Cory Spangenberg of El Paso. Photo credit: Grant Wickes
All four full-season teams were in action Thursday. El Paso and San Antonio won at home, while the Storm wrapped a homestand with a loss. The TinCaps lost on the road in Kane County.
Brett Nicholas hit his tenth home run on Thursday night. Photo Credit: Grant Wickes.
Chihuahuas 11, Tacoma Rainiers 3
Key Statistics: 3B Cory Spangenberg, 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR (2), 5 RBI, BB; C Brett Nicholas, 1-for-5, RS, HR (10) 3 RBI; 2B Luis Urias, 0-for-3, RS, 2 BB; RHP Luis Perdomo (W, 3-1) 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K; RHP Kazuhisa Makita. IP, K.
Prospect Watch: El Paso cruised to a win over the Mariners’ top affiliate at home. The Chihuahuas only had seven hits but they did draw nine walks. … Cory Spangenberg had a big night, finishing just a triple shy of the cycle. Spangenberg has been productive overall since being demoted, hitting .302/.339/.566, although his strikeout rate is actually worse since his demotion, hovering around 36%. … Catcher Brett Nicholas homered, his only hit in five at-bats. Nicholas’ ten homers are tied for second in the league behind Franmil Reyes, who got the night off. … RHP Luis Perdomo continues to impress in Triple-A, as he earned his third win in four starts since he was sent down. The righty allowed a pair of earned runs in six innings while striking out six. Perdomo’s command has been excellent — he has walked just three batters in his last 22 innings pitched. With the big league club starved for pitching depth, Perdomo may be on the move sooner than later.
Roster Moves: There were a ton of roster moves throughout the system. For El Paso, righty Brett Kennedy will head to the 7-day disabled list. To take his place on the roster, RHP Jesse Scholtens was promoted from San Antonio. RHP Lake Bachar will head to San Antonio from Lake Elsinore to take Scholtens’ spot.
Flying Chancels (Missions) 3, Frisco RoughRiders 1
Key Statistics: SS Fernando Tatis Jr., 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI; C Austin Allen, 1-for-2, RBI, BB; LHP Logan Allen (W, 5-1) 6.2 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 9 K; LHP Jose Castillo (S, 4) IP, 2 K.
Prospect Watch: David Jay flew out to San Antonio and provided excellent coverage of Logan Allen’s start tonight. Read his game story here.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6, Storm 2
Key Statistics: LF Buddy Reed, 1-for-4; 3B Hudson Potts, 2-for-3, R, BB; 1B Brad Zunica, 1-for-4, HR (3), R, 2 RBI; RHP Ronald Bolaños (L, 0-3) 2.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Diomar Lopez, 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K; RHP Austin Smith, 2 IP, BB, 4 K.
Prospect Watch: The Storm allowed five runs in the third, losing the final game of their homestand. … All of Lake Elsinore’s offense came off the bat of Brad Zunica, who hit a two-run homer — his third of the year. Zunica, who possesses some of the best raw power in the system, is hitting .286/.360/.571 in May. He has slightly improved his strikeout rate and has his walk rate hovering over 14%. … Buddy Reed had a single in four at-bats Thursday. After a remarkable April, Reed is hitting just .194/.275/.333 in May. … Righty Ronald Bolaños continues to struggle, as the Cuban righty failed to make it out of the third inning. The 21-year-old allowed a grand slam to former first-rounder Jeren Kendall before being pulled with two outs in third. Through six games (five starts) Bolaños has a 9.53 ERA to go with a 2.00 WHIP.
More roster moves: Diomar Lopez took the roster spot vacated by Lake Bachar’s promotion. Lopez, a 21-year-old from Nicaragua, had been in extended. He pitched primarily for Fort Wayne last year.
Kane County Cougars 3, TinCaps 1
Key Statistics: 2B Esteury Ruiz, 1-for-5; RF Tirso Ornelas, 1-for-4, R; LHP Ben Sheckler (L, 0-1) 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 K; LHP Travis Radke, 2.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 K.
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps had a light offensive attack, scratching out five singles in a loss. … Infielder Luis Almanzar made his Fort Wayne debut, taking the place of Reinaldo Ilarraza, who was sent back to extended spring training. He drew a walk in four trips to the plate. … At 25, Travis Radke is old for Low-A but he has been quite good out of the Fort Wayne bullpen. Radke threw 2.1 innings, striking out four batters. Radke has 32 strikeouts in 19.2 innings and is second on the squad in punch-outs, just 12 behind starter Nick Margevicius. … Ben Sheckler stepped into a turn in the rotation. He was very sharp through his first four innings, allowing only one infield single. But the big lefty, who had been working two innings or less per outing over the last month, gave up a two-run homer in the fifth before giving way.
For full box scores, see MILB.com.
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