Franmil Reyes (Photo: Grant Wickes)
Saturday night featured a lot of interesting story lines as both Chris Paddack and Nick Margevicius made their first starts after being promoted. Elsewhere, El Paso continues to win, the TinCaps lost at home Tri-City won and the AZL clubs fell.
Chihuahuas 5, Salt Lake Bees 4
Key Statistics: LF Forrestt Allday, 3-for-5, SB (5), 2 RBI; DH Brett Nicholas, 2-for-5, R, 2B; RF Franmil Reyes, 1-for-4, R, HR (15), RBI, BB; SS Dusty Coleman, 1-for-4, HR (8), RBI; RHP Chris Huffman, 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Trey Wingenter, IP, BB; RHP Rowan Wick (W, 2-0) 1.1 IP, K; RHP Phil Maton (S, 2) IP, 2 K.
Prospect Watch: El Paso won again and now have a four-game lead over Salt Lake. … RF Franmil Reyes homered and drew a walk in the El Paso win. Reyes’ 15th homer of the year gave him back the team lead, which is pretty impressive, considering he had a five-week stint in San Diego. The big fellow is striking out more than you’d like but he drawn a walk in eight of his last ten games and his .430 on-base percentage would be seventh in the PCL, if he had enough at-bats to qualify. … Shortstop Dusty Coleman homered for his only hit of the night. Coleman, 31, has big league experience and a pretty good glove at shortstop. This year, he is striking out in a staggering 48% of his bats, which has led to a wRC+ of 47. … Add three more hits to Forrestt Allday’s ledger, as the outfielder continues to be as hot as East County in July. Allday is now 14-for-26 in July with four stolen bases.
Missions 7, Arkansas Travelers 2
Key Statistics: SS Matthew Batten 1-for-3, R, 2 BB; 3B Ty France 2-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI; DH Webster Rivas 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B; 2B Peter Van Gansen 3-for-3, R, BB, 3 RBI; RHP Chris Paddack (W, 1-0) 6 IP, H, ER, BB, 5 K; RHP Erik Johnson 2 IP, 3 K.
Prospect Watch: John Conniff was on hand to witness Chris Paddack’s Double-A debut.
Storm 12, Visalia Rawhide 1
Key Statistics: LF Buddy Reed 2-for-5, 2 R, 3B, RBI; C Luis Torrens 2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB; RF Nate Easley 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, RBI; SS Allen Cordoba 2-for-2, R, 2B, 2 RBI; 2B-SS Chris Baker 3-for-4, 2 R, HR (2), 3 RBI; LHP Nick Margevicius (W, 1-0) 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Carter Capps 2 IP, 2 H, R, K.
Prospect Watch: The Storm used a seven-run first inning to blow out Visalia at The Diamond. … Lefty Nick Margevicius was outstanding in his Storm debut, as the southpaw pitched six shutout innings to start his Cal League stint. While he struck out just three batters, Margevicius only allowed four hits and peppered the strike zone all night long. … Infielder Chris Baker capped off the first inning by slugging a homer, his second of the year. Baker has had a rough year, that started in spring when he was hit in the head by a pitch. He missed some time in May after being hit once again. Baker has some sneaky pop in his bat and is 6-for-14 over his last four games. He figures to bounce around the dirt for the Storm the rest of the way. … Shortstop Allen Cordoba had his first multi-hit game of the season, as the infielder’s bat is starting to come to life. Cordoba, who was involved in a scary car crash in the off-season, has slowly worked his way back into form while playing in Lake Elsinore. Cordoba’s numbers overall look ugly but he is 4-for-9 over his current, three-game hitting streak. Cordoba was in the big leagues last year but you must also remember that in 2016 he was in rookie ball.
Storm moves: INF Justin Lopez’s broken thumb in Fort Wayne led to a pair of moves that impacted the Storm. Kelvin Melean was sent to Fort Wayne to plug Lopez’s spot and Ruddy Giron was activated from the DL.
Bowling Green Hot Rods 5, TinCaps 4
Key Statistics: CF Jeisson Rosario 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI; RF Tirso Ornelas 3-for-4, 2B, RBI; SS Gabriel Arias 1-for-3, R, BB; LHP Tom Cosgrove 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; LHP Ben Sheckler 3 IP, 3 H, ER.
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps dropped another one at home, dropping their overall record back to .500. … Center fielder Jeisson Rosario had a three-hit game, falling a homer short of the cycle. Rosario has a .392 on-base percentage as an 18-year-old in the Midwest League. … Speaking of teenagers, Tirso Ornelas also had three hits, including a double. Ornelas has broken out a slump and has six hits over his last four starts, after enduring a 3-for-27 stretch. Like Rosario, Ornelas’ ability to get on-base has been one of the best developments in Fort Wayne this year. … With Margevicius’s promotion, Tom Cosgrove shifted back into the rotation. He worked three innings, giving up three earned runs. On the year, he’s been more effective as a starter than from the bullpen.
Dust Devils 3, Everett Aquasox 0
Key Statistics: C Blake Hunt 1-for-4; 1B Justin Paulsen 2-for-3, 3 R, 2B, BB; 2B Olivier Basabe 3-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; LHP Ramon Perez (W, 1-1) 5.2 IP, 4 H, 8 K; RHP Wen-Hua Sung IP, H, 3 K; RHP Gabe Mosser (S, 1) IP.
Prospect Watch: David Jay was in Pasco for coverage of the Dust Devils’ win.
AZL Angels 9, AZL Padres-1 4
Key Statistics: DH Nick Gatewood 1-for-4, R, 2B, BB, RBI; CF Jawuan Harris 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI; LHP Omar Cruz (L, 0-1) 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; LHP Omar Fernandez 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER; RHP Carlos Belen 1 IP, H, BB, 3 K.
AZL Giants Black 7, AZL Padres-2 3
Key Statistics: 2B Jordy Barley 1-for-3, R, HR (3), RBI; DH Jonny Homza 2-for-3, 2B; 3B-2B Sean Guilbe 1-for-3, 2B, R; RHP Manny Guzman 4 IP, 4 H, ER, 5 K; RHP Dominic Taccolini (L, 0-1) IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 K.
Prospect Watch: It was another rough night in the desert, as both AZL squads went down. … Jordy Barley hit another home run Saturday night, as the talented infielder continues his breakout after a slow start. The 18-year-old has impressive athleticism and based on early returns, he has some pop in the bat. Barley is slugging .500 in the desert so far this season. … 12th-rounder Sean Gulibe made his professional debut and had a double in three at-bats. Guilbe signed for $300,000 — $175,000 that counted towards the draft bonus pool. The infielder was committed to the University of Tennessee. … RHP Carlos Belen struck out the side around a walk and a hit, in an impressive inning of relief. Belen, a former infielder, has been reported to possess a heater in the mid-90’s. Belen has nine strikeouts in seven innings of work, although he has walked six. … Dominic Tacolini, the club’s 10th-round selection last summer, made his first appearance of the year after suffering an injury early in spring training.
