Rays prospects and minor leagues: Durham sends 3 to AAA All-Star Game

That wasn’t the only recent Jake Cronenworth news:

Triple-A Durham Bulls (49-31)

A couple big innings helped Durham to a 9-8 win over Toledo. The Bulls allowed two runs in the first, but they scored five in the third. Jason Coats homered to start the scoring. They scored three more in the fifth, but it was Dalton Kelly’s solo home run in the seventh that proved to be the difference. Aaron Slegers allowed four runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, and Jake Cronenworth hit and pitched.

2B Nick Solak: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K (.898)
1B/3B Nate Lowe: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K (.886)
RF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K (.731)
RHP Jake Cronenworth: 0-for-4, 1 K (.983)
3B/SS Kean Wong: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP (.927)
CF Jake Smolinski: 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 RBI (.866)
LF Jason Coats: 4-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K (.822)
DH/1B Dalton Kelly: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K (.680)

RHP Aaron Slegers: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (7.10)
SS Jake Cronenworth: 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 1 K (0.00)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (4-5)

Kevin Padlo’s homers accounted for all of Montgomery’s offense, but it wasn’t enough in a 6-3 loss to Jacksonville. He his his 11th and 12th home runs of the season boosted his OPS to .911, but his teammates only combined for six more hits, all but one of which was a single. Jhonleider Salinas opened with three runs allowed in two innings, and Kenny Rosenberg also allowed three runs but in seven innings.

2B Vidal Brujan: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB (.125)
SS Taylor Walls: 1-for-4, 1 CS (.343)
CF Josh Lowe: 2-for-4, 2 K, 1 CS (.748)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 K (.765)
3B Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 1 3B, 1 BB (.699)
DH Kevin Padlo: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K (.911)

LHP Kenny Rosenberg: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (3.20)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (8-3)

Wander Franco continued his destruction of the Florida State League in Charlotte’s 7-0 win over Palm Beach. He homered again and reached base four times. The biggest swing of the game, however, was Moises Gomez’s grand slam in the third inning. Stephen Woods Jr. had another solid outing, striking out four in six scoreless innings.

SS Wander Franco: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB (1.734)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 1-for-5, 1 R (.702)
RF Moises Gomez: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K (.680)
DH Garrett Whitley: 1-for-5, 1 2B, 1 K (.723)
1B Jim Haley: 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 K, 1 SB (.769)
LF Michael Smith: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (1.409)

RHP Stephen Woods Jr.: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (2.32)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (6-2)

Seaver Whalen was the hero in Bowling Green’s Game 1, 8-7 win over Great Lakes. His first-inning homer gave them a 1-0 lead, and when the Hot Rods trailed in the ninth after a Loons comeback, his two-run single gave them a walk-off win. Michael Costanzo had pitched an inning before the game was suspended, but Miller Hogan got the bulk of the work, allowing a run in four innings.

Matthew Liberatore threw a seven-inning complete game in the Hot Rods’ 3-1 win in Game 2. He struck out a career-high 10 batters, allowing just an unearned run on five hits and a walk. Grant Witherspoon’s two-run homer in the fifth put Bowling Green ahead for good.

C Chris Betts (1): 0-for-4, 2 K (.752)
LF Seaver Whalen (1): 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K (.630)
1B Russ Olive (1): 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K (.684)
CF Grant Witherspoon (2): 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K (.764)

RHP Miller Hogan (1): 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 6 K (1.76)
LHP Matthew Liberatore (2): 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 10 K (1.50)

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (6-8)

A 6-0 lead wasn’t enough in Hudson Valley’s 8-6 loss to Connecticut. In the bottom of the fourth, Hill Alexander’s two-run homer capped a four-run inning and gave the Renegades a six-run lead, but it was all downhill from there. It took three innings for the Tigers to tie the game, and they went ahead in the seventh. Christopher Gau allowed two runs in four innings.

CF Beau Brundage: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (.875)
2B Cristhian Pedroza: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB (.639)
RF Hill Alexander: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI (1.176)

RHP Christopher Gau: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (6.39)

Rookie Princeton Rays (5-5)

Princeton battled for a 6-5 win over Bristol. The Rays scored three in the top of the second, but the Pirates immediately answered with four in the bottom half of the inning. Mason Mallard’s RBI double in the fourth tied the game, and Princeton went ahead for good with two runs in the sixth. Christian Fernandez allowed four runs in four innings.

SS Jelfry Marte: 1-for-3, 1 K (.505 — did not complete game)
2B Brett Wisely: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B (.693)
CF Gionti Turner: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 K (.646)
1B Mason Mallard: 2-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 CS (.647)

RHP Christian Fernandez: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (7.71)

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (2-2)

Anthony Banda allowed a run in an inning in the GCL Rays’ 3-2 loss to the GCL Braves. With Charlotte on the road, his rehab moved down to the GCL, where the Braves’ first three hitters singled off him. The Rays had scored both of their runs in the top of the first on a Trevor Ezell single and passed ball. In relief of Banda, Sandy Gaston made his pro debut and struck out three in three scoreless innings.

C Anthony Bemboom: 0-for-1, 1 R, 2 BB
CF Nick Schnell: 0-for-5, 3 K (.626)

LHP Anthony Banda: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (9.00)
RHP Sandy Gaston: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (0.00)

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

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

Durham @ Toledo 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Drew VerHagen (3-2, 2.38)

Montgomery vs. Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Sam McWilliams (5-3, 2.35) vs. Cody Poteet (5-3, 2.25)

Charlotte @ Palm Beach 5:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Tommy Romero (5-2, 2.01) vs. Griffin Roberts (0-2, 8.34)

Bowling Green @ Lansing 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Troy Miller (2-3, 5.23)

Hudson Valley @ Connecticut 6:05 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton @ Bristol 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Dante Mendoza (0-0, 0.00)

GCL Rays @ GCL Braves 10 a.m. ET

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit)
35-44 (3rd in IL West)
Offense: 413 R (7th) .776 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 5.07 ERA (9th) 1.44 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Daz Cameron (5), SS Willi Castro (9), C Jake Rogers (13), LHP Gregory Soto (15), RHP Kyle Funkhouser (16), IF Dawel Lugo (17), RHP Sandy Baez (19), RHP Bryan Garcia (22), LHP Matt Hall (23), OF Jacob Robson (24), OF Danny Woodrow (25), LHP Ryan Carpenter

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami)
6-3 (T-1st in SL South)
Offense: 227 R (10th) .598 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.34 ERA (4th) 1.18 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Sixto Sanchez (1), RHP Jorge Guzman (7), OF Brian Miller (14), RHP Robert Dugger (22), SS Joe Dunand (23), SS Bryson Brigman (26)

Palm Beach Cardinals
3-7 (T-5th in FSL South)
Offense: 272 R (9th) .661 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 2.94 ERA (1st) 1.20 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Nolan Gorman (4), RHP Griffin Roberts (18), 1B Luken Baker (23), OF Scott Hurst (27)

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto)
4-4 (T-3rd in MWL East)
Offense: 339 R (6th) .715 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.45 ERA (13th) 1.43 WHIP 12th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Jordan Groshans (5), OF Griffin Conine (15), C Gabriel Moreno (20), RHP Sean Wymer (26)

Connecticut Tigers
5-9 (3rd in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 49 R (T-7th) .590 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.82 ERA (9th) 1.36 WHIP (11th)
Top-30 prospects: None

Bristol Pirates
3-7 (5th in AL West)
Offense: 24 R (10th) .535 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 5.45 ERA (10th) 1.52 WHIP (9th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Tahnaj Thomas (15), RHP Santiago Florez (30)

GCL Braves
1-3 (T-4th in GCL South)
Offense: 13 R (12th) .587 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 7.62 ERA (18th) 2.00 WHIP (18th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Michael Harris

Daily news and links

MiLB.com summarized the top prospects heading to next weekend’s Futures Game.

Also at MiLB.com is a story about Brendan McKay’s promotion.