Chihuahuas Win Home Finale 6-2

EL PASO — The Chihuahuas won their fifth straight game to finish the last home series of the year with their longest winning streak this season.

For the second day in a row, El Paso’s starter shut down the Salt Lake Bees offense. Sunday, right-hander Matt Waldron went five innings, allowing one run while striking out four. He only gave up a single walk and hit one batter.

“Matt has pitched here before, so he understands the difficulty of trying to throw a knuckleball in the altitude,” said Chihuahuas manager Pete Zamora.

“Today, he attacked and didn’t give up many base on balls. Campy helped catch him, who has done that a lot this season. He was using the knuckler about as much as we wanted him to.

“I thought it was a solid outing.”

Eguy Rosario started the scoring in the first inning, hitting his 21st homer of the year 454 feet to left-center to put El Paso on top. The home run was Rosario’s 48th in 256 games with the Chihuahuas to tie long-time fan favorite Cody Decker as the team’s all-time leader. He later just missed another homer, doubling off the wall to finish 2-for-3 with a walk.

“On any given day, Eguy will be the best player on the field,” said Pete Zamora. “I’ve seen him at Lake Elsinore, San Antonio. Right now, it’s just about consistency because it is there.”

Since Mason McCoy‘s promotion to the big club, Zamora has been putting Rosario at shortstop more.

“I’ve seen Eguy play there before in Lake Elsinore and San Antonio and felt like it was time to give him more reps there,” said Zamora. “He has the arm, ability, and youth. He has taken it and loves it.

“He’s more vocal out there, in more of a leadership role, and doing the more Eguy-like things you saw today.”

After Waldron left the game, Ethan Routzahn, Jayvien Sandridge, Logan Gillaspie, and Austin Davis held the Bees to one run to give El Paso their second straight series.

Rosario, who just turned 25, was the star of the day. He started playing in the Padres organization at 16, when he was 5 feet 7 inches and 150 pounds. Now, he resembles an SEC halfback at 5 feet 9 inches and 205 pounds.

He has collected 79 home runs in six minor league seasons, adding five more in limited opportunities in the majors. He is three stolen bases away from having his second 20-20 season in 2022.

“I’m just very grateful that God blessed me with the ability to play this game,” said Rosario when told that he tied the record. “I’ve tried to be a good teammate this year and play hard wherever I am at whatever level.”

When informed via text that Rosario had tied his record, Decker congratulated Rosario and replied, “I hope your big league career is infinitely longer than mine.”

Rosario smiled, thanked Decker for his good wishes, and then laughed, “But tell Cody I will take his record. I still have six games.”