Rays prospects and minor leagues: Franco homers again ... and again

Fans in the Tampa Bay area who don’t want to go down to Charlotte will get a chance to see the Stone Crabs for the next week. They started a four-game series with Lakeland Thursday, and after a day off Monday, they’ll play three games in Tampa.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (9-10)

Durham added on late to crush Louisville, 11-4. The Bulls also scored early. Kean Wong drove in two in the first, and in the third, they went up 5-1 with RBI hits from Jake Smolinski and Nick Ciuffo. Already leading 6-3, they blew the game open with a five-run seventh. Andrew Velazquez and Jake Cronenworth walked with the bases loaded, and Nate Lowe cleared them with a double. Ryan Merritt allowed three runs in four innings.

CF Andrew Velazquez: 2-for-4, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K (.934)
1B Nate Lowe: 3-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB (1.075)
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K (.736)
SS Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (.971)
3B Kean Wong: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K (.809)

LHP Ryan Merritt: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (7.11)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (11-8)

Montgomery’s game was postponed.

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (8-13)

Riley O’Brien pitched well again in Charlotte’s 2-1 win over Lakeland. The Flying Tigers were only able to muster an unearned run on two hits and two walks in five innings against the righty, who struck out six. Over his last four starts, he’s allowed just three earned runs in 23 ¹⁄₃ innings. In the seventh, Thomas Milone tied the game with an RBI triple and scored the go-ahead run on Zach Rutherford’s single.

2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-4, 1 K (.758)
RF Moises Gomez: 0-for-3, 1 HBP (.484)
LF Garrett Whitley: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K (.720)
CF Carl Chester: 3-for-4, 1 SB (.844)

RHP Riley O’Brien: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 6 K (1.93)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (12-9)

Wander Franco powered Bowling Green to a 6-5 win over Lansing. In the third, his RBI single tied the game, but he wasn’t finished with a single. In the fifth, his solo home run extended the Hot Rods’ lead to 5-1. After the Lugnuts scored a couple times, Franco went deep for a second time, giving him three home runs in two games. Caleb Sampen struck out nine and allowed a run in six innings.

SS Wander Franco: 3-for-4, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI (1.041)
1B Kaleo Johnson: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K (.877)

RHP Caleb Sampen: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (5.12)

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

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

Durham @ Columbus 7:15 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Cody Anderson (0-0, 0.00)

Montgomery vs. Birmingham 6 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
Sam McWilliams (1-0, 4.00) vs. Jimmy Lambert (2-1, 2.91)
Kenny Rosenberg (1-0, 3.38) vs. Kodi Medeiros (0-2, 6.75)

Both games will be seven innings.

Charlotte @ Lakeland 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Tommy Romero (1-0, 1.93) vs. Dane Myers (1-2, 7.59)

Bowling Green vs. Lansing 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Josh Winckowski (1-0, 1.42)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
14-6 (1st in IL West)
Offense: 118 R (3rd) .825 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.56 ERA (7th) 1.37 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: 1B Bobby Bradley (7), SS Yu Chang (11), OF Oscar Mercado (16), C Eric Haase (25), RHP Chih-Wei Hu, C Dioner Navarro

Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
9-11 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 68 R (8th) .655 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.60 ERA (5th) 1.37 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Micker Aldofo (6), OF Blake Rutherford (8), OF Luis Gonzalez (9), 1B Gavin Sheets (14), SS Laz Rivera (16), OF Joel Booker (27), RHP Zach Thompson (28), RHP Tyler Johnson (29), LHP Kodi Medeiros (30), LHP Hunter Schryver

Lakeland Flying Tigers
9-10 (3rd in FSL North)
Offense: 64 R (10th) .625 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.81 ERA (8th) 1.09 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Franklin Perez (4), 2B Kody Clemens (12), OF Brock Deatherage (28)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
10-10 (T-4th in MWL East)
Offense: 96 R (2nd) .797 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.95 ERA (10th) 1.47 WHIP (14th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Jordan Groshans (5), RHP Sean Wymer (26)

Daily news and links

Charlotte won’t be facing No. 1 pick Casey Mize this weekend — he was promoted to Double A.

Quad Cities ended a game by turning a triple play.

Former Florida ace and current Tigers prospect Alex Faedo pitched seven innings in the minors’ fourth no-hitter this season.