Oklahoma City Baseball Club 8, Chihuahuas 6
Sean Reynolds cuts an imposing figure on the mound. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Key Stats: LF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-4, HR (17), BB; CF Jose Azocar 2-for-4, 3B; BB; 1B Kevin Plawecki 2-for-4, 2B; RHP Tommy Nance 1.1 IP, K; LHP Tom Cosgrove 1.1 IP, H, 2 K; RHP Sean Reynolds IP, H, K
Prospect Watch: After falling behind early, El Paso rallied to close the gap but could never pull ahead. The club still claimed a series victory against the Dodgers’ top affiliate. Tirso Ornelas connected on his third home run of the series, pushing his total for the year up to a career-high 17. The 24-year-old has now maintained his production for almost four months, easily the longest stretch since he reached full-season ball all the way back in 2017. While he will be limited to just left field in the majors for anything other than emergency situations, the Tijuana native has finally played his way into the mix for an opportunity at the game’s highest level. He continues to hit the ball hard in the air more regularly than ever before and has a stellar 16.2% strikeout rate. … Tommy Nance, Tom Cosgrove, and Sean Reynolds combined for 3.2 innings of shutout relief to close out the game. Cosgrove struck out a pair and got a pair of groundball outs. Since returning to El Paso, he’s allowed one earned run in five appearances, with a typically strong 6:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Reynolds continued his stretch of dominance, striking out a pair while again avoiding any free passes. After walking 29 in his first 36 innings of the year, the big righty has allowed just three over a stretch of 14.1 scoreless innings dating back to late June.
Frisco RoughRiders 4, Missions 2
Ethan Routzahn’s low delivery creates a lot of bad contact. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Key Stats: 1B Robbie Tenerowicz 2-for-3, 2B, HR (11), HBP; LHP Miguel Cienfuegos 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 K, BB; RHP Ethan Routzahn IP, K; RHP Carter Loewen IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB
Prospect Watch: Yet again, Robbie Tenerowicz provided the bulk of the Missions offense, connecting on a double and his 11th homer of the season for the club’s only extra-base hits of the day. Despite not joining the organization as a minor league free agent signee in May, the 29-year-old now has a share of the team lead with nine homers in a Missions uniform and his .747 OPS is 50 points better than any other qualified hitter on the team. The Bay Area native, who played collegiately at Cal, has logged nearly 400 games at Double-A over the last five seasons. … Miguel Cienfuegos held the RoughRiders to just two hits through the first five innings, but opened the sixth by giving up a double and a homer. The 27-year-old lefty bounced back to get a pair of outs, but gave way after 87 pitches. He’s thrown a system-high 94.1 innings across three different levels this year, his second in the organization since his long, winding path finally led him to affiliated baseball. … Ethan Routzahn tossed another scoreless inning of relief to continue his stellar run. The 26-year-old out of St. John’s has allowed just four earned runs over his last 33.1 innings of work stretching back to early May. A 2021 undrafted free agent, the righty with a funky delivery now has a 2.38 ERA for San Antonio despite a pedestrian 30:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 41.2 total innings.
West Michigan Whitecaps 5 TinCaps 2
Joshua Mears showing some of his immense power. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Key Stats: 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-4, 2 2B; CF Joshua Mears 1-for-4, HR (9); LF Nick Vogt 2-for-4; LHP Fernando Sanchez 4 IP, H, 4 K, 3 BB; RHP Dwayne Matos 2 IP, H, 2 K, BB; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez IP, 2 K; LHP Jackson Smeltz 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 K
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps watched this one slip away late as West Michigan put up all five of their runs over the final three innings. Starter Fernando Sanchez allowed just one hit across four scoreless innings of work, extending a stretch of quality work. The lefty has allowed just four earned runs over 25 innings in his last seven appearances after getting hit hard in his first two starts with the TinCaps. At 23, the native of Sonora, Mexico, has flashed some encouraging results as he finally appears to be fully healthy and throwing without concern. Originally signed in 2019, Sanchez has struck out 67 in 56.2 innings this year between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne. … Bradgley Rodriguez has been stellar all year, but Sunday marked his most impressive outing yet. Coming off a scoreless inning of work Saturday night, the flamethrowing righty came back without an off day for the second straight weekend. He was brought in with two men on and no outs in a tie game to face Max Clark, one of the top prospects in the game. Rodriguez absolutely worked the left-handed hitter over, striking him out on three pitches. He then got a soft liner and another punchout to end the threat quickly. Rodriguez hasn’t allowed a run over his last 11 appearances and now sports a .197 opponents average in the Midwest League. Still just 20 years old, Rodriguez is likely in line for his second promotion of the season. … Joshua Mears belted his fourth homer of the series and ninth of the year. The big man added 85 points to his season slugging percentage on the homestand.
Fresno Grizzlies 6, Storm 3
Key Stats: 1B Lamar King Jr. 2-for-4, 2B; RF Ethan Long 2-for-5, OF Assist; RHP Joe Musgrove 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K, HBP; RHP Johan Moreno 3.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 5 K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: With Joe Musgrove making his rehab start in front of them, Lake Elsinore got out to an early lead, but the offense stalled out and they fell in the Central Valley. Musgrove got through 43 pitches – 35 for strikes – in 3.1 innings of work, though he did get tagged for a pair of doubles and a triple along the way. Throwing in a game for the first time in over two months, the Padres’ righty was charged with a pair of earned runs. He’ll likely need one more rehab appearance before being ready to rejoin the staff. … Lamar King Jr. continued his impressive introduction to full-season ball with a single and double in four trips to the plate. The Padres’ fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft out of high school, King’s early career has been waylaid by several injuries, but he shows an impressive mix of approach and physicality in the batter’s box. Still limited to mainly a designated hitter role, the 20-year-old is off to a 5-for-18 start with three extra-base hits since joining Lake Elsinore.
