Rays prospects and minor leagues: Bowling Green, Charleston begin title defenses

There’s still quite a bit of season left, but Durham has a great chance to join the other affiliates in the playoffs. Only one team from each division makes the championship, and the Bulls are up by 1.5 games with 15 to play.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (75-60, 1st out of 10)

Durham opens series with 10-inning win
Franco’s 3 hits, Glasnow’s debut not enough
Bulls drop another to RailRiders
Hudson’s walk-off homer lifts Durham
Bulls lose despite Bradley’s 6 scoreless innings
Durham crushed in series finale

Wander Franco: 4-for-7, 2 R, 1 2B
Xavier Edwards: 2-for-24, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 12 K, 1-for-1 SB (.700)
Rene Pinto: 3-for-12, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 K (.823)
Miles Mastrobuoni: 5-for-12, 2 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K (.839)
Alika Williams: 3-for-11, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K (.569)

Nick Anderson: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Tyler Glasnow: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Taj Bradley: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K (3.86)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (39-24, clinched playoff berth)

Montgomery drops series opener
Biscuits edge Trash Pandas
Montgomery piles up runs in rain-shortened win
Biscuits’ rally not enough
Montgomery tops Rocket City
Montgomery, Biscuits shut out Trash Pandas

Kyle Manzardo: 5-for-18, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K (1.060)
Osleivis Basabe: 2-for-11, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB (.894)
Brett Wisely: 7-for-24, 4 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 0-for-1 SB (.836)

Mason Montgomery: 9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K (2.79)
Carlos Garcia: 3 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (4.45)
Justin Sterner: 3 ²⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K (2.56)

High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (78-52)

Bowling Green’s 9th-inning rally falls short
Hernandez breaks Hot Rods’ home-run record
Molina throws 5 1-hit innings
Wiles throws 5 no-hit innings
Hot Rods rally to beat Grasshoppers

Mason Auer: 4-for-16, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 1-for-2 SB (.862)
Heriberto Hernandez: 4-for-15, 3 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K, 1-for-1 SB (.867)
Matthew Dyer: 5-for-15, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K (.656)

Anthony Molina: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (2.94)
Nathan Wiles: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (4.38)
Logan Workman: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (3.49)

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs (88-44)

Charleston crushes Columbia
RiverDogs’ 3 11th-inning home runs win game
Jimenez sharp in 3 no-hit innings
Pie homers in 2nd straight game
Jones’ 10th-inning homer lifts Charleston
Wilcox throws 3 perfect innings

Carson Williams: 6-for-22, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K (.818)
Willy Vasquez: 2-for-16, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 1-for-1 SB (.723)
Brock Jones: 8-for-20, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 3-for-6 SB (1.073)
Junior Caminero: 6-for-22, 6 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 1-for-1 SB (.864)
Ryan Spikes: 4-for-21, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K (.696)

Cole Wilcox: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (2.45)
Sandy Gaston: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K (4.61)
JJ Goss: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (4.00)

Stats are from Baseball Reference.

This week’s games

Durham

Tuesday, Sept. 13 @ Gwinnett 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 14 @ Gwinnett 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 15 @ Gwinnett 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 16 @ Gwinnett 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 17 @ Gwinnett 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 18 @ Gwinnett 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Montgomery

Tuesday, Sept. 13 @ Mississippi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Wednesday, Sept. 14 @ Mississippi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 15 @ Mississippi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 16 @ Mississippi 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Saturday, Sept. 17 @ Mississippi 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 18 @ Mississippi 3:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV)

Bowling Green

Tuesday, Sept. 13 @ Rome (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 15 vs. Rome (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 16 vs. Rome (if necessary) (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 18 vs. North Division champion (if first series won)

Charleston

Tuesday, Sept. 13 vs. Myrtle Beach (MiLB.TV)
Thursday, Sept. 15 @ Myrtle Beach (MiLB.TV)
Friday, Sept. 16 @ Myrtle Beach (if necessary) (MiLB.TV)
Sunday, Sept. 18 vs. North Division champion (if first series won)

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta)
63-70 (eliminated)
Offense: 572 R (20th out of 20) .696 OPS (20th out of 20)
Pitching: 4.34 ERA (5th out of 20) 1.30 WHIP (3rd out of 20)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Jared Shuster (2), LHP Kyle Muller (3), RHP Bryce Elder (5), RHP Freddy Tarnok (8), RHP Darius Vines (10), RHP Victor Vodnik (20)

Mississippi Braves
30-31 (eliminated)
Offense: 607 R (7th out of 8) .724 OPS (7th out of 8)
Pitching: 4.35 ERA (2nd out of 8) 1.37 WHIP (4th out of 8)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy (15), RHP Alan Rangel (22)

Rome Braves
74-54
Offense: 675 R (4th out of 12) .750 OPS (4th out of 12)
Pitching: 3.97 ERA (5th out of 12) 1.35 WHIP (7th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Royber Salinas (9), OF Brandol Mezquita (18), SS Geraldo Quintero (23), SS Cal Conley (25)

Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)
78-53
Offense: 746 R (3rd out of 12) .736 OPS (4th out of 12)
Pitching: 3.93 ERA (3rd out of 12) 1.37 WHIP (5th out of 12)
Top-30 prospects: OF Kevin Alcantara (5), 3B James Triantos (16), C Moises Ballesteros (18)