Tacoma Rainiers 10, Chihuahuas 6
Key Stats: 3B Ripken Reyes 3-for-4, 3 2B, 3 RBI; 1B Tim Locastro 3-for-3, 2B, BB, 3 R; CF Tirso Ornelas 2-for-5; LHP JP Sears IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K, BB; LHP Omar Cruz 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 K, 2 BB; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez IP, H, BB; RHP Francis Peña IP, 3 H, 3 ER, K, BB, WP
Ripken Reyes was one of the few bright spots for El Paso Saturday. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: For the second straight night, the Chihuahuas were dominated through eight innings before putting together a rally in the ninth to narrow the margin of defeat. They’ve now lost three straight to fall 3.5 games behind the Rainiers in the chase for a second-half playoff spot. … Starter JP Sears worked just one inning as he stayed on his turn in the rotation after getting optioned down from the big league club earlier in the week. The lefty labored, needing 30 pitches to get through the first, drawing just one whiff. He allowed a run on a pair of singles and a walk, though the run-scoring hit was a flare pop fly that landed in shallow right field. … Righty Bradgley Rodriguez was the only Chihuahuas pitcher not to allow a run until catcher Cody Roberts came on for an inning of mop-up work to save further damage to the bullpen. Rodriguez gave up a four-pitch leadoff walk and a single before the Rainiers gave him a break with a sacrifice bunt. After that, he escaped with a pair of weak groundouts. Rodriguez dialed his fastball up to 99.1 mph and got several awkward swings with his changeup, but for the third time in four outings since returning from the IL, he failed to record a strikeout. So far, he’s gone unscathed in four innings despite three hits and as many walks. … Utility man Ripken Reyes, who has shuttled between El Paso and San Antonio four different times this season, had a big night, collecting three RBI doubles in four trips to the plate. The system veteran came into the game with three two-baggers in 24 games with the Chihuahuas this year.
Frisco RoughRiders 8, Missions 4
Key Stats: LF Albert Fabian 1-for-4, 2B, R; CF Kai Murphy 2-for-4, SB (8); RHP Victor Lizarraga 3 IP, 7 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 K, 4 BB; RHP Kevin Kopps 2 IP, 2 K, 2 BB; RHP Cole Paplham IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 3 BB
Albert Fabian had a double in the very unfamiliar leadoff role.(Photo: Rey Holguin)
Prospect Watch: Batting leadoff for the first time in his professional career as manager Luke Montz tried to jump-start his offense, Albert Fabian opened the game with a double, then came around to score when a pair of groundouts moved him up. The big left fielder didn’t reach base again and the Missions were held in check until an eighth inning rally that narrowed the final score. Fabian, now 23 and a veteran of six years in the organization, started hot when he joined San Antonio after a year-long IL stint, but the double was just his third extra-base hit in his last 91 at-bats. He’s now hitting .263/.342/.372 in his first exposure to the Texas League. Outfielder Kai Murphy had the club’s only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a double as part of the team’s eighth inning rally. In his first five games since coming off the IL, he’s gone 3-for-17 with eight strikeouts. … Coming off back-to-back shutout efforts, righty Victor Lizarraga struggle on Saturday after getting two extra rest days before the outing. The 21-year-old loaded the bases before recording his first out of the game. After getting a pop up, he watched as Devin Ortiz committed a throwing error on a potential double-play ball and two runs came in. After regrouping in the second, he gave up four earned runs in the third when he surrendered four hits and hurt his own cause with back-to-back walks. Lizarraga has had a rough year in his second Texas League campaign, as his walk rate has jumped to 12.8%. He will likely finish with just under 100 innings pitched for the fourth straight season.
Dayton Dragons 5, TinCaps 2
Key Stats: 2B Rosman Verdugo 2-for-4, BB; 1B Jack Costello 2-for-4; C Lamar King Jr. 1-for-5, 2B, 3K; LHP Luis Gutierrez 7 IP, H, 5 R (2 ER), 7 K, BB
Luis Gutierrez bounced back from a rough first inning to throw seven. (Photo: Courtesy of Fort Wayne TinCaps)
Prospect Watch: The Dragons took advantage of a first-inning error to plate four runs – two earned – and never looked back as they handed the TinCaps their fifth straight loss and pushed them into last place in the division. The rough opening frame marred an otherwise strong outing from lefty Luis Gutierrez, who was charged with two earned runs over seven innings of work. Gutierrez only set down the side in order once, but thanks to a pair of double plays and a pickoff, he faced the minimum four times as he used 96 pitches to get through his second-highest innings total of the year. The 22-year-old Venezuelan has been a nice breakout story in the organization this year, posting a 3.19 ERA overall and a 3.45 mark since his promotion to the Midwest League in early June. Gutierrez has seen a healthy jump in his strikeout rate to 21.1% this season while keeping his walk rate at a strong 8.6% rate. That has him on track to finish the year with 40 more innings of work than he threw last year. … The TinCaps offense collected 10 hits and five walks, but only went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and got just one extra-base hit on the day courtesy of Lamar King Jr. The backstop also punched out three times to sink his OPS since joining Fort Wayne to .568. The 21-year-old is showing the wear-and-tear from his first full, healthy season since the Padres drafted him in the fourth round in 2022. He’s on track to nearly double his plate appearances from last year.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6, Storm 0
Key Stats: RHP Cameron Nohos IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K, BB; RHP Charlie Parker IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB; RHP Clay Edmondson 2.1 IP, H, 2 K; RF Kavares Tears 1-for-4, 2B, OF Assist; LF Cardell Thibodeaux 2-for-4, 2B; C Ty Harvey 0-for-3, BB, CS
Prospect Watch: Undrafted free agent righties Cam Nohos and Charlie Walker both made their professional debuts for the Storm, and each gave up a pair of runs in an inning. Nohos, 22, didn’t log an inning in his senior year at the University of Illinois-Chicago after an injury in the first week of the season. The 6-foot-8 righty with a mid-90s fastball did make a pair of appearances in the Northwoods League this summer to earn an opportunity on a free agent contract. Walker, 21, made big strides in his junior year at Northeastern, posting a 1.29 ERA and a stellar 56:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 48.2 innings. He worked almost exclusively as a reliever for the Huskies, but will likely get a chance to stretch out next year. … Clay Edmondson, the Padres’ 14th-round pick out of UNC-Asheville, tossed 2.1 innings of shutout ball and has now blanked his opponents on just four hits through his first eight professional innings. The North Carolina native is easing into the organization after throwing 81.2 collegiate innings this year. … The Storm offense managed just six hits on the day, and Justin DeCriscio and Cardell Thibodeaux, the bottom two in the lineup, had four of them. After starting just 3-for-40, Thibodeaux now has hit in his last three games, collecting his first two extra-base hits in the process. The left-hander from Louisiana was the Padres’ 16th-round pick out of Southern University. … Ty Harvey, who landed the second-highest bonus in the Padres’ draft class as a fifth-round pick out of an academy in Florida, made his professional debut behind the plate. The strong right-handed hitter drew a walk in four trips to the plate. He was added to the roster when Kale Fountain hit the IL earlier in the week.
DSL Padres Gold Secure Championship
The Padres affiliate pounded out five doubles among 13 hits to drub the Athletics 12-5 in the final game of the DSL Championship Series to claim the league’s title. The club finished the regular season with a 39-17 record good for second overall in the 52-team league (the Padres’ second squad finished in the bottom five at 20-35), before cruising through the three-phase playoffs with just one loss. Middle infielders Jose Verdugo and Jhoan De La Cruz, both 17, were the club’s top producers all season and both contributed in the finale. Verdugo finished the day 2-for-6 and hit .300 with only two strikeouts in 34 playoff plate appearances. De La Cruz, a switch-hitter who landed a million dollar signing bonus, drew a bases-loaded walk in the first and was hit twice in the game. He finished his first professional season with a .477 on-base percentage, then topped it with a .484 mark in the playoffs. The duo will headline a large group of players who will head stateside for the first time next spring.
