EL PASO — The Chihuahuas lost the last game of the first half 12-4 to the Reno Aces, dropping their home series 4-2 to finish a game above .500 in third place in the PCL East Division.
Luis Campusano had three hits and three RBI on Sunday. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
“For us, it’s always a bilateral process. We want to win every game we play, and we need to have these guys ready to go to San Diego to help the Padres win,” said Chihuahuas manager Pete Zamora.
“It’s even, not one above the other. All these guys are trying to get to the big leagues, not just as big leaguers, but as Padres. If you are part of this clubhouse, we believe there is a way you can contribute here and in San Diego.
“Hopefully, we will win a few more ballgames in the second half than we did in the first.”
After throwing five strong innings in the series opener, Kyle Hart came back for the Chihuahuas on Sunday and suffered through his worst outing of the season. Reno got to him for nine runs (seven earned) over four innings and only struck out once.
“Kyle is like a lot of our pitchers in that when he is behind in the count, there is going to be an extra amount of fight for him,” said Zamora. “When he is ahead in the count, and going fast and slow, in and out, you are going to get faster innings from him, and that is when he is at his best.
“When you don’t have electric stuff, are behind in the count, and in places like this – it’s very tough to pitch.”
Offensively, the Chihuahuas had some highlights, notably the continued strong production from catcher Luis Campusano, who recorded three hits and drove in three runs. While Campusano struggled amidst inconsistent playing time in the majors, in 182 Triple-A plate appearances, he has hit .311/.427/.589 rotating between catcher, designated hitter, and now first base.
Mason McCoy is having one of the better offensive stretches of his career. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Mason McCoy, 30, also continued his big series with a double among a pair of hits. He finished the first half with a .974 OPS in 39 games for El Paso. He is a premium defender at shortstop who can also rotate in at second and third base to fill in at the big league level if needed.
With Brandon Lockridge in transit to El Paso and last-minute scratches of both Mike Brosseau and Clay Dungan, the Chihuahuas resorted to a few emergency fill-ins. Emil Turbi, 20, who was added to the El Paso roster from the Arizona Complex League and had played only two games outside the complex, started at second base. Jack Mathey, an undrafted free agent signee last year who had started only one other professional game and pitched in mop-up duty the night before, was in the lineup at designated hitter, while fellow catcher Rodolfo Duran made his second career start at third base.
Jose Espada shut out the Aces across the last two innings of the game, striking out two while facing the minimum. The 28-year-old, who logged exactly one big league inning back in 2023, has had a stellar campaign in his second pass with the Padres organization. After posting a 2.42 ERA in 17 outings for the Missions, he’s dropped his ERA to just 1.42 through his first five appearances with El Paso, though he hasn’t been able to maintain the stellar 43% strikeout rate he had at the Double-A level.
Notes: Casey Kelly got his first win of the season for the Aces. Kelly, along with Anthony Rizzo, was once part of the big prospect package that came from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez way back in 2010. At the time, Kelly was one of the top prospects in the game. Now 35, the right-hander, who was drafted as a two-way player, has been in the game for 16 years, spending parts of five seasons in the big leagues and the last seven with the LG Twins in the Korean Baseball League. This season with the Triple-A Diamondbacks’ affiliate, he has a 5.61 ERA in 61.1 innings.
[…] NextEl Paso Loses Series Finale […]