Albuquerque Isotopes 8, Chihuahuas 3
Key Statistics: C Pedro Severino, 2-for-3, 2 R, BB; CF Luis Liberato, 2-for-3, BB, RBI, 2B; 3B Jantzen Witte, 2-for-3, 3B, SB (1); RHP Anderson Espinoza, IP, 2 H, BB, K; Angel Sánchez (L, 0-1) 3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; RHP Jake Sanchez, 3 IP, 3 K
Prospect Watch: A night after scoring 19 runs, the Chihuahuas’ offense couldn’t get going and they lost at home. John Conniff has all the details with on-site coverage.
Frisco RoughRiders 7, Missions 0
Key Statistics: CF Daniel Johnson, 1-for-4; 2B Brantley Bell, 1-for-3; RHP Duncan Snider (L, 0-1) 3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K; RHP Justin Lopez, 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 K; LHP Jared Koenig, 1.2 IP, 4 H, BB, 2 K
Justin Lopez has showed good feel in his first full season on the mound. (Photo: Joe Alexander)
Prospect Watch: The Missions dropped their third straight at home to Frisco. After winning the first game of the series, San Antonio has been outscored 22-2 over the last three nights. Friday, the Missions offense managed just three singles, one of which came off the bat of Brantley Bell. Bell, 28, signed with the Padres as a minor league free agent in the off-season. Coming into this season, Bell played 618 games in affiliated ball, after being drafted by the Reds in 2015. He hit just 18 homers in six seasons in the Reds’ organization. Last season, Bell his power stroke with the Frontier League’s Tri-City Valley Cats, hitting 24 homers in 92 games before ending the season in another of MLB’s Partner Leagues, the Atlantic League. Bell, the son of Jay Bell, a former two-time all-star who played parts of 18 years in Major League Baseball, is 3-for-17 so far this season with the Missions. … Righthander Duncan Snider‘s second start of the year didn’t go as well as the first. Snider got knocked around, allowing four runs on eight hits, walking three, and striking out three. The 25-year-old pitched well down the stretch last year for the Storm after signing with the organization out of the American Association. … Infielder-turned-pitcher Justin Lopez took over for Snider and recorded five outs. Lopez left all three runners he inherited stranded in the fourth. He struggled in the fifth, walking two and allowing a single, but escaped the jam once again. The 22-year-old punched out three and has twirled a pair of scoreless outings for the Missions to start the season. In 13 career innings as a pitcher, Lopez has given up one run and struck out 15.
Lake County Captains 10, TinCaps 4
Key Statistics: 2B Lucas Dunn, 3-for-4, 2B, 3B, RBI; RF Joshua Mears, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DH Nathan Martorella, 1-for-3, BB, RBI; RHP Victor Lizarraga, 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, ER, 2 BB, 2 K; RHP Keegan Collett (L, 0-1) 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB; RHP Adam Smith, 1.2 IP, H, 2 K
Lucas Dunn squares up a ball for Fort Wayne. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps took a one-run lead into the seventh inning before Lake County exploded with five runs to pull away. Second baseman Lucas Dunn anchored the offense on Friday as the TinCaps lineup has looked much better the last two games. The versatile infielder had three hits and was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle. It was a different story defensively, as he made two errors at second base. The former Louisville star was a key cog in the Storm offense during the first half of last season. He earned a promotion to Fort Wayne and struggled offensively, hitting .215/.335/.319 in 81 games. … Right fielder Joshua Mears had a pair of hits for the second straight night, including a hard-hit double to center field and an RBI single. Mears has been hitting at the bottom of the order to take pressure off the young slugger. By now, most Padres fans are aware of the immense power Mears possesses but the key to his success will be reducing his strikeouts. So far, he’s punched out in 30% of his plate appearances this season. In 52 games last season with Fort Wayne, Mears struck out in 43.5% of his plate appearances. While the sample size is minuscule, improvement in any sample is encouraging. … Righty Victor Lizarraga made his Parkview Field debut and turned in a much better effort than his season debut. The 19-year-old allowed just one earned run across four innings on three hits. His fastball command was solid and he threw a few sliders – a wrinkle he shelved last year in Lake Elsinore. He threw 53 pitches, 32 for strikes.
Storm 3, Inland Empire 66ers 1
Key Statistics: 1B Albert Fabian, 1-for-4, R; SS Rosman Verdugo, 1-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI; LF Kai Murphy, 1-for-1, 2 BB; LHP Jagger Haynes, IP, H; LHP Fernando Sanchez, 3.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 6 K; RHP Dwayne Matos (W, 1-0) 4.1 IP., H, 2 K
Rosman Verdugo has showed an advanced feel for the bat in his young career. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: The Storm won their sixth straight game to open the 2023 season. The Storm join the Bowling Green Hot Rods as the only remaining unbeaten teams in affiliated minor league baseball. … Lake Elsinore’s offense only generated five hits, but Rosman Verdugo‘s bases-clearing triple in the eighth inning plated the only runs they needed. The triple extended Verdugo’s hitting streak to four games. The 18-year-old opened some eyes last season in the ACL, where showed intriguing power, leading the club in homers. Despite being one of the youngest players in the California League, Verdugo is off to a .308/.333/.500 start this season. … Left-hander Jagger Haynes made his professional debut Friday night, functioning as the opener. He threw a scoreless inning before passing the baton to the bullpen. Haynes, 20, was drafted by the Padres in the shortened 2020 draft, out of high school in Cerro Gordo, North Carolina. He had Tommy John surgery in 2021 and missed the last two seasons. Since he hasn’t pitched competitively in three seasons, the organization will surely monitor his innings. … Southpaw Fernando Sanchez took over for Haynes and pitched 3.2 innings, allowing a run on three hits. The 22-year-old has been a bit of an organizational arm over the years but he has a chance to establish himself with a very young pitching staff. Sanchez pitched for three clubs last season, with the majority of his work coming in the ACL. He struck out 46 batters in 32.1 innings last year. … Righty Dwayne Matos pitched the final 4.1 innings, earning his first win of the season. The slender right-hander allowed just one hit, striking out two. The 22-year-old opened last season in Double-A but struggled and was demoted to Fort Wayne. He didn’t fair much better there and he ended the year on the injured list. He initially was not assigned to a roster this season but was added to the Storm roster last week after Carter Loewen was sent back to the ACL.
