With Opening Day just over two weeks away, Sean Murphy is making his case to be Oakland's starting catcher. The second-ranked A's prospect belted a two-run homer and singled in a 5-0 victory over the Rangers on Monday night. Five Oakland pitchers combined on a one-hitter.
With Opening Day just over two weeks away, Sean Murphy is making his case to be Oakland's starting catcher. The second-ranked A's prospect belted a two-run homer and singled in a 5-0 victory over the Rangers on Monday night.
Five Oakland pitchers combined on a one-hitter.
Murphy underwent left knee surgery last October and did not make his first Cactus League appearance until March 2. MLB.com's No. 33 overall prospect has appeared in four Cactus League games, going 3-for-8 with a homer, a double and two RBIs.
He endured an injury-plagued 2019 but batted .293/.384/.550 with 20 extra-base hits and 31 RBIs in 41 games, 31 with Triple-A Las Vegas. The 25-year-old made his Major League debut in September and compiled a slash line of .245/.333/.566 with four homers in 20 contests.
Seventh-ranked Jorge Mateo walked, scored and stole his fourth base of the spring.
Jonathan Hernández allowed an unearned run on one hit and a walk with three strikeouts in two innings. The No. 25 Rangers prospect has a 3.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts in five appearances, including three starts.
Dodgers 14, Padres 2
Tony Gonsolin, Los Angeles' sixth-ranked prospect, picked up his third win of the spring after allowing two hits and a walk while striking out three over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. DJ Peters (No. 13) drew a walk in two appearances and scored once. No. 18 Edwin Ríos went 2-for-2, plating three runs with a pair of singles and scoring once. 20th-ranked Zach McKinstry went 1-for-2 and scored a run while No. 24 Omar Estevez crossed the plate after reaching on a fielder's choice. Adrian Morejon, the Padres' No. 6 prospect, was pelted for four runs in two-thirds of an inning, surrendering two hits -- including a two-run homer by Chris Taylor -- and three walks. Box score
Cardinals 3, Twins 0
St. Louis prospects Andrew Knizner (No. 6), Justin Williams (No. 17) and Edmundo Sosa (No. 20) each singled as the visitors shut out Minnesota in Fort Myers. No. 3 Twins prospect Trevor Larnach continued his scorching spring with a pinch-hit single, raising his Grapefruit League average to .381. The club's No. 12 prospect Brent Rooker and No. 15 Gilberto Celestino contributed one hit apiece in the defeat. Box score
Astros 2, Tigers 1
Detroit's No. 4 prospect Tarik Skubal started and gave up one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three over 2 2/3 innings. Sixth-ranked Willi Castro ripped an RBI double to center field in the third against Houston starter Zack Greinke. No. 15 prospect Bryan Garcia pitched a perfect fifth out of the bullpen to lower his spring ERA to 1.50. Houston's No. 27 prospect Blake Taylor retired two of the three batters he faced in relief of Greinke in the fifth. Box score
Blue Jays (ss) 3, Pirates 1
Toronto's No. 10 prospect Anthony Kay allowed three hits and two walks while striking out four over three scoreless innings in the start. No. 22 Santiago Espinal singled once in three plate appearances. No. 24 Thomas Hatch fanned a pair in two perfect innings of relief. Pirates No. 3 prospect Oneil Cruz ripped an RBI double to center in the seventh to plate Pittsburgh's lone run. No. 18 Kevin Kramer singled in his lone plate appearance. Box score
Blue Jays (ss) 8, Rays 3
Riley Adams went yard to lead Toronto past Tampa Bay at TD Ballpark. Adams, the Jays' No. 27 prospect, belted his first long ball of the spring -- a three-run homer in the seventh off Andrew Kittredge. Alejandro Kirk (No. 5) and Anthony Alford (No. 21) collected a hit apiece while 29th-ranked Yennsy Diaz struggled on the mound. The 23-year-old was charged with three runs -- two earned -- on three hits and a walk while recording two outs. Taylor Walls (No. 15) was the only Rays prospect to appear in the game -- the 23-year-old struck out in his only plate appearance. Box score
Phillies 3, Yankees 1
Mauricio Llovera struck out four over two scoreless innings and Mickey Moniak had a hit in the host's win in Clearwater. Llovera, Philadelphia's No. 15 prospect, came on in the fifth and allowed just a walk. Moniak, the team's No. 11 prospect and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, pinch ran for Bryce Harper and singled in his only plate appearance. He's batting .357 this spring. Michael King, the Yankees' No. 25 prospect, was charged with two runs on four hits and a walk in 2 2/3 innings to suffer his first loss of the spring. He faced 11 batters and did not record a strikeout. Box score
Royals 4, D-backs 4
In a seesaw affair with late-game fireworks, Kyle Isbel, Kansas City's seventh-ranked prospect, stroked a one-out solo homer in the top of the ninth to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. The dinger came an inning after No. 21 prospect Kelvin Gutierrez smacked a tiebreaking homer. The 25-year-old also legged out a triple and scored in the sixth. Right-hander Josh Staumont (No. 29) yielded a run on two hits while whiffing one in an inning of relief. For the D-backs, No. 26 prospect Kevin Cron was 0-for-2. Box score
Reds 3, White Sox 3
Chicago's No. 25 prospect Yermin Mercedes cranked a solo homer in his only at-bat, a blast in the bottom of the ninth that tied the game with two outs. Cincinnati's fourth-ranked prospect Jonathan India went hitless in three trips to the plate while No. 17 Alfredo Rodriguez singled in one of his three plate appearances. Box score
Indians (ss) 11, Giants 7
Cleveland's No. 28 prospect Ernie Clement entered as a pinch runner in the fifth and scored on a double by Francisco Lindor. He singled and crossed the plate in the seventh, and then came around a third time in the eighth after being hit by a pitch. San Francisco's No. 11 prospect Mauricio Dubón went 0-for-2 to slow his red-hot start to the spring. Box score
Indians (ss) 11, Angels 10
Yu Chang, the 21st-ranked Indians prospect, went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and scored twice. Bobby Bradley (No. 12) drove in a run with a base knock during the five-run third -- his only hit in three at-bats -- and is batting .333 (9-for-27). No. 13 Daniel Johnson went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Making his fourth appearance and second start, left-hander Logan Allen (No. 11) allowed four runs -- two earned -- on two hits and a pair of walks. Angels No. 18 prospect Livan Soto had an RBI single and scored during a three-run rally in the seventh. Box score
Brewers 2, Mariners 1
Seattle's No. 7 prospect Justin Dunn lowered his Cactus League ERA to 2.70 with three scoreless innings. The 24-year-old allowed a hit and a walk while striking out five. Joey Gerber (No. 19) and Aaron Fletcher (No. 20) combined for five punchouts over two shutout frames. Tenth-ranked Kyle Lewis accounted for the Mariners' offense with his third home run. Evan White (No. 4) singled, walked and stole a base. Luis Castro hit a walk-off homer with two outs in the ninth. Box score
