Rays prospects and minor leagues: Brandon Lowe homers in 3rd straight game
For the second time this season, Brandon Lowe has a home run in three straight games.
Princeton played another high-scoring game Saturday. For some reason, offense in the Appalachian League has really increased lately. From 2014-16, the league OPS was .683, .713, and .712. In 2017, it jumped to .732, and through Friday’s game, it’s .758 this season. I wonder if there’s something that caused this — maybe a new parent club in the league is sending less-experienced pitching — or if it’s just a two-year blip that everyone but me will soon forget about.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (56-42)
Brandon Lowe was one of three Bulls to go deep in Durham’s 10-5 win over Buffalo. It was Lowe’s 13th home run since his promotion to Triple A, his third in as many games, and his fourth in his last five. Nick Ciuffo and Kean Wong also homered. Forrest Snow allowed four runs on seven hits in 3 1⁄3 innings.
SS Willy Adames: 1-for-6, 1 R, 1 K
2B Brandon Lowe: 3-for-5, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K
3B Christian Arroyo: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
C Nick Ciuffo: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
LF Kean Wong: 2-for-6, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 K
1B Brandon Snyder: 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
RHP Forrest Snow: 3 1⁄3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
LHP Colin Poche: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (15-14)
Home runs from Nick Solak and Nate Lowe weren’t enough in Montgomery’s 7-5 loss to Mississippi. Solak’s two-run homer in the first gave the Biscuits a 2-0 lead, and Lowe’s solo shot in the sixth tied the game at four. After Montgomery went up 5-4 in the eighth, Mississippi scored three in the ninth off Curtis Taylor. Dalton Moats opened and allowed two runs in 1 2⁄3 innings, and Genesis Cabrera struck out seven and allowed two runs in 6 1⁄3 frames.
CF Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
SS Jake Cronenworth: 1-for-3, 1 RBI
LHP Genesis Cabrera: 6 1⁄3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
RHP Curtis Taylor: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (16-13)
Charlotte’s game was canceled.
Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (18-11)
Bowling Green’s offense was quiet in a 1-0 loss to Wisconsin. The Hot Rods outhit the Timber Rattlers 6-4, but all of their hits were singles, and none came with a runner in scoring position. Tobias Myers struck out eight in seven scoreless innings, and the run came off Andrew Gist in the eighth.
2B Vidal Brujan: 2-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-4
RHP Tobias Myers: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (22-12)
Hudson Valley turned a pitchers’ duel into a blowout in a 9-0 win over Vermont. After 6 1⁄2 innings of a 0-0 game, the Renegades sent 11 to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and scored eight times. Every baserunner and every run came with two outs. Garrett Giovannelli drove in two with a double, and Chris Betts cleared the bases with a double that the game log describes as a pop-up to shortstop. Blake Pflughaupt struck out seven in five innings, and Tanner Dodson pitched three scoreless frames.
SS Ford Proctor: 0-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Tyler Frank: 0-for-4, 1 R
CF Jake Stone: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 CS
2B Garrett Giovannelli: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
RF Bryce Brown: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
LHP Blake Pflughaupt: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K
RHP Tanner Dodson: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Rookie Princeton Rays (20-11)
Princeton allowed four unanswered runs in a 7-6 loss to Elizabethton. After falling in an early 3-0 hole, Princeton went ahead with a four-run third inning that included a two-run double from Wander Franco. An inning later, RBI singles by Connor Hollis and Jonathan Aranda made it a 6-3 lead. However, Elizabethton scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings to go ahead for good. Starter Zack Trageton allowed five runs — three earned — in five innings.
SS Wander Franco: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
2B Jonathan Aranda: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
RHP Zack Trageton: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 3 K
Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (14-13)
The GCL Rays’ game was postponed.
Sunday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham @ Buffalo 1:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Sean Reid-Foley (6-2, 3.92)
Montgomery vs. Mississippi 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Brock Burke (0-0, 3.60) vs. Bruce Zimmermann (2-0, 1.69)
Charlotte is off.
Bowling Green @ Wisconsin 2:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Dylan File (6-6, 3.71)
Hudson Valley vs. Vermont 5:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Gus Varland (0-1, 2.00)
Princeton @ Elizabethton 6 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Austin Schulfer (2-0, 3.21)
The GCL Rays are off.
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
44-48 (3rd in IL North)
Offense: 387 R (9th) .696 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.76 ERA (7th) 1.30 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Anthony Alford (3), C Danny Jansen (7), SS Richard Urena (9), LHP Ryan Borucki (10), RHP Sean Reid-Foley (11), C Reese McGuire (15), 1B Rowdy Tellez (21)
Mississippi Braves
15-13 (3rd in SL South)
Offense: 373 R (9th) .667 OPS (9th)
Pitching: 3.65 ERA (2nd) 1.40 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Kyle Wright (4), RHP Bryse Wilson (12), LHP Ricardo Sanchez (19), LHP Phil Pfiefer (29), SS Ray-Patrick Didder (31), RHP Enderson Franco
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee)
13-15 (6th in MWL West)
Offense: 403 R (12th) .698 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.39 ERA (15th) 1.41 WHIP (13th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Tristen Lutz (11), C KJ Harrison (16), RHP Carlos Herrera (26), C Payton Henry (28)
Vermont Lake Monsters (Oakland)
17-18 (4th in NYPL Stedler)
Offense: 144 R (5th) .630 OPS (11th)
Pitching: 3.96 ERA (12th) 1.28 WHIP (7th)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Marcos Brito (28), OF Jameson Hannah, SS Jeremy Eierman
Elizabethton Twins
18-11 (1st in AL West)
Offense: 188 R (2nd) .833 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 4.62 ERA (5th) 1.49 WHIP (5th)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Yunior Severino (14), OF Trevor Larnach, C Ryan Jeffers
Daily news and links
In light of Saturday’s promotion, John Sickels wrote about Justin Williams at Minor League Ball.
Fresno's suspended game from June 3rd was picked up in the 4th inning and finished today. By pure chance, Fresno's Rogelio Armenteros started it on 6/3 and finished it on 7/21. He was credited with a 147-pitch, ten runs allowed CG loss.
— Mike Curto (@CurtoWorld) July 22, 2018