Chihuahuas 8, Reno Aces 5
Key Stats: RF Jase Bowen 2-for-5, HR (6), E (2); DH Samad Taylor 3-for-3, 2B, BB; SS Mason McCoy 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI; LHP JP Sears 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, K, BB; LHP Yuki Matsui IP, 2 H, R, 2 K, HR; RHP Eli Villalobos IP, 2 K, BB
Prospect Watch: John Conniff was on-site to see JP Sears give the Chihuahuas six solid innings. He’s got the game story here.
Amarillo Sod Poodles 7, Missions 5
Miguel Mendez delivered in his first rough outing of the year. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Key Stats: C Ethan Salas 2-for-5; 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-4, BB; DH Leandro Cedeño 2-5, 2B, 3B; CF Braedon Karpathios 1-for-3, 2B, BB; RHP Miguel Mendez 2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, K, HBP; RHP Francis Peña 2.1 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 K, BB
Prospect Watch: Miguel Mendez had his first rough outing of the year, giving up four runs as Amarillo sent nine batters to the plate against him in the second inning. That pushed his pitch count to 53 and ended his outing. The 23-year-old righty, who had only allowed a pair of runs through his first three outings, only recorded one strikeout and surrendered a season-high six hits. He’ll look to bounce back next week when he should get two starts on the road. … Francis Peña came on and gave the Missions two scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts. He was asked to return for a third inning for the first time since June, 2024, and it didn’t go well. The righty, who has been bouncing back well after a disappointing 2025 campaign, ultimately gave up three straight hits after getting the first out and was charged with one run. The 25-year-old has been showing better life on his slider again over the last handful of outings, though the fastball still isn’t back to where it was during his dominant 2024 campaign. … Big Leandro Cedeño had a double and, improbably, a triple in five trips to the plate and now has a .385/.484/.538 line through his first eight games in the Padres system. The 27-year-old, who played at the highest level in Japan before spending much of the last two years in the minors overseas, is giving the Missions some much-needed pop. … Ethan Salas had two more hits. After starting the year 2-for-16, he’s now 10-for-31 over his last nine games. He’s still punching out at a 25% clip in that stretch, but generally showing a solid approach at the plate.
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9, TinCaps 7
Key Stats: 2B Oswaldo Linares 2-for-3, 2B, HR (1), BB, 2 RBI; DH Rosman Verdugo 2-for-4; RF Kavares Tears 2-for-5, 2B; LF Alex McCoy 1-for-5, 2B, 4 K; CF Jake Cunningham 1-for-4, 2B, BB; C Carlos Rodriguez 1-for-5, HR (2), 3 RBI; RHP Mason Montgomery 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K, 3 BB, WP
Alex McCoy has the power to take any pitch out to any part of the park. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: Four TinCaps relievers were tagged for seven runs over the final five innings, squandering another loud night from the offense as Fort Wayne fell to a league-worst 6-12 on the year. The TinCaps bullpen now owns an ugly 8.62 ERA that’s the second worst in all of minor league baseball. … Starter Carson Montgomery showed flashes over four innings, giving up a pair of runs on four hits while striking out a pair, but continued a season-long theme by struggling with command. The 23-year-old righty walked three and uncorked a wild pitch as he recorded just 37 strikes among his 70 pitches. On the year, he has seven walks against nine strikeouts in 12 innings despite a fastball that regularly runs up to 97 with good ride. He’s controlled the damage well, however, posting a 3.00 ERA while drawing a ground ball rate above 50%. … Hitting out of the nine spot, Oswaldo Linares had a double, homer, and walk in four plate appearances. The 22-year-old system veteran, who has spent most of his career at catcher, is seeing regular time at second base again for the first time since 2023. He got off to a slow 2-for-22 start, but Thursday’s big night added more than 300 points to his OPS. … Alex McCoy hit a booming double to right-center to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, and is now hitting .317/.343/.571 on the year. While he has kept his strikeout rate in check overall he punched out in his other four at-bats on the night, pushing his K rate up to 25.4% on the year. How he fares as the league gets more looks at him will be one of the important story lines over the next month.
Storm 13, Visalia Rawhide 6
Key Stats: CF Ryan Wideman 2-for-3, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, 4 SB (12); 3B Bradley Frye 1-for-3, HR (2), BB; C Truitt Madonna 1-for-4, SF; 2B Justin DeCriscio 2-for-5, 2B; LF Conner Westenburg 2-for-4, SB (11), RHP Bryan Balzer 4+ IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 2 BB; LHP Javier Chacon 3 IP, 4 K, 2 BB; RHP Vicarte Domingo 1.1 IP, 3 K, BB
Prospect Watch: Lake Elsinore plated five runs in the first, had a 10-1 lead by the end of the third, and generally dominated this one as they picked up the victory to move to .500 on the year. … As they have for most of the last week, the top three in the lineup did a ton of damage. Ryan Wideman continued a stellar start to his 2026 campaign as he reached base five more times. He led off the game with an infield single that caromed off Visalia’s starting pitcher before Bradley Frye hit a laser out to right-center to put Lake Elsinore on top. Truitt Madonna followed with a hard-hit single the shortstop fielded on the outfield grass deep in the hole, and he later came around on a Kerrington Cross triple to the very deepest part of the left-center. Wideman was hit in his next trip to the plate, knocked a two-run double in the third, and by the time he drew a walk his next time up, reached base four times by the fifth inning. He walked again in the seventh and promptly stole both second and third base to push his season total to a league-leading 12 in 16 attempts. His reworked swing has helped him to a .319/.419/.569 line through his first 86 plate appearances – an OPS that dwarfs the .601 mark he generated in 26 games with Lake Elsinore at the end of last summer. Perhaps most impressively, he has cut his strikeout rate from 28.6% last year to 16.3% this. … Frye had perhaps the strangest line he’ll produce all year, reaching base four times. In addition to the homer, which pushed his slugging percentage north of .600, and a walk, the 23-year-old infielder reached base on both a catcher’s interference call and when the backstop was called with interfering with his progress to first base. The undrafted free agent out of Mercer now leads the Cal League with a .412 average, is third with a .466 on-base percentage, and ranks ninth with a .608 slugging percentage. While he certainly won’t maintain his .500 average on balls in play, Frye’s above-average speed and 34.2% line drive rate will help keep it elevated. … Righty Bryan Balzer continues to show real promise on the mound, but remains a work in progress. The 21-year-old gave up a leadoff single to open the game and JD Dix immediately stole second and third before coming around on a fly ball to left. Clearly rattled, Balzer hit the next batter and issued a four-pitch walk before gathering himself and getting a pair of easy groundouts to limit further damage. He worked efficiently through the next three frames, allowing only an infield single and another hit batter while striking out three as his fastball and split-finger impressed. But, having already thrown 61 pitches, things fell apart when he came out to start the fifth. Visalia strung together three straight hits – two of which were just out of reach of his infielders – before Balzer walked in a run with the final batter he would face. While his final line – four runs on five hits, two walks and two hit batters – leaves something to be desired, the pieces are starting to come together for the talented but wildly inexperienced pitcher.
Roster Moves: In a disappointing turn for the organization, Kale Fountain hit the IL with a shoulder injury he sustained in the field on Tuesday night. The right-handed slugger will likely miss significant time for the third time in his second professional season. Qrey Lott, an athletic outfielder signed as an undrafted free agent last year, joined Elsinore to take his spot on the roster and had a hit as a late-game pinch-hitter.
