The Storm were no-hit while Fort Wayne won on a walk-off. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his fifth home run, and Matt Strahm pitched in back-to-back games. It was a solid day on the farm even if they only went 2-2.
Reno Aces 4, Chihuahuas 3
Key Stats: RHP Walker Lockett (L, 1-2) 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; 2B Luis Urias 1-4; RF Franmil Reyes 2-3, 2 HR (7), 3 RS, 2 RBI, BB
Prospect Watch: Franmil Reyes had a breakout season in 2017 when he hit 25 home runs to lead the Missions. However, 15 of those home runs came over the last two months of the season and he still finished with an OPS of just .786. After hitting his sixth and seventh homers of the season Wednesday, he has equaled his total at the end of last May. With the weather warming up, it shouldn’t be farfetched to think Reyes should be able to beat the 25 he hit last year. He’s also drawing more walks and striking out less often, though his league-adjusted production still lags just a bit from last year. … Walker Lockett cruised through the first part of the game until a two-out bases empty walk in the fifth opened up the floodgates. The next four hitters reached base including a big triple by El Paso’s adopted son Cody Decker. Lockett ended up needing over 100 pitches to get through five innings before giving way. While he’s striking out a batter per inning for the first time in his career, he’s also seen a spike in his walk rate this year.
Missions 5, Frisco RoughRiders 2
Key Stats: RHP Cal Quantrill (W, 2-2) 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K; SS Fernando Tatis Jr.1-5, HR (5), RBI, R; 3B Ty France 2-4, 2 HR (4), 2 RBI; C Kyle Overstreet 2-4, 2B, R, RBI
Prospect Watch: Cal Quantrill pitched seven full innings for the first time in his professional career and matched his season high with eight strikeouts. The 23-year-old righty was charged with two earned runs in the first, though the second came across when Josh Naylor airmailed a throw. Then Quantrill settled in and blanked Frisco for six. After walking eight in his first 9.2 innings this season, he was walked just four over his last 23 innings. He has allowed two or fewer runs in five of six starts this season. … Fernando Tatis Jr.struck out in his first two at-bats then blasted his fifth home run of the year in his third trip. …. After we wrote yesterday about the Padres hoping to get lefty Matt Strahm into back-to-back games before asking him to join the big league bullpen, Strahm came back with an uneventful 1-2-3 inning. Strahm needed only eight pitches to complete the frame. He was sent out on his rehab assignment, which can last up to 30 days, on April 7.
Inland Empire 66ers 4, Storm 0
Key Stats: RHP Adrian Morejon (L, 0-3) 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K; 1B Brad Zunica 0-1, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: The Storm were no-hit on the game, but did draw six walks. CF Edward Olivares is in a small 0-for-15 slump… Adrian Morejon fell to 0-3 on the year. He matched his career high with four walks, but his ball-to-strike ratio of 56:32 was actually fairly close to where he normally sits. On the positive side, he is still averaging over a strikeout an inning and his individual pitches continue to show well. After giving up two Wednesday, the 19-year-old Cuban has allowed four homers in 22.1 innings.
TinCaps 7, Beloit Snappers 6
Key Stats: LHP Tom Cosgrove 4 IP, 3 H, R, BB, K; CF Jeisson Rosario 1-4, RS; 2B Esteury Ruiz 1-4, 2 RS, BB, SB (6); SS Justin Lopez 2-5, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI; 3B Reinaldo Illaraza 2-4, RS
The TinCaps rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jack Suwinski was hit by a pitch to plate the winning run. MadFriars’ reporter Travis Barnett was at the game and came away with these notes.
- Fort Wayne struck out seven times in the first five innings with Esteury Ruiz falling victim to three of them. Even Jeisson Rosario, who seldom chases pitches out of the zone, chased a horrific pitch in the dirt after getting behind in the count. Beloit’s starter, Wyatt Marks, didn’t have overwhelming stuff but created some deception via some bad mechanics that involved leaning his center of gravity awkwardly towards first base and swinging his glove arm out to conceal the pitch.
- Tirso Ornelas‘ swing continues to look out of sync, but it hasn’t prevented him from being effective. He hit another single and collected two walks, raising his season line to .287/.374/.391.
- Justin Lopez, still just 17, swatted his first home run of the season, a line drive shot over the right-field fence. Two innings later, he drove in a couple of runs, narrowing the gap to one run in the eighth.
- Tom Cosgrove, the Padres’ 12th-round draft pick last year, had accumulated 14 strikeouts over his previous two starts. While it wasn’t a long outing for Cosgrove, he only allowed three hits and an unearned run in four innings. Perhaps, his most notable moment of the day came on his lone strikeout, when he induced a desperate whiff by Austin Beck, the sixth overall pick out of high school last June. Cosgrove then came back with a fastball on the outside corner for a called strike three.
- As Dylan Sinn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported yesterday, MacKenzie Gore threw a simulated game following the TinCaps victory. We’ll look to update you more in the next couple of days.
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