Oklahoma City Dodgers 24, Chihuahuas 5
Jose Azocar homers again. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Key Stats: CF Jose Azocar 1-for-4, HR (2), BB, CS (2); RF Luis Liberato 1-for-4, HR (5), E (4), OF Assist; RHP Jake Sanchez 1.1 IP, 6 H, 8 ER, 1 K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: The visitors scored at least four runs in four different innings, as this one got ugly quickly for El Paso. El Paso pitching surrendered 13 walks and 10 extra-base hits in the blowout, and only catcher Michael Cantu, who came on in mop-up duty in the eighth inning, kept the Dodgers off the board Sunday night. … Brett Sullivan made his first appearance of the year at third base. The Rays originally drafted him out of the University of Pacific at the hot corner in 2015, but he only logged a few innings at the position from 2016 to 2021. He saw occasional action there for El Paso last season. After his six-game hitting streak ended Saturday, Sullivan had a single in four trips Sunday. … Jose Azocar, who doesn’t have a home run in 253 big league at-bats, connected on his second in as many days for El Paso. The speed-first outfielder is 12-for-37 with four extra-base hits and three stolen bases since his demotion earlier this month. … Fellow outfielder Luis Liberato blasted his fourth homer of the series and finished the week 8-for-23 and a cool .913 slugging percentage. On the year, he has an .872 OPS.
Wichita Wind Surge 8, Missions 7
Chandler Seagle turned in his best professional night at the plate. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Key Stats: C Chandler Seagle 4-for-4, 3B, PO; CF Tirso Ornelas 2-for-5, 2B, E (3); SS Ray-Patrick Didder 2-for-3, HR (1), BB, HBP, SB (8); 1B Pedro Castellanos 3-for-5; LHP Daniel Camarena 3.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 K, 2 BB; RHP Jose Quezada 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB; RHP Justin Lopez 0.1 IP, 2 H,3 ER, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: The Missions scored in each of the last four innings but came up short in their comeback and had to settle for a 4-2 series win. Catcher Chandler Seagle had a career night, going 4-for-4 with his first professional triple. The 27-year-old from Appalachian State is in his third season with the Missions where strong defense has long been his calling card. In 157 previous Double-A games, Seagle had never collected six total bases, and had only reached five once. … Tirso Ornelas collected two more hits and has reached safely in all 10 games this month. After starting the year with a .492 OPS in April, the Tijuana native has steadily pushed his season total to .714. With a .333/.375/.489 line this month, he’s now producing at just below a league-average level while hitting fewer ground balls than he has since 2018. … Ray-Patrick Didder connected on his first homer of the year in his third multi-hit game of the series. He came into the series with a .491 OPS, but ends it at .657. … Converted reliever Justin Lopez had his first rough outing since moving to the mound last year, giving up three runs while only recording one out. After getting a grounder to start his outing, he issued back-to-back walks before surrendering a full-count homer. The 23-year-old started the month with a 16:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but has given up four free passes against just one strikeout in three June outings. The homer was just the second he’s allowed in 27.2 career innings.
TinCaps 1, Quad Cities River Bandits 0
Jairo Iriarte made a second start in the series Sunday(Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Key Stats: CF Jakob Marsee 1-for-4, CS (6); RF Joshua Mears 1-for-3, 2B, 2 K; 2B Lucas Dunn 1-for-2, BB; RHP Jairo Iriarte 4 IP, 3 H, 4 K, 1 BB; RHP Raul Brito 4 IP, 1 H, 9 K
Prospect Watch: In a contest where both teams collected just four hits, the TinCaps made a Joshua Mears leadoff double and RBI single from Jakob Marsee in the sixth inning hold up for their fifth win in the series. Righty Jairo Iriarte, throwing on four days’ rest for the first time all year, worked four innings, giving up three hits and a walk before giving way at 58 pitches. The 21-year-old struck out four while becoming the first TinCaps starter to face an opponent twice in a series. After tossing a career-high 91.1 innings last year, Iriarte has made it just over 40% of the way through this season throwing 43 innings across 11 starts. If he were to pivot to working every five days for the rest of the year, he would be on track to reach about 120. … Working in relief, Raul Brito had nearly as dominant an appearance as the TinCaps staff has gotten on the year as he struck out nine while allowing just one run over four innings. The 26-year-old, who signed as a minor league free agent over the winter, now has a 1.00 ERA while holding opponents to a .109 average across 18 innings of relief.
Fresno Grizzlies 9, Storm 8
Key Stats: CF Samuel Zavala 2-for-5, PO/CS (5); LF Nick Vogt 2-for-4, 2B; 1B Albert Fabian 1-for-4, 2B; RF Kai Murphy 1-for-4, BB, SB (3); RHP Miguel Mendez 3 IP, 6 H, 8 R (7 ER), 2 K, 3 BB, WP, HBP
Prospect Watch: Lake Elsinore rallied from down 3-0 and 7-2 but came up short on Sunday’s series finale in the Central Valley. … After a second straight rough outing for Miguel Mendez, the Storm bullpen allowed just one run over five innings. Righty Thomas Balboni, the Padres’ 15th-round pick out of Northeastern University last summer, took the loss after giving up one run in two innings of work. The Florida native’s season numbers are skewed by a seven-run outing in his second professional appearance, but he’s struck out a batter per inning and is holding opponents to a .232 average on the year. … Corner outfielder Nick Vogt had a pair of hits, including his fourth double of the month. The Modesto native has a .936 OPS in June. … Ethan Salas had a single and drew his 10th walk in as many games out of the DH slot. The 17-year-old’s high walk total is fueling his .730 OPS.
