Connor Hollis just keeps rolling for the Missions. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Chihuahuas 7, Round Rock Express 6
Key Statistics: SS Eguy Rosario, 1-for-2, 2B, BB, 2 RBI; CF Taylor Kohlwey, 3-for-4, R, 2B, 3 RBI; 3B Brett Sullivan, 2-for-4, 3B; LF Luis Liberato, 2-for-4, R, 2B; RHP Thomas Eshelman, 4 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, BB, 2 K; LHP Jose Castillo, 2 IP, H, 2 K; RHP Evan Miller (W, 3-3) IP, K; RHP Grant Gavin (S, 4) IP, H, K.
Prospect Watch: John Conniff is in El Paso for the rest of the series. Read his game story here.
Missions 6, Amarillo Sod Poodles 0
Key Statistics: RHP Ryan Lillie (W, 1-3), 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; RHP Henry Henry (H, 4), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; 3B Connor Hollis, 2-for-4, 2 2B, R, BB; LF Edwin Rojas, 2-for-3, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI
Prospect Watch: The Missions’ five-run rally in the top of the eighth put this one out of reach, but for much of the game this was a pitcher’s duel at Hodgetown. Missions starter Ryan Lillie emerged victorious, earning his first win of the season with a sterling five-inning effort. Lillie, a former Reds farmhand who signed as a free agent prior to the season, made his fourth straight start after being used in a swingman role for much of the year. He is 1-3 with a 3.89 ERA, but a 28:21 K:BB in 37 innings, as free passes have been an issue. … Henry Henry rebounded from last week’s two-run outing with five outs of scoreless baseball tonight. Fans of the duplicatively-named reliever will be glad to know he has a 3.12 ERA in four July outings, bringing him down to 5.80 for the season. … What’s a Thursday Daily without Connor Hollis? With a pair of doubles in the leadoff spot, Hollis now has 13 two-baggers on the year to go along with a .306 average and .848 OPS. … Edwin Rojas was called up from the ACL to help with outfield depth, and he’s enjoyed his first helping of Texas League pitching, slashing .350/.409/.650 in 20 at-bats. Rojas slugged his first home run of 2022 Thursday and added a double for good measure. A switch-hitting outfielder from Maturin, Venezuela, the 20-year-old Rojas signed with the Padres in July of 2018.
TinCaps 5, Lansing Lugnuts 4
Key Statistics: RHP Nick Thwaits (W, 3-3), 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K; CF Robert Hassell III,
2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI; 3B Lucas Dunn, 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB; 1B Cole Cummings 2-for-4, RBI, BB
Nick Thwaits has looked good for the TinCaps in 2022. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps took the lead in dramatic fashion when Lucas Dunn broke the 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out RBI single, an excellent piece of hitting in an 0-2 count. Dunn, drafted out of Louisville in the eighth round of last year’s draft, has almost evenly split his 2022 season between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne. … Nick Thwaits earned his third win with three perfect innings of relief. A 15th-round selection in 2018, Thwaits is 3-3 with a 4.14 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched in 2022. … Robert Hassell III continues a blazing July, slashing .385/.543/.615 in 26 at-bats after tonight’s two-hit performance. Hassell is batting .311 with nine home runs and 49 RBI on the season, with 19 stolen bases. It will be worth watching whether he returns to Fort Wayne once he is done in the Futures Game on Sunday. … Former UCSB Gaucho Cole Cummings knocked a pair of base hits. Cummings is slashing .275/.367/.431 in 51 at-bats for the TinCaps since being promoted from the Storm.
Storm 5, Modesto Nuts 4
Key Statistics: LHP Danny Denz, 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; RHP Alan Mundo (W, 5-1), 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; 3B Marcos Castañon, 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI; LF James Wood, 2-for-4, R, BB; CF Wil Myers, 1-for-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB; DH Jurickson Profar, 0-for-4, BB, R
James Wood reached base three more times Thursday. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza).
Prospect Watch: The Padres had a pair of rehab assignments in action in the game, with Wil Myers starting in center field and smashing a home run. … Jurickson Profar went 0-for-4, but earned a walk and scored in the first game of his rehab after a scary collision at Petco Park last week. … Danny Denz threw 2.1 perfect innings, giving him a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings of work in the month of July. After a 9.64 ERA in April, 12.19 in May, and 33.75 in June while with Fort Wayne, the seventh month on the calendar has been a welcome sight to Denz, who is 0-2 with a 10.13 ERA on the season even with his newfound success. The 2020 UDFA signed with the Padres out of the University of Memphis. … Alan Mundo is now up to six innings of scoreless work on the month, earning tonight’s win with two innings of goose eggs. Mundo’s excellent month included closing out the first no-hitter in club history on July 1st against Inland Empire. On the year, the Mexican righty is 5-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 42 innings. … Marcos Castañon blasted his 13th homerun of the year and fifth of July. Ten of his 13 homers have come since June 1st. … Starting in left field for the fourth time, James Wood notched his fourth multi-hit game of the month. The 2021 second-rounder is slashing .318/.444/.545 on the month in 44 at-bats.
ACL Dodgers 12, ACL Padres 6
Key Statistics: RHP Walki Lezan, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K; SS Victor Acosta, 2-for-5, 2 RBI; 1B Carlos Rodriguez, 1-for-5, HR, R, RBI; DH Colton Bender, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R;
Prospect Watch: Now this is an Arizona Complex League score, and I remind you in no way does it matter. The ACL Padres took the quick trip down Loop 101 to Camelback Ranch, and a classic, sloppy affair of desert baseball broke out. Walki Lezan stopped the bleeding after the Dodgers put up seven runs in the second inning and showed little sign of stopping. Lezan managed three innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits, walking none, and striking out three. A 20-year-old righty who went 4-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 20.1 innings in the Dominican Summer League last year, Lezan is 1-1 with a 10.29 ERA in his first 14 innings in Arizona. … Victor Acosta continues to swing a hot bat, adding a pair of hits to a scorching July in which the shortstop has slashed .429/.556/.810 in 21 at-bats. … Switch-hitting Carlos Rodriguez homered for the Padres. A 19-year-old native of Cumana, Venezuela, Rodriguez hit .200 with four home runs in 125 at-bats for the DSL Padres in 2021. … Colton Bender got a break from catching, going 2-for-4 with a double in the DH spot. Drafted in the 10th round last year out of Quinnipiac, Bender hopes to follow fellow alum Matt Batten to the Major Leagues.
