Chihuahuas 6, Salt Lake Bees 2
Key Stats: SS Eguy Rosario 2-for-3, 2B, HR (21), HBP; C Luis Campusano 1-for-4, 2B, PB; LF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-4; RHP Matt Waldron 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 K, BB; RHP Ethan Routzahn 1.1 IP, H, 2 K; LHP Jayvien Sandridge 0.2 IP, K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas won their final home game of the season. John Conniff has all the details from his last day in the Sun City.
Romeo Sanabria jumped two levels in 2024 based on his power and hit potential. (Photo: Courtesy of San Antonio Missions)
Missions 9, Springfield Cardinals 5
Key Stats: 2B Ripken Reyes 2-for-4, BB; 3B Marcos Castañon 2-for-4, 2B, BB; DH Romeo Sanabria 1-for-4, 2B, BB; LF Joshua Mears 1-for-4, 2B, BB; SS Lucas Dunn 2 IP, 3B; LHP Daniel Camarena 4.1 IP, H, 3 K, 2 BB; RHP Manuel Castro 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Prospect Watch: The Missions, whose offense produced a league-low .326 slugging percentage and averaged fewer than four runs a game all year, collected five extra-base hits and plated nine runs to win their season finale. Kai Murphy, who joined the club on Thursday, had a double and drove in three runs. The 24-year-old, who spent the season in Fort Wayne, finished his second full year in the organization with a .703 OPS. … Joshua Mears had a double as he collected an extra-base hit in each of the four final games of the year. The 23-year-old also drew a walk and struck out twice. He slugged .478 in 18 Texas League games despite continuing to strike out at nearly a 50% clip. … Romeo Sanabria also doubled, collecting just his second extra-base hit of the month. After hitting .343 in August when he was promoted for the second time this season, the big first baseman hit just .146 in the season’s final month. He more than doubled his plate appearances from last year. … Lefty Daniel Camarena turned in his best performance of a year in which he pitched at every level in the Padres system, tossing 4.1 innings of scoreless ball. The 31-year-old, who has been in the organization since before the 2020 season, struggled to a 7.74 ERA on the season. After missing all of the 2022 season following Tommy John surgery, the San Diego county native has worked 129 innings over the last two seasons, with opponents hitting better than .300 against him. … For the second time in five days since joining San Antonio, reliever Manuel Castro tossed a pair of scoreless innings. This time around, he struck out three. The diminutive righty with a riding fastball punched out 75 in 60.2 innings after moving to the bullpen full-time this season.
Modesto Nuts 10, Storm 8 (Trail 0-1 in best of three series)
Lamar King Jr. was fired up after connecting on a game-tying homer. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Key Stats: CF Kai Roberts 1-for-5, 2B; DH Lamar King Jr. 1-for-4, HR, BB; LF Braedon Karpathios 2-for-3, BB; RF Sean Barnett 1-for-4, HR; SS Brendan Butterworth 3-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI; LHP Javier Chacon 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 3 BB, 2 HBP; RHP Alejandro Lugo 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K, 2 BB; RHP Xavier Ruiz 1.1 IP, H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, HBP
Prospect Watch: The Storm came back from deficits twice, but after the visiting Modesto Nuts put up a three spot in the ninth, Elsinore’s offense couldn’t muster one more rally. They’ll head to the Central Valley on Tuesday needing to win two straight to claim their second Cal League title in three years. … Javier Chacon, who pitched to a 4.15 ERA after moving to the rotation down the stretch, never dialed in on Sunday, allowing eight baserunners and four runs in 3.1 innings. The lefty, who had stretches all year when he struggled to land anything for strikes, walked three and hit a pair of batters. The 21-year-old’s 93 strikeouts across 77.1 regular season innings show the upside when he has a feel for his strong fastball/changeup mix, but when the command goes, hitters can take advantage. … Righty Alejandro Lugo replaced Chacon with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth and got a first-pitch double play ball to save further damage. The 22-year-old from Venezuela kept the Nuts off the board for two more innings but gave up a critical two-run homer in the seventh. Lugo had given up only five round-trippers in 53.2 innings during the regular season. … While the pitching struggled, the Storm offense showed resilience, scoring multiple runs in three separate innings in the last half of the game. Sean Barnett got things started with a two-run homer in the fifth. The outfielder, who will still develop as a pitcher as well next year, posted a solid .753 OPS in 12 games after getting drafted in the 11th round despite a concerning 13:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … An inning after Barnett’s blast, Lamar King Jr. hit one of his own to tie the contest. His power has been showing up more the further he gets from last October’s shoulder surgery. After slugging .426 over 25 games in his first taste of full-season ball, the 20-year-old catcher has had a pair of extra-base hits in eight and drawn three walks in 11 plate appearances in the playoffs.
