Rays prospects and minor leagues: Franco continues tear with 2-homer game, cycle

Wander Franco isn’t in the Futures Game this season, but Jesus Sanchez and Nate Lowe are. Be sure to check it out on MLB Network or MLB.com at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (52-39)

Durham fell to Charlotte by a 3-1 score in 10 innings. Brandon Snyder led off the second with a double and scored after consecutive singles by Justin Williams and Jason Coats, but the Bulls only had two hits over the final eight innings. The Knights scored two in the 10th off Ian Gibaut. In four innings, Yonny Chirinos struck out seven and allowed just a solo home run.

SS Willy Adames: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
2B Brandon Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 K
RF Justin Williams: 1-for-4, 1 K

RHP Yonny Chirinos: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
LHP Colin Poche: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Ian Gibaut: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 4 K

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (13-10)

Nick Solak’s two-run home run was big in Montgomery’s 5-2 win over Chattanooga. Entering the game, Solak had batted just .228 with a .673 OPS since June 1, but his 13th home run of the season gave the Biscuits a 3-1 lead in the third. After Benton Moss allowed two runs in six innings, Curtis Taylor had another great relief appearance, striking out five in three scoreless frames.

SS Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 K
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

RHP Benton Moss: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
RHP Curtis Taylor: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (12-11)

Josh Lowe homered again in Charlotte’s 8-2 win over Jupiter. His sixth home run of the season — and second in a week — extended the Stone Crabs’ lead to six in the seventh inning. They previous went ahead 5-0 with three runs in the second and two in the third. Trevor Charpie opened with two scoreless innings, and Kenny Rosenberg allowed two runs in six frames.

SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
2B Jermaine Palacios: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 K
LF Jake Fraley: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 HBP

LHP Kenny Rosenberg: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (16-7)

Bowling Green battled back for a 4-3 win over Quad Cities. After falling behind 3-0 through two innings, the Hot Rods scored two in the fifth and then tied the game in the seventh. In the eighth, Ronaldo Hernandez led off by reaching on an error and later scored on a sacrifice fly after back-to-back singles moved him to third base. Tobias Myers allowed three runs in two innings.

DH Vidal Brujan: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B
SS Taylor Walls: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 CS
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-4, 1 R
CF Carl Chester: 2-for-2, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B

RHP Tobias Myers: 2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
LHP Andrew Gist: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
RHP Phoenix Sanders: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (18-10)

For the third straight game, Hudson Valley shut out its opponent, earning a 1-0 win over Mahoning Valley. After Blake Pflughaupt pitched six scoreless innings, two-way player Tanner Dodson finished off the Scrappers, striking out three in three hitless innings. In the second, Erik Ostberg led off with a double and scored the only run of the game on Jake Stone’s RBI single.

SS Tanner Frank: 0-for-4, 1 K

LHP Blake Pflughaupt: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K
RHP Tanner Dodson: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Rookie Princeton Rays (16-9)

Wander Franco cycled in Princeton’s 13-1 rout of Pulaski. In addition to his cycle, the star shortstop homered twice, giving him six on the young season. He had two more hits than the entire Pulaski lineup. Luis Moncada struck out seven and allowed a run in five innings, and three Princeton relievers combined to shut down Pulaski over the final four innings.

SS Wander Franco: 5-for-6, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
RF Jordan Qsar: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
3B Osmy Gregorio: 3-for-4, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
LF Tony Pena: 1-for-3, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K

LHP Luis Moncada: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (11-11)

The GCL Rays one-hit the GCL Orioles in a 4-3 win Saturday. The GCL Orioles’ lone hit drove in two runs in the fourth inning, giving them a 2-0 lead. The GCL Rays then trailed until their three-run eighth. After a run scored on a wild pitch, the game was tied on a sacrifice fly, and Nick Schnell’s first pro doubled plated the go-ahead run. Taj Bradley struck out three in three no-hit innings.

CF Nick Schnell: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 CS
SS Jelfry Marte: 0-for-3, 1 K
RF Aldenis Sanchez: 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB
C Kevin Melendez: 1-for-2, 2 BB, 1 CS

RHP Taj Bradley: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

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

Durham vs. Charlotte 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Zach Lee (2-2, 2.73) vs. Jordan Stephens (3-3, 3.69)

Montgomery @ Chattanooga 2:15 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Brock Burke (0-0, 3.60) vs. Sean Poppen (2-5, 4.85)

Charlotte @ Jupiter 1 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Josh Fleming (0-1, 3.00) vs. Ethan Clark (1-3, 4.34)

Bowling Green vs. Quad Cities 3:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Jairo Solis (0-3, 3.00)

Hudson Valley @ Mahoning Valley 4:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Cameron Mingo (1-2, 5.56)

Princeton @ Pulaski 7 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Pedro Espinola (0-1, 6.55)

The GCL Rays are off.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
42-50 (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)
6-17 (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)
7-15 (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)
11-11
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)
16-11 (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
11-14 (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)

Daily news and links

If you don’t like minor league baseball’s extra-innings rules, I don’t know if you’d be a fan of how the Eastern League All-Star Game broke its tie last week.