Brewers trio among 10 top prospect performers Wednesday
Milwaukee's top two prospects homer, No. 9 fires seven innings of one-run ball in playoff win
Double-A Biloxi kicked off the Southern League Championship Series on Wednesday with a decisive, 7-2, win over Chattanooga.
Jorge Lopez turned in another excellent start for the Shuckers, allowing one earned run on four hits over seven innings. The Brewers' No. 9 prospect issued one walk and struck out six, throwing 73 of his season-high 110 pitches for strikes.
The 22-year-old right-hander has been dominant since the beginning of August, going 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 44 1/3 innings (eight starts) in that span. Meanwhile, Lopez has now won both of his playoff starts for Biloxi, during which he's posted a 0.66 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.
Lopez's gem on the mound was backed by a pair of strong performances at the plate, with shortstop Orlando Arcia and outfielder Brett Phillips each contributing a home run in the win.
Arcia, the Brewers' No. 1 prospect (No. 12 overall), left the yard for a third consecutive game, giving Biloxi the lead with a go-ahead, two-run home run in the fourth inning before finishing the game with three RBIs. In addition to his homer streak, the 21-year-old has collected multiple hits in all four games during the Southern League playoffs, while his 2-for-5 showing on Wednesday actually lowered his batting average to .625.
Phillips, the club's No. 2 prospect (No. 34 overall), went 1-for-3, scored two runs and ended his 34-game home run drought with a solo shot in the fourth inning. Acquired from the Astros at the Trade Deadline in the Carlos Gomez deal, it was the 21-year-old's first home run as a member of the Brewers organization. After a breakthrough 2014 campaign, Phillips batted .309/.374/.527 with 16 home runs, 64 extra-base hits, 104 runs scored, 77 RBIs and 17 stolen basses in 120 games this season between the Class A Advanced and Double-A levels.
The rest of the 10 best performances from top Minor Leaguers
• Athletics No. 6 prospect Renato Nunez blasted a three-run home run in the first inning and went 2-for-5 as Double-A Midland beat Northwest Arkansas, 8-6, and improved to 2-0 in the best-of-five Texas League finals. The 21-year-old third baseman has been on fire this postseason, batting .409 with two home runs and 12 RBIs while collecting at least one hit in all six games. Nunez's impressive streak comes after he batted .325 with a .902 OPS, nine home runs, 16 doubles and 36 RBIs in 47 games during the second half of the season.
• Athletics No. 21 prospect Jaycob Brugman couldn't be hotter right now. On Wednesday, he went 2-for-4 and homered in his fourth straight game for Midland, raising his Texas League-leading batting average in the postseason to an even .500. Seven of Brugman's eight hits in that span have gone for extra bases (4 HR, 3 2B), and he's also scored seven runs while driving in eight. The 2013 17th-rounder had a solid regular season for the Rock Hounds, batting .260/.343/.382 with 41 extra-base hits and 63 RBIs in 132 games.
• Cubs No. 4 prospect (No. 71 overall) Duane Underwood Jr. allowed one earned run on five hits and struck out a season-high seven batters over six innings -- throwing 54 of his 85 pitches for strikes -- as Class A Myrtle Beach defeated Wilmington, 3-2, to win the Carolina League championship. The 21-year-old right-hander yielded a run in the third inning but bounced back to strike out the next five hitters and retire 10 of the final 12 batters he faced in the outing. Underwood Jr. missed 55 games during the heart of the regular season after he was placed on the 7-day disabled list on June 28 with an elbow injury. At the time, the 2012 second-rounder ranked fourth in the Carolina League with a 2.66 ERA through 64 1/3 innings. Overall, he went 6-3 record in 12 starts during the regular season, finishing with a 2.41 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 24 walks (2.8 BB/9) and 54 strikeouts (6.2 K/9) in 78 1/3 innings.
• Rangers No. 23 prospect Ronald Guzman had a perfect night at the plate for Class A Advanced High Desert, going 2-for-2 with a double, triple and two walks, but it wasn't enough to stave off elimination from the California League playoffs. The 20-year-old first baseman put together a solid postseason for the Mavericks, batting .370 (10-for-27) with four extra-base hits, seven walks and six RBIs in eight games. Guzman spent the first month of the season at Class A Hickory before moving up to High Desert, where he batted .277/.319/.434 with nine home runs, 25 doubles, seven triples and 73 RBIs in 107 games.
• Royals No. 6 prospect Jorge Bonifacio paced Double-A Northwest Arkansas' offense in a loss to Midland, finishing 2-for-4 with a three-run home run. The 22-year-old had been mired in an 0-for-23 slump over his previous seven games before busting out with multiple hits. After posting a .611 OPS with four home runs in 132 games for Northwest Arkansas in 2014, Bonifacio returned to the Texas League this season to post a .721 OPS while setting career-high marks in home runs (17), doubles (30) and RBIs (65).
• Royals No. 15 prospect Alec Mills was strong in a no-decision for Wilmington, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. The 23-year-old right-hander issued a pair of walks and fanned six before departing the game after 86 pitches (55 strikes). Mills posted a 3.02 ERA with 111 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 113 1/3 innings (21 starts) during the regular season.
• Tigers No. 5 prospect Spencer Turnbull struck out six batters over 4 2/3 innings but was charged with the loss as Class A West Michigan fell to Cedar Rapids, 5-0, in the Midwest League finals opener. The right-hander only surrendered four hits and two walks in the outing but was pulled from the game after 96 pitches (60 strikes) in the fifth inning. The 22-year-old turned it on down the stretch after a shaky first half, as he's 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 10 walks in 39 innings over his last six starts dating back to the regular season.