McKay pitched Hudson Valley to the New York-Penn League championship with a 7-1 win over Staten Island. His seventh professional start to date was his best. In five one-hit scoreless innings, he struck out a career-best six batters and didn’t issue a walk. Carl Chester doubled and scored a run in the first, and Angel Perez extended the Renegades’ lead to 3-0 with a two-run homer in the second.

SS Taylor Walls: 1-for-4
2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 K
OF Angel Perez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB

LHP Brendan McKay: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 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. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6:35 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Yonny Chirinos (12-5, 2.74) v. Domingo German (7-2, 2.83)

Best-of-five series (Durham leads, 1-0)

Hudson Valley v. Vermont 6:35 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. TBA

Best-of-three series (Series tied, 0-0)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees)
3-2
Offense: 664 R (1st) .775 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.33 ERA (1st) 1.19 WHIP (1st)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Chance Adams (8), 3B Miguel Andujar (12), RHP Ronald Herrera (27), RHP Jonathan Holder (28)

Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland)
2-0
Offense: 319 R (6th) .655 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.01 ERA (3rd) 1.19 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Oscar Tovar (25), LHP Jesus Luzardo, SS Kevin Merrell, OF Greg Deichmann