Cozens among top prospect performers Thursday

Tyler Beede was at his best Thursday as the right-hander fired a career-high eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball for Double-A Richmond, which shut out Bowie, 3-0.

Beede, the Giants’ No. 2 prospect, was dominant from the outset and carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before he yielded a two-out double to Henry Urrutia on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. He walked one and fanned two while throwing 49 of his 73 pitches for strikes. Beede recorded seven outs on the ground and another seven via fly balls.

“I think the combination of Bowie being really aggressive early in counts and me just throwing quality pitches down in the zone allowed me to get some soft contact,” Beede told MiLB.com. “At the same time, even if I was making some mistakes, our defense played incredible. The defense being on their toes all game made it nice and quick on the mound.”

Selected by San Francisco with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Beede has long possessed no-hit-caliber stuff, but has struggled to harness it dating back to his days at Vanderbilt. But the 23-year-old right-hander has made noticeable gains as a strike-thrower in his first Double A campaign, posting a career-best walk rate of 2.1 per nine innings across 59 frames, and it has in turn enabled him to consistently work deeper into games. In his past three starts for the Flying Squirrels, Beede has logged 22 innings.

“I think, last year, it was the combination of me being mechanically inconsistent and being tired,” he said. “This year, for me, repeating my mechanics a little bit more allows me to repeat my release point. At the same time, I’m not trying to think about walking less guys, but just thinking about throwing quality pitches in the zone.”

Overall, Beede owns a 3.05 ERA in 10 starts.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Thursday

• No. 5 overall prospect Yoan Moncada was a doubles machine in Class-A Advanced Salem’s doubleheader sweep of Myrtle Beach as he combined to go 4-for-7 with four two-baggers and six RBIs. The Red Sox’s No. 1 prospect went 2-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs in game one and then hit two more-two baggers in the night cap, finishing 2-for-3, with two runs scored and an RBI.

• No. 16 overall prospect Austin Meadows tripled for a second straight day — his fifth triple of the season — and scored a pair of runs in Double A Altoona’s win against Akron. The Pirates’ No. 2 prospect has hit safely in 11 straight games for the Curve, during which he raised his average to .289 from …

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