Round Rock Express 9, Chihuahuas 4
Key Stats: 3B Matthew Batten 2-for-4, HR (8), SB (7); LF Brent Rooker 1-for-3, 2B, BB; C Brett Sullivan 1-for-3, BB; LHP Ryan Weathers 4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R (0 ER), 1 K, 1 BB
Ryan Weathers in action earlier this year with El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado).
Prospect Watch: Four El Paso errors contributed to six unearned runs as Round Rock ran away with the rubber match of the short series. Ryan Weathers labored through 101 pitches in a weird outing. He wasn’t charged with any earned runs and had great life on his slider, yet six runs came in as he yielded nine hits through just 4.2 innings. The lefty got just two swinging strikes all afternoon, but the Express largely made soft contact against him. Nine starts into the year, the 22-year-old has a 6.93 ERA and continues to struggle to put hitters away as he experiments with his pitch mix. … El Paso’s lone lead of the day came when Matthew Batten connected on a two-run homer in the second inning. The blast was his eighth of the season and fifth in his last eight games. The 26-year-old infielder’s OPS is up to .953, almost 175 points above his mark in parts of three previous seasons with El Paso. Batten has significantly cut his strikeout rate on the year and has his walk rate back up in the range of his career-best pace from 2017 when he was in short-season ball. C.J. Abrams went 0-for-4 and finished the week just 4-for-29 with one double and walk.
Missions 7, Midland RockHounds 3
Key Stats: 1B Yorman Rodriguez 2-for-4, 2B, HR (4); RF Jorge Ona 2-for-2, HBP; LHP Gabriel Morales 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 K, 2 BB; LHP Osvaldo Hernandez 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 K; LHP Adrian Morejon 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R;
Prospect Watch: John Conniff finishes his on-site coverage from San Antonio with another win.
Ryan Bergert has been racking up strikeouts in Fort Wayne. Photo: Jeff Nycz).
West Michigan White Caps 8, TinCaps 0
Key Stats: LF Corey Rosier 0-for-2, 2 BB; C Adam Kerner 1-for-3, 2B, 2 E; RHP Ryan Bergert 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 K, 1 BB; RHP Wen-Hua Sung 1 IP, 2 K
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps were blanked for the second straight game as they fell to 4-15 this month. The offense scratched out just three hits against last year’s Tigers first-rounder Ty Madden and three relievers. The club also committed four errors to contribute to three unearned runs. … Catcher Adam Kerner had the team’s only extra-base hit, a double, but also committed a pair of errors in just his fifth game of the year. The 23-year-old signed as a free agent out of the University of San Diego in 2020 and is in his second season with the TinCaps. … Ryan Bergert needed 82 pitches to get through 3.2 innings. The righty has only made it through five innings in one of his eight starts. While he’s struck out 41 in 32.2 innings, opponents have connected for six homers against him, contributing to a 5.23 ERA on the year. … Reliever Wen-Hua Sung worked the lone clean frame for the TinCaps, striking out a pair in the ninth inning. The 25-year-old didn’t break with a club, but worked four strong outings for El Paso when they needed bullpen reinforcements and has posted a 2.35 ERA and struck out nine in 7.2 frames with the TinCaps.
Justin Farmer homered and stole a base Sunday. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Storm 19, Visalia Rawhide 11
Key Stats: 2B Max Ferguson 1-for-4, 2 BB, HBP, 2 SB (32); CF Justin Farmer 1-for-2, HR (5), 3 BB, HBP, SB (13); C Jared Alvarez-Lopez 2-for-3, 3B, 3 BB; 1B Cole Cummings 2-for-5, 3B, BB; LHP Jesus Gonzalez 4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 K, 1 BB; RHP Keegan Collett 2 IP, 3 K, 1 BB
Prospect Watch: The Storm collected 13 hits, 14 walks, got hit three times and swiped four bases on the way to a season-high 19 runs in a runaway victory over Visalia Sunday. Justin Farmer and Jared Alvarez-Lopez led the way, reaching base five times each and scoring seven runs. Farmer, 23, connected on his second homer of the series and fifth of the year and drew three walks to push his OBP up to .356 on the year. The undrafted free agent out of Florida International has flashed hints of power, but has struggled at times with pitch recognition and is hitting just .198 for the year so far. … Alvarez-Lopez capped off a strong offensive series in the Valley with a single, triple and three walks. The 21-year-old catcher went 5-for-11 in three games. Originally drafted out of high school in suburban Houston back in 2019, the backstop is getting his first taste of full-season ball this year. … Jesus Gonzalez, who left his last start with a minor leg injury, returned for his regular turn in the rotation Sunday. The 20-year-old lefty gave up a season-high five runs. After posting a strong 1.38 ERA despite an uninspiring strikeout-to-walk ratio in April, Gonzalez has struck out 17 in 15 innings this month but has surrendered 14 earned runs in the process.
