Although it scored nine runs Sunday, Charlotte lost. The Stone Crabs boast what’s easily the best offense in the Florida State League. With a .758 OPS, they lead the league and demolish the league average of .691. The No. 2 offense in the league has a .713 OPS. They’ve scored 571 runs, and no other team even has 500 yet. Their 229 doubles are 40 more than second place in the league.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (62-47)
Durham was shut down by White Sox prospect Michael Kopech in a 4-2 loss to Charlotte. The hard-throwing righty struck out nine and walked none, but the Bulls still held leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Starter Zach Lee allowed three runs — two earned — in five innings.
CF Austin Meadows: 1-for-4, 1 K
C Nick Ciuffo: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 K
RHP Zach Lee: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 4 K
RHP Chih-Wei Hu: 2 2⁄3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (24-19)
Jesus Sanchez’s first Double-A home run helped lift Montgomery to a 7-3 win over Pensacola. Playing in his third game with the Biscuits, Sanchez went deep to lead off the eighth, giving them a 4-2 lead. They scored three more runs that inning to build a more comfortable lead. Starter Matt Krook struck out six and walked three in three innings.
LF Nick Solak: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 K
1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-5, 1 RBI
RF Jesus Sanchez: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
2B Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SB
SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HBP
LHP Matt Krook: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (24-17)
Charlotte came up short in a 14-9 slugfest loss to Dunedin. Brendan McKay’s first-inning home run started the scoring, and Tristan Gray went deep twice. However, Dunedin sent 14 batters to the plate and scored nine times in the fifth to erase the Stone Crabs’ 9-1 lead. Brian Shaffer allowed four runs in 4 2⁄3 innings, and Orlando Romero faced eight batters without recording an out.
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
1B Brendan McKay: 3-for-5, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI
SS Jermaine Palacios: 0-for-4, 1 K
2B Robbie Tenerowicz: 4-for-5, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
DH Tristan Gray: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI
LF Miles Mastrobuoni: 2-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Brian Shaffer: 4 2⁄3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Charlotte’s site offers this recap.
Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (26-17)
Bowling Green overcame a three-run deficit but fell to South Bend, 4-3, in 10 innings. The Hot Rods scored all three of their runs in the seventh inning. Emilio Gustave tripled in a pair of runs and scored himself on Taylor Walls’ single. After South Bend scored in the top of the 10th, Bowling Green couldn’t advance its free baserunner past second base. Starter J.D. Busfield allowed three runs in 4 2⁄3 innings.
SS Taylor Walls: 2-for-5, 1 RBI
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 HBP
RHP J.D. Busfield: 4 2⁄3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (29-19)
Hudson Valley walked off with a 6-5 win over Brooklyn. The Renegades scored three times in the fifth to pull within 5-4, but they didn’t score again until the ninth. Marvin Malone’s RBI single tied the game and advanced Allen Smoot to third, and Smoot then scored the winning run on a balk. Easton McGee allowed five runs on 10 hits in five innings.
SS Ford Proctor: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
2B Tyler Frank: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
3B Adrian Rondon: 3-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
CF Michael Smith: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB
RHP Easton McGee: 5 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Tanner Dodson: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Rookie Princeton Rays (27-15)
Princeton was edged by Burlington, 4-3, in Game 1 of their doubleheader. Princeton had a 3-2 lead through three innings but only had three hits over its last four innings. Carlos Vargas drove in two runs and scored the third. Starter Cristopher Sanchez allowed three runs — two earned — in three-plus innings.
Princeton split the doubleheader with a 2-1 win in Game 2. In the third, it got a lead on Vincent Byrd’s solo home run, and Wander Franco’s RBI triple in the sixth provided a valuable insurance run. Starter Luis Moncada struck out five in five scoreless innings.
SS Wander Franco (1): 2-for-4, 1 K
SS Wander Franco (2): 1-for-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI
1B Carlos Vargas (1): 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI
LHP Cristopher Sanchez (1): 3+ IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 4 BB, 3 K
LHP Luis Moncada (2): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (22-17)
The GCL Rays were off.
Monday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham is off.
Montgomery @ Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Benton Moss (4-4, 3.82) vs. Wyatt Strahan (6-8, 6.46)
Charlotte vs. Bradenton 6:35 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Josh Fleming (1-1, 4.05) vs. Gavin Wallace (2-1, 6.68)
Bowling Green vs. South Bend 1:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Hudson Valley vs. Brooklyn 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Jose Butto (0-0, 4.50)
Princeton vs. Pulaski 7 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Alexander Vizcaino (1-3, 5.52)
GCL Rays @ GCL Twins 12 p.m.
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Cincinnati)
29-14 (1st in SL South)
Offense: 457 R (8th) .698 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.73 ERA (3rd) 1.24 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Tony Santillan (6), OF Jose Siri (7), 2B Shed Long (8), RHP Vladimir Gutierrez (9), OF Aristides Aquino (14), OF TJ Friedl (17), 1B Gavin LaValley (21), IF Taylor Featherston
Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh)
15-25 (T-5th in FSL South)
Offense: 457 R (8th) .709 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 4.60 ERA (12th) 1.39 WHIP (11th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Gage Hinsz (27), RHP Deivy Mendez
South Bend Cubs
19-24 (6th in MWL East)
Offense: 461 R (8th) .696 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.60 ERA (5th) 1.28 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Brendon Little (7), C Miguel Amaya (22), RHP Javier Assad (23), SS Nico Hoerner, OF Jimmy Herron
Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
26-23 (3rd in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 214 R (4th) .691 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.21 ERA (3rd) 1.26 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Christian James (30), IF Carlos Cortes
Pulaski Yankees
20-25 (4th in AL East)
Offense: 204 R (8th) .674 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.62 ERA (2nd) 1.35 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Luis Medina (7), C Anthony Seigler
GCL Twins
23-16 (T-1st in GCL South)
Offense: 190 R (7th) .680 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.13 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Landon Leach (13)
Daily news and links
NPR covered the fight for higher wages for minor leaguers.