C.J. Abrams was quickly put to the test in his first professional appearance in center field. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)

Sugar Land Space Cowboys 17, Chihuahuas 14

Key Stats: CF C.J. Abrams 1-for-6, 3B (1), 2 R, 2 K; LF Brent Rooker 2-for-6, HR (9); C Luis Campusano 2-for-4, 2 BB; DH Nomar Mazara 4-for-5, 2B, HR (7); 3B Eguy Rosario 3-for-5, 2 2B; 2B Kelvin Melean 3-for-4, BB, 2B; RHP Pedro Avila 3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 K, 3 BB; LHP Jose Castillo 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB

Prospect Watch: With the wind blowing out, the clubs combined for 34 hits, half of them for extra-bases, and 16 walks while facing a total of 389 pitches. Six different El Paso batters logged multiple hits, led by Nomar Mazara, who came up a triple short of the cycle on a four-hit night. The left-handed outfielder now leads the Pacific Coast League with a 1.095 OPS. … Luis Campusano got his OPS back up to four digits with a single, double and two walks on the evening. The 23-year-old catcher has hit in nine of his last 10 games. … C.J. Abrams, coming off a pair of multi-hit games, made his first professional appearance in center field Sunday evening. The speedy 21-year-old, who logged 12 innings in right for the Padres earlier this year, has long been seen as a candidate for a move to center. He handled his chances on night one well. At the plate, he extended his hitting streak to five games. Over that stretch, he’s 10-for-22 with three walks against four strikeouts. … On a night when seven different Chihuahuas pitchers saw action, only lefty Jose Castillo got through unscathed. The big league veteran worked around a hit and walk in his inning of work to extend his scoreless inning streak to 6.1 frames over his eight Triple-A appearances.

Frisco RoughRiders 9, Missions 7

Key Stats: CF Esteury Ruiz 2-for-4, HR (8), SF; 3B Connor Hollis 2-for-5; C Yorman Rodriguez 3-for-5, 2 K; LF Korry Howell 1-for-3, 3B, BB; RHP Michel Baez 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, WP; LHP Adrian Morejon 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB

Prospect Watch: The Missions got a leadoff home run from Esteury Ruiz and rallied in the ninth to plate two and bring the tying run to the plate, but in between, the hosts in Frisco pounded out 15 hits to claim a split of the series. For Ruiz, who also collected a bunt hit to open the ninth, the homer was his third of the series and pushed his slugging percentage back above .600 for the first time in three weeks. The 23-year-old’s career high was 12 homers, which took him 117 games in Fort Wayne back in 2018. … Catcher Yorman Rodriguez led the way with three hits for San Antonio. The backstop’s feel for the barrel means that even with a hyper-aggressive approach at the plate, he’s never finished a season with a strikeout rate at or above 20%. … Michel Baez got hit hard for the first time since going out on a rehab assignment a month ago. The big righty issued a walk and allowed a single to open the fifth, then left a fastball over the plate to Dustin Harris, who deposited it well over the center field wall. The big righty bounced back to get a pair of groundouts before giving way after 23 total pitches. He had allowed just one run in 10.2 innings coming into the night. He continues to work every three to four days. … Adrian Morejon also opened his frame walk and single, the first two runners he’s allowed since joining San Antonio. However, the hard-throwing lefty quickly got a strikeout and double-play grounder to end his inning.

Jackson Wolf dominated for Fort Wayne on Sunday. (Photo: Jeff Nycz).

TinCaps 6, Quad Cities River Bandits 1

Key Stats: SS Jarryd Dale 2-for-4, BB; LF Corey Rosier 2-for-5, 2B; CF Robert Hassell III 1-for-3, BB; DH Brandon Valenzuela 2-for-4, HR (2); LHP Jackson Wolf 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 11 K, 1 BB, WP; LHP Gabe Morales 2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K, 1, BB, WP

Prospect Watch: Jackson Wolf dominated, striking out a career-high 11 batters and working deeper into a game than any TinCaps starter this year. The 6-foot-7 lefty allowed just two hits and one walk over 6.2 innings, throwing 65 of his 91 pitches for strikes. The Padres’ fourth-rounder last year overtook Robert Gasser for the team lead with 58 strikeouts in his 43 innings and now ranks sixth on the circuit. Opponents are hitting just .199 against the 23-year-old as he gets more comfortable sequencing his pitches through at-bats. … While Wolf was dealing, the TinCaps’ offense finally got untracked a bit as the top four in the lineup combined to reach base nine times. .. Brandon Valenzuela, who had seen his slugging percentage dwindle to .276 by the end of the last homestand, returned to the lineup after a few days off and connected on his second homer of the year. The switch-hitter has both of his blasts from the right side, but has also struck out in 37% of his limited appearances against left-handed pitching.

Roster Note: While he currently remains active on the TinCaps roster, Justin Lopez is reporting to Peoria to begin a conversion to the mound. The 22-year-old, who was one of the bigger names in the 2016 international signing class, has struggled to make consistent contact at the plate and amassed just a .231/.287/.355 line over 1,613 career plate appearances, most of which have come in Fort Wayne. He joins Carlos Belen, Yerri Landinez and Javy Guerra as recent pitching conversion for the Padres.

Storm 5, Inland Empire 66ers 2 (F/8 Game 1)

Key Stats: SS Max Ferguson 0-for-1, 3 BB; 3B Lucas Dunn 1-for-4, HR (3); C Jared Alvarez-Lopez 2-for-3, 2 2B; RHP Victor Lizarraga 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 K, 1 BB

Storm 9, Inland Empire 66ers 0 (F/7 Game 2)

Key Stats: SS Max Ferguson 2-for-4, HR (1); CF Justin Farmer 1-for-2, 2 BB, SB (14); RF Michael Green 2-for-3, HR (1); LHP Jesus Gonzalez 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 6 K, 1 BB

Lucas Dunn continues to have a strong year with Lake Elsinore. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)

Prospect Watch: After Inland Empire rallied to tie in the final inning of regulation, Lucas Dunn hit a walk-off three-run homer in the eighth to claim the opener of the double-header for Lake Elsinore. It was the only hit of the day for the jack-of-all-trades who, at 1-for-16, is in his first slump of any sort during a strong debut season. … The second game required no late-inning heroics as the Storm scored in each of the first four frames and cruised to the twinbill sweep. Max Ferguson, who drew three more walks in the opener, connected on his first career home run in game two. The left-handed speedster has reached base 83 times in 41 games this season. … Storm starters Victor Lizarraga and Jesus Gonzalez stymied 66ers hitters all day, combining to allow just one unearned run on five hits over 11 innings. For Lizarraga, the six inning appearance not only marked the longest of his young career, but represented a nice bounce-back from his only bad start of the year last time out. Opponents have a .234 average against the 18-year-old righty. Gonzalez matched his season highs with five innings pitched and six strikeouts. The lefty from Venezuela, who will turn 21 next week, had allowed 13 runs over 10 innings in his three previous starts.

Posted by David Jay

David has written for MadFriars since 2005, has published articles in Baseball America, written a monthly column for FoxSports San Diego and appeared on numerous radio programs and podcasts. He may be best known on the island of Guam for his photos of Trae Santos that appeared in the Pacific Daily News.

One Comment

  1. […] Wolf was the star with 19 strikeouts against four walks in two starts and 12.1 innings, including a gem on Sunday. RHP Brandon Komar pitched well in relief with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings with no walks or […]

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