Reno Aces 10, Chihuahuas 5
Key Stats: LF Jurickson Profar 1-for-3, 2 BB; CF Jose Azocar 2-for-4, 2 2B, E; SS Pedro Florimon 1-for-3, 3B, BB; RHP Shaun Anderson 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 BB; RHP Steven Wilson 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: While a four-run ninth inning made the game look slightly closer than it really was, the Chihuahuas probably wish John Conniff-induced rain had hit Sunday evening. Mark has coverage from the game here.
Midland RockHounds 5, Missions 3
Key Stats: 3B Allen Cordoba 1-for-3, HR (5), BB; CF Agustin Ruiz 1-for-4, 2B; LHP Osvaldo Hernandez 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 K, 1 BB; LHP Jerry Keel 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 BB
Prospect Watch: Midland hit Missions starter Osvaldo Hernandez hard for the second time in the series, putting up four runs against him in five innings. The lefty put together a strong stretch in July, but has allowed 14 earned runs in 12.2 innings over three starts this month. Now 23, Hernandez has posted a 257:75 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 279.2 innings since signing with the Padres in the winter of 2016. His strikeout rate is at a career low in his first taste of the upper minors. … Allen Cordoba continued his big month with a homer and a walk Sunday, pushing his line for August to .372./426/.535. The 25-year-old infielder, who has made all but three of his starts in the field at third base for San Antonio, sports an .849 OPS in his best campaign since his 2016 season in the now-defunct Appalachian League inspired the Padres to select him in the Rule 5 draft and hold on to him in the big leagues through 2017. The Panama national will be eligible for minor league free agency after this season. … Two days after he was ejected one inning into his start when the umpiring crew found a questionable substance on his glove, Jerry Keel came back to the mound for three innings of relief work Sunday afternoon. It’s not clear whether Keel still faces a potential suspension.
TinCaps 6, South Bend Cubs 1
Key Stats: SS Justin Lopez 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI; 3B Ethan Skender 2-for-3, BB; 2B Chris Givin 2-for-5, 2B; LHP Connor Lehmann 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 K, 2 BB
Justin Lopez has done damage when he’s made contact, but it hasn’t happened with enough frequency. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: Fort Wayne’s offense jumped former teammate Anderson Espinoza, who they faced for the second time on the homestand, for four runs in the first inning and the TinCaps won their third straight to close out the series. Justin Lopez hit a bases-clearing double in his first trip to the plate and added a single in the third. The 21-year-old infielder has hit in three straight to break out of a 4-for-35 slump, but still has seen his line for the year sink to .226/.304/.369. While that’s a slight step up from Lopez’s line in his two years with the TinCaps when they were at Low-A, he owns a career-high 32% strikeout rate. … Connor Lehmann, relying on his big-breaking curve ball, celebrated his 25th birthday with his best start of the year, tossing five scoreless innings and giving up just two hits. The Padres’ seventh-rounder out of Saint Louis University in 2019, Lehmann started the year on the IL, then made nine appearances ramping up in Lake Elsinore before joining Fort Wayne to take Erik Sabrowski‘s spot in the rotation at the end of July. The 6-foot-7 righty was sitting in the upper-80s Sunday, but his low- to mid-70s curve ate up Cubs hitters. … While Sabrowski has not been moved to the IL, he hasn’t appeared with the TinCaps since July 24, when he lowered his ERA to 1.86.
Storm 15, Visalia Rawhide 7
Angel Solarte is finding his footing at the plate for Lake Elsinore. (Photo: Dinur Blum)
Key Stats: SS Euribiel Angeles 3-for-6, PO/CS; CF Robert Hassell III 3-for-5, 2B, BB; 1B Brandon Valenzuela 3-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI; LF Jarryd Dale 3-for-6, 2B; RF Angel Solarte 3-for-4, BB; RHP Ethan Routzahn 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB, HBP, WP; RHP Chase Walter 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 K, 1 BB
Prospect Watch: Five different Storm hitters each collected three hits as the home team scored against six different Visalia pitchers in a laugher. Lake Elsinore actually trailed 4-0 and 7-4 early on, but their offense scored 11 unanswered runs and Chase Walter and Jason Reynolds allowed just two runners over the final four frames. … Euribiel Angeles collected his second straight three-hit game. The infielder missed about a week at the end of July, but is 24-for-60 with seven extra-base hits over the 13 games since he returned. He’s struck out just six times in that stretch and has only gone hitless once. The 19-year-old’s .351 average now leads the Low-A West league batting title race by 21 points. … Outfielder Angel Solarte reached base four times on three singles and a walk. The 20-year-old, who grew and filled out significantly between the end of the 2019 campaign and when he arrived at spring training this year, has improved each month since joining the Storm in late May. With his three-hit day, he pushed his August line to .340/.418/.426. Encouragingly, after drawing just four walks in his first 161 plate appearances, he’s taken six free passes in 49 trips to the plate this month. … Relievers Alan Mundo and Ethan Routzahn both appeared after joining the Storm from the Arizona Complex League prior to the game. Routzahn, a 23-year-old sidearmer out of St. John’s who signed as an undrafted free agent last month, made three scoreless appearances in the desert. He allowed one run over 1.2 frames Sunday. Mundo, 21, originally signed out of Mexico in 2017and underwent surgery that made him miss all of the 2019 campaign. The righty struck out 16 in 10.1 innings in the desert, but also walked 11. In his first taste of full-season ball, he gave up three runs and also allowed three inherited runners to score in two innings.
