Oscar Gonzalez, who impressed in spring training, hit his fifth home run of the season for El Paso. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Las Vegas Aviators 6, Chihuahuas 4
Key Stats: RHP Yu Darvish 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K; LHP Omar Cruz 2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 3 BB; RHP David Morgan IP, K, BB; RF Oscar González 1-for-5, HR (5), 2 RBI; LF/1B Tirso Ornelas 2-for-5, 2 RBI, SS Clay Dungan 3-for-4, 3 2B, 2 R
Prospect Watch: In his first appearance since he shut down with elbow discomfort during spring training, Yu Darvish showed rust early, then settled down. With two outs in the first, Darvish allowed a walk, followed by a sweeper that didn’t sweep that was hit 430 feet. Darvish gave up a leadoff hit to start the second inning before retiring the final eight batters he faced, striking out two of the three in his final inning of work. His fastball sat 93-95 mph, touching 97 on occasion. Over four innings of work, he eight different offerings to throw 51 pitches, 37 strikes. Outside of the walk in the first inning, Yu threw 10 balls total to the other 13 batters faced. Usually, when starters ramp up, they add about 15 pitches to their next outing, so it will be up to Yu and the Padres if a 65-70 pitch start is in San Diego or one more rehab outing. … Oscar González hit a 2-run home run in the seventh inning to mercifully avoid a system-wide shutout for the Padres system. The home run came off long-time big league right-hander Dylan Floro. Encouragingly, Gonzalez took the first three pitches before hitting an 82 mph changeup 395 feet. Despite not putting up good numbers in San Diego, Gonzalez is hitting .333 with a 1.072 OPS in El Paso. … The only other player in the entire system with an extra-base hit was Clay Dungan and the 28-year-old did it three times for good measure. Dungan is now 8-for-18 with three doubles, two triples, and a pair of walks over his last five games.
Midland RockHounds 6, Missions 0
Key Stats: RHP Victor Lizarraga 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez IP, K; 2B Marcos Castañon 2-for-4; C Brandon Valenzuela 2-for-4; DH Cody Roberts 1-for-3, BB
Brandon Valenzuela has found another level this year. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
Prospect Watch: One-time Padres back-up draft selection Gage Jump, who has emerged as one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in the sport, blanked the Missions for six scoreless innings. While the Missions offense has struggled badly this year, Brandon Valenzuela continues to have a breakout season at the plate. The 24-year-old backstop has reached base safely in every game since April 12 and is hitting .415/.500/.659 this month. He had a pair of singles Wednesday for his sixth multi-hit game in 11 May contests. Valenzuela has shown enough defensively that he could make a case for an opportunity in San Diego this season. … Bradgley Rodriguez tossed a scoreless ninth for the Missions. Since a disastrous outing on April 22, the top relief prospect in the Padres’ system has gone nine scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk against 10 strikeouts. The majority of his 11 pitches were fastballs, which topped out at 98. … Starter Victor Lizarraga struggled again, giving up six earned runs over 3.1 innings. The Chula Vista native has only gone five innings once all year and has been touched for at least five runs four times in seven outings. After a solid 2024 campaign in Double-A, the 21-year-old has already given up more than half as many earned runs this year (27) as he did in all of 2024 (43) to post a 9.47 ERA.
Western Michigan Whitecaps 7, TinCaps 0
Key Stats: SS Leo De Vries 0-for-4, 2 K; RF Braedon Karpathios 2-for-3; 1B Ethan Long 1-for-3; RHP Clark Candiotti 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; RHP Tyler Morgan 2.1 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K
Braedon Karpathios continues to do damage at the plate. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: A battle of two of the game’s top offensive prospects quickly became a TKO in the first inning. After a rain delay, Detroit prospect Max Clark lead off the game with a homer, which would be the only run the Whitecaps needed all day. Home team hero Leo De Vries, meanwhile, went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. The day’s results mean Clark now leads the Midwest League with an .881 OPS, with De Vries sliding to .850. The TinCaps have been shut out in back-to-back games, have not scored in 22 innings, and had the last 15 in a row retired. The only bright side offensively was Braedon Karpathios who collected two singles for his second multi-hit game in his last three. The 21-year-old has more walks (10) than strikeouts (9) In May. … For the second time in six starts Clark Candiotti did not make it out of the first inning. After the home run, Candiotti struck out the next two batters before he gave up a walk, double, walk, and another double to end his night. Candiotti threw 35 pitches, 19 balls and 16 strikes. … Tyler Morgan came on in relief and kept it a game, allowing one hit over 2.1 innings while striking out two. It was a nice rebound for Morgan who was knocked around by South Bend his last time out. Morgan has 24 strikeouts in 21.2 innings.
Fresno Grizzlies 3, Storm 0
Key Statistics: RHP Will Varmette 5.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 8 K; LHP Igor Gil 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 3 BB; DH Cobb Hightower 1-for-4; CF Kasen Wells 1-for-4
Cobb Hightower continues to build his arm strength. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: Will Varmette‘s first stint in the rotation this year went horribly as he gave up nine runs over three innings in his first two outings off the injured list. That bumped him to the bullpen, where the 22-year-old found his footing with three scoreless appearances to earn another shot at starting in Wednesday’s morning start game. The results were quite strong as Varmette set career highs in with 5.1 innings and eight strikeouts. When Varmette allowed a leadoff single in the third inning, it broke a string of 10 innings without a runner. Varmette allowed a total of four runners on the day and is holding opponents to a .094 average the season. … The Storm managed only two singles as they got shut out, with the first hit not coming until the seventh inning. The Storm only had multiple runners on once in the game, but a Lamar King Jr. double play immediately erased it.
The ACL Padres do not play on Wednesday or Sunday.
