Lowe produces in spades in Rays' win
Brandon Lowe was a one-man wrecking crew on Saturday.The Rays' ninth-ranked prospect went 4-for-5 with a homer, a pair of doubles and six RBIs, accounting for all of the offense as Tampa Bay posted a 6-5 Grapefruit League triumph over the Blue Jays.
Brandon Lowe was a one-man wrecking crew on Saturday.
The Rays' ninth-ranked prospect went 4-for-5 with a homer, a pair of doubles and six RBIs, accounting for all of the offense as Tampa Bay posted a 6-5 Grapefruit League triumph over the Blue Jays.
After striking out on three pitches against Marcus Stroman in the first inning, the 24-year-old ripped the next pitch he saw from Blue Jays No. 28 prospectElvis Luciano into center field for an RBI knock that put the Rays on the board.
Lowe went after the first pitch again in his next at-bat in the fifth and laced a two-out, two-run double to left off southpaw Thomas Pannone that knotted the game at 3-3. Two innings later, the 2015 third-round Draft pick mashed a first-pitch fastball from 27th-ranked prospect Yennsy Diaz and deposited it over the wall in right for a three-run blast that put the Rays ahead for good.
With runners at first and second in the ninth, Lowe doubled again, this time off righty Zach Jackson, on another first pitch, but Roberto Alvarez was thrown out at the plate.
After that first at-bat against Stroman, the University of Maryland product collected four hits on four pitches.
Blue Jays No. 2 prospect Bo Bichette clubbed his first spring dinger to left-center on a first-pitch fastball from righty Curtis Taylor leading off the sixth.
In other spring action:
Pirates 8, Yankees 7
Ke'Bryan Hayes, MLB.com's No. 46 overall prospect, doubled, walked and scored twice for Pittsburgh. Fifth-ranked Pirates prospect Cole Tucker laced an RBI double in the seventh. Bucs No. 6 prospect Kevin Kramer singled in a run, 18th-ranked Pablo Reyes doubled and No. 15 Will Craig doubled and scored a run. Top Yankees prospect Estevan Florial collected a pair of doubles, drove in one run and scored another. Box score
Astros 8, Mets 7
Top Astros prospect Forrest Whitley picked up the win after throwing three innings out of the bullpen. MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect surrendered a grand slam to catcher Wilson Ramos, but three of those runs were unearned. Whitley ended up allowing five runs -- one earned -- on three hits and two walks with a pair of punchouts. Astros No. 15 prospect Brandon Bielak recorded a six-out save, despite issuing three walks and an earned run. Kyle Tucker, the organization's second-ranked prospect, had an RBI single off Mets right-hander Drew Gagnon. No. 3 prospect Yordan Alvarez singled and scored on Tucker's knock. Ronnie Dawson also contributed a run-scoring single for Houston. Box score
Tigers 7, Braves 4
Kyle Muller was just one of the Braves prospects working out of the bullpen. The left-hander allowed a run on two hits and a walk while striking out one over 1 1/3 innings. Huascar Ynoa worked around a walk and a hit batter in a scoreless frame. Chad Sobotka and Jacob Webb each was tagged for two runs, but Tucker Davidson recorded four outs without allowing a run. Braves No. 4 prospect Cristian Pache came off the bench and yanked the only pitch he saw for a double, then scored. Ninth-ranked William Contreras singled in both of his at-bats and upped his Grapefruit League average to .600. For the Tigers, No. 23 prospect Matt Hall gave up one hit but struck out two in one inning of relief. Box score
Nationals 10, Twins 6
The Nationals battered Twins No. 8 prospect Lewis Thorpe for four runs on four hits and a walk over 1 2/3 frames. Tenth-ranked Nick Gordon singled and No. 24 prospect Ben Rortvedt added a base knock and scored a run. Nationals No. 2 prospect Carter Kieboom smacked an RBI double and scored on Adam Eaton's ground-rule double. Box score
Phillies 11, Rays 3 (ss)
No. 7 prospect JoJo Romero was solid out of the Phillies bullpen, locking down the final three innings without giving up a hit. The left-hander fanned three, walked two and lowered his spring ERA to 1.80. With the bases loaded in the eighth, ninth-ranked Phils prospect Mickey Moniak plated a run with an infield single. Box score
Cardinals 4, Marlins 3
Cardinals No. 16 prospect Randy Arozarena tripled, singled and scored twice. Jake Woodford, the organization's 26th-ranked prospect, got the win after yielding an unearned run on two walks with two strikeouts in two innings. Box score
Orioles 9, Red Sox 1
Second-ranked Orioles prospect Ryan Mountcastle collected a pair of hits and scored twice. No. 7 prospect Ryan McKenna walked and scored twice, while 16th-ranked D.J. Stewart doubled, singled and drove in two runs and No. 25 Drew Jackson went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. No. 17 Red Sox prospect Travis Lakins allowed a hit and a walk in an inning of scoreless relief. Box score
Rangers 0, Giants 0 (ss)
No. 29 prospect Jalen Miller accounted for half of the Giants' hits with a pair of singles but was caught stealing. Fifth-ranked Logan Webb delievered a clean ninth with a punchout and No. 30 Travis Bergen preceded him with a pair of strikeouts and a walk in a scoreless eighth. For the Rangers, 11th-ranked Taylor Hearn picked up a strikeout in a 1-2-3 inning out of the bullpen. Box score
Padres 7, Giants (ss) 6
Padres No. 15 prospect Hudson Potts delivered the decisive blow when he whacked a solo homer in the seventh inning off right-hander Derek Law. Top San Diego prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. and fourth-ranked Francisco MejĂa each collected a hit and scored a run, while No. 17 Buddy Reed scored as a pinch-runner in the sixth. Giants No. 22 prospect Aramis Garcia blasted his first spring homer and walked. No. 11 Chris Shaw collected an extra-base hit for the second straight day, doubling in the seventh. Box score
White Sox 10, Rockies 6
No. 10 White Sox prospect Luis González reached twice on a single and a walk and scored a run in the win. Hit by a pitch in the eighth inning, ninth-ranked Blake Rutherford came around to score when José Rondón cranked a two-run homer. No. 25 Caleb Frare allowed a run on a hit and two walks while recording one out. Top Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers and No. 15 Yonathan Daza both singled and scored a run. Ben Bowden (No. 17) fanned the only batter he faced in the fourth inning, while No. 12 Ryan Castellani allowed two runs on three hits in one frame. Box score
Royals 8, Mariners 0
Royals No. 16 prospect Richard Lovelady worked around a hit and walk in a scoreless ninth inning, lowering his Cactus League ERA to 2.25 Eighth-ranked Nicky Lopez reached on a throwing error in the sixth and scored two batters later on a single by Cheslor Cuthbert. For the Mariners, No. 15 prospect Dom Thompson-Williams singled in two at-bats, while seventh-ranked Kyle Lewis and No. 11 Braden Bishop walked. No. 27 Gerson Bautista walked one in a scoreless inning and ninth-ranked Erik Swanson gave up four runs -- one earned -- on a hit and two walks in recording two outs. Box score
Brewers 7, Cubs 4
Brewers No. 8 prospect Lucas Erceg took right-hander Christian Bergman deep to right field for a solo homer in the seventh inning. Tyrone Taylor (29th) laced a pair of doubles to boost his spring slash line to .389/.421/.556. Cubs No. 20 prospect Trent Giambrone whacked a solo homer in the sixth off right-hander Aaron Wilkerson and is batting .467 with a 1.000 slugging percentage this spring. Box score
Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 5
Making his second Cactus League appearance, Dodgers No. 3 prospect Dustin May threw two innings of scoreless relief. The right-hander allowed two hits and a walk and hasn't given up a run over three innings in his first big-league Spring Training. Dodgers No. 20 prospect Omar Estevez smacked a double in two at-bats. D-backs No. 16 prospect Emilio Vargas -- the reigning California League Pitcher of the Year -- recorded the win, despite allowing one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in two innings. No. 26 prospect Domingo Leyba clubbed a solo homer in the first for Arizona. Box score
Angels 11, Reds 2
Top Angels prospect Jo Adell showed off his hit tool with a pair of doubles to bring his Cactus League average to .308. In the fifth, he smacked his second two-bagger of the game to left to plate Taylor Ward. Seventh-ranked Luis Rengifo went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while No. 21 Jared Walsh doubled, walked and scored twice. Reds No. 6 prospect Tyler Stephenson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and second-ranked Taylor Trammell walked. Box score
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