A roundup of Tuesday night’s action down on the farm …
YANKEES
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre: Right-hander Chris Bootcheck — a 34-year-old owner of a 6.54 big league ERA from parts of six seasons with the Angels and Pirates — did most of the leg work in a 1-0 shutout of Rochester, but more notable were the bullpen contributions. Relief prospect Mark Montgomery pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, bringing his season total to 12 strikeouts in seven innings, and frequent Bronx guest Cody Eppley notched the save. Outfielders Melky Mesa and Thomas Neal had two hits apiece.
Double-A Trenton: Right fielder Tyler Austin, the fourth-ranked prospect in the organization, went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in the 5-1 loss to Akron to drop his average to .235. Ramon Flores, starting in center with No. 2 Yankees prospect Slade Heathcott out of the lineup, had two hits, as did first baseman Kyle Roller. Catcher J.R. Murphy went 1-for-3 with a walk. Righty Zach Nuding took the loss, and 2008 first-round pick Jeremy Bleich threw four shutout innings in relief.
High-A Tampa: Top prospect Mason Williams had two hits against stud Blue Jays righty Aaron Sanchez in the eventual 8-6 loss to Dunedin. Highly touted catcher Gary Sanchez went 0-for-2, but reached base twice on a walk and hit-by-pitch and threw out a baserunner attempting to steal. Hard-throwing righty Corey Black, last year’s fourth-round pick, struck out eight and let up four runs in five innings.
Low-A Charleston: Dominican right-hander Rafael DePaula, the system’s No. 10 prospect who is 22 years old after hitches in his signing due to “identity issues,” was the loser in a 3-0 decision against Rome, but threw 56 of 74 pitches for strikes and fanned seven in six innings. Former Stony Brook Seawolf Robert Refsnyder had a hit for the eighth time in his past nine games and is batting .340. Cito Culver and Dante Bichette Jr. each went 0-for-4.
METS
Triple-A Las Vegas: The 51s had little answer for legit A’s righty Dan Straily in the 2-1 loss to Sacramento. Collin McHugh, who cameo-ed in Queens last summer and may again shortly, allowed an unearned run on seven hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings while striking out three. Center fielder Juan Lagares, 24, had three of the five hits to up his average to .346. Wilmer Flores and Josh Satin had the others — all singles. Catcher Travis d’Arnuad took an 0-for-4.
Double-A Binghamton: Right-hander Logan Verrett, a 2011 third-round pick out of Baylor, improved to 2-0 with 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball and six strikeouts in the 7-3 win over Portland (two of the hits were infield singles by speedy Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, a top-10 prospect in the game). Cory Vaughn — son of Greg — went 3-for-4 with his ninth RBI in 10 games.
High-A St. Lucie: Hansel Robles, the 5-foot-11 right-hander rated No. 12 in the Mets system, went six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three and notching the win in a 13-3 triumph over Charlotte. Robles’ ERA through three starts rose slightly to 3.45. Slugging third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez launched his first home run of the season. Catcher Cam Maron had three hits and three RBIs, and left fielder Dustin Lawley hit a grand slam.
Low-A Savannah: Finally, for the best news of the day: Center fielder Brandon Nimmo, the mystery kid out of Wyoming who was the team’s first-round pick in 2011 and stands as the organization’s top outfield prospect, continued his torrid start for the Sand Gnats, going 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot to hike his average to a Sally League-best .447 (with a .518 on-base, to boot). Nimmo is 10 for his last 18. Here’s a nice update from Monday. Also in the 9-8 loss to Greensboro, No. 2 catching prospect Kevin Plawecki hit his second homer of the season.
