Rays prospects and minor leagues: Brujan hits 1st AA homer

Remember when Vidal Brujan was 0-for-7 in his first two games with Montgomery? With a four-game hitting streak, he’s batting .407 with a 1.060 OPS.

In the Gulf Coast League, Matt Duffy resumed his rehab assignment. He didn’t play the whole game, but he did take the field and batted a couple times.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (51-34)

Durham rallied for a 5-3 win over Gwinnett. The Stripers scored three in the third to go up 3-1, but the Bulls tied it a half inning later. In the ninth, they retook the lead on RBI singles from Jake Cronenworth and Joe McCarthy. Ryan Merritt allowed three runs in 3 ²⁄₃ innings.

DH Joe McCarthy: 1-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 K (.738)
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-5, 3 K (.738)
SS Jake Cronenworth: 2-for-2, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB (.977)
RF Nathan Lukes: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K (.623)

LHP Ryan Merritt: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (6.79)
RHP Aaron Slegers: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (6.61)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (8-7)

Vidan Brujan homered, and Sam McWilliams was great again in Montgomery’s 3-0 win over Tennessee. In seven strong innings, the righty struck out seven, walked two, and gave up just three singles. In the bottom of the third, Brujan’s first Double-A homer gave the Biscuits a 2-0 lead, and Jesus Sanchez later followed with a sacrifice fly.

SS Vidal Brujan: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K (1.060)
2B Taylor Walls: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB, 1 CS (.505)
CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-2, 2 BB, 1 K (.751)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.719)
DH Lucius Fox: 0-for-3, 2 K (.681)

RHP Sam McWilliams: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K (2.05)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (12-4)

Tommy Romero continued to lower his ERA in Charlotte’s 3-1 win over Jupiter. In 5 ²⁄₃ innings, he allowed just one run. He hasn’t allowed more than a run in a start in over a month. After the teams traded runs in the first inning, Thomas Milone drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the second, and Wander Franco hit a sacrifice fly.

SS Wander Franco: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 SB (1.259)
LF Moises Gomez: 0-for-4, 2 K (.647)
RF Thomas Milone: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB (.863)
CF Michael Smith: 3-for-4, 1 R, 2 SB (1.289)

RHP Tommy Romero: 5 ²⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (1.84)

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (11-3)

Bowling Green held on for a 4-2 win over Dayton. The Hot Rods scored all four of their runs in the first three innings, capped by Izzy Wilson’s solo home run in the third. For the first time in a while, Matthew Liberatore was perhaps not at his best. In 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, he allowed two runs — one earned — and exited with the bases loaded.

C Chris Betts: 0-for-4 (.712)
SS Osmy Gregorio: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI (.529)

LHP Matthew Liberatore: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 4 K (1.55)
RHP Cristofer Ogando: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (2.50)

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (9-11)

Edisson Gonzalez was sharp in Hudson Valley’s 4-0 win over Tri-City. In six scoreless innings, he struck out 10, didn’t walk any, and gave up just two singles. He has 26 strikeouts over 15 innings in his last three starts. Beau Brundage singled in the first run of the game in the third, and the Renegades added three insurance runs in the ninth.

DH Greg Jones: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K (.720)
SS Nick Sogard: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 SB (.665)

RHP Edisson Gonzalez: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K (4.74)

Rookie Princeton Rays (8-8)

Princeton outslugged Danville in a seven-inning, 14-8 win. The Rays scored all of their runs in the first three innings, including eight in the third. Diego Infante capped the scoring with a three-run homer, his second dinger of the game. Starter Wikelman Ramirez allowed five runs in three innings.

CF Nick Schnell: 1-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB (.748)
2B Brett Wisely: 3-for-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI (.690)
RF Diego Infante: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 K (.824)
C Luis Leon: 4-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B (.835)

RHP Wikelman Ramirez: 3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K (7.11)
RHP Eleardo Cabrera: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (6.75)

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (4-5)

Seth Johnson made his pro debut in the GCL Rays’ 4-0 loss to the GCL Orioles. The No. 40 pick struck out two in two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk. All four of the Orioles’ runs came in the fifth inning. All three of the Rays’ hits were singles.

3B Matt Duffy: 1-for-2

RHP Seth Johnson: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (0.00)
RHP Ryan Jackson: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (0.00)

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

Durham @ Gwinnett 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream) DOUBLEHEADER
TBA vs. Kolby Allard (6-3, 3.64)
TBA vs. TBA

Both games will be seven innings.

Montgomery vs. Tennessee 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Tyson Miller (4-3, 2.56)

Charlotte @ Jupiter 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Michael Plassmeyer (3-2, 2.78) vs. TBA

Bowling Green vs. Dayton 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Shane Baz (3-0, 1.85) vs. Jhon De Jesus (1-7, 4.73)

Hudson Valley vs. Tri-City 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

Princeton vs. Danville 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA

GCL Rays vs. GCL Braves 12 p.m. ET

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta)
48-36 (2nd in IL South)
Offense: 478 R (3rd) .817 OPS (4th)
Pitching: 4.22 ERA (1st) 1.34 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Kyle Wright (4), LHP Luiz Gohara (10), RHP Patrick Weigel (13), LHP Kolby Allard (14), RHP Huascar Ynoa (19), C Alex Jackson (23), RHP Wes Parsons (24)

Tennessee Smokies (Cubs)
6-9 (T-4th in SL North)
Offense: 344 R (6th) .685 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 4.16 ERA (8th) 1.33 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Nico Hoerner (1), RHP Cory Abbott (8), LHP Justin Steele (9), RHP Alex Lange (14), RHP Oscar De La Cruz (21), 1B Jared Young (24), C Jhonny Pereda (26), RHP Keegan Thompson (29)

Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami)
8-8 (4th in FSL South)
Offense: 243 R (12th) .619 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.62 ERA (8th) 1.24 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Victor Victor Mesa (2), SS Jose Devers (11), LHP Trevor Rogers (12), LHP Braxton Garrett (13), RHP Jordan Holloway (16), OF Tristan Pompey (17), 3B James Nelson (20), LHP Will Stewart (21), SS Bryson Brigman (26)

Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)
5-9 (7th in MWL East)
Offense: 308 R (15th) .627 OPS (15th)
Pitching: 4.50 ERA (15th) 1.51 WHIP (16th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Mike Siani (8), OF Mariel Bautista (13), RHP Lyon Richardson (14), RHP James Marinan (16), 3B Juan Martinez (19), LHP Jacob Heatherly (20), OF Bren Spillane (27)

Tri-City ValleyCats (Houston)
7-12 (4th in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 54 R (14th) .603 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.87 ERA (12th) 1.33 WHIP (11th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Luis Santana (17), RHP Jayson Schroeder (19), RHP Manny Ramirez (28), C Korey Lee

Danville Braves
8-8 (T-3rd in AL East)
Offense: 80 R (3rd) .674 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 4.74 ERA (9th) 1.37 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Beau Philip

GCL Braves
7-1 (1st in GCL South)
Offense: 40 R (7th) .604 OPS (17th)
Pitching: 5.26 ERA (16th) 1.58 WHIP (16th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Michael Harris

Daily news and links

I did not search for links Thursday. If you know of anything that should be shared, post it in the comments.