Ryan Weber has had a solid season for Durham in between his brief appearances with the Rays. He hasn’t been charged with more than two earned runs in nine straight games with the Bulls, including Friday night’s gem.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (52-38)
Ryan Weber pitched Durham to a 5-2 win over Charlotte. The veteran righty lowered his ERA to 2.05 with six scoreless innings, and he struck out a season-high eight batters. Justin Williams’ eighth home run of the season got the Bulls on the board in the second inning, and they added two more runs in both the third and fourth innings.
DH Willy Adames: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
2B Brandon Lowe: 0-for-4
RF Justin Williams: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
C Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI
3B Kean Wong: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 BB
RHP Ryan Weber: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (12-10)
Montgomery scored nine straight runs in its 9-7 win over Chattanooga. After falling behind 2-0, the Biscuits tied the game in the fourth and stormed ahead with four in the fifth. Dalton Kelly singled in one, Jake Cronenworth plated two with a single, and another run scored on David Rodriguez’s double play. Travis Ott allowed an unearned run as the opener, and J.D. Martin followed with four innings of one-run ball.
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B
DH Nate Lowe: 4-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
SS Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
LF Dalton Kelly: 2-for-4, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP J.D. Martin: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
LHP Dalton Moats: 2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (11-11)
Charlotte came up short in a 3-2 loss to Jupiter. The Stone Crabs had just five hits, but they did have a chance to tie the game late. In the eighth, Lucius Fox’s sacrifice fly pulled them within one and moved the tying run to third base, but Josh Lowe struck out to end the inning. Blake Bivens allowed three runs — two earned — in six innings.
SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 K
DH Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-3, 1 HBP
RHP Blake Bivens: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 2 K
Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (15-7)
Resly Linares pitched well in Bowling Green’s 4-3 win over Kane County. Both runs against the lefty were unearned, and he struck out seven in 5 1⁄3 innings, only giving up four hits and a walk. The Hot Rods went up 2-0 in the first, and a half inning after the Cougars tied the game, they scored two more to go back in front for good.
2B Vidal Brujan: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
DH Taylor Walls: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB
LHP Resly Linares: 5 1⁄3 IP, 4 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 7 K
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (17-10)
Hudson Valley’s pitching was sharp in its 2-0 win over West Virginia. In five scoreless innings, Nick Padilla struck out three and allowed both of the Black Bears’ hits. Nick Sprengel and Simon Rosenblum-Larson combined to pitch the final three innings. Tyler Frank doubled and scored in the first, and Jake Stone doubled in an insurance run in the seventh.
DH Tanner Dodson: 1-for-3, 1 BB
SS Tyler Frank: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
RHP Nick Padilla: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Rookie Princeton Rays (15-9)
A five-run fourth inning helped Princeton to a 9-3 win over Bluefield. Already up 1-0, Princeton scored four of its five runs in the fourth with two outs when Wander Franco and Jordan Qsar each hit back-to-back two-run doubles. Starter Cristopher Sanchez was charged with three runs in 3 1⁄3 innings.
DH Wander Franco: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
1B Carlos Vargas: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 1 K
RF Jordan Qsar: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
3B Jonathan Aranda: 2-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
C Jordyn Muffley: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
LHP Cristopher Sanchez: 3 1⁄3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
RHP Justin Montgomery: 4 2⁄3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (10-11)
Despite being outhit 10-5, the GCL Rays edged the GCL Orioles by a 4-2 score. Already leading 2-1, the GCL Rays added insurance with two runs in the fifth. After a run scored on Brendan McKay’s groundout, Luis Leon drove in the fourth run with an RBI single. In his second pro outing, Matthew Liberatore was charged with a run in 1 1⁄3 innings. He struck out two and walked two.
1B Brendan McKay: 0-for-4, 1 RBI
CF Nick Schnell: 0-for-4, 2 K
RF Aldenis Sanchez: 2-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
LHP Matthew Liberatore: 1 1⁄3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
RHP Edisson Gonzalez: 4 1⁄3 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Saturday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham vs. Charlotte 6:#5 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Yonny Chirinos (0-2, 6.23) vs. Michael Kopech (3-7, 4.70)
Montgomery @ Chattanooga 7:15 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Benton Moss (1-3, 4.98) vs. Omar Bencomo (5-3, 3.16)
Charlotte @ Jupiter 5:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Kenny Rosenberg (6-1, 4.35) vs. Dustin Beggs (0-1, 0.69)
Bowling Green vs. Quad Cities 7:35 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Leovanny Rodriguez (4-1, 3.23)
Hudson Valley @ Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Luis Oviedo (3-0, 0.32)
Princeton @ Pulaski 7 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Luis Medina (0-1, 6.75)
GCL Rays vs. GCL Orioles 10 a.m.
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
41-50 (3rd in IL South)
Offense: 317 R (12th) .671 OPS (13th)
Pitching: 4.18 ERA (12th) 1.39 WHIP (11th)
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
Chattanooga Lookouts (Minnesota)
6-16 (5th in SL North)
Offense: 381 R (6th) .700 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.08 ERA (8th) 1.37 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: 1B Brent Rooker (7), LHP Tyler Jay (10), 2B Luis Arraez (15), LHP Lewis Thorpe (16), IF Taylor Motter
Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami)
7-14 (6th in FSL South)
Offense: 327 R (10th) .642 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.43 ERA (2nd) 1.25 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Jorge Guzman (2), 2B Riley Mahan (18), OF Corey Bird (31), RHP Ethan Clark
Quad Cities River Bandits (Houston)
11-10
Offense: 381 R (11th) .712 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 2.89 ERA (1st) 1.24 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP J.B. Bukauskas (4), RHP Jairo Solis (7), SS Miguelangel Sierra (30), RHP Luis Garcia (31), OF Seth Beer
Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Cleveland)
16-10 (1st in NYPL Pinckney)
Offense: 127 R (3rd) .707 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.66 ERA (7th) 1.31 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Tyler Freeman (16), RHP Luis Oviedo (22)
Pulaski Yankees
11-13 (4th in AL East)
Offense: 114 R (8th) .685 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.14 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Luis Medina (7)
GCL Orioles
7-14 (4th in GCL South)
Offense: 64 R (18th) .555 OPS (18th)
Pitching: 4.90 ERA (14th) 1.61 WHIP (17th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Lamar Sparks (25), RHP Grayson Rodriguez
Daily news and links
The Rays are well-represented on Baseball Prospectus’ midseason top-50 prospects list, which appears to be open to non-subscribers.
Jerry Crasnick checked in on how the minor league extra-innings rule is working.
Marc Normandin again wrote about the possibility of minor league baseball players unionizing.