Rays prospects and minor leagues: Chirinos solid in return from DL

Josh Lowe had a day off Sunday, and hopefully he’s just as hot after sitting a day as he was before it. In his ongoing nine-game hitting streak, he’s batting .469 with a .575 on-base percentage, .781 slugging percentage, and more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven). His .701 OPS for the season is above the league average of .690.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (51-37)

Durham’s offense rebounded in a 7-4 win over Norfolk. After getting shut out in consecutive games, the Bulls scored two in the first on Justin Williams’ double. An inning later, Rob Refsnyder hit a two run homer that gave them a 4-0 lead. Yonny Chirinos returned off the disabled list and pitched well, striking out four in three scoreless innings. Chih-Wei Hu walked five and allowed three runs in three-plus innings.

2B Brandon Lowe: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
RF Justin Williams: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI
DH Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-4, 2 K
CF Rob Refsnyder: 3-for-5, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
1B Brandon Snyder: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

RHP Yonny Chirinos: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
RHP Chih-Wei Hu: 3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 0 K
RHP Ian Gibaut: two-thirds IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (10-7)

Nate Lowe homered again in Montgomery’s 7-1 win over Tennessee. The Smokies opened the scoring in the first inning, but the Biscuits closed the game with seven unanswered runs. They already led 3-1 in the fifth when Lowe delivered the biggest blow, a three-run homer. It was his 17th of the season. J.D. Martin allowed just the first-inning run in six innings of work.

SS Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-4, 1 R
LF Nick Solak: 0-for-4, 1 K
1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
3B Peter Maris: 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI
RF Nathan Lukes: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

RHP J.D. Martin: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (8-9)

Charlotte couldn’t keep Clearwater off the bases in an 8-3 loss to the Threshers. They piled up 15 hits total, including eight off Blake Bivens, who was charged with three runs on eight hits in 4 ²⁄₃ innings. All three Stone Crabs pitchers allowed at least two runs.

SS Lucius Fox: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
3B Jermaine Palacios: 0-for-3, 1 K

RHP Blake Bivens: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
LHP Hunter Schryver: 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (12-6)

Ronaldo Hernandez had another big hit in Bowling Green’s 4-3 win over Fort Wayne. In the ninth, he broke a 3-3 tie with his 14th home run of the season. The Hot Rods got off to a 3-0 lead through two innings. Vidal Brujan singled, stole two bases, and scored in the first, and Eleardo Cabrera doubled in two in the second. Tobias Myers allowed three runs in six innings.

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

RHP Tobias Myers: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (15-8)

Hudson Valley was outhit 8-7, but it rallied for a 10-5 win over Lowell. With an eight-run seventh inning, the Renegades turned a 4-2 deficit into a sizable lead. Walks and defensive miscues aided them as they sent 13 batters to the plate, but the biggest swing of the game was Tyler Frank’s three-run homer. Starter Miller Hogan allowed four runs in 2 ¹⁄₃ innings.

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

RHP Miller Hogan: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 k

Rookie Princeton Rays (12-7)

Princeton broke out late in an 8-1 win over Bristol. The game was scoreless through six innings, but Princeton scored four times in the seventh. Jose Torrealba cleared the bases with a triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly. An inning later, Osmy Gregorio homered to add insurance. Starter Luis Moncada struck out four in five scoreless innings.

SS Wander Franco: 1-for-4, 1 BB, 1 SB, 1 CS
1B Carlos Vargas: 2-for-5, 1 2B
DH Jordan Qsar: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
CF Grant Witherspoon: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
3B Osmy Gregorio: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB

LHP Luis Moncada: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (8-9)

The GCL Rays were off.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

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

Durham is at the All-Star break.

Montgomery @ Tennessee 7 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Brandon Lawson (2-0, 4.76) vs. Matt Swarmer (0-1, 4.74)

Charlotte vs. St. Lucie 6:35 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Kenny Rosenberg (5-1, 4.69) vs. Gabriel Llanes (2-8, 5.61)

Bowling Green @ Fort Wayne 7:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Austin Franklin (5-4, 3.59) vs. TBA

Hudson Valley @ Lowell 6:35 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton @ Bristol 7 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins 12 p.m.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
11-6 (1st in SL North)
Offense: 391 R (4th) .714 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.96 ERA (6th) 1.30 WHIP (4th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Oscar De La Cruz (6), RHP Thomas Hatch (8), RHP Keegan Thompson (14), OF Charcer Burks (24), RHP Michael Rucker (26), RHP Jake Stinnett (30)

St. Lucie Mets
6-10 (5th in FSL South)
Offense: 256 R (12th) .624 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.72 ERA (7th) 1.30 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Andres Gimenez (1), LHP David Peterson (2), OF Desmond Lindsay (8), LHP Anthony Kay (14), RHP Jordan Humphreys (15), IF Luis Carpio (26), C Ali Sanchez (27)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego)
11-7 (T-2nd in MWL East)
Offense: 368 R (7th) .671 OPS (15th)
Pitching: 3.70 ERA (4th) 1.32 WHIP (4th)
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)

Lowell Spinners (Boston)
9-14 (4th in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 81 R (10th) .650 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.74 ERA (8th) 1.31 WHIP (9th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Cole Brannen (5), OF Tyler Esplin (28), RHP Durbin Feltman

Bristol Pirates
9-9 (3rd in AL West)
Offense: 92 R (5th) .769 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 5.25 ERA (7th) 1.60 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Shane Baz (3), RHP Steven Jennings (11), OF Conner Uselton (15), 1B Mason Martin (18)

GCL Twins
11-6 (1st in GCL South)
Offense: 94 R (5th) .732 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 2.94 ERA (1st) 1.20 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Landon Leach (13)

Daily news and links

Plant High School’s Kyle Tucker has reached the majors with the Astros.