Rays prospects and minor leagues: Yarbrough sharp in Durham win
Ryan Yarbrough has helped stabilize Durham’s pitching staff with a few quality appearances.
Nick Solak has been one of the organization’s best hitters so far in May. He was OK in April — he batted .250 with a .749 OPS and a pretty high strikeout rate — but he’s been much better so far this month. He’s hitting .313 with a .937 OPS in 11 games, and his four doubles are already as many as he had in April.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (21-14)
Durham’s pitching staff dominated in a 1-0 win over Rochester. Oliver Drake opened with four strikeouts in 2 1⁄3 innings, and after getting himself into trouble, Cole Sulser finished the third. Ryan Yarbrough then fired five, one-hit innings with eight strikeouts, and Andrew Kittredge struck out two in the ninth. Nick Solak’s ninth-inning home run finally broke the scoreless tie.
1B Nate Lowe: 0-for-4, 2 K (.901)
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.807)
RHP Oliver Drake: 2 1⁄3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (3.05)
LHP Ryan Yarbrough: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K (1.80)
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (22-13)
Montgomery scored four times in the seventh to earn a 4-3 win over Mississippi. Through the first six innings, the Biscuits had just two hits, and they trailed 3-0. In the seventh, the first three batters had hits, including Jesus Sanchez with an RBI single. Later in the inning, Lucius Fox tied the game with an RBI single, and Brett Sullivan followed with a run-scoring groundout. After Tyler Zombro opened with two scoreless innings, Josh Fleming allowed two runs in 5 2⁄3 innings.
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 K (.810)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-3, 1 RBI (.743)
SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB (.688)
1B Dalton Kelly: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K (.906)
LHP Josh Fleming: 5 2⁄3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (2.70)
Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-18)
Charlotte used a big inning to roll over St. Lucie, 8-2. The Stone Crabs scored twice in the second, but the game as tied at two through seven innings. In the eighth, they sent 10 to the plate and scored six times. Garrett Whitley broke the tie with a bases-loaded walk, Tanner Dodson cleared the bases with a double, and Jim Haley hit a two-run homer. Tommy Romero struck out five and allowed two runs in 5 2⁄3 innings.
SS Taylor Walls: 0-for-5 (.777)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 1-for-5, 1 2B (.545)
2B Vidal Brujan: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 SB (.748)
LF Garrett Whitley: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K (.795)
CF Tanner Dodson: 1-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI (.544)
3B Jim Haley: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI (.662)
RHP Tommy Romero: 5 2⁄3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (2.00)
Charlotte’s site offers this recap.
Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-15)
Alan Strong was good again in Bowling Green’s 2-1 win over Clinton. Although he only struck out four, he gave up just one run on fits hits in 6 1⁄3 innings with no walks. The Hot Rods got their first run on a wild pitch, and Kaleo Johnson’s RBI double in the sixth provided what proved to be the winning run.
SS Wander Franco: 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SB (.850)
DH Chris Betts: 3-for-3, 1 R, 2 2B (.778)
RHP Alan Strong: 6 1⁄3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (2.10)
Sunday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham @ Rochester 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Montgomery vs. Mississippi 3:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Charlotte is off.
Bowling Green is off.
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota)
13-19 (T-4th in IL North)
Offense: 160 R (9th) .778 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 5.77 ERA (13th) 1.51 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Brent Rooker (6), SS Nick Gordon (15), LHP Lewis Thorpe (17), LHP Stephen Gonsalves (18), OF LaMonte Wade (21), RHP Zack Littell (23), OF Luke Raley (24)
Mississippi Braves
17-17 (2nd in SL South)
Offense: 113 R (7th) .651 OPS (7th)
Pitching: 3.00 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Ian Anderson (2), OF Drew Waters (7), OF Cristian Pache (8), LHP Kyle Muller (11), LHP Joey Wentz (12), RHP Patrick Weigel (13), 3B CJ Alexander (18), RHP Huascar Ynoa (19), LHP Tucker Davidson (21), SS Ray-Patrick Didder (30)