Las Vegas Aviators 6, Chihuahuas 4
Key Stats: RF Yonathan Perlaza 2-for-4, 2B; C Luis Campusano 0-for-2, 2 BB; 3B Mike Brousseau 2-for-3, BB, CS; RHP Logan Gillaspie 2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, K, BB; RHP Manuel Castro 2 IP, H, 2 K, BB; LHP Omar Cruz 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K, 2 BB
Switch-hitter Yonathan Perlaza has been on a heater since the start of summer. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: The Aviators jumped on Logan Gillaspie for four runs in the second inning and never led by less than two again in the game. Gillaspie was making his second appearance since being outrighted of the 40-player roster. While he showed off a deep six-pitch repertoire and ran his four-seam fastball up to 97 mph, he got only one whiff in 25 swings on the day. … Lefty Omar Cruz made his first relief outing in nearly two months, tossing three innings of two-run ball. The 26-year-old’s changeup was once again stellar. Cruz used it 22 times among his 59 total pitches, getting a very strong 33% whiff rate with it and landing it for five called strikes. The Aviators put it in play five times, but only one was hit more than 90 mph. … Yonathan Perlaza had a pair of hits including a 110 mph laser to right for his league-leading 30th double of the year. The switch-hitter has now reached base in 16 straight games and has his OPS up to .853 on the year.
Missions 8, Wichita Wind Surge 6
Key Stats: C Anthony Vilar 3-for-4, 2B, HR (4), 2 RBI; SS Francisco Acuña 2-for-5, RBI; DH Brandon Valenzuela 1-for-4, DH; 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-5; RHP Enmanuel Pinales 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R (3 ER), 6 K, BB; RHP Tyson Neighbors 1.1 IP, H, 2 K, BB, WP
Enmanuel Pinales has had mixed results for the Missions. (Photo: Ray Holguin)
Prospect Watch: Anthony Vilar capped a four run second inning with his fifth homer of the year and finished the day a triple short of the cycle as every Missions batter collected a hit in the victory. The 26-year-old has seen the bulk of his time at second base this year, but has logged about a third of his innings behind the plate. The Miami native sports a .643 OPS on the year, but has one of the highest baseball IQs in the organization. … First baseman Romeo Sanabria had a pair of singles in the contest. While he’s still scuffling along with a .200 average this month, he’s making much better swing decisions than he was during an especially rough stretch two weeks ago. The big man has struck out just three times in his last 22 plate appearances. … Righty Enmanuel Pinales picked up the win as he allowed three earned runs over 5.2 innings. He rolled through his first five frames allowing just one unearned run, but surrender three of his eight hits in the sixth inning, including a loud leadoff homer. The 24-year-old has only gotten through six innings once on the year and, despite a spike in fastball velocity, has posted a 6.60 ERA in 11 outings since his promotion to Double-A. … Tyson Neighbors came on in relief of Pinales and allowed an RBI single to the first batter he faced. He came back to end the inning and then worked a scoreless seventh with a pair of strikeouts. He worked over top Twins prospect and former college roommate Kaelen Culpepper, who beat Neighbors for a double in their first match-up earlier this year in the Midwest League.
TinCaps 3, Quad City River Bandits 0
Key Stats: RHP Miguel Mendez 7 IP, 4 H, 6 K; RHP Garrett Hawkins 2 IP, 2 H, 5 K; SS Leo De Vries 2-for-4, 2 K; 2B Brandon Butterworth 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 SB (12)
Miguel Mendez has stayed hot since joining Fort Wayne. (Photo: Ray Nycz)
Prospect Watch: Miguel Mendez turned in the best start of what has been an absolutely stellar year. The 23-year-old tossed a career-high seven scoreless innings, giving up only four hits and – for the second time in 10 games since joining the TinCaps – did not walk or hit a batter. The high-octane righty hit 98 mph with his penultimate toss of the night and struck out three of the final four batters he faced as he got multiple ugly swings on his slider. Mendez’s 1.61 ERA with the TinCaps is the best mark of any High-A pitcher with at least 50 innings of work this year, though both his FIP and xFIP are about two full points higher. The 2019 international free agent signee has been one of the top breakouts in the organization this year. … Garrett Hawkins followed Mendez and looked just as dominant against the River Bandits. The big righty from Saskatchewan punched out five in two innings as he finished the shutout win to pick up his sixth save of the year. Hawkins last gave up a run on April 23. Since then, he’s run off a stretch of 27 scoreless frames with a stellar 33:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The two hits he surrendered Thursday were the highest total he’s allowed in an outing since May 1 and raised opponents’ average against him to .135. … Leo De Vries had a pair of hits in his final game before heading out to play in the Futures Game. The 18-year-old wunderkind has reached base in 10 straight with an OPS over .900 as he gets back on track. The switch-hitter dominated through April, but then struggled for a six-week stretch in May and June before turning things back around. The youngest player on the circuit now has a 113 wRC+ line on the year with strong underlying swing and batted ball data. He should get the start at shortstop for the National League roster in Atlanta on Saturday.
Visalia Rawhide 7, Storm 4
Key Stats: DH Kale Fountain 1-for-5, 2B, RBI; 2B Chase Valentine 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 R; LF Colton Vincent 2-for-3, BB; LHP Boston Bateman 3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, HBP; RHP Vicarte Domingo 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K; LHP Igor Gil IP, K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: Boston Bateman had the rare bad outing, giving up seven runs in just 3.2 innings, and the Storm offense was never able to close the gap. Visalia collected seven hits and three walks against the big left-hander, both matching his worst totals of the year as they plated three more runs than any opponent had managed in his first 13 professional outings. Even with the hiccup in the Central Valley, last year’s second-rounder heads into the All-Star break with 72 strikeouts and 24 walks in 64.1 innings. … The bottom of the Storm lineup had a productive day as Chase Valentine, Carlos Rodriguez, and Colton Vincent combined to go 5-for-10 with a pair of walks and two Valentine doubles. Rodriguez has gotten limited action behind the plate, but is hitting .282/.417/.462 in 13 games since joining the Storm in late May. … Kale Fountain had a double and a strikeout in five trips to the plate in his full-season debut. The big righty led off as the designated hitter to get his feet wet in the Cal League.
ACL Royals 9, ACL Padres 6
Key Stats: RF Donte Grant 3-for-5, PO/CS (4); DH Yimy Tovar 3-for-5, SB (4); CF Jesmaylin Arias 1-for-3, HR (2), BB; RHP Winyer Chourio 2.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R (3 ER), 3 K, 3 BB
Prospect Watch: After winning back-to-back games for just the second time this year, the ACL club fell in familiar fashion as six different pitchers combined to allow 13 hits and eight walks. Righty Winyer Chourio got the start, giving up three earned runs and five total in 2.1 innings of work. The 21-year-old, who signed out of Venezuela last spring, has worked 29.1 innings, second on the club, posting a 7.06 ERA that is actually in the upper half of the 37 pitchers who have appeared in the desert for the Padres this year. … Donte Grant continued his surge with three more hits. Since an 0-for-3 day dropped his OPS to .616 on June 21, the 20-year-old from Washington state has gone 17-for 46 with eight walks and 10 strikeouts to add 117 points to his OPS. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023, he has likely played himself into a role with Lake Elsinore for the final seven weeks of the season. … Yimy Tovar is looking to make his return appearance in the desert as a rehabber a short one. The 19-year-old infielder had three more hits and a stolen base and has reached base in seven of his 15 plate appearances. He was off to a hot start with Lake Elsinore before hitting the IL at the end of June.
