Albuquerque Isotopes 10, Chihuahuas 5
Key Stats: 3B Eguy Rosario 1-for-4, 2B, BB; LF Graham Pauley 0-for-3, 2 BB; 2B Matthew Batten 2-for-5, SB (5); RF Calvin Mitchell 2-for-3, 2B, BB; RHP Gabe Mosser 3.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB; LHP Tom Cosgrove 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, K, 2 BB; RHP Logan Gillaspie 1 IP, BB
Prospect Watch: The visiting Isotopes scored at least one run in every inning from the second through the sixth, putting El Paso down 10-1 before they finally closed the gap late in the contest. … Lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove‘s nightmare season continued as he was tagged for four runs while recording just one out. After dominating big league hitters with a sweeper with much better-than-league-average horizontal movement, he’s struggled to get the same action on the pitch this year as he’s not getting the same extension on his delivery. After posting a 10.50 ERA in 12 innings for the big league club, the 27-year-old has been charged with eight earned runs in just 2.1 innings across four appearances since getting optioned to El Paso on April 30. He’ll continue to work with the staff to re-establish a release point and build back. … Logan Gillaspie, who left his appearance on Thursday after just two batters because of what appeared to be discomfort in his right leg, returned to action with a scoreless inning Sunday. The 27-year-old from Bakersfield, who the Padres claimed off waivers in November and is on the 40-player roster, has a 6.17 ERA in 11.2 innings. … Eguy Rosario had a double and drew a walk in five trips to the plate, pushing his line to .292/.414/.583 in 29 plate appearances since getting sent back to Triple-A. Encouragingly in the early going, his OPS against right-handed pitchers is .836.
Missions rained out
The scheduled series finale in Frisco never got underway as weather forced postponement. The game will likely be made up in the clubs’ series just after Memorial Day.
TinCaps 7, West Michigan White Caps 6 (10 innings)
Key Stats: DH Ethan Salas 1-for-4, BB; Homer Bush Jr. 2-for-4, BB, SB (15); RF Kai Murphy 1-for-4, 2B, BB; RHP Tyler Morgan IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), K, BB; RHP David Morgan 2 IP; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez IP, K, 2 BB; RHP Will Geerdes 2 IP, H, K, BB; LHP Ryan Och 2 IP, H, ER, 5 K, BB
Homer Bush Jr. is making better contact more frequently in May. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: With Braden Nett on the IL, the TinCaps turned to a bullpen game on Sunday. After a rough spot start for Tyler Morgan, five relievers held the White Caps to two runs through the rest of regulation before lefty Mitch Miller was able to keep the Manfred Man from crossing the plate in the 10th and give the club a much-needed win to finish their road trip at 4-and-8. Righties David Morgan (no relation) and Will Geerdes both worked two scoreless frames to help the TinCaps through the middle innings. Since coming off the IL, Geerdes has given up just two earned runs over 7.2 frames while striking out seven. The 24-year-old out of the University of Virginia logged 21.2 innings out of the bullpen for Fort Wayne last year. … The TinCaps, who had scored 3.2 runs per game coming into the contest, went to the seventh down by five. But the club loaded the bases on walks before Homer Bush Jr. lined a single up the middle to plate a pair in the top of the seventh. They came back in the next frame and loaded the bases again before a Kai Murphy sac fly and Ethan Salas single pushed them to within one. Bush came up and again lined a ball to the outfield to score both runners. He’s now hit in eight straight games in which he came to the plate, raising his OPS 139 points in along the way. The 22-year-old has cut his strikeout rate down to just 14% this month after punching out at a 24% clip in the season’s first month.
Storm 10, Inland Empire 66ers 7
Wyatt Hoffman had a big day on Sunday. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Key Stats: CF Nick Vogt 2-for-5, 2B, SB (12); RF Braedon Karpathios 2-for-5, 3B, OF Assist; DH Ethan Long 1-for-3, HR (1), 2 BB; 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-4, BB, E (5); SS Wyatt Hoffman 2-for-3, 2 2B, BB; RHP Miguel Mendez 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 K, BB; RHP Keegan Collett 2.1 IP, 2 H, 4 K, 2 BB; RHP Luis German 1.1 IP, 2 K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: On an afternoon when starter Miguel Mendez never looked comfortable on the mound and got through just two frames, the Storm offense put up crooked numbers in multiple innings and were able to claim a series victory to pull back within a game of .500. Mendez, 21, was visited by the trainer twice in the first inning as he hunched over behind the mound. He didn’t appear to be reacting to anything specific in his delivery, so he may simply have been feeling ill or light-headed. The righty worked around a walk in the first, but opened the second by allowing a single and a booming double that came about a foot short of going over the wall in deep center. He battled back for a pair of strikeouts and got ahead of Inland’s number nine hitter Johan Macias 1-2 in the count, but couldn’t finish him off and ultimately surrendered a two-run double. Macias unsuccessfully challenged right fielder Braedon Karpathios‘s arm, but was gunned down at third. It was the third assist for Karpathios on the year. Mendez did not come back out for the third. We’ll watch to see the plans for him in the upcoming series. … Hard-throwing righty Luis German, who had an eight day stint on the IL end Saturday, returned to action with 1.1 scoreless innings that included a pair of strikeouts. German can run it up to the upper-90s, but struggles with location. After walking 14 in 10.2 innings in the complex league last summer, he’s issued 13 free passes in his first nine Cal League innings, including two Sunday. … Seven different Storm batters reached base at least twice, including a big day from Wyatt Hoffman, who had a pair of doubles, walked, and scored three times out of the nine-hole. … Ethan Long, appearing in his third game in full-season ball after finishing last year and starting this season in the desert as an undrafted free agent, connected on a homer and drew two walks as the designated hitter. The powerful right-handed hitter turned 23 earlier this week, so he’ll look to make an impact in Low-A and get to an age-appropriate level as soon as possible. … Romeo Sanabria extended his on-base streak to seven games with a pair of singles and a walk. The big first baseman now sports a .319 average that’s good for fourth on the circuit and a .483 slugging mark that ranks sixth.
