Round Rock Express 3, Chihuahuas 1
Key Statistics: LHP Miguel Cienfuegos, 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K; RHP Tommy Nance (L, 2-1), 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER; LF Tirso Ornelas, 3-for-4; DH Matthew Batten, 1-for-4
Prospect Watch: Despite a workmanlike outing from Miguel Cienfuegos, the Chihuahuas offense failed to back their starter and the club lost the second straight pitchers’ duel in Round Rock. Cienfuegos, a 27-year-old lefty from Quebec, threw five innings of one-run ball, scattering four hits and surviving four walks to keep El Paso in the game. Cienfuegos went 3-4 with a 3.91 ERA in nine outings for Fort Wayne before being promoted to the Chihuahuas to give the Triple-A club innings. … Tommy Nance suffered the tough reliever luck of stranding the two baserunners he inherited while seeing the two runners he put on base score after he was removed from the game, giving him two earned runs and the loss. Nance, a 33-year-old Long Beach native, is 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA in 18 innings in 2024, his first season in the Padres organization. … El Paso only managed six hits, and three of them were singles off the bat of Tirso Ornelas. The Tijuana native has posted an OPS well above .900 since the start of May and sports a season-long OPS of .848 against left-handed pitching, all positives for a prospect who is hoping to get his big break in San Diego this season. … Designated hitter Matthew Batten went 1-for-4 with a single. Batten has been hot and cold month-to-month, posting a .530 OPS in April, .893 in May, and .659 in June as the utility player tries to work his way back to the big league level.
Midland Rockhounds 6, Missions 1
Key Statistics: LHP Robby Snelling (L, 1-8), 1.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; LHP Ryan Och, 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; 2B Marcos Castañon, 2-for-4; DH Robbie Tenerowicz, 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI
Marcos Castañon has held his own defensively this year. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
Prospect Watch: It was another tough outing in a tough season for Robby Snelling, who failed to get out of the second inning despite throwing 58 pitches and took his eighth loss of the season. The southpaw allowed five runs on five hits and struck out one batter, raising his ERA to 6.49 to go along with a 1-8 record. Both the 20-year-old’s fastball and breaking ball have gone backward this year as Texas League hitters are now batting .306 against him on the year … Two of those runs were clocked in by Ryan Och, who gave up a triple to plate the inherited runners before settling in to limit the damage and keep any further runs off the board across 2.1 innings. The 25-year-old was making his second appearance since a promotion from Fort Wayne last week. A seventh-round pick in 2021, Och pitched to a 4.73 ERA for the TinCaps but struck out 41 in 26.2 innings. …The only multi-hit performance from the San Antonio lineup came courtesy of Marcos Castañon, who went 2-for-4. The 25-year-old UC Santa Barbara product is batting .227 with a .653 OPS for San Antonio in his return season to Double-A. The 2021 12th-rounder hit 23 home runs in 2022 and 17 last year, but has only left the yard four times so far in 2024. … The lone Missions run came courtesy of a Robbie Tenerowicz home run. The 29-year-old designated hitter launched his eighth round-tripper of the season and sixth in 141 at-bats since joining San Antonio as a free agent.
Jagger Haynes has asserted himself for the TinCaps this year. (Photo: Fort Wayne TinCaps)
Dayton Dragons 10, TinCaps 7 (10 innings)
Dayton Dragons 3, TinCaps 1 (7 innings)
Key Statistics: LHP Jagger Haynes, 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 7 K; LHP Jackson Smeltz, 1 IP, 1 BB, 3 K; DH Romeo Sanabria, 2-for-8, R, 2 RBI; C Anthony Vilar, 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB; RF Kai Murphy, 2-for-6; RHP Sam Whiting 3 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K; RHP Dwayne Matos, 1 IP, 1 K; -4;
Prospect Watch: After getting rained out on Wednesday, the TinCaps were supposed to play a pair of seven innings games against Dayton, but the opener wound up going 10 on a long day of baseball at Parkview Field. In the opener, Jagger Haynes was sensational, throwing six innings of three-hit ball while striking out seven batters. The 21-year-old Haynes, a fifth-round pick in 2020, has really found his groove lately, with a 2.28 ERA in five May starts and a 2.78 mark in four appearances in June. He’s gone at least six innings in six of his eight last starts and in 22.2 innings this month, the lefty has struck out 27 batters. … Fellow southpaw and Indiana native Jackson Smeltz made his second appearance since his promotion to Fort Wayne last week a memorable one, striking out the side in a scoreless. A 2022 10th-rounder, Smeltz hadn’t gotten onto a mound until this year because of injuries, but he’s allowed just one run and recorded 12 strikeouts in his first eight innings of professional action. … Romeo Sanabria went 2-for-5 in the opener and drove in a pair of runs, scoring one himself and continuing a fiery start at the plate in the 2024 season. Even after an 0-for-3 in the nightcap, the 22-year-old is slashing .348/.360/.435 in 23 at-bats for Fort Wayne since earning a promotion from Lake Elsinore. … Anthony Vilar also drove in a pair of runs in a two-hit game as the other Miami native in the TinCaps lineup now owns a .747 June OPS following an .855 mark in May. The lefty-swinging catcher was a 15th-round pick in the 2021 draft. … June has been a struggle for Kai Murphy as the Arizona State product has managed a .549 OPS in the month, but the outfielder slugged a pair of hits in an effort to build up some momentum. The lefty-swinging Murphy is struggling against right-handed pitching with a .218/.307/.330 slash line. … In the nightcap, the TinCaps were two-hit in seven innings, failing to capitalize on three outstanding innings from Sam Whiting, who only allowed one walk and struck out seven batters. The 23-year-old righty opened the year with Fort Wayne, but went back to Lake Elsinore to stretch out as a starter when the organization needed it. Since returning to the Midwest League, he’s given up just one hit in 4.1 innings. He now has a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings for the TinCaps. … The club also got a scoreless inning of relief from Dwayne Matos as the 23-year-old righty has now recorded four consecutive outings without an earned run after allowing 14 in his previous four appearances.
Storm 10, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 9 (10 innings)
Key Statistics: RHP Eric Yost 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R (3 ER), 2 K; LHP Harry Gustin 3.1 IP, 1 H, 4 K; 1B Ryan Wilson 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB; DH Leodalis De Vries 1-for-4, R, BB
Ryan Wilson in the box for Lake Elsinore. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: The Storm rallied from down 8-0 after five innings to send the game to extra innings. Then, after giving up a pair of runs in the 10th, they rallied back to tie it before a bases-loaded hit by pitch gave them the walk-off win. … Harry Gustin kept Lake Elsinore in the game in the middle innings, tossing 3.1 innings of one-hit ball. The Hawaii product, selected by the Padres in the 18th round last year, has posted a 5.64 ERA in 30.1 innings this year, all with the Storm. He’s been much more effective of late, striking out 18 and allowing just two earned runs over the last 11.2 innings. … First baseman Ryan Wilson had a big night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and driving in a run while scoring a pair. A ninth-round pick in last year’s draft, Wilson is batting .216 with a .659 OPS in 199 at-bats in the 2024 season. … Top prospect Leodalis De Vries went 1-for-4, worked a walk, and scored a run. The 17-year-old infielder owns a .694 OPS in home games, while he’s recorded a .597 mark in games away from the Diamond.
ACL Royals 8, ACL Padres 7 (7 innings)
Key Statistics: LHP Yovannki Pascual 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K; CF Spence Coffman, 2-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI; 2B B.Y. Choi, 2-for-4, HR (4), 2 R, 2 RBI
Yovannky Pascual has showed easy velocity in his stateside debut. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: The Arizona Complex League is rife with short outings, command issues, and walks, so when a pitcher goes five innings and walks one batter, one takes notice. Yovannki Pascual did just that for the Padres, allowing four hits and striking out six to continue a solid first campaign stateside. The 21-year-old lefty owns a 2.88 ERA and has struck out 26 batters while walking nine in 25 innings of work in 2024. … Spence Coffman went 2-for-4 with a double to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. The 20-year-old has moved into the top 10 in the ACL with a .339 average in 121 at-bats in 2024. … B.Y. Choi hit his fourth home run of the season as part of a two-hit night. The 2023 20th-rounder had three round-trippers in his first nine games, gone 27 games without one as he’s focused on more consistent contact. Overall, the 22-year-old infielder is batting .250 but with an .813 OPS in 112 at-bats in the desert.
