Monday's best: Crawford homers for Lehigh
J.P. Crawford's season has been a struggle, but the Phillies No. 1 prospect has shown signs of life lately, including a 2-for-4 performance in Triple-A Lehigh Valley's 8-4 win over Gwinnett on Monday.
The No. 4 overall prospect hit his eighth homer of the season, a two-run blast in the fifth, and boosted his average to .221 - the highest it's been all year - as he continues to start the second half on a high note.
MILB Video - Title: Crawford goes deep - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1618622183
After hitting a dismal .211 in 76 games in the first half, Crawford is hitting .368 (7-for-19), including three multihit efforts, through the first five games of the second half. Going back a bit further, Crawford is hitting .308 (16-for-52) in 15 games this month.
Other top prospect performances from Monday's action:
• No. 29 overall prospect Tyler O'Neill (Mariners No. 2) hit his 15th homer as part of a big game for Triple-A Tacoma. O'Neill finished a triple shy of the cycle as he finished 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs - two via his seventh-inning homer.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: O'Neill goes yard - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1619716083
• Blue Jays No. 12 prospect Max Pentecost is 7-for-14 over the past three days after going 3-for-5 with Class A Advanced Dunedin. Pentecost doubled and finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, bringing his season total to 42, a career high, through 55 games.
• Brewers No. 22 prospect Monte Harrison needed just one swing to match his season high with four RBIs in Class A Advanced Carolina's win over Salem. Harrison hit a grand slam, his 15th homer of the season, in the first inning of his 2-for-4 night.
MILB Video - Title: Harrison's grand slam - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1618054883
• Giants No. 21 prospect Cory Taylor put up nothing but zeroes as he pitched a season-high seven innings for Double-A Richmond. Taylor yielded just four hits and notched six strikeouts in what was his second scoreless start of the season.
• Indians No. 23 prospect Nellie Rodriguez put his power stroke on display with his second two-homer game of the season for Triple-A Columbus. Rodriguez also matched his season high with four RBIs in the game, which he finished 2-for-4.
• Marlins No. 11 prospect Austin Dean boosted his average to .316 through 20 games with Double-A Jacksonville with another three-hit effort. Dean, who is 6-for-9 over the past two days, hit his third homer of the season and finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
• Mets No. 19 prospect Jhoan Urena stuffed the box score and put together his second straight three-hit game for Class A Advanced St. Lucie. Urena, hitting .300 through 91 games, went 3-for-4 with a double, homer and two RBIs. He also scored three runs, drew a walk and stole his 14th base.
• Orioles No. 15 prospect Alex Wells picked up his eighth win of the season as he spun his third straight scoreless start for Class A Delmarva. Wells, who pitched six solid innings, hasn't given up a run since June 30 - a stretch that spans four starts and 24 innings. The 20-year-old also lowered his ERA to 2.56 this season as he struck out five and gave up four hits.
• Phillies No. 22 prospect Carlos Tocci remained hot in Double-A Reading's win over New Hampshire. Tocci, who went 4-for-5 on Sunday, matched his season high with four RBIs in a 2-for-5 effort. Tocci drove in three via RBI doubles in the third and fourth and added another RBI via a sacrifice fly.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: Tocci doubles in a pair - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1619719683
• Rangers No. 4 prospect Ronald Guzman hit his 10th homer of the season in Triple-A Round Rock's win over New Orleans. Guzman hit a solo homer in the fourth inning, but also made his presence felt with RBI singles in the first and third.
MILB Video - Title: Guzman goes deep - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1618917083
• Rays No. 19 prospect Joe McCarthy boosted his average up over .300 (.304) for the first time since June 26 with his second three-hit game in two days for Double-A Montgomery. The 23-year-old collected a pair of doubles and hit his fifth homer on the way to a 3-for-4 performance.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: McCarthy launches homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1619717483
• Red Sox No. 6 prospect C.J. Chatham put together a nice game while on a rehab assignment with the GCL Red Sox. Chatham played just two innings in the game, but went 2-for-2, including a three-run homer.
• Reds No. 29 prospect Sebastian Elizalde hit his third homer of the season and first since May 31 in Triple-A Louisville's loss to Syracuse. Elizalde tied the game with a three-run blast in the seventh, but the Bats gave up the lead in the ninth. The outfielder finished the game 4-for-6.
• Rockies No. 5 prospect Peter Lambert gave up an unearned run for Class A Advanced Lancaster, but hasn't given up an earned run over his past two starts (12 innings). The 20-year-old threw 57 of his 87 pitches for strikes, giving up six hits and four strikeouts across six innings. He also didn't issue for the third straight start.