Ryan Weathers made his first start of the year for El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Chihuahuas 5, Oklahoma City Dodgers 3
Key Statistics: LHP Ryan Weathers 4 IP, H, 5 BB, 3 K; LHP Ray Kerr (S, 1) IP, 3 K; CF Adam Engel 1-for-4, SB (3), C Yorman Rodriguez 2-for-4, HR (3) RBI; DH Preston Tucker 2-for-3, 2 HR (2, 3), 3 RBI, BB
Prospect Watch: Lefthander Ryan Weathers made his first start for El Paso after being optioned to Triple-A. On a positive note, he worked four scoreless innings and allowed all of one hit against the first-place Dodgers. Immediately after that one hit, Weathers picked off a runner to negate the damage. It was not all glory for Weathers, who threw nearly as many balls (30) as he did strikes (33) over his four innings. He ended up walking five on the day compared to only three strikeouts. Last year with El Paso, Weathers allowed 163 hits in 123 innings. … In his first appearance since being sent down, southpaw Ray Kerr struck out the side to earn his first save. Kerr, who has been working this year to throw strikes at triple digits, has been a big strikeout/big walk guy. However, this makes six straight appearances, including two in the big leagues, without walking a batter. It’s his longest stretch not allowing a walk since he was acquired from Seattle in the Adam Frazier trade. … Designated hitter Preston Tucker carried the offense with a pair of home runs and three runs batted in. The older brother of Astros star Kyle Tucker, Preston had his first multi-home run game since 2017. In 19 games with El Paso, the 32-year-old is hitting .322/.481/.593 with more walks (16) than strikeouts (13). Tucker has spent parts of three seasons in the majors, last appearing five years ago with Atlanta.
Roster Move: Before Wednesday’s action, the Padres placed righthander Pedro Avila on the temporarily inactive list. As of press time, there was not a corresponding move for Avila’s roster spot.
Tulsa Drillers 3, Missions 2
Key Stats: RHP Duncan Snider 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 3 K; SS Brantley Bell 1-for-3, HR (1), RBI, 3B Connor Hollis 1-for-4
Duncan Snider turned in his best start of the year. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Prospect Watch: Righthander Duncan Snider made his fifth start of the year and had arguably his best one yet. For the first time all season, he made it through five full innings, and for the fourth time, he allowed fewer than two earned runs. Aside from his rough start April 14 against Frisco, Snider has allowed just three earned runs on 10 hits over 18 innings of work with 15 strikeouts. He’s fought for control at times, walking 14 hitters on the year, but has been a success story since signing out of an affiliate league. A year ago at this time, Snider was playing for the Lake County Dockhounds. He signed with the Padres in June, pitched well in Lake Elsinore, skipped High-A, and hasn’t missed a beat in Double-A. He has been arguably San Antonio’s most consistent pitcher. … The Missions had a chance at the win when shortstop Brantley Bell hit his first home run for the Missions in the eighth inning. Like Snider, Bell didn’t have a spot in an organization last year and played with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League and the Atlantic League’s Staten Island. The former Reds draft pick is a glove-first infielder who has already equaled his home run total in 2021 when he was with the Reds Triple-A team. … Infielder Connor Hollis had a single and has now hit in nine of his last 12 games as he looks to shake off a rough start. Last year he was the Texas League batting champion hitting .333 over 103 games and had 44 extra-base hits. This year after one month he is hitting .184 with exactly one extra-base-hit.
TinCaps rained out
For the second day in a row, rain washed out the TinCaps in Lake County. The two teams will try to play six games in four days this week, with doubleheaders scheduled for Thursday and Sunday.
Samuel Zavala continues to surge for Lake Elsinore. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4, Storm 3
Key Statistics: CF Samuel Zavala 2-for-4, 2B, RS; 1B Albert Fabian 1-for-4, 2 RBI; SS Rosman Verdugo 0-for-1, RS, 3 BB; RHP Thomas Balboni (L, 1-1) 4 IP, H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K; RHP Will Geerdes 4 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K, C Anthony Vilar 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K
Prospect Watch: Lake Elsinore hung around but ultimately dropped their second straight game to the Quakes. The loss knocked the Storm out of first place. … Coming into the season, center fielder Samuel Zavala was viewed as the top hitting prospect on the team. Just over a week ago, the 18-year-old was hitting .125/.288/.175. Since then he has hits in seven of nine games including two doubles, two home runs, and has scored in six contests. His slash line is still a pedestrian .216/.341/.365, but it is starting to look more in line with the player we thought he would be this year. … Righthander Thomas Balboni made his first professional start Wednesday and pitched well. The 15th-round pick from last year’s draft class has now pitched in four games and has improved in each subsequent outing. In his first two games, Balboni gave up 10 earned runs over 6.2 innings. In the two outings since, the 22-year-old from Florida has gone nine innings allowing one earned run while holding batters to a minuscule .093 (3-for-32) average. Balboni pitched collegiately at Northeastern. … Righthander Will Geerdes threw the last four innings and allowed just one earned run. Wednesday’s appearance was Geerdes’ third outing of three innings or more. The University of Virginia alum has shown well in those extended outings, allowing one earned run on three hits over 10 combined innings. Geerdes has already equaled his work load with the Storm last year, but this year has allowed half the hits.
