Sacramento River Cats 11, Chihuahuas 4
Bryce Johnson has added speed and on-base skills to the Chihuahuas lineup. (Jorge Salgado)
Key Stats: RF Óscar Mercado 2-for-4, HR (6); CF Bryce Johnson 2-for-3, 2B, HBP; 1B Graham Pauley 1-for-3, 2B, BB; LHP Daniel Camarena 2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 K, 2 BB; RHP Alek Jacob 1.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas fell to a season-worst 10 games below .500 as they lost for the sixth time in their last seven games. While they kept it close through the first six innings, reliever Alek Jacob‘s struggles continued as he allowed four runs to score in the seventh as the River Cats pulled away. Jacob, 25, ascended to the big leagues last summer with a career 1.82 ERA in the minors, but injured his elbow and was sidelined for the second half. In El Paso this year, the righty with the funky delivery has been much more hittable and struggled to throw strikes on the way to posting an 8.38 ERA. On Tuesday, Jacob loaded the bases in his first inning of work, but managed to get out of the jam without a run scoring. He came back out for the seventh, but after a strikeout loaded the bases with a hit batter and a pair of walks before giving up a grand slam. After just 19.1 innings this year, he’s already one off his previous season-high in home runs allowed. … Bryce Johnson snapped an 0-for-18 streak with a pair of hits, including a double. The 28-year-old outfielder owns a .799 OPS on the year. … Graham Pauley, in the lineup at first base, had a double to extend his hitting streak to six games and walked. He had been 3-for-24 before this hot stretch.
Missions 3, Wichita Wind Surge 2
Key Statistics: LF Cole Cummings 2-for-4, HR (3), RBI; 3B Marcos Castanon 2-for-4; 2B Michael De La Cruz 2-for-4, RBI; C Brandon Valenzuela 1-for-4, HR (1), RBI; RHP Jared Kollar (W, 3-1), 5 IP, 7 H, ER, 4 K; RHP Ethan Routzhan 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K; LHP Omar Cruz IP, H, 2 K; LHP Jayvien Sandridge 0.2 IP, R, 4 BB, 2 K; RHP Raul Brito (S, 1) 0.1 IP
Cole Cummings’ .759 OPS leads the Missions. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Prospect Watch: With the Missions up by two, Wichita made it close when Jayvien Sandridge opened the ninth with a strikeout and then proceeded to walk four of the next five batters to close the gap to one and load the bases. Manager Luke Montz brought in Raul Brito, who got the final out to preserve the win, as San Antonio took the opener on the road. … Jared Kollar threw five solid innings and lowered his ERA to 3.13 on the season, which is the best among the starters on the staff now that Adam Mazur has been promoted to El Paso. … Offensively, San Antonio got a pair of solo home runs by Cole Cummings and Brandon Valenzuela. Cummings, 26, continues to lead the Missions after a pair of hits pushed his OPS to .759.
Enmanuel Pinales delivers for the TinCaps. (Photo: Fort Wayne TinCaps)
TinCaps 12, Lansing Lugnuts 1
Key Statistics: RF Kai Murphy 1-for-2, HR (2), 2 BB, RBI; C Ethan Salas 2-for-4, HR (1), BB; 2B Anthony Vilar 2-for-4, HR (2); CF Homer Bush 2-for-3, HBP, SB (21); RHP Enmanuel Pinales (W, 1-3), 7 IP, 1 H, 9 K; RHP Will Geerdes 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K, 2 BB
Ethan Salas hit his first home run of the year. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: Not much more could have gone right for the TinCaps, who scored a season-high 12 runs, shut down the league’s top offense, and have now won six in a row and eight of their past ten games. … Ethan Salas, 17, reached base three times including his first home run of the year, and made some nice plays behind the plate. After having just four extra-base hits in April, he now has four in his last four games. … The star of the night – and maybe of the season for Fort Wayne – was Enmanuel Pinales. The 23-year-old matched his longest career start with seven innings, allowing just one runner on a single and striking out a career-high nine. Pinales now has a 2.60 ERA in 34.2 innings and has been one of the better stories in the organization this year. The righty from the Dominican Republic split his time between the ACL and Lake Elsinore last year but was much better with the Storm, posting a 2.87 ERA in 37.2 innings. … After posting a .525 OPS with no home runs and seven RBI in April, Albert Fabian, 22, has been heating up. The lefty slugger hit a walk-off grand slam for his first homer of the year Sunday, then hit a second one Tuesday. He’s now hit in eight straight games, a stretch in which he’s driven in 16 runs and posted a .333/.388/.606 line. … Homer Bush Jr., 22, stole his 21st base of the season to extend his Midwest League lead.
San Jose Giants 3, Storm 1
Key Stats: 3B Rosman Verdugo 1-for-2, 2 BB; DH J.D. Gonzalez 2-for-4, LHP Fernando Sanchez 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 K, BB; RHP Kobe Robinson 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, K, 3 BB; RHP Keegan Collett 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: The Storm started a two-week homestand with a lackadaisical loss to the Giants, collecting just four hits. Starter Fernando Sanchez dominated San Jose’s lineup through five innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out seven, one short of his career high. The 23-year-old from Sonora, Mexico, has posted a stellar 31:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 22.2 innings. Originally signed just before the 2019 season, the lefty is a likely candidate to move up to Fort Wayne sooner than later. … Two of the four hits came from J.D. Gonzalez. The 18-year-old who was in the lineup as designated hitter, came into the night mired in a 1-for-24 slump. … Rosman Verdugo had a single and walked twice as he pushed his on-base percentage up to .360.
ACL Padres 8, ACL Mariners 5
Key Stats: DH Lamar King Jr. 1-for-2, 2 BB; PH Hugo Sanchez 1-for-1, 2B; LF Spence Coffman 3-for-5, 3 SB (5); 1B Addison Kopack 1-for-2, 2B, 3 BB; LHP Jesus Gonzalez IP, H, ER, 2 K, BB; LHP Ruben Salinas IP, 2 H, 2 K; LHP Braian Salazar 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 K, 2 BB; RHP Maikel Miralles 1.1 IP, 2 K
Prospect Watch: Spence Coffman, who has played more innings in the outfield than his natural spot in the middle of the infield this year, led the offense with three hits, and then helped the cause with three stolen bases. The 20-year-old was drafted out of high school in Mississippi in 2022, but got into only 26 games over his first two professional seasons. Now more physically mature, the right-handed hitter is hitting .270 with a .665 OPS through 42 plate appearances this year. … Addison Kopack continues to obliterate young pitching in the ACL. The 22-year-old out of Rhode Island had a double and drew three walks to post his absurd line to .425/.511/.825. Eleven of his 18 hits have gone for extra bases and he’s struck out only seven times in 47 plate appearances. … It was a busy night for the rehab group. Lamar King Jr. was back in the lineup at DH and went 1-for-2 with two walks. He’s off to a hot start as he comes back from offseason knee surgery. On the mound, lefty Jesus Gonzalez, who had Tommy John surgery last May, officially began a rehab assignment with one inning of work. He was followed by Ruben Salinas and Yerry Landinez each of who allowed two hits in their one-inning appearances. For Salinas, it’s the second outing, while Landinez has made it into five games. The converted infielder has struck out nine over 5.2 innings and should be headed to Elsinore by the end of next week.
