Chihuahuas 8, Albuquerque Isotopes 6
Key Statistics: SS Clay Dungan 1-for-4, BB; RF Bryce Johnson 1-for-3, RBI, BB; 1B Trenton Brooks 2-for-4, 2 HR (12), 6 RBI; DH Yonathan Perlaza 1-for-4, HR (5), RBI; LF Tirso Ornelas 0-for-2, 2 BB; C Rodolfo Duran 1-for-3, BB; LHP Jackson Wolf 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K; RHP Miguel Cienfuegos 2 IP 2 K; RHP Bryan Hoeing (W, 1-0) 1.1 IP 3 H, 2 R, 2 K; RHP Ron Marinaccio 1 IP, BB 3 K
On Star Wars Night, Trenton Brooks hits a grand slam to the moon. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: Down 6-2 with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Bryce Johnson hit a ball that bounced off the top of the left-center field wall. However, the runners couldn’t see if the ball was caught and had to hold, holding Johnson to a 402-foot single. Trenton Brooks remedied that situation on the very next pitch, when he sent a blast into the second deck of Southwest University Park for a grand slam and his second home run of the night. Yonathan Perlaza followed Brooks with a solo shot to left to cap a six-run seventh inning. Brooks, a 29-year-old who attended El Cajon’s Granite Hills High School, has had a hot-and-cold year at the plate, but has been on fire over the last two weeks, collecting 10 extra-base hits while hitting .439. He leads the team with 12 home runs, 49 RBI, and 32 extra-base hits, and his .993 OPS is fourth in the Pacific Coast League. … Reliever Bryan Hoeing made his third rehab appearance in the PCL and first at home in El Paso. The righty, who will need to be activated from the IL and brought back onto the 40-player roster next week, gave up two doubles and a single to the first three batters he faced. After working two scoreless one-inning games with San Antonio, he has allowed four in three appearances and 2.2 innings for the Chihuahuas. … Righty Ron Marinaccio worked around one walk to strike out the side in the ninth and pick up his third save of the year. The 29-year-old, acquired after the Padres claimed him on waivers over the offseason, has allowed just two runs over his last nine innings of work with a 12:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. El Paso will attempt to split the series with Albuquerque on Sunday.
Missions 5, Midland RockHounds 2
Key Statistics: C Brandon Valenzuela 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI; 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-5; 3B Marcos Castañon 2-for-4, RBI, BB; 2B Anthony Vilar 2-for-3, RBI, BB; CF Nerwilian Cedeño 0-for-2, 2 BB; LF Kai Murphy 2-for-2, 2 BB; RHP Victor Lizarraga 5 IP, 5 H, R, 2 BB, 4 K; RHP Stephen Jones 1.2 IP, K; RHP Eduarniel Núñez 1.1 IP, H, BB, K
Romeo Sanabria has been one of the reasons that the Missions have a shot at the first-half playoffs. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Prospect Watch: The Missions won their third straight game over Midland on Anime Night at the Wolff and now sit one-and-a-half games behind Frisco in the Texas League South division. If San Antonio can catch the RoughRiders by the end of the first half on June 23, it would guarantee a playoff spot at the end of the year, which the organization values highly for development purposes. … San Antonio put four on the board in the third inning, and Brandon Valenzuela drove in another in the fourth, which was enough on the back of a solid start by Victor Lizarraga. … If the Alamo City team can catch the RoughRiders, a big reason will be the performance of three players who were in the middle of San Antonio’s offense Saturday: Valenzuela, Romeo Sanabria, and Marcos Castañon. Castañon is 11th in the league with an OPS of .849 and leads the team with 21 extra-base hits while seeing most of his time this year in the field at second base. Valenzuela, who broke out of a 3-for-22 slump with a three-hit game and the club’s only extra-base hit in the game, has an .800 OPS on the year. Sanabria added two more hits Saturday and continues to lead the Texas League with a .328 average. … Lizarraga picked up the victory with five innings of one-run ball. The 21-year-old limped through much of the first two months of the season, but has found his footing recently. Over his last three outings, the San Diego native has allowed one earned run in 13.1 innings despite an uninspiring 11:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Eduarniel Núñez got the save for what has been a very strong Missions’ bullpen. After a slow start with a 5.59 ERA in 9.2 April innings, he had a much better May with a 2.53 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 10.2 innings against only four walks. Núñez had been in the Chicago Cubs’ organization for the first seven years of his career and was 8-2 with a 1.47 ERA for Tennessee in the Double-A Southern League in 2024, boasting a 42:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He signed a minor league free agent deal with San Diego in the offseason. … The Missions go for the series win on Sunday.
Cole Paplham on a rehab appearance with the TinCaps. (Photo: Justin Nuoffer)
Beloit Sky Carp 4, TinCaps 3
Key Statistics: SS Leo De Vries 0-for-1, 4 BB, 2 SB (6) 1B Ethan Long 1-for-3, HR (3), 2 RBI; 3B Jose Sanabria 1-for-3, BB, SB (2); CF Kai Roberts 1-for-5, SB (9), 3 K; RHP Isaiah Lowe 4 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HR; RHP Cole Paplham 2 IP 2 K, HBP; RHP Nick Wissman 2 IP, 2 BB, K
Prospect Watch: On the road, the TinCaps held the Sky Carp to only three hits, but two of them were home runs, including a three-run blast in the fifth that was the difference in the game. Offensively, Fort Wayne couldn’t generate much, with only five hits. … When starter Isaiah Lowe could command his slider, he looked good, but he struggled enough with command that he drove up his pitch count. Lowe gave up a lead-off homer and a walk, but then he settled in and set down 12 of the next 13 batters. However, already at 73 pitches, he came out for the fifth inning and gave up a single, a walk, and a home run to end his outing. After a strong showing at Lake Elsinore to open last year, the 22-year-old has struggled with command in High-A. He’s posted an unsustainable 16% walk rate this season. … Cole Paplham passed another important milestone in his rehab assignment, pitching two full innings coming off just one day of rest. The righty, coming off being hit in the face twice in the last year, has allowed just one hit in 7.2 innings since getting underway in late May. He should rejoin one of the upper-level affiliates next week. … Leo De Vries matched a Fort Wayne franchise record with four walks to push his on-base percentage to .345. After a huge April (1.003 OPS), a tough May (.599 OPS), he is off to a slow start in his first five games of June, batting only .158 in his first 24 plate appearances. … Kai Roberts has had mixed results so far in June, encapsulated by his performance Saturday when he had a hit and swiped a base, but also struck out three times. He has seven hits in 19 plate appearances and has stolen four bases already this month, but he has also struck out eight times. After his latest stolen base, he has 28 without getting caught in his pro career.
Modesto Nuts 7, Storm 1
Key Statistics: 3B Zach Evans 1-for-4; CF Ryan Wilson 1-for-3, BB; DH Victor Figueroa 0-for-1, 3 BB, SB (1); RHP Johan Moreno, (L, 1-4) 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, BB, 3 K; RHP Adam Conrad 1.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 K
Victor Figueroa in action at first base. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Prospect Watch: The visiting Storm were held to only a pair of singles as the Nuts’ offense put seven runs on the board. … Lake Elsinore drew four walks, with Victor Figueroa drawing three of them. After Figueroa destroyed the ACL with a .605 batting average and 1.922 OPS in 11 games, he has continued to perform well, although not at such a super-human pace, in the Cal League. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder out of Florida SouthWestern College has hit .268/.379/.536 for Lake Elsinore. While he is likely limited to first base, the 21-year-old has made a pair of starts in right field. … Zach Evans, 22, had one of the club’s hits and now has 66 in 53 games for a .320 batting average, which is good enough for fourth in the Cal League. He was drafted in the ninth round last year from Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. At 6-foot-4, 210, he has mainly played third base, but has also seen time at first and second. … In his 12th professional outing, Adam Conrad was finally touched for his first earned runs. The righty, signed as an undrafted free agent last year, gave up a career-high five hits over 1.1 innings and was charged with three total runs, including a pair of earned runs. The 22-year-old’s ERA swelled to 0.73. While he’s held opponents to a .170 average, he has walked 16 in 24.2 innings.
ACL Padres 8, ACL Brewers 7
Key Statistics: 2B Luis De Leon 3-for-5, RBI, SB (5); DH Kale Fountain 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI; SS Yimy Tovar 2-for-5, RBI; CF Donte Grant 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 BB; C Alcides Hernandez 1-for-4, BB; 1B Walfrent Guzman 2-for-4, RBI; RF Jesmaylin Arias 2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI, BB; RHP Ruben Galindo 2 IP, 3 H, 3 K; LHP Yovannki Pascual (W, 1-1) 2 IP, 2 K
Switch-hitter Luis De Leon laces another hit. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: The ACL Padres claimed a walk-off win when Jesmaylin Arias’s second double of the day plated Donte Grant for the winning run. … Luis De Leon, 19, had three more hits and pushed his batting average to .304 with a .383 on-base percentage that leads players who are still with the club. So far, the switch-hitter from the Dominican Republic has 89 plate appearances across 20 games with an OPS of .781. Last season, he hit just .071 with an OPS of .306 in 50 ACL plate appearances. … In his third rehab appearance, righty Ruben Galindo, 24, had his best performance yet, throwing two shutout innings with three strikeouts and no walks. Last year with the TinCaps, the Colombian native had 25 strikeouts in 23.1 innings of relief before being placed on the IL. … Kale Fountain, 19, had a double in four trips to the plate with a pair of strikeouts as he continues to progress in the desert. He has reached base six times in the last three games with two extra-base hits. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Nebraskan could start seeing action at first base soon. Once the organization is confident in his ability to stay in the field, expect to see him in Lake Elsinore.
