Luis Urías now has 10 home runs on the year. (Photo: Jose Salgado)
Chihuahuas 7 Sacramento River Cats 4
Key Statistics: CF Boog Powell 2-5; SS Luis Urias 3-4, 2B, 2 HR (10), 4 RBI; 2B Esteban Quiroz 1-3, HR (7), RBI; LHP Logan Allen 1.0 IP 3H 2 BB K; LHP Kyle McGrath (W, 2-1) 4. 0 IP 5H 3 R 3 ER K; RHP Robert Stock 1.0 IP 2H 2 K; LHP Sammy Soliz (S,1) 1.0 IP 2 K.
Prospect Watch: El Paso opened their nine-game road trip with a win and are now 13-3 on the road, and 25-11 overall. Luis Urías hit two home runs and the Chihuahuas have now hit 89 in 37 games. … At the break last year, Urías owned a line of .278/.391/.411 that actually trended down from a somewhat disappointing second half in Double-A the season before. He bounced back with a big August, and has only improved from there in the PCL this season. In 102 plate appearances, he is hitting .367/.441/.844 and 20 of his 33 hits have gone for extra-bases. Urias trails only Astros slugging prospect Yordan Alvarez in slugging and OPS, and holds a slight – and completely improbable – edge in IsoP. It’s not clear what else the Padres are looking for Urías to improve, but it seems clear he’s not being challenged where he is. Fans should, though, expect him to need to continue his development at the big league level. … Logan Allen took a line drive off of his left forearm from the first batter he faced. He stayed in the game to finish the frame, but when he was scheduled to be the second batter in the second inning, he never came out on deck. There is no word of any serious injury as of now.
Roster Notes: With Austin Allen joining the big league club, defensive wiz A.J. Kennedy has been assigned to El Paso. The 2015 30th-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton got the start and had a double. He’ll pair with veteran Chris Stewart to hold down the fort behind the plate for El Paso.
Corpus Christi Hooks 2, Sod Poodles 1 (10 innings)
Key Statistics: SS Owen Miller 1-4, 2B, BB, SB; Rodrigo Orozco 1-4, HR (2), RBI, BB 2 SB; 1B Kyle Overstreet 0-2, 2 BB; RHP Miguel Diaz 3.2 IP 3H R ER 2 BB 5 K; LHP Travis Radke (L, 2-1) 2.1 IP 2H R 4 K.
Prospect Watch: Miguel Diaz had a good night on the road, but the Sod Poodles dropped their third straight game. Amarillo struck out 19 times as the offense continues to be a problem for the Sod Poodles. … In his second rehab appearance with Amarillo, Diaz threw 67 pitches to get through 3.2 innings of one-run ball. While he’s struck out seven, he’s also issued five walks in his 6.2 innings. Originally slated to be in the mix for a multi-inning role in the big league bullpen, Diaz had arthroscopic knee surgery before spring training games began. He is eight days into his rehab assignment. … As good a park as Hodgetown is to hit in, Owen Miller has been a better hitter on the road this season with a .296/.383/.451 line. … Third baseman Hudson Potts had a tough night with four strikeouts in five at-bats. Potts now has 45 strikeouts in 32 games.
If you are in San Diego, better see MacKenzie quickly. Photo: Jerry Espinoza.
San Jose Giants 8 Storm 0
Key Statistics: C Jalen Washington 1-2, 2B, 2 BB; RF Tirso Ornelas 1-3, BB: 3B Eguy Rosario 1-3, BB; 1B Olivier Basabe 1-3, BB; LHP MacKenzie Gore (L, 3-1) 5.2 IP 4H R ER BB 7 K HR
Prospect Watch: The Storm’s record sank to 16-20, despite another strong performance by MacKenzie Gore as the offense was held to five hits on the night. Gore gave up a solo home run, but that was it, as he threw 89 pitches, 58 for strikes. The dominant lefty struck out seven more and kept his ERA at a league-best 1.22. The question is when, not if, he will be moved up to Double-A Amarillo. My best guess is that it should be sometime around the draft in early June. By that time he will have around 50 innings of work in the Cal League and right now, there really hasn’t been a hiccup. He has a 1.22 ERA in 37 innings, with 52 strikeouts against seven walks. He has given up just five earned runs in seven starts, so it’s probably time for MacKenzie to scope out some chicken-fried steak in Amarillo. … The game got away late as San Jose rallied for seven runs in the final two frames. Righty Jordan Guerrero, used to working in shorter stints, came in with the bases loaded and got a strikeout in the sixth, then tossed a quick 10-pitch seventh inning. He ran into trouble after sitting down for a second time though, giving up hits to the first three batters he faced in the eighth. The big man battled back from there, getting the final three batters he faced.
Beloit Snappers 10 TinCaps 1
Key Statistics: 2B Xavier Edwards 1-4, 3B, RRHP Sam Keating (L, 0-1) 3.1 IP 5H R ER K
Prospect Watch: Sam Keating, the Padres’ fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft out of Canterbury High School in Fort Myers, Florida, was solid in his Midwest League debut. He sailed through the first three innings but gave up a pair of doubles in the fourth inning before giving way. The righty has shown flashes since the Padres gave him a $900,000 bonus to buy him out of a Clemson scholarship, but has rarely showed the mid-90s fastball reported early in his senior year of high school and has struggled with his command in the organization. Last season in Tri-City he had a 5.20 ERA in 55 innings with a 34 to 28 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … The TinCaps offense was held to three hits, with Xavier Edwards scoring after he connected for the only extra-base hit on the evening. Edwards has been on fire with a .361/.432/.426 line and has only struck out 10 times in 123 plate appearances. The only flaw in his numbers is that he has been caught stealing seven times in 18 attempts. … The game in Beloit was played before a rowdy crowd of 946 people.
For the box scores of all the games please go to the MiLB.com scoreboards.
