Rays prospects and minor leagues: Fox, Sanchez homer in doubleheader sweep

Thanks to the MLB baseball, everyone in Triple A has been hitting this season, but that’s especially true for Durham’s infield. In addition to the five players listed below, Christian Arroyo has a .916 OPS, and Mike Brosseau has a 1.005 OPS. The league average is .768.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (10-10)

Durham rallied for a 6-4 win over Columbus. Through five innings, the Bulls were unable to take advantage of any of their opportunities, but they broke through in the sixth and erased a 4-0 deficit. Nick Solak hit a three-run homer, and Nathan Lukes’ RBI triple tied the game. In the ninth, Andrew Velazquez hit a go-ahead home run, and Kean Wong doubled home an insurance run. Andrew Moore walked five and was charged with three runs in 2 ²⁄₃ innings, but the bullpen didn’t allow an earned run in 6 ¹⁄₃ innings.

SS Andrew Velazquez: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.968)
1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K (1.049)
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB (.788)
3B Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-3, 2 BB (.971)
DH Kean Wong: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K (.856)

RHP Andrew Moore: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K (12.98)
LHP Colin Poche: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K (11.74)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (13-8)

Montgomery received solid pitching in its Game 1, 3-1 win over Birmingham. Ricardo Pinto allowed a solo home run, but he and Matt Krook otherwise pitched effectively. As the opener, Krook struck out three in two innings, and Pinto struck out six over the final five frames. The Biscuits scored in the second, third, and fourth innings.

The Biscuits swept the doubleheader with a 3-2 win in Game 2. Jesus Sanchez and Lucius Fox hit solo home runs to give them a 2-0 lead, but the Barons eventually tied the game. In the seventh, Rene Pinto hit a walk-off single to give Montgomery its fourth straight win. Sam McWilliams struck out five and allowed two runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings.

SS Lucius Fox (1): 0-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SB
SS Lucius Fox (2): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.740)
CF Josh Lowe (1): 1-for-3, 1 K, 1 SB
CF Josh Lowe (2): 0-for-3, 1 K (.990)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 2 K
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.765)
DH Brendan McKay (2): 0-for-3, 1 K (.485)

LHP Matt Krook (1): 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (9.00)
RHP Sam McWilliams (2): 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (3.95)
RHP Ricardo Pinto (1): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (4.82)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (9-13)

Charlotte used four pitchers to shut down Lakeland in a 2-1 win. Chandler Raiden opened and allowed a run in two innings, and Jhonleider Salinas and Jack Labosky followed with three scoreless innings apiece. Simon Rosenblum-Larson threw the final inning. Carl Chester’s RBI single in the third broke a 1-1 tie.

LF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-4, 1 3B, 2 K (.740)
3B Jim Haley: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.684)

RHP Jhonleider Salinas: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (4.26)
RHP Jack Labosky: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (2.03)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (12-10)

Bowling Green’s offense had a rare off night in a 4-0 loss to Lansing. After scoring 22 runs in their last three games, the Hot Rods mustered just six hits and didn’t draw a walk. Shane McClanahan struck out nine but allowed four runs — three earned — in 5 ²⁄₃ innings with four wild pitches.

DH Wander Franco: 1-for-4, 1 K, 1 CS (1.012)
3B Connor Hollis: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 1 K (.767)

LHP Shane McClanahan: 5 ²⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 5 BB, 9 K (4.71)

Bowling Green’s site offers this recap.

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

Durham @ Columbus 7:15 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Chih-Wei Hu (0-0, 5.94)

Montgomery vs. Birmingham 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Kenny Rosenberg (1-0, 3.38) vs. Bernardo Flores (1-2, 2.14)

Charlotte @ Lakeland 6 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Brian Shaffer (0-0, 1.23) vs. Tarik Skubal (1-2, 3.57)

Bowling Green vs. Lansing 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Joey Murray (2-1, 4.35)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Columbus Clippers (Cleveland)
14-7 (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)
9-13 (5th 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
9-11 (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)
11-10 (T-3rd 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

There was another no-hitter Thursday.