Rays prospects and minor leagues: Brandon Lowe homers twice

In his first eight games with Durham, Brandon Lowe batted .156 with a .447 OPS and 34.3 percent strikeout rate. In his last five, he’s batting .381 with six extra-base hits and only has five strikeouts in 24 plate appearances.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (40-32)

Despite two home runs from Brandon Lowe, Durham fell to Indianapolis, 7-6, in 10 innings. Lowe homered in the second and fourth, giving him four dingers in the last three games. Indianapolis tied the game in the ninth, but Justin Williams’ outfield assist kept the game tied and sent it to a 10th, when Indianapolis won on a bases-loaded walk issued by Mike Franco. Jaime Schultz opened with a scoreless inning, and Chih-Wei Hu allowed five runs in four innings.

RF Justin Williams: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB
LF Brandon Lowe: 3-for-5, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 K
DH Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-5, 1 K
1B Ji-Man Choi: 1-for-3, 2 BB, 1 K

RHP Jaime Schultz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Chih-Wei Hu: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
RHP Ian Gibaut: 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (0-3)

Montogmery fell to 0-3 in the second half with a 6-3 loss to Birmingham. Michael Brosseau’s RBI double and a run scoring on an error gave the Biscuits a 2-1 lead in the second, but the Barons scored the next four runs, including three in the sixth. J.D. Martin was charged with five runs — four earned — in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings.

SS Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
LF Nick Solak: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 CS
DH Nate Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 BB, 2 K
RF Nathan Lukes: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 K
2B Michael Brosseau: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

RHP J.D. Martin: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 4 K
RHP Curtis Taylor: 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (2-1)

A three-run 10th inning lifted Charlotte to a 4-1 win over Palm Beach. A day after falling to Palm Beach in extra innings, the Stone Crabs capitalized on their chances Friday. Jermaine Palacios led off by tripling in the free runner, and Robbie Tenerowicz’s two-out, two-run single added insurance. Brock Burke allowed a run in four innings, and Spencer Jones threw four scoreless innings in relief.

SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB, 1 HBP
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-5, 2 K
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-5, 1 K
3B Jermaine Palacios: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K

LHP Brock Burke: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Spencer Jones: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (2-1)

Bowling Green battled, but its winning streak came to an end with a 10-7 loss to Lake County. The Hot Rods were sunk by the Captains’ eight-run third inning. They scored four in the seventh and two in the ninth, but with two runners on and two outs, Emilio Gustave lined out to end the game. Alex Valverde was charged with six runs in 2 ¹⁄₃ innings.

2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
DH Taylor Walls: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB
1B Devin Davis: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
RF Eleardo Cabrera: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

RHP Alex Valverde: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (6-3)

Hudson Valley dominated Vermont in an 11-0 win. In the third, Tyler Frank hit his first pro home run, but the Renegades didn’t open the game up until later. They sent nine to the plate and scored six times in the seventh inning. Bryce Brown drove in two and scored himself on an error. Starter Nick Padilla threw five scoreless frames, but Trey Cumbie was very good in relief, striking out six in three scoreless innings.

2B Ford Proctor: 0-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
SS Tyler Frank: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
3B Adrian Rondon: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
LF Bryce Brown: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS

RHP Nick Padilla: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
LHP Trey Cumbie: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

Rookie Princeton Rays (2-3)

After losing a 3-0 lead, Princeton rebounded for a 6-4 win over Danville. A run-scoring groundout and steal of home on a double steal gave Princeton a 2-0 lead in the first, but Danville battled and tied the game in the seventh. An inning later, Wander Franco drove in the go-ahead run, and Princeton executed a second double steal to add insurance. In four-plus innings, Wilson Garcia was charged with a run but struck out five.

SS Wander Franco: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
RF Pedro Diaz: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 K, 1 SB, 1 HBP
C Roberto Alvarez: 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

RHP Wilson Garcia: 4+ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (1-4)

The GCL Rays erased a 4-0 deficit, but they still came up short in a 5-4 loss to the GCL Orioles. They scored two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth, tying the game on a two-out single by Luis Arcendo. In the ninth, Aldor Rodriguez allowed hits to all three batters he faced, giving the GCL Orioles a walk-off win. Starter Rodlofo Sanchez allowed three runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings.

DH Nick Schnell: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K
SS Luis Arcendo: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 SB
3B Luis Leon: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
LF Yunior Martinez: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

RHP Rodolfo Sanchez: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

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

Durham @ Indianapolis 1:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Ryan Weber (3-2, 2.40) vs. Clay Holmes (6-3, 3.39)

Montgomery vs. Birmingham 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Genesis Cabrera (5-4, 4.01) vs. Bernardo Flores (0-0, -.--)

Charlotte @ Palm Beach 1 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Benton Moss (1-0, 1.00) vs. Casey Meisner (3-1, 3.75)

Bowling Green vs. Lake County 3:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Gregori Vasquez (2-3, 3.98)

Hudson Valley vs. Connecticut 5:05 p.m. ET
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton vs. Danville 5 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

The GCL Rays are off.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh)
40-32 (2nd in IL West)
Offense: 310 R (3rd) .769 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.75 ERA (7th) 1.41 WHIP (14th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Kevin Newman (5), RHP Nick Kingham (8), 2B Kevin Kramer (12), OF Jordan Luplow (13), 2B Max Moroff (16), RHP Dovydas Neverauskas (17), LHP Brandon Waddell (19), RHP Clay Holmes (21), RHP Tyler Eppler (29), OF Daniel Nava

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
3-0 (1st in SL North)
Offense: 302 R (7th) .728 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.67 ERA (10th) 1.43 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Alec Hansen (3), RHP Dane Dunning (5), C Zack Collins (6), RHP Dylan Cease (10), RHP A.J. Puckett (15), OF Alex Call (21), LHP Ian Clarkin (22), LHP Bernardo Flores (26), OF Tito Polo (27), OF Ryan Brett

Palm Beach Cardinals
1-2 (T-3rd in FSL South)
Offense: 277 R (8th) .704 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.57 ERA (4th) 1.26 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Junior Fernandez (21), OF Dylan Carlson (24)

Lake County Captains (Cleveland)
1-2 (5th in MWL East)
Offense: 293 R (13th) .705 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.42 ERA (15th) 1.37 WHIP (9th)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Nolan Jones (4), OF Will Benson (10), OF Oscar Gonzalez (20), IF Ernie Clement (24)

Connecticut Tigers
2-7 (4th in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 24 R (13th) .511 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.91 ERA (10th) 1.36 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Jose King (17), RHP Wilkel Hernandez (20)

Danville Braves
2-3 (T-2nd in AL East)
Offense: 7 R (7th) .608 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 2.25 ERA (5th) 1.15 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: 1B Greyson Jenista

GCL Orioles
1-4 (T-3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 8 R (15th) .593 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 10.08 ERA (17th) 1.80 WHIP (15th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Lamar Sparks (25)

Daily news and links

2080 Baseball wrote about Vidal Brujan and Ronaldo Hernandez. Thanks to Ben Tumbling for sharing the links.

Glenallen Hill isn’t even that recent of a player, so I’m not sure why I felt so surprised when I found out he has a son on the prospect radar. Maybe I will never stop being surprised by things like that.