Rays prospects and minor leagues: Late homers lift Bulls

Sam McWilliams had a slow start to the season, but his last five outings have been much better. In those outings, he has a 1.08 ERA in 33 ¹⁄₃ innings with a 22% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate. Those rates were 14.2% and 12.3%, respectively, in his first five appearances.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (33-24)

A pitchers’ duel eventually turned into a 2019 Triple-A game, resulting in a 10-inning, 7-6 Durham win over Norfolk. Through 7 ¹⁄₂ innings, the Tides led 1-0. In the bottom of the eighth, Mike Brosseau and Nick Solak hit back-to-back homers to give the Bulls a 4-1 lead. Norfolk sent it to extras and then scored twice in the 10th, but Nate Lowe answered with a walk-off, three-run home run. Jake Cronenworth struck out two in another scoreless inning, and Ricardo Pinto was the bulk guy, allowing an unearned run in five innings.

SS Andrew Velazquez: 0-for-3, 2 K (.782)
1B Nate Lowe: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K (.845)
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.873)
3B Mike Brosseau: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K (1.017)

RHP Jake Cronenworth: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (0.00)
RHP Ricardo Pinto: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 8 K (3.06)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (34-23)

Brett Sullivan and Sam McWilliams led Montgomery to a 1-0 win over Tennessee. McWilliams stayed hot on the mound, firing eight scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and just four hits and a walk given up. The only run he needed was Brett Sullivan’s solo homer in the eighth.

DH Josh Lowe: 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K (.762)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-3, 1 K (.805)
SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 2 K, 1 CS (.658)
LF Brett Sullivan: 1-for-1, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB (.662)

RHP Sam McWilliams: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K (2.26)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (30-28)

Non-rehabbing major leaguers were no-hit in Charlotte’s 1-0 loss to Dunedin. Fans in attendance to see Michael Perez were treated to him having both of the Stone Crabs’ hits. Joe McCarthy and Ian Gibaut also made rehab appearances. Michael Plassmeyer allowed the only run in five innings of work.

C Michael Perez: 2-for-3
LF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-4, 2 K
SS Taylor Walls: 0-for-4, 1 K (.758)
DH Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-3 (.665)
RF Moises Gomez: 0-for-3, 2 K (.706)

RHP Ian Gibaut: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
LHP Michael Plassmeyer: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K (2.54)

Charlotte’s site offers this recap.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (34-24)

Bowling Green’s late comeback fell short in a 5-4 loss to South Bend. The Hot Rods faced deficit of 2-0, 3-1, and 5-2. In the ninth, the first four batters of the inning hit singles. However, on the third one, Kaleo Johnson was thrown out at home. A sacrifice fly pulled them within one, but Beau Brundage struck out to end the game. Caleb Sampen allowed five runs in six innings.

SS Wander Franco: 0-for-3, 1 BB (.916)
1B Kaleo Johnson: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.795)

RHP Caleb Sampen: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (4.03)
RHP Nicholas Padilla: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (4.81)

Bowling Green’s site offers this recap.

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

Durham vs. Norfolk 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Tyler Herb (3-3, 4.15)

Montgomery vs. Tennessee 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Kenny Rosenberg (4-1, 2.68) vs. TBA

Charlotte @ Dunedin 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Joe Ryan (2-2, 2.91) vs. Joey Murray (2-0, 1.78)

Bowling Green @ South Bend 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Faustino Carrera (3-2, 2.91)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
24-31 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 296 R (6th) .785 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 5.65 ERA (13th) 1.55 WHIP (13th)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Ryan Mountcastle (3), LHP Keegan Akin (6), RHP Luis Ortiz (13), OF DJ Stewart (15), LHP Josh Rogers (28)

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
28-29 (4th in SL North)
Offense: 228 R (3rd) .687 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.21 ERA (10th) 1.30 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Nico Hoerner (1), RHP Cory Abbott (8), LHP Justin Steele (9), RHP Oscar De La Cruz (21), RHP Thomas Hatch (22), 1B Jared Young (24), C Jhonny Pereda (26), RHP Keegan Thompson (29)

Dunedin Blue Jays
35-22 (1st in FSL North)
Offense: 249 R (1st) .706 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.01 ERA (3rd) 1.21 WHIP (4th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Ryan Noda (14), OF Cal Stevenson (16), SS Logan Warmoth (25)

South Bend Cubs
31-25 (4th in MWL East)
Offense: 219 R (14th) .683 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (7th) 1.33 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Brailyn Marquez (3), OF Cole Roederer (4), OF Brennen Davis (5), OF Nelson Velazquez (13), RHP Jose Albertos (15), OF Edmond Americaan (16), RHP Riley Thompson (20)

Daily news and links

Baseball America subscribers can see which Rays Day 2 pick was the best in its round.

A familiar name was at the top of this week’s BA Hot Sheet.

ESPN subscribers can read Keith Law’s thoughts on each team’s Day 1 draft.