Pirates LHP Steven Brault, Triple-A Indianapolis: 7 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 8 K -- Thursday marked the sixth straight start in which Brault, the Bucs' No. 8 prospect, allowed one or zero runs. This time his seven scoreless innings came against first-place Lehigh Valley, which leads the
Pirates LHP Steven Brault, Triple-A Indianapolis: 7 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 8 K -- Thursday marked the sixth straight start in which Brault, the Bucs' No. 8 prospect, allowed one or zero runs. This time his seven scoreless innings came against first-place Lehigh Valley, which leads the International League in both scoring and home runs and had just completed a record-setting 24-5 May. Brault's six start streak, in which he allowed four runs over 35 2/3 innings, dropped his ERA from 3.86 to 2.20 -- third-best in the IL.
Phillies 2B Scott Kingery, Double-A Reading: 4-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB -- For someone who claims not to be a home run hitter, Philadelphia's No. 11 prospect keeps on belting homers, adding his Minor League-leading 17th on Thursday. But he did much more than that in the afternoon tilt, collecting four hits for the second time this season and reaching base in all five of his plate appearances from the leadoff spot. The 23-year-old second baseman is now batting an eye-popping .323/.403/.683 in 49 games and, not surprsingly, also leads the Minors with 135 total bases and 51 runs scored. A second-round pick in 2015 out of Arizona, Kingery has quickly become one of the biggest breakout stories at any level.
Dodgers 3B Edwin Ríos, Double-A Tulsa: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI -- A day after driving in a <a 11-inning="" 22="" a="" again="" antonio.="" career-high="" class="token token-hyperLink" deep="" first-place="" five="" href="/milb/stats/stats.jsp?y=2017&sid=milb&t=l_bat&lid=109" id="token-28787A7B0FA32E71385AC" in="" los="" no.="" over="" prospect="" ranks="" rios="" s="" san="" span="" target="_blank" went="" win="">third in the Texas League in both batting average (.342) and home runs (10) and leads the Dodgers farm system in both homers and RBIs (40). The lefty-swinging slugger's numbers against southpaws are actually better than his stats against righties, but he needs every bit of that batting average to get on base: He's drawn just six walks -- three of them intentional -- while striking out 48 times in 47 games this season.
Indians RHP Aaron Civale, Class A Advanced Lynchburg: 6 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K -- The Indians' No. 21 prospect shined in his Carolina League debut, holding Potomac to one run over six innings to earn the win. The 21-year-old pitched around two walks in the first inning, striking out Kelvin Gutierrez to escape trouble, and used a double play in the second to erase a hit leadoff batter. He settled down after that until allowing his only run of the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly. Civale, the Indians' third-round pick in last year's Draft, was 2-4 with a 4.58 ERA in 10 starts for Class A Lake County. He struck out 52 in 57 innings in the Midwest League before earning a promotion on May 30.
Giants LHP Garrett Williams, Class A Augusta: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K: The San Francisco southpaw lowered his South Atlantic League ERA to 0.93 with his latest dominant start at Lexington, where he limited the Legends to four hits and two walks while working in the seventh inning for the first time this year. Williams, a 22-year-old out of Oklahoma State, has allowed just two earned runs in four appearances this season while striking out 21 in 19 1/3 innings. The Giants' No. 25 prospect has walked six batters and is holding opponents to a .227 average. His start Thursday earned him his second win in a combined four-hit shutout.
Reds OF, Taylor Trammell, Class A Dayton: 3-for-4, BB -- The Reds' No. 4 prospect collected three hits for the second straight game, raising his average 22 points over that span to .269 in 46 contests. Cincinnati's second pick in last year's Draft, the 19-year-old Trammell enjoyed a solid pro debut last year in Billings, hitting .303/.374/.421 with 24 stolen bases over 61 games in his pro debut. If he can continue this hot stretch and swipe bags at his current pace (he has 13 so far in 2017), he'll be well on his way to matching those solid numbers in his first taste of full-season ball.
