Rays prospects and minor leagues: Cabrera sharp for Montgomery

Since returning from his suspension and a brief stint with Charlotte to get back into game action, Nick Ciuffo has played 15 games for Triple-A Durham. In 62 plate appearances, he’s batting .305/.323/.339 with a 22.6 percent strikeout rate and 3.2 percent walk rate.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (41-32)

Brandon Lowe’s fifth home run in four games was the difference in Durham’s 2-1 win over Indianapolis. The Bulls held a 1-0 lead in the eighth when Lowe went deep again, and it proved to be the winning run when Indianapolis scored in the bottom half of the inning. Ryan Weber struck out three in six scoreless innings.

LF Brandon Lowe: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
RF Justin Williams: 1-for-4, 1 K
C Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-4

RHP Ryan Weber: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (1-3)

Genesis Cabrera pitched a strong outing in Montgomery’s 5-0 win over Birmingham. He pitched a career-high eight scoreless innings, striking out seven and giving up just four hits and a walk. Nate Lowe singled in the only run the Biscuits needed in the first inning, and Ryan Boldt later homered to add insurance.

SS Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B
LF Ryan Boldt: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI
1B Nate Lowe: 3-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

LHP Genesis Cabrera: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

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

Charlotte lost to Palm Beach by a 7-1 score. Its only run scored on an error in the ninth. Benton Moss allowed four runs in three-plus innings.

SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 CS
CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
RF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-3, 1 K
2B Jermaine Palacios: 1-for-3, 1 BB
LF Jake Fraley: 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 BB

RHP Benton Moss: 3+ IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

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

Bowling Green got back on track, topping Lake County by an 8-3 score. The Captains went up 1-0 in the top of the second, but the Hot Rods went up for good in the bottom half of the inning when Eleardo Cabrera doubled in two runs. An inning later, Moises Gomez’s two-run homer put them up 4-1. Tommy Romero allowed two runs in four innings, but Orlando Romero was sharp in relief, striking out four in two perfect innings.

2B Vidal Brujan: 2-for-5, 1 R
SS Taylor Walls: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-2, 1 K
DH Zach Rutherford: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
LF Moises Gomez: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
CF Carl Chester: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI

RHP Tommy Romero: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
RHP Orlando Romero: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (7-3)

Hudson Valley earned a rain-shortened 7-1 win over Connecticut. Michael Smith tripled in two in the three-run third, and he drove in another run in the four-run sixth. Also in the sixth, Adrian Rondon hit a two-run homer. Starter Blake Pflughaupt allowed a run and struck out six in five innings.

CF Tanner Dodson: 0-for-3, 1 K
SS Ford Proctor: 0-for-2, 1 RBI
3B Adrian Rondon: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

LHP Blake Pflughaupt: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
RHP Kyle Goodbrand: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Rookie Princeton Rays (3-3)

After losing a 3-2 lead, Princeton walked off with a 4-3 win over Danville. With the game tied in the ninth, Danville was unable to record an out. After back-to-back singles, an error on a Jake Palomaki bunt loaded the bases, and Jordan Qsar hit a game-winning single. Starter Miguel Lara was sharp, striking out eight in five scoreless innings.

1B Carlos Vargas: 1-for-3, 1 BB

RHP Miguel Lara: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (1-4)

The GCL Rays were off.

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

Durham vs. Charlotte 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Michael Kopech (3-5, 5.08)

Montgomery vs. Birmingham 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Dylan Cease (0-0, -.--)

Charlotte is off.

Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 7:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Nick Margevicius (4-4, 3.09)

Hudson Valley vs. Connecticut 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton @ Bluefield 7:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

GCL Rays vs. GCL Twins 12 p.m.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
33-41 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 261 R (13th) .669 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 4.17 ERA (12th) 1.38 WHIP (12th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Michael Kopech (2), RHP Zack Burdi (11), RHP Spencer Adams (12), RHP Carson Fulmer (13), RHP Jordan Stephens (16), RHP Thyago Vieira (20), IF Jake Elmore, 1B Casey Gillaspie, 3B Patrick Leonard

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
3-1 (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

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
2-2 (T-4th in MWL East)
Offense: 307 R (10th) .666 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 4.05 ERA (11th) 1.38 WHIP (12th)
Top-30 prospects: LHP MacKenzie Gore (2), SS Gabriel Arias (10), 2B Esteury Ruiz (15), RHP Andres Munoz (19), C Luis Campusano (20), OF Jeisson Rosario (22), IF Luis Almanzar (24), RHP Mason Thompson (25), OF Tirso Ornelas (31)

Connecticut Tigers
2-8 (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)

Bluefield Blue Jays
5-1 (1st in AL East)
Offense: 35 R (4th) .908 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 5.20 ERA (5th) 1.49 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Eric Pardinho (6), C Hagen Danner (28)

GCL Twins
4-1 (T-1st in GCL South)
Offense: 31 R (6th) .713 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 1.84 ERA (2nd) 0.98 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: OF Aaron Whitefield (19)

Daily news and links

MiLB.com covered Brandon Lowe’s two-homer game on Saturday.

Writing at Baseball America, Marc Topkin talked about Jesus Sanchez and Nate Lowe in the Rays midseason report.