Johnson among 10 top prospect performers Monday
White Sox No. 4 prospect notches his second consecutive three-hit game for Knights
A pair of White Sox prospects led Triple-A Charlotte to a 5-2 win over Durham on Monday.
No. 4 prospect Micah Johnson delivered a 3-for-4 performance -- his second straight three-hit game -- and cracked a leadoff homer in the first inning. The second baseman has been hot at the plate over the past six games, going 15-for-29 with a double, triple, two homers and three RBIs.
Matt Davidson -- the team's No. 9 prospect -- has been hot, too. The third baseman swatted a solo homer as part of a 1-for-4 Monday, one day after going 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Knights, who have won three of the past four games.
Davidson has 15 long balls and collected 50 RBIs in 94 games this year, his seventh as a pro.
The rest of the 10 best performances from top Minor Leaguers
• Braves No. 4 prospect (No. 78 overall) Touki Toussaint allowed no hits while striking out three over six innings during Class A Rome's 4-0, extra-innings loss to Lakewood. Toussaint needed 85 pitches, tossing 48 for strikes. Blue Claws hitter Cord Sandberg singled off Daniel Cordero in the seventh inning to break up the team no-no. Toussaint did not earn a decision in the extra-innings game, but did cut his ERA from 4.19 to 3.20 after his fifth start for Rome. The strong stretch follows a June 21 trade in which the Diamondbacks sent Toussaint and Bronson Arroyo to the Braves for Phil Gosselin in a money-saving move.
• Marlins No. 1 prospect (No. 19 overall) Tyler Kolek continued a strong stretch by tossing six shutout innings of one-hit ball for Class A Greensboro on Monday night. The 19-year-old right-hander allowed two walks while striking out five batters as the Grasshoppers fell to Delmarva, 3-2. Kolek has not allowed a run in his past two starts (10 total innings), and one earned run in his past three (15 total innings). His six-inning start was the longest of his career. Miami took Kolek with the No. 2 overall pick last summer and he went 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in eight Gulf Coast League starts last year. After Monday's performance, he stands at 4-6 with a 4.11 ERA for the Grasshoppers.
• Nationals No. 27 prospect Matt Purke faced the minimum through five innings for Class A Advanced Potomac. The lefty tossed 4 1/3 no-hit innings and then surrendered a hit in the fifth. Purke induced a groundball double-play from the next batter and finished with a near-perfect line: one hit, zero walks and two strikeouts. The 24-year-old was solid for Class A Hagerstown earlier this season, going 2-3 with a 3.03 ERA in eight starts.
• Orioles No. 3 prospect Christian Walker ripped his third homer in four days for Triple-A Norfolk. The first baseman has gone 6-for-18 with three bombs and eight RBIs in that span and is hitting .254/.314/.384 with eight homers and 37 RBIs this season. Six of his eight jacks have come in the past month. Walker has also recorded 21 doubles for the Tides.
• Orioles prospect D.J. Stewart had not collected a hit since July 12 before going 3-for-7 with two homers -- one tater in each game -- in Class A Short Season Aberdeen's twin bill against Tri-City. "It was definitely great to finally have some balls fall for me today," Stewart told MiLB.com. "I've been going out, working every day on my game, just trying to find the rhythm I had in college. I was off for about a month before I had to play again, and that little time off has taken its toll on my swing." Stewart hit .318/.500/.593 with 15 homers and 59 RBIs for Florida State this spring before Baltimore took him No. 25 overall.
• Rangers No. 1 prospect (No. 7 overall) Joey Gallo smacked a homer as part of a 1-for-4 day for Triple-A Round Rock. The blast was his fifth since being demoted from the Majors and Gallo has also collected three doubles and 11 RBIs since July 1. While playing with Texas in June, the 6-foot-5 left-hander hit five home runs and 13 RBIs in 25 games.
• Rays No. 8 prospect Taylor Guerrieri contributed a season-high five shutout innings to Class A Advanced Charlotte's 3-0 win over St. Lucie. The 6-foot-3 righty allowed two hits and one walk while striking out three. Guerrieri, 22, has not allowed any earned runs in four of his past six outings and owns a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the Stone Crabs.
• Twins No. 12 prospect Adam Brett Walker took back sole possession of the Minor League home-run lead with his 25th dinger of the year for Double-A Chattanooga. The slugger finished 1-for-4 with his two-run blast, which pushed him past A.J. Reed for the outright lead. Walker has collected at least one hit and one RBI in the past three contests and is now hitting .263/.318/.565 with 21 doubles and 79 RBIs in a Lookouts uniform this season.