Gabriel Arias hit for the cycle Monday. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
The excitement of Luis Urias’s arrival in the big leagues dominated the storylines in Padreland Monday, however, there was still plenty of action Monday night. El Paso won in Tacoma, while the Missions shutout Corpus Christi. Oh, and Gabriel Arias hit for the cycle for the TinCaps in South Bend.
Chihuahuas 1, Tacoma Rainiers 0
Key Statistics: 3B Ty France, 3-for-4, R, 2B; RF Forrestt Allday, 1-for-4; LHP Logan Allen (W, 4-0) 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Carter Capps, IP; RHP Rowan Wick (S, 8) IP, 2 K
Prospect Watch: El Paso rode Logan Allen and the bullpen to a 1-0 win in Tacoma. … Third baseman Ty France had three more hits and scored the only run of the game. France has continued to rakewith El Paso, hitting .309/.377/.588 since arriving earlier in the month. Between El Paso and San Antonio, France has slugged a career-high 21 homers. … Allen continues to roll, as the lefty pitched five shutout innings. He has a 0.82 ERA in four PCL starts, although 21:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 22 innings isn’t as impressive. Allen might not start again until the playoffs. One thing to watch: he has thrown 143 innings — about 20 more than last year. The Padres may want to limit his workload if El Paso advances in the playoffs.
Missions 5, Corpus Christi Hooks 0
Key Statistics: LF Josh Naylor, 1-for-4, R, HR (16), RBI; 1B Kyle Overstreet, 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B; RF Michael Gettys, 1-for-4, R, HR (15), 2 RBI; RHP Chris Huffman (W, 1-1) 7 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K; RHP Gerardo Reyes, 2 IP, 3 K.
Prospect Watch: The Missions rode a couple of homers and an excellent outing by Chris Huffman to an easy victory. … Outfielder Josh Naylor had his 16th homer of the year in the victory. Naylor has had a very good year for the Missions but the homer was just his ninth since May 1st. While the power has not been abundant, his plate discipline has been, and he continues to get acclimated to playing the outfield. … First baseman Kyle Overstreet had three hits and scored a pair of runs Monday. Overstreet is 8-for-11 over the last three games, after enduring a 2-for-26 stretch. The versatile Overstreet hasn’t been as good offensively as he was in Lake Elsinore last season, but he has belted a career-high eight homers for the Missions this season. … Huffman pitched seven shutout innings to earn the victory. Huffman, who made the spot start because Chris Paddack was pushed back until Wednesday, has been good in San Antonio since being demoted after a tough stretch with El Paso. He struck out a season-high seven while walking just two.
Lancaster JetHawks 6, Storm 3
Key Statistics: CF Edward Olivares, 2-for-4, R, HR (11), 2B, 2 RBI; 2B Eguy Rosario, 1-for-4, SB (7); DH Luis Torrens, 1-for-4, R; RHP Bryan Mitchell (L, 1-3) 7 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Prospect Watch: The Storm lost their series finale in Lancaster. … Outfielder Edward Olivares was the only Storm player who had more than one hit, which included his 11th homer of the year. Olivares hasn’t had a huge impact this year, but he has reached double-digits in homers (11) and steals (17). He has been about a league-average bat in the Cal League this season. … RHP Bryan Mitchell made another rehab start and ultimately took the loss. The righty went seven innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits. Mitchell has averaged a strikeout per inning in Elsinore and opposing hitters are batting just .223, but he has allowed six homers in 28.1 innings, which has inflated his ERA to 4.13. His rehab assignment was timed so that he’d finish his 30 days just after big league rosters expand on Saturday, so his next appearance would be in San Diego.
TinCaps 15, South Bend Cubs 5
Key Statistics: RF Jack Suwinski. 3-for-6, 4 R, 2B, RBI; CF Jeisson Rosario, 2-for-4, 3 R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB; 3B Owen Miller, 4-for-6, 2 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI; SS Gabriel Arias, 5-for-6, 2 R, 2B, 3B, HR (6), 5 RBI; DH Esteury Ruiz, 2-for-4, R, 2B, SB (41); LHP Ryan Weathers, 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, BB, 5 K; RHP Gabe Mosser (W, 1-0) 4.1 IP, 4 H, BB, 6 K.
Prospect Watch: A day after enduring a brutal loss, Fort Wayne bounced back by destroying South Bend. … Shortstop Gabriel Arias had a monster game, hitting for the cycle, as part of a career-high five-hit night. Arias singled in the first inning and third innings, homered in the fourth, doubled in the sixth and tripled in the ninth. Arias is the first Fort Wayne player since 1993 to hit for the cycle. The 18-year-old shortstop is finishing strong, hitting a monstrous .312/.385/.613, with four homers in August. … Outfielder Jack Suwinski had three hits and scored four runs out of the leadoff spot. As hot as Arias has been, Suwinski – with a 1.056 OPS – has been arguably the best hitter in the Midwest League in August. … Shortstop Owen Miller had four hits to raise his average to .373. … LHP Ryan Weathers pitched well, going 2.2 innings and striking out five. Weathers has shown good stuff in his pair of outings in the Midwest League and has struck out nine with just one walk in six innings.
Dust Devils 13, Eugene Emeralds 0
Key Statistics: SS Xavier Edwards, 3-for-6, R, RBI, SB (9); 2B Tucupita Marcano, 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 SB (4,5); C Blake Hunt, 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI; RF Michael Curry, 2-for-6, R, 3B, RBI; 1B Justin Paulsen, 2-for-4, 3 R, 2B, HR (3), 4 RBI; CF Tre Carter, 3-for-5, 2 R, HR (5), 3 RBI 2 SB (9, 10); DH Luis Asuncion, 2-for-5, 2 R; RHP Manny Guzman (W, 1-0) 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 K; RHP Jordan Guerrero, IP, H.
Prospect Watch: The Dust Devils kept their slim playoff hopes alive by pounding out 20 hits to beat the Emeralds in Eugene. … On August 15th, Xavier Edwards was hitting .136 — then he caught fire. Edwards had three more hits Monday and is now 13-for-34 (.382 avg.) over his last nine games. His torrid stretch has raised his average to .306 and he has a sparkling .442 on-base percentage with Tri-City. Edwards also has been a menace on the basepaths, stealing nine bases without being caught. … Second baseman Tucupita Marcano had three hits and stole two bases in the win. Marcano went through a bit of a slump but has righted the ship with back-to-back three-hit games. Marcano is hitting .314/.355/.429 with just six strikeouts in 74 plate appearances. … RHP Jordan Guerrero pitched a scoreless inning Monday night as he made his first appearance in two weeks. The big-bodied righty has yet to allow an earned run this season for the Dust Devils and has walked just two against 26 strikeouts in 20 innings for Tri-City this season. He sat to nurse minor shoulder tightness. … The Padres moved 18-year-old Manny Guzman up for the Dust Devils’ final week, and the big Dominican righty responded with five scoreless frames. After allowing opponents to hit over .300 against him in the AZL during his professional debut last season, he’s shaved 100 points off that number this year while continuing to strike out a batter an inning.
Subscribers can read John’s notes from his swing through Tri-City and Lake Elsinore for more on the dynamic middle-infield duo and Guerrero.
AZL Padres-1 8, AZL Royals 2
Key Statistics: 2B Yerry Landinez, 3-for-5, 2 RBI; LF Greg Lambert, 1-for-3, R, RBI, 3 BB; RF Agustin Ruiz, 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB; CF Jawuan Harris, 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B, BB; C Rainier Aguilar, 2-for-5, 2 RBI; SS Reinaldo Ilarraza, 2-for-5, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI; RHP Nick Thwaits, 3 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K; LHP Tyler Mortensen (W, 1-0) 3 IP, 2 H, 5 K.
AZL Rangers 2, AZL Padres-2 1
Key Statistics: SS Jordy Barley, 2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI SB (12); DH Blinger Perez, 1-for-2, BB; C Jonny Homza, 1-for-4; RHP Frank Lopez, 3.1 IP, 2 H, R, 4 BB, 6 K; RHP Dominic Taccolini, 2.2 IP, H, 3 K; LHP Trent Shelton (L, 4-3) IP, 3 H, ER, 2 K.
Prospect Watch: The AZL clubs split games on the final day of the regular season. Neither AZL club qualified for the playoffs. … Outfielder Agustin Ruiz had two more hits and hit safely in the last five games of the season. Ruiz, 18, only homered once in the desert but led the Arizona League with 10 triples, while slugging .466. … LHP Tyler Mortensen earned his first professional win while enjoying his best outing as a pro. Mortensen, who hails from Davis, California, bypassed a chance to pitch at San Jose State to sign with the Padres. The six-foot-four lefty pitched three scoreless innings, striking out five. After a rough start to his professional career, he allowed just one run in his last 14.1 innings and issued only one walk in the final nine. … RHP Nick Thwaits started for the AZL Padres-1 and delivered three scoreless innings of his own. The righty struck out four and walked three. Thwaits, who had committed to play at Kent State, finished his first pro season with a 2.42 ERA with a very strong 35:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
