Chihuahuas 8, Round Rock Express 4
Key Stats: RF Oscar González 3-for-4, HR (4), 4 RBI; 2B Eguy Rosario 2-for-4, 2B, SB (5); C Luis Campusano 1-for-4, 2B; CF Forrest Wall 1-for-2, 2 BB, SB (5); RHP Ryan Bergert 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 K, BB; RHP David Morgan IP, 3 K
Oscar Gonzalez is a threat at the plate for El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: Oscar González collected his third straight multi-hit game since returning from the big league club. The powerful outfielder connected on his fourth homer in 48 plate appearances for El Paso, running his OPS to 1.129. González, who struggled while chasing more pitches out of the zone than anyone in Major League Baseball, has been slightly more patient and going the other way with more success in the minors. He’ll need to make consistently better swing decisions to earn another crack at the 26-man roster. … Eguy Rosario had a single and double to get his average above .200 for the first time since his second game of the season. The 25-year-old, who has an .836 OPS across 289 career games in El Paso, was hitting just .160/.229/.160 coming into the series. He will look build on a 7-for-18 series with three extra-base hits and three walks against Round Rock. … After throwing a single inning at a time over 12 days in the big league bullpen, Ryan Bergert landed back in the rotation in his return to Triple-A. The righty gave up an infield single, homer, and double before he recorded an out, but then settled in and allowed only one more hit over 2.1 innings. He worked his fastball up to 95 mph as he tossed 50 total pitches. While he is most likely to be called on to work in relief if he’s needed in the majors again this year, his long-term future is still as a starter.
Missions 2, Frisco RoughRiders 1
Key Stats: RHP Braden Nett 5 IP, 2 H, 5 K, BB, HBP; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez (W, 2-0) IP, K; RHP Manuel Castro (S, 3) IP, K; DH Brandon Valenzuela 1-for-4, HR (5); SS Ripken Reyes 1-for-3, RBI
Manuel Castro delivers for the Missions. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Prospect Watch: A day after Romeo Sanabria collected a walk-off a two-run homer on the team’s fourth hit of the game, Brandon Valenzuela came through with an eighth-inning game-winning homer that was one of just two hits the club managed. Valenzuela, in the lineup as the designated hitter, has now reached base safely in 21 straight games. After starting the year just 3-for-27, the switch-hitting backstop has really turned it on. This month, the 24-year-old is hitting .424/.513/.727 and now has his wOBA for the year up to a career-best .393. … Braden Nett looked sharp, giving up only two singles and hitting a batter over five scoreless innings. The hard-throwing righty ran his fastball up to 98 as he punched out five, generating 14 whiffs on 35 pitches. He got big chase rates from both his slider and sinker, getting strikes on 48 of his 74 pitches. After a rough start in April, the 22-year-old allowed just one earned run in 10.1 innings in this series, posting a strong 12:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … Bradgley Rodriguez came on with a 1-1 tie in the eighth and worked around an error to toss another clean inning with one strikeout. He’s allowed just two hits over eight innings in his last six outings, alleviating any concerns after his one poor outing of the year which he left with back discomfort. … Manuel Castro followed Rodriguez and bounced back from a rough outing earlier in the series to pick up his third save of the year. The 23-year-old righty punched out one and has a stellar 23:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 13.2 innings on the year.
TinCaps 10, South Bend Cubs 3
Key Stats: RHP Eric Yost 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 3BB, HBP; RHP Garrett Hawkins 1.1 IP, 3 K; RF Braedon Karpathios 2-for-4, 2 HR (5), 6 RBI, BB; CF Nerwilian Cedeño 3-for-5, 2B; DH Sean Barnett 1-for-3, SF, HBP; SS Leo De Vries 1-for-5, 2B
Braedon Karpathios has shown a strong all-fields approach at the plate. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: A day after being shut out, the TinCaps plated five runs in the first inning and never looked back as they cruised to a win and a series victory. After two quick outs, Rosman Verdugo drew his first of two walks on the day in front of a pair of singles. Braedon Karpathios then slashed an opposite-field grand slam to put the visitors up early. The left-handed outfielder came back with a second homer in the fifth inning to push the TinCaps into double-digits runs scored. Karpathios, 21, also had a walk. The Pennsylvania native has posted stellar walk rates since joining the system as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and is now pairing that with an Isolated Power rate of .204. … Nerwilian Cedeño had a double among three hits as he collected his third multi-hit game of the series. The 23-year-old switch-hitter, now in his third pass at High-A, started the year slowly, but has steadily ramped up his production and is hitting a solid .281/.351/.344 while showing solid results in his conversion to the outfield. … Righty Eric Yost continued a strong run through the Midwest League, picking up his first victory with 5.2 innings of one-run ball. The 22-year-old from the New York City suburbs lowered his ERA to a stellar 1.86, good for seventh on the circuit. Yost struggled in comparison to the 11 strikeout masterpiece his last time out without a walk, walking three and only recording three outs by way of strikes. He nonetheless allowed only three hits as he became the first TinCaps pitcher to work at least five innings in three games this year. … Garrett Hawkins struck out three of the four batters he faced, needing just 17 pitches to do it. The big righty from Saskatchewan, who has worked exclusively in relief since returning from 2023 Tommy John Surgery ran his fastball into the high-90s Sunday. He’s struck out 24 in 15.2 innings and, after struggling with command early in the year, hasn’t walked or hit a batter in his last four outings.
Storm 7, San Jose Giants 6
Key Stats: CF Kasen Wells 2-for-5, 2B, SB (23), 2 K; SS Ryan Jackson 1-for-5, HR (2); DH Kavares Tears 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI; 3B Zach Evans 2-for-5, 2B; LHP Luis Gutierrez 4 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 K, 3 BB; RHP Jimmy Reyes 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, HBP; RHP Adam Conrad (S, 1) 0.2 IP, K
Luis Gutierrez is working to find the zone more consistently. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Prospect Watch: The Storm rallied to tie the game at four in the top of the eighth, gave away the lead, and then plated three runs in the ninth before holding on in the bottom of the frame to take the victory. Kavares Tears had the final go-ahead hit with a double off the wall in left-center to drive in two. The left-handed hitting outfielder had three hits on the day, lifting his OPS to .795 through 19 games. Tears, 22, struck out once on the day, and he’s now punched out in 10 of 11 contests. … Elsinore was trailing going into the eighth, but Ryan Jackson pulled them into a tie with a two-run blast, his second of the year. The University of Southern California product continues to produce at the Low-A level, pushing his OPS to .937 for the year. After managing just one extra-base hit in 13 games for the Storm at the end of last year, Jackson has a solid .450 slugging percentage this season. … Starter Luis Gutierrez turned in his most effective start of the year, allowing just one run over four innings. While he gave up just two hits lower his average against to .220, he walked three more batters. On the year, the 21-year-old lefty has issued 15 free passes. … With the winning runs on base in the ninth, Storm manager Brian Burres summoned Adam Conrad, who quickly got the final two outs of the game for his first career save. The undrafted free agent has yet to allow an earned run in 12.1 innings, posting 17 strikeouts along the way and holding opponents to a paltry .073 average. With the Storm struggling to get quality innings from their bullpen, the 22-year-old has been a very welcome addition since joining the staff in mid-April.
