Heavy rains in West Texas forced a postponement in El Paso, while the other clubs all lost, including a no-hitter against the TinCaps on a forgettable Thursday for the Padres organization.
El Paso Chihuahuas: Postponed
The Chihuahuas’ series opener against the Reno Aces was postponed due to heavy rains and flooding in the El Paso area. And, believe it or not, this is a day before our own John Conniff is due to land in El Paso to cover the upcoming homestand. The game will be made up tomorrow as part of a doubleheader.
Matt Waldron‘s knuckleball could be an interesting future development. (Photo: John Moore)
Midland RockHounds 7, Missions 3
Key Stats: RHP Matt Waldron, 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K; RF Esteury Ruiz, 2-for-4, 2B, BB, SB; SS Eguy Rosario, 3-for-5, 2B, R; 1B Kyle Overstreet, 1-for-4, 2B, R, RBI; 2B Kelvin Melean, 1-for-4, RBI
Prospect Watch: What started as a gem for Matt Waldron ended on a sour note, as the right-hander who has been thrilling fans of the knuckleball and retro pitch counts alike threw six scoreless innings before seeing a three-run lead evaporate after a series of miscues in the seventh inning. It began with a one-out single before Waldron threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt. Next, a passed ball, a hit by pitch, and a walk chased Waldron from the game. A single and a grand slam put five runs on the board for Midland, three of which were charged to Waldron. In five starts since being promoted to San Antonio, Waldron is 0-3 with a 5.65 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched with 27 strikeouts. … A two-hit night for Esteury Ruiz continues a red-hot August. In 40 at-bats, Ruiz is slashing .350/.447/.525 in the eighth calendar month of the year. … Three hits for Eguy Rosario has him working with a hitting streak after a cold start to the month. He has four of his seven hits for the month in the last two games. … Baseball players (and fans) can be a superstitious lot, so read into it what you will that Kyle Overstreet hit his first double of August after switching his uniform number to 8. Overstreet holds a .680 OPS on the road vs a .597 mark in home games in 2021. … Kelvin Melean drove in his 29th run of the year. Melean, a 22-year-old infielder from Guatire, Venezuela, signed with the Padres in the summer of 2015.
South Bend Cubs 3, TinCaps 0
Key Stats: RHP Carlos Guarate, 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K; RHP Wen-Hua Sung, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K; LF Grant Little, 0-for-3, HBP
Grant Little was the only TinCap to reach base last night. Photo: Jeff Nycz
Prospect Watch: In a game in which the TinCaps had the first runner of the game reach base and end the inning on third base, they were no-hit in a nine-inning game by three pitchers from their intrastate rivals visiting from South Bend. Grant Little was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then advanced to second on a throwing error on a pickoff, before finding himself on third after a groundout. The TinCaps were unable to capitalize, and only reached base again via a pair of walks. … If not for the no-no, Carlos Guarate ‘s quality start would’ve stood out much more. For Guarate, it was his best start as a TinCap since being promoted on July 18th. The 20-year-old righty is 0-4 with a 5.92 ERA in five starts for Fort Wayne, striking out 14 in 24.1 innings of work. Prior to that, he went 2-2 with a 4.94 ERA and struck out 53 in 58.1 innings of work for Lake Elsinore. … Wen-Hua Sung made his third straight scoreless appearance, lowering his ERA to 2.77 for the season. He has a pair of saves and has struck out 21 in 13 innings this year. A 24-year-old right-hander from Taifung, Taiwan, 2021 marks Sung’s first stint with a full season club after having spent 2018 and 2019 with Tri-Cities.
Visalia Rawhide 7, Storm 4
Key Statistics: SS Euribiel Angeles, 1-for-4, BB; 1B Brandon Valenzuela, 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, RBI; CF Angel Solarte, 2-for-4, BB, RBI; DH Carlos Luis, 2-for-5; RHP Dwayne Matos (L, 0-3) 3.1 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; LHP Gabriel Morales, 3.2 IP, H, BB, 5 K; RHP Chase Walter, 2 IP, H, 6 K.
Prospect Watch: The Storm pounded out 10 hits and drew seven walks but could never produce a big inning. Lake Elsinore went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. … Brandon Valenzuela did his part with three hits, including two doubles on Thursday night. Valenzuela, 20, extended his hitting streak to eight games. The catcher and sometimes first baseman missed nine days at the beginning of the month for an undisclosed reason but he has been red-hot since reentering the lineup. In four games this month, Valenzuela is 7-for-14 with three doubles, five runs scored, six RBI, four walks, and just one strikeout. Overall, Valenzuela is hitting .311/.391/.454 in 2021. … Center fielder Angel Solarte had a pair of singles and drew a walk in the loss to Rawhide. The 20-year-old outfielder had a paltry 2% walk rate coming into August but he has drawn a walk in consecutive games for the first time all year. In August, albeit a small sample, Solarte has drawn four walks in 40 plate appearances. In July he walked just twice in 94 plate appearances. He hasn’t shown a lot of power but he has been able to make consistent contact with the Storm this season. … Robert Hassell III came off the bench in the ninth inning and appeared as a pinch-runner. Hopefully, this means the top prospect will be back in the lineup soon. … RHP Dwayne Matos started the game but was knocked around by fledgling Rawhide. Matos allowed six hits and seven earned runs in 3.1 innings of work. The 20-year-old pitcher got off to a hot start in May, pitching to a 2.08 ERA that was aided by some good BABIP luck. Matos has failed to complete five innings in each of his last four starts. During those four starts, Matos has allowed 24 hits in 16 innings. … RHP Chase Walter finished the last two innings in fashion by striking out the side in both innings. The former Western Carolina hurler has been the most dominant pitcher on the Storm staff in 2021. He has struck out 46 batters in 24.2 innings.
Cole Cummings hit .341/.469/.513 for UC-Santa Barbara this past year. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
ACL Royals Gold 4, ACL Padres 1 (7 innings)
Key Statistics: 1B Cole Cummings, 1-for-2; LHP Jackson Wolf, IP, H, R, K; RHP Adam Smith, 2 IP, 3 K; LHP Ryan Och (L, 0-1) IP, H, ER, BB, 2 K; RHP Garrett Hawkins, IP, 2 K.
Prospect Watch: While the TinCaps were being no-hit in Fort Wayne, the ACL Padres managed just one hit in a loss to one of the Royals’ ACL club. … It was a night of professional debuts in the desert, as a pair of recent draft picks made their professional debut. LHP Jackson Wolf started and allowed an unearned run in his one inning of work. He was able to notch his first professional strikeout. Wolf, 22, was drafted by the Padres in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, out of West Virginia. Wolf started 14 games for the Mountaineers in 2021, throwing 89 innings. … Former UC-Santa Barbara product Cole Cummings has seen time at both first and third base so far in his first 12 games of pro ball. San Diego also drafted another Gaucho, Marcos Castanon in the twelfth round. … RHP Garrett Hawkins notched a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless outing in his professional debut. The 6-foot-5 hurler hails from the province of Biggar, Saskatchewan. He was the first NAIA player taken in the 2021 draft but hasn’t pitched collegiality the last two seasons due to COVID-19 and border restrictions.
The Storm pounded out 10 walks and drew seven walks … typo 🙂
Thank you!