Moncada, Benintendi among top prospect performers Tuesday

After they were rained out to begin the week, Class A Advanced Salem continued their winning ways Tuesday with a doubleheader road sweep of Carolina.

Boston’s elite prospect duo of Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi, MLBPipeline.com’s Nos. 5 and 22 overall prospects, respectively, led Salem in its victories and have helped make Salem’s offense one of the most dynamic in the Minors.

Moncada, Boston’s No. 1 prospect paced Salem to a 15-3 win in game one of the twin bill as he connected on his first career grand slam — giving him a career-high four RBIs — and scored three times as part of a 2-for-3 performance. The home run was the first of the season for the 20-year-old second baseman, who also stole his 17th base. Meanwhile, Benintendi, the club’s No. 3 prospect went 2-for-4 at the plate to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, a new club record for Salem.

The night cap saw Moncada deliver a game-tying RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning, his only hit in three at-bats, and then score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to seal Salem’s second win on the day. Unsurprisingly, Benintendi tacked on another game to his record hitting streak for Salem, going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.

The pair of victories has Salem sitting atop the Carolina League Southern division with a 17-8 record, and they’ve now won six straight games. Moncada is hitting .329/.463/.471 with 25 runs scored in 23 games for Salem this season, while Benintendi has raked at a .371/.436/.639 clip in 24 games, with 18 extra-base hits and 23 RBIs.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Tuesday

• No. 3 overall prospect J.P. Crawford (Phillies’ No. 1) connected on his second home run of the season as Double-A Reading fell to New Hampshire in 10 innings, 4-3. The 21-year-old shortstop hasn’t shown much power in 2016 but otherwise has been solid, hitting .277/.417/.398 with 17 runs scored and more walks (20) than strikeouts (17).

• After an ankle injury cost him the first month of the season, No. 21 overall prospect Jose De Leon (Dodgers’ No. 2) was nothing short of dominant in his 2016 debut for Triple-A Oklahoma City as he piled up nine strikeouts in five scoreless innings in a 2-0 loss to New Orleans. The right-hander allowed two hits and one walk in the outing while throwing 53 of his 88 pitches for strikes.

• No. 39 overall prospect Brent Honeywell (Rays’ No. 2) improved to 3-0 …

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