Rays prospects and minor leagues: Biscuits stage wild comeback for doubleheader sweep

A player the Rays would like to see finish strong over the next two months is Charlotte center fielder Josh Lowe. Over his last three games, he’s reached base eight times with four doubles, but for the season, he’s batting .232 with a .295 on-base percentage and .359 slugging percentage. His 28.7 percent strikeout rate, 7.7 percent walk rate, and .125 ISO are all very similar to last season, but his BABIP is .320 instead of .369.

It’s July 2, which means the new international signing period opens. The Rays are expected to sign shortstop Alejandro Pie.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (47-34)

Brandon Lowe’s go-ahead double lifted Durham to an 8-6 win over Norfolk. After Rob Refsnyder’s single tied the game in the eighth, Lowe’s second double of the game plated two. He also walked twice. Forrest Snow allowed four runs in six innings.

2B Brandon Lowe: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
RF Justin Williams: 2-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI
DH Rob Refsnyder: 3-for-5, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
1B Ji-Man Choi: 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
CF Jeremy Hazelbaker: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 HBP

RHP Forrest Snow: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
RHP Jaime Schultz: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (6-4)

Nick Solak’s grand slam helped Montgomery to a 5-4 win over Jacksonville in Game 1 of their doubleheader. That slam gave the Biscuits a 4-0 lead, but Jacksonville responded with four of its own a half inning later. Peter Maris’ RBI single in the seventh decided the game. Genesis Cabrera allowed four runs and struck out eight in five innings.

Despite falling behind 7-0 in the first inning, the Biscuits earned an 18-9 win in Game 2. Mike Broadway and Brandon Lawson combined in a nightmare first inning, but the offense picked them up. It was a 9-5 game after three innings before Montgomery exploded for nine runs in the fourth. In that inning, Michael Brosseau hit a grand slam, and David Rodriguez made two outs. Montgomery had 14 hits — including seven for extra bases — and drew nine walks.

CF Nick Solak (1): 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
2B Nick Solak (2): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HBP
DH Nate Lowe (1): 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
1B Nate Lowe (2): 0-for-1, 2 R, 1 RBI, 4 BB
SS Jake Cronenworth (1): 0-for-3
CF Thomas Milone (2): 3-for-5, 3 R, 1 3B
SS Peter Maris (2): 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
RF Nathan Lukes (2): 2-for-3, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB
LF Dalton Kelly (2): 1-for-3, 3 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB
3B Michael Brosseau (2): 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 K

LHP Genesis Cabrera (1): 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
RHP Michael Broadway (2): one-third IP, 1 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
RHP Brandon Lawson (2): 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (4-6)

Charlotte rallied for a 6-3 win over Tampa. After falling behind 2-0, the Stone Crabs stormed into the lead with six consecutive runs. Doubles by Robbie Tenerowicz and Jesus Sanchez tied the game in the fifth, and Rene Pinto and Tristan Gray added RBI doubles in the three-run sixth. Riley O’Brien lasted a little longer than he did in his first start with Charlotte, allowing two runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings.

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

RHP Riley O’Brien: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (7-4)

Resly Linares struck out a career-high 10 batters in Bowling Green’s 5-3 win over West Michigan. Injuries have limited Linares this season, but he had his best outing since he threw seven no-hit innings in April, allowing just two runs in six innings. The Hot Rods struck first on Devin Davis’ solo home run in the second, and they put the game away with three runs in the fifth.

2B Vidal Brujan: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS
SS Taylor Walls: 0-for-2, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
1B Devin Davis: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

LHP Resly Linares: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (11-5)

A big inning cost Hudson Valley in its 8-4 loss to Aberdeen. The Renegades led 2-1 after one inning, but the game came apart in the third when the IronBirds scored five runs. Blake Pflughaupt hit the first two batters and walked the next before conceding two on run-scoring outs. However, Aberdeen tacked on three runs with two outs, and he couldn’t finish the inning.

SS Ford Proctor: 1-for-5, 3 K
CF Tanner Dodson: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
2B Tyler Frank: 2-for-4, 1 R

LHP Blake Pflughaupt: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K

Rookie Princeton Rays (7-5)

Princeton survived a late comeback to hold off Elizabethton, 8-7. After retiring the first batter of the ninth, Juan Carlos Arias proceeded to allow five runs. Following a grand slam, he was relieved by Michael Costanzo, who allowed a two-out double. However, he stranded the tying run in scoring position, striking out the final batter of the game. Starter Cristopher Sanchez allowed two runs in five innings.

DH Wander Franco: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
RF Jordan Qsar: 4-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
1B Vincent Byrd: 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

LHP Cristopher Sanchez: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
RHP Juan Carlos Arias: two-thirds IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (6-5)

The GCL Rays were off.

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

Durham vs. Gwinnett 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Michael Mader (1-0, 3.21)

Montgomery @ Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Sam McWilliams (2-4, 5.67) vs. Nick Neidert (7-4, 3.11)

Charlotte vs. Fort Myers 6:35 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Willy Ortiz (4-2, 4.22) vs. TBA

Bowling Green @ South Bend 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Brendon Little (2-5, 5.02)

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

Princeton vs. Elizabethton 5 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Kody Funderburk (0-0, 0.00)

GCL Rays @ GCL Red Sox 12 p.m. ET

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta)
35-47 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 321 R (10th) .681 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.65 ERA (6th) 1.31 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Luiz Gohara (2), 3B Austin Riley (6), LHP Kolby Allard (7), RHP Patrick Weigel (16), OF Dustin Peterson (24), RHP Chase Whitley

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami)
3-7 (5th in SL South)
Offense: 282 R (10th) .660 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 4.13 ERA (7th) 1.38 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Nick Neidert (5), OF Brian Miller (12), SS Joe Dunand (14), RHP Merandy Gonzalez (15), RHP Robert Dugger (23), RHP Jeff Brigham (28)

Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
6-4 (1st in FSL South)
Offense: 312 R (7th) .689 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.53 ERA (5th) 1.31 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Alex Kirilloff (3), RHP Brusdal Graterol (5), 2B Luis Arraez (15), OF Aaron Whitefield (19), 1B Lewin Diaz (26), 2B Travis Blankenhorn (29)

South Bend Cubs
6-5 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 351 R (7th) .711 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.59 ERA (3rd) 1.28 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Brendon Little (7), C Miguel Amaya (22), RHP Javier Assad (23)

Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore)
8-8 (3rd in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 54 R (11th) .644 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.21 ERA (4th) 1.09 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: SS Adam Hall (18), RHP Gray Fenter (26)

Elizabethton Twins
6-5 (2nd in AL West)
Offense: 67 R (4th) .868 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.82 ERA (6th) 1.38 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Yunior Severino (14), C Ryan Jeffers

GCL Red Sox
6-5 (T-1st in GCL South)
Offense: 38 R (16th) .646 OPS (15th)
Pitching: 2.34 ERA (1st) 1.17 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: 1B Triston Casas, OF Nick Decker

Daily news and links

Marc Topkin reports that Dioner Navarro will sign with the Long Island Ducks.