2B Luis Urias was 0-4 on Saturday Night despite the new “Los Chihuahuas” uniforms. Photo Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre.
EL PASO, Texas – The Chihuahuas fell for the second consecutive night as they once again had trouble making solid contact. Tonight El Paso struck out 11 times and were held to two hits after fanning 15 times Thursday.
“It’s something we stress every day,” said Rod Barajas, the Chihuahuas’ manager. “When you strike out there is no chance of anything good happening.”
“We have some guys on this team that have a track record of striking out. So we are working on getting them a little more consistent with two strikes or not getting to two strikes in the count by hitting your pitch.”
Right-handed pitcher Chris Huffman started the game for El Paso. After a rough first inning when seven batters came to the plate, he settled down and retired the next six.
He went six innings, striking out six against six hits and one walk. Despite not having overpowering stuff, the 14th-round pick from James Madison University in 2014 has logged 130 or more innings in the Padres’ organization each of the past two years.
“Chris has a good cutter and can mix his pitches up,” Barajas said. “He can work the ball away and in, and makes it difficult for the hitter to look for the ball in a certain spot. It’s also tough to get him rattled.”
El Paso Prospect Watch: Right-handed reliever Trey Wingenter came in during the seventh inning and fanned the first two batters he faced. He came up one pitch away from striking out the side. His fastball sat consistently in the high 90s, and he got both his punchouts with the batter looking at his slider. … Despite hitting the ball hard, second baseman Luis Urias was 0-for-4…Right fielder Franmil Reyes was hitless but did walk twice and narrowly missed a home run to the deepest part of center field.
