Rays prospects and minor leagues: Bulls outslug RailRiders’ ringers

There was a stunner on Opening Day in the New York-Penn League. Hudson Valley opens against Aberdeen every season, and Hudson Valley had won seven of those games in a row, outscoring Aberdeen 40-10. That streak finally came to an end Friday.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (41-26)

Durham hit four home runs in a 16-3 blowout of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Jake Cronenworth got it started early with a leadoff homer. Nate Lowe capped the seven-run second with a grand slam. The Bulls scored five more times in the third, and Jake Smolinski and Kean Wong each went deep in the fourth. Austin Pruitt struck out nine and allowed three runs in five innings.

1B Nate Lowe: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K (.876)
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.880)
RF Joe McCarthy: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 K, 1 HBP (.758)
SS Jake Cronenworth: 3-for-4, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K (1.000)
3B Kean Wong: 3-for-6, 3 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K (.941)
CF Jake Smolinski: 3-for-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K (.813)

RHP Austin Pruitt: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (5.46)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (42-25)

A pair of home runs backed solid pitching in Montgomery’s 2-1 win over Chattanooga. Kevin Padlo hit his seventh of the season in the first inning, and Rene Pinto’s first of the season came in the sixth. After Matt Krook struck out three in two scoreless opening innings, Sam McWilliams allowed a run in five innings.

CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 K (.739)
SS Lucius Fox: 2-for-3, 1 3B (.711)
3B Kevin Padlo: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.863)
C Rene Pinto: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.555)

LHP Matt Krook: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (4.60)
RHP Sam McWilliams: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (2.00)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (35-31)

Charlotte is at the All-Star break.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (38-30)

Bowling Green needed more than one big swing in a 3-2 loss to Lansing. After a one-out walk by Wander Franco, Chris Betts hit a two-run homer, but the Hot Rods only had four hits the rest of the game. Cristopher Sanchez allowed a run in six innings.

SS Wander Franco: 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SB (.912)
C Chris Betts: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.813)

LHP Cristopher Sanchez: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (2.93)

Bowling Green’s site offers this recap.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (0-1)

Hudson Valley’s offense was quiet in a 2-1 loss to Aberdeen. It ended the Renegades’ seven-season Opening Day winning streak against the IronBirds. K.V. Edwards led off the game with a single, and Hudson Valley didn’t get another hit. Daiveyon Whittle struck out five in five scoreless innings.

3B Carlos Vargas: 0-for-4, 1 R (.000)

RHP Daiveyon Whittle: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (0.00)

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

Durham vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Brendan McKay (2-0, 1.80) vs. Nestor Cortes Jr. (2-2, 3.86)

Montgomery vs. Chattanooga 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA

Both games will be seven innings.

Florida State League All-Star Game 7:05 p.m.

Bowling Green @ Lansing 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Josh Hiatt (1-2, 3.51)

Hudson Valley @ Aberdeen 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees)
38-27 (1st in IL North)
Offense: 367 R (3rd) .849 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 4.39 ERA (2nd) 1.32 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Michael King (5), RHP Chance Adams (15), SS Thairo Estrada (27), RHP Danny Farquhar, C Erik Kratz, 1B Logan Morrison

Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati)
35-31
Offense: 285 R (2nd) .724 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 4.04 ERA (8th) 1.38 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Taylor Trammell (3), RHP Tony Santillan (5), C Tyler Stephenson (6), OF Jose Siri (9), OF T.J. Friedl (12), SS Alfredo Rodriguez (22), 1B Ibandel Isabel (24), LHP Scott Moss (25), RHP Ryan Hendrix (28), RHP Joel Kuhnel (30)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
31-36
Offense: 303 R (4th) .728 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 4.41 ERA (13th) 1.44 WHIP (13th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Jordan Groshans (5), OF Griffin Conine (15), C Gabriel Moreno (20), RHP Sean Wymer (26)

Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore)
1-0 (T-1st in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: Will update next series
Pitching: Will update next series
Top-30 prospects: Will update next series

Daily news and links

No. 1 pick Adley Rustchman was named the Golden Spikes Award winner, presented to the best amateur baseball player in the country.

The MLB.com prospect team picked a breakout prospect in each organization.