Urias’ effort among top performances Monday

If Monday’s batch of Minor League games was any indication, Dodgers fans have reasons to be excited about the future. Two reasons in particular were on display as a pair of Dodgers prospects — left-handed pitcher Julio Urias and outfielder Alex Verdugo — turned in strong performances.

Urias — the club’s top prospect and the No. 2 overall prospect in baseball — tossed six scoreless frames for Triple-A Oklahoma City, extending his scoreless streak to 16 innings. Urias now owns a 1.50 ERA through six appearances (five starts) in the Pacific Coast League this year. He’s struck out 33 batters and walked only six.

At the Double-A level, Tulsa’s Verdugo, the Dodgers’ No. 6 prospect, homered twice and drove in seven of his club’s 10 runs. It was his first multihomer game since he was selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2014 Draft. The seven RBIs also eclipsed his previous professional-best of four.

“I felt good, felt locked in,” Verdugo told MiLB.com. “I felt like that from the first at-bat, just locked. I’m seeing the ball well. It feels good to help out the team any way you can.”

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Thursday:

• No. 23 overall prospect Bradley Zimmer (Indians’ No. 1) helped propel Double-A Akron to a 12-5 victory over the Erie SeaWolves by going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. He also walked once and swiped a bag. Zimmer has now homered in three straight games and has five home runs through eight games this month.

• Pirates No. 14 prospect Mitch Keller put an end to Class A West Virginia’s four-game losing skid with six shutout innings against the Hagerstown …

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