Matthew Batten had a massive week in Las Vegas. (Photo: Jorege Salgado).
Las Vegas Aviators 5, Chihuahuas 1
Key Stats: 2B Matthew Batten 2-for-4, 2B; 3B Eguy Rosario 2-for-4, 3B; 1B Graham Pauley 1-for-2, 2B, BB, SF, PO; RHP Adam Mazur 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, K; LHP Tom Cosgrove IP, 2 K; RHP Sean Reynolds IP, H, K
Prospect Watch: After cruising through the first three innings without allowing a baserunner, Adam Mazur was tagged for three runs in the fourth. He came back with a 1-2-3 fifth inning, but the Aviators jumped him for a homer and two doubles to open the sixth inning, and he left without recording another out. The 23-year-old righty held Las Vegas to two runs over six innings in his Triple-A debut earlier this week. Still, he didn’t have quite the same life on his fastball Sunday afternoon, and the hosts got to him for seven hits and only struck out once. … Lefty Tom Cosgrove threw his best inning since getting sent down to El Paso, striking out a pair in a 10-pitch scoreless frame. While his sweeper still isn’t showing the same horizontal movement as last year, Cosgrove did get two whiffs on three swings and landed it for a strike three times as well. … Matthew Batten extended his run of multi-hit games to seven and doubled for the sixth straight game. The utility player feasted to the tune of a .577/.571/.885 line in the series. … Graham Pauley, in the lineup at first base on Sunday, also had a double and drew a walk as he extended his hitting streak to five games. The left-handed hitting corner player has pushed his OPS with the Chihuahuas to .893 in 20 games.
Missions 3, Corpus Christi Hooks 1
Austin Krob is landing his full repertoire for strikes. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
Key Stats: DH Marcos Castañon 2-for-4, 2 K; LHP Austin Krob 6 IP, 4 H, 2 K, 1 BB; LHP Jason Blanchard IP, 2 H, 2 K
Prospect Watch: The Missions couldn’t get anything going against Corpus Christi starter Michael Knorr, but lefty Austin Krob matched him zero-for-zero in a battle that proved why the two clubs are at the bottom of the Texas League in runs scored. The Hooks eventually gifted San Antonio three unearned runs, which Krob and a pair of relievers made hold up. Krob, who subscribers can read more about here, has only struck out four over 17 innings in his last three outings, but he’s allowed just three earned runs. The 24-year-old lefty has lowered his ERA on the year to an even 4.00. … The moribund Missions offense – which owns a league-worst .632 OPS yet has somehow outscored the Hooks by 25 runs through 37 games – managed just four singles on the day. Marcos Castañon collected two of them and hit in five of the six games in the series. He has a .720 OPS since returning from the IL earlier this month.
Albert Fabian found the perfect time for his first homer of the year. (Photo: Fort Wayne TinCaps)
TinCaps 9, South Bend Cubs 6 (10 innings)
Key Stats: CF Homer Bush Jr. 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 SB (20); DH Albert Fabian 1-for-5, HR (1), 4 RBI; 3B Jay Beshears 1-for-3, BB, HBP; RHP Tyler Morgan 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB; RHP David Morgan IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB; LHP Ryan Och 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps got a walk-off grand slam from Albert Fabian in the 10th inning to extend their winning streak to five straight against the club with the Midwest League’s worst ERA. The blast was Fabian’s first of the year in 98 plate appearances after he’d put up 16 in each of the last two seasons. The 22-year-old left-hander has drastically cut his strikeout numbers since his late-season stint in Fort Wayne last year but has also seen his isolated power number plummet by 80 points. … Jay Beshears reached base three more times with a hit, walk, and hit-by-pitch. After finishing his stint in the Cal League with a .489 on-base percentage, the big righty has reached base in half of his first 22 plate appearances with the TinCaps. … Homer Bush Jr. went hitless for the second straight game but drew a pair of walks and swiped two more bases to retake the Midwest League lead with 20. … As they have over the last several Sundays, the TinCaps went with a bullpen game, turning the ball over to Tyler Morgan to serve as the opener. The 23-year-old righty, who the Padres drafted out of Abilene Christian in the 14th round last year, gave up one run over three innings. He sports a 3.75 ERA despite a 20:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his 24 innings.
Storm 4, Visalia Rawhide 2
Key Stats: SS Leodalis De Vries 1-for-4, 2B, 3 K; DH Alain Camou 1-for-4; RHP Miguel Mendez 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 5 BB; RHP Johan Moreno 2.1 IP, K, BB; RHP Thomas Balboni Jr. (W, 2-1) IP, K
Prospect Watch: The Storm only managed four hits on the day, but they made the most of them by scoring four runs and claiming a series victory over the D’Backs Cal League affiliate. With the victory, they’re now back over .500 on the year. The Storm put up three in the seventh inning on a safety squeeze that the Rawhide couldn’t field, a double-play grounder, and a wild pitch. … Leodalis De Vries, who sat out Saturday’s game, had a double in the sixth inning, but struck out in his other three trips to the plate. He’s gone down on strikes 19 times in 51 plate appearances since joining the club late last month. … Righty Miguel Mendez walked five Rawhide batters as he landed only 30 of 59 pitches for strikes in 2.2 innings. The rail-thin righty gets big velocity out of his delivery, but he’s walked 14 in 15.2 innings, pushing his ERA up to 5.74. … Four relievers combined to hold the hosts to just two hits over the final 6.1 innings of the game.
[…] Mazur, 23, had a solid Triple-A debut as the right-hander struck out six and only gave up two runs, but on Sunday, the Aviators came back to tag him with five earned runs in his second appearance. … Gabe Mosser, 28, had the best start of the week, going five […]