Rays prospects and minor leagues: Venters makes 2018 debut

The results weren’t great for Jose Mujica Sunday, but Durham’s bullpen was sharp. Led by Jonny Venters, five Bulls relievers combined to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings, strike out nine, walk none, and allow just three hits.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (1-2)

Durham managed just three hits in a 5-0 loss to Charlotte. All three hits were singles, and the Bulls only drew two walks. Jose Mujica allowed five runs — four earned — in 3 ²⁄₃ innings.

1B Jake Bauers: 0-for-4, 1 K
SS Willy Adames: 0-for-4, 2 K
DH Joe McCarthy: 1-for-4, 1 K
3B Christian Arroyo: 0-for-4, 1 K
RF Justin Williams: 1-for-2, 1 HBP

RHP Jose Mujica: 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 3 K
LHP Jonny Venters: 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Jaime Schultz: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
RHP Diego Castillo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (1-3)

Montgomery lost to Biloxi, 8-0. The Biscuits had just six hits, although Brandon Lowe and Brett Sullivan did hit doubles. Starter Benton Moss struck out seven but allowed three runs in 3 ²⁄₃ innings. Montgomery pitchers combined to walk nine batters.

2B Nick Solak: 2-for-4, 1 K, 1 CS
RF Ryan Boldt: 0-for-4, 3 K
LF Brandon Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 K
SS Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-3, 1 K
C Brett Sullivan: 2-for-3, 1 2B, 1 BB

RHP Benton Moss: 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
LHP Austin Wright: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (2-2)

Mikey York and two relievers shut down Fort Myers in Charlotte’s 4-1 win over the Miracle. In 5 2/3 innings, York allowed just one run, extending his streak of starts of not allowing more than two runs to 12. Adrian Navas and Spencer Jones combined to pitch the final 3 ¹⁄₃ innings. RBI doubles by Nathaniel Lowe and Jesus Sanchez gave the Stone Crabs the lead in the fourth inning.

SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-4, 1 K
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI

RHP Mikey York: 5 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (3-1)

Bowling Green’s run for an undefeated season ended with a 4-2 loss to Dayton. The Hot Rods wasted a strong start from Alex Valverde, who struck out five in five scoreless innings. After Tyler Day followed with two scoreless frames of his own, the Dragons scored four runs off Nick Padilla in the eighth.

DH Brendan McKay: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 1-for-4, 1 K

RHP Alex Valverde: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
RHP Nick Padilla: 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 1 K

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Monday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham v. Gwinnett 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Lucas Sims (0-0, -.--)

Montgomery v. Biloxi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA v. Cody Ponce (0-0, -.--)

Charlotte @ Daytona 7:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Willy Ortiz (0-0, -.--) v. Seth Varner (0-0, -.--)

Bowling Green @ South Bend 7:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Cory Abbott (0-0, -.--)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta)
1-1 (T-2nd in IL South)
Offense: 4 R (T-13th) .507 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 2.04 ERA (3rd) 0.96 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 Prospects: OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (1), RHP Mike Soroka (3), LHP Kolby Allard (7), RHP Patrick Weigel (16), OF Dustin Peterson (24), LHP Philip Pfeifer (29)

Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee)
3-1 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: Will update after first series
Pitching: Will update after first series
Top-30 Prospects: RHP Luis Ortiz (6), 3B Lucas Ecreg (8), OF Corey Ray (10), 1B Jake Gatewood (14), OF Trent Grisham (15), RHP Cody Ponce (18), RHP Adrian Houser (31), C Nick Franklin, SS Jake Hager

Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati)
3-1 (T-1st in FSL North)
Offense: 18 R (4th) .729 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 1.91 ERA (1st) 0.94 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 Prospects: OF Taylor Trammell (3), RHP Tony Santillan (6), C Tyler Stephenson (10), OF T.J. Friedl (17), LHP Scott Moss (29)

South Bend Cubs
1-2 (6th in MWL East)
Offense: 10 R (11th) .624 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.12 ERA (9th) 1.19 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 Prospects: RHP Jose Albertos (3), LHP Brendon Little (7), RHP Cory Abbott (16), C Miguel Amaya (22), RHP Javier Assad (23), RHP Erich Uelmen (27)

Daily news and links

More Durham clips from Baseball America’s Josh Norris, this time of Willy Adames’ defense on Friday.

Norris was back at Durham Bulls Athletic Park Sunday and took more video. Check out his timeline for everything he recorded.