Sugar Land Space Cowboys 5, Chihuahuas 2
Aaron Leasher has been the top starter for El Paso this season. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Key Statistics: 2B Connor Hollis 1-for-2, 2B, 2 BB, SB; RF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-4, 2B, RBI; 1B Carlos Luis 1-for-4; LHP Aaron Leasher (L, 2-3) 3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 4 K, HR; RHP Eric Hanhold 2 IP, H, BB, 4 K; RHP Jake Sanchez 2 IP, BB
Connor Hollis with El Paso in 2022. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas’ free fall in the last series of the year continued as the team dropped their seventh game in a row to extend longest losing streak in team history. Aaron Leasher struggled in his last start of the year, giving up a season-high six walks and only making it through three innings. Leasher has been much better this year when starting, with a 4.28 ERA in 40 innings, than coming out of the bullpen with a 6.49 ERA in 23.2. Of the El Paso pitchers that made at least nine starts this year, the next-best ERA was Anderson Espinoza with a 6.32 ERA. … Infielder Jose Sanabria, who was recently called up from Lake Elsinore after spending the majority of his season in the ACL, was placed on the 7-Day IL, and Connor Hollis, fresh after playing in the Missions’ deciding Game 3 Friday, was called up to replace him. The infielder, who won the Texas League batting championship last season but struggled for most of this season with the Missions, reached base three times. Hollis had a huge September, hitting .360 with four extra-base hits in 15 games. Last season, in 24 games in Triple-A, he hit .310 with a .830 OPS. … Carlos Luis had a single and has now had a hit in all five games since getting promoted from Fort Wayne. After a strong 2022 campaign, he 24-year-old corner infielder has seen his production fall off to a .647 OPS this year. … With a double today, Tirso Ornelas has 20 extra-base hits in 54 games for a .792 OPS. His counting statistics are nice, but the numbers taken in the context of the PCL are slightly below average, with a wRC+ of 94. … The Chihuahuas will try to prevent being swept in the last game of the Padres system’s 2023 season – on Sunday.
