It was a heartbreak kind of night, worthy of your best playlist of emo breakup anthems. While the Missions won going away, the Chihuahuas and Storm lost on walk-off homers in games where they held a late lead. The TinCaps couldn’t get their bats going, and they went down in Michigan.
Brett Sullivan continues to contribute in El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Oklahoma City Dodgers 7, Chihuahuas 4
Key Statistics: SS C.J. Hinojosa, 2-for-5, RBI, SB (6); 3B Brett Sullivan, 1-for-3, R, HR (8), RBI, BB; C Cam Gallagher, 2-for-3, BB, RBI; 2B Connor Hollis, 2-for-4, R, SB (1); RHP Pedro Avila, 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; RHP Pierce Johnson, IP, 2 H, ER; LHP Ray Kerr, IP, H, ER, 4 BB; RHP Brandon Kintzler (L, 0-1) 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, K
Prospect Watch: El Paso took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth but could not hold it. They allowed a run in the eighth and three more in the ninth, courtesy of a Josh Outman walk-off, three-run homer. … Catcher-turned-third baseman Brett Sullivan reached base twice and connected on his eighth homer of the season. The solid night at the plate nudged Sullivan’s OPS above .800. Thanks to a mediocre 7% walk rate, Sullivan’s offensive output has actually been below-average in the launching pad known as the PCL. However, Sullivan doesn’t strike out often and has played all over for the Chihuahuas. … Catcher Cam Gallagher had two hits and a walk, and he also drove in a run. The 28-year-old backstop played in 171 big league games over the last five years but is currently one of five catchers on the 40-man roster and seems unlikely to play for the big league Padres, barring another injury. He is a solid defender but has never shown much with the bat. He spent 11 years in the Kansas City organization. … Pierce Johnson made a rehab appearance and allowed a run in his inning of work. He allowed two hits and didn’t strike anyone out. As he makes his way back to the Padres’ bullpen, it was Johnson’s second rehab outing. He started the rehab assignment on Tuesday in the ACL. … Left-handed reliever Ray Kerr struggled with his command. In an inning of work, Kerr allowed an earned run and walked four batters. Kerr was sitting in the mid-90s with his fastball but struggled to find the plate. In 34 innings, Kerr has punched out 47 batters, but he has also walked 31. … Brandon Kintzler‘s first outing in the system in nearly 17 years didn’t go well. The 38-year-old, who the Padres drafted in the 40th round way back in 2004, logged nearly 500 big league games along the way but was released by Philadelphia last August and hadn’t found another opportunity since. The Padres signed the righty earlier this week and gave up the Dodgers’ three earned runs to end the game.
Roster Moves: The big league club summoned the red-hot duo of infielder Eguy Rosario and catcher Luis Campusano to join the roster in Kansas City.
Brandon Dixon had another big day. (David Michael)
Missions 14, Midland RockHounds 6
Key Statistics: 1B Brandon Dixon, 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR (10), 3 RBI; DH Yorman Rodriguez, 2-for-5, R; 3B Juan Fernandez, 3-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2B, SB (10); C Webster Rivas, 2-for-4, 2 R, BB, RBI, 2B; 2B Kelvin Melean, 2-for-5, 3 RBI; RHP Henry Henry, 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, ER, 3 BB, 5 K; RHP Edwuin Bencomo (W, 1-0) 3 IP, H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K
Prospect Watch: The Missions’ offense pounded out 14 runs on 14 hits to cruise to a win against the RockHounds. … Brandon Dixon has already hit for the cycle this year, and he darn near did it again Friday night. The former big leaguer had three hits, including a single, double, and his 10th homer of the season. The 30-year-old has simply overwhelmed Texas League pitchers this season when he has been in the lineup. The former big leaguer has a 1.189 OPS in just over 100 plate appearances. … Juan Fernandez had a pair of singles and a double in addition to driving in three runs. The 23-year-old also stole his 10th base this season – an unlikely addition to his offensive repertoire. Coming into this season, the catcher/third baseman had never stolen more than three bags in a season. The three-hit effort raised Fernandez’s batting average to .288 with San Antonio. However, despite the solid average, Fernandez’s lack of power – he hasn’t homered and has just 16 extra-base hits in 360 plate appearances – has put his offensive output about 15 points below league average in the Texas League. … Kelvin Melean had two hits and drove in three runs. The well-traveled Melean has played all over the system this season, but he has settled into a bench role with the Missions. In 22 Texas League games, Melean is hitting .257/.309/.419. The .419 slugging percentage stands out a bit because Melean has slugged .328 across 435 career games in the system.
Roster Moves: The Missions placed infielder Connor Kaiser on the seven-day injured list. It is the second trip to the injured list for Kaiser this season.
Great Lakes Loons 5, TinCaps 2
Key Statistics: 2B Lucas Dunn, 1-for-4; 3B Carlos Luis, 2-for-4, R, RBI; C Anthony Vilar, 2-for-4; LHP Jackson Wolf (L, 6-8) 7 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Anthony Vilar has been a solid contributor as he adjusts to catching. (Photo: Jeff Nycz) (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps offense struggled at the hands of Great Lakes Friday night. They scored just two runs and struck out 18 times. Seven of the nine TinCaps starters struck out at least twice. … Carlos Luis only struck out once, and he had two hits, including a triple. Luis broke out in Lake Elsinore this season, and he’s fared well since the promotion to High-A. In 17 games with the TinCaps, Luis is hitting .273/.344/.418. If you are a subscriber, you can read David Jay’s interview with Luis on his improvements this season. … Catcher Anthony Vilar had a two-hit night to extend his hitting streak to five games. The 23-year-old hasn’t played much this year, but he’s been one of the better hitters for the TinCaps in August. In 36 plate appearances this month, the former Miami Hurricane is hitting .344/.432/.406. … Left-hander Jackson Wolf turned in another strong outing, but he was doomed by the lack of offense. It was the second time this season that Wolf has finished seven innings. He allowed three earned runs on just two hits with a pair of strikeouts. The southpaw has a 2.92 ERA in four August starts. He has allowed four homers in 24.2 innings, but outside of that, Wolf has kept hitters off-balance. Wolf has allowed opposing batters to hit .153 this month, and his 0.85 WHIP is impressive. The former West Virginia star has thrown 112.2 innings this season.
Inland Empire 66ers 6, Storm 5
Key Statistics: RF Jakob Marsee, 2-for-4, 2B, BB, RBI, SB (3); SS Jackson Merrill, 1-for-5, 3 RBI; 3B Marcos Castañon, 3-for-5; C Colton Bender, 2-for-4, R; RHP Jairo Iriarte, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K; LHP Hazahel Quijada, 1.1 IP, 2 K; RHP Aaron Holiday (L, 5-3) IP, 3 H, 4 ER, BB, K
Jakob Marsee has been on base frequently since the Padres drafted him in the sixth round. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: This one got crazy in the ninth. The Storm broke a 2-2 tie in the top half by scoring three runs to take the lead. Inland Empire came back and scored four, including a walk-off, two-run homer, to send the Storm to their third loss in four games. … Right fielder Jakob Marsee had a single and a double, and he drew a walk out of the lead-off spot. The 21-year-old outfielder made his pro debut earlier this month in the ACL, but he has joined the Storm roster for the final few weeks and their playoff run. The former Central Michigan outfielder is 5-for-14 with five walks in four games in full-season ball. … It seems like every night we write about infielder Marcos Castañon , but all he does is hit. While he failed to homer in Friday’s game, he had three hits in five at-bats. The three-hit game extended Castañon’s hitting streak to 15 games. The UC Santa Barbara product has been a remarkably consistent hitter this season, but he has been otherworldy the past few months. He has a slugging percentage north of .600 since July 1. He’s homered 13 times in that span. … Righty Jairo Iriarte pitched well but couldn’t quite make it out of the fifth. He allowed five hits and walked two but kept Inland Empire off the scoreboard. He threw 80 pitches before being lifted. The 20-year-old starter has shown a good fastball, developing curve, and changeup this season. While the numbers aren’t pretty (5.33 ERA), he has swing-and-miss stuff. He will need to find the strike zone more often to allow his stuff to play.
