Sugar Land Space Cowboys 8, Chihuahuas 3
Mason McCoy continues to set the table well for El Paso. (Photo: Sugar Land Space Cowboys)
Key Stats: CF Dustin Harris 1-for-3, 2 BB; SS Mason McCoy 1-for-4, 2B, BB; 1B Romeo Sanabria 1-for-4; RHP Evan Fitterer 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, K, 2 BB; RHP Andrew Moore 1.2 IP, H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 BB
Prospect Watch: El Paso dropped their sixth straight as the offense managed only five hits – just one for extra bases. Dustin Harris, who signed a free agent deal last week after being released by the White Sox organization, went 1-for-3 and drew a pair of walks out of the leadoff spot. The 27-year-old, originally an 11th-round pick by the A’s back in 2019, has logged just over 100 career plate appearances in the big leagues over parts of the last three seasons. He’ll likely hold down center field for El Paso over the remainder of the season. … Mason McCoy doubled in the first inning and then came around to score the team’s first run. The defensive specialist shortstop, who added a walk later in the game, has a .362 on-base percentage for the year, his best since playing in the now-defunct short-season New York-Penn League way back in 2017. … Hard-throwing righty Andrew Moore had what’s become a pretty typical outing out of the bullpen. The 26-year-old didn’t allow a hit over 1.2 innings, but was charged with two runs – one earned – as he walked three batters. Moore ran both his four-seam and sinker up to 97 mph and induced a strong 38% whiff rate, but only 11 of his 38 pitches were in the zone. He has walked a quarter of the batters he has faced this year.
Corpus Christi Hooks 5, Missions 2
Ian Koenig has shown the ability to dominate when he’s on. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Key Stats: DH Jake Cunningham 2-for-3, BB; RHP Ian Koenig 6 IP, 3 H, 5 K, BB; RHP Clay Edmondson 0.1 IP, H, 2 ER, K, BB; RHP Tucker Musgrove 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 K, BB
Prospect Watch: Starter Ian Koenig turned in a stellar outing, giving up only three hits over six innings, but Corpus Christi jumped on a trio of relievers for five runs over the next two frames and sent the Missions to a loss. Koenig, 25, has gone at least five scoreless innings five different times in 18 starts this year, but his overall ERA has hovered at 4.46. Relying primarily on a sinker/slider mix to keep hitters guessing, the former undrafted free agent has struck out only 68 batters in 84.1 innings of work, but his workmanlike efforts have helped him carry the second-highest workload in the system. He is on track to cruise past his career high of 103.1 innings he set last year. … Clay Edmondson put up stellar numbers out of the TinCaps bullpen to open the year, but the sidearmer has had a difficult time adjusting to the higher competition in the Texas League. Edmondson, 23, was charged with a pair of runs after giving up a walk and a single to open his inning of work. He got a strikeout from there, but gave way so southpaw Harry Gustin could face back-to-back left-handed hitters. Instead, the second of those batters connected on a two-run double. Through his first eight appearances for the Missions, Edmondson has allowed seven earned runs in as many innings while striking out only six and walking eight. He’ll obviously be looking to dial in his ability to land his wicked slider in the zone more consistently. … Jake Cunningham had two more hits and a walk, pushing his line with the Missions to .303/.337/.474. While he continues to strike out too often, the former Orioles fifth-rounder has emerged as a viable contributor in his first season in the Padres organization.
TinCaps 2, Lansing Lugnuts 0 (11 innings)
Justin DeCriscio has contributed consistently for Fort Wayne. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Key Stats: SS Justin DeCriscio 1-for-5, 2B, R; C Lamar King Jr. 1-for-4, 2B; DH Alex McCoy 0-for-3, 2 BB, SB (15); LHP Kash Mayfield 2 IP, K, BB; RHP Carson Montgomery IP, 2 H; RHP Bryan Balzer 3 IP, H, 3 K, BB; LHP Igor Gil 2 IP, 3 K, BB
Prospect Watch: After playing to a scoreless draw for the first 10 innings, the TinCaps got a run on a goundout by Ryan Wideman and another on a bases-loaded Alex McCoy walk to claim the win at Lansing. The clubs combined for just eight hits in a game that was still over in under three hours despite the two extra frames. … Justin DeCriscio had the TinCaps’ only extra-base hit, a double that set up the scoring. The 23-year-old infielder has been a solid contributor at both Single-A levels this year, posting a .282/.373/.455 line across 51 games since joining Fort Wayne. … Coming out of the break navigating unusual throwing schedules last week, the TinCaps gave Kash Mayfield two innings on the mound before handing the ball to Carson Montgomery and Bryan Balzer, who typically would have had bullpen sessions over the weekend. Combined, the trio got through six scoreless innings. Balzer struck out three over his three innings of work, needing only 41 pitches to dispatch Lugnuts batters. Each of the trio should make their regularly-scheduled starts in the coming week.
Ontario Tower Buzzers 9, Storm 4
Key Stats: 3B Yimy Tovar 2-for-5; 1B Dawson Willis 1-for-4, 2B, BB; DH Bradley Frye 1-for-2, 3 BB, CS (7); RHP Lan-Hong Su IP; LHP Zack Qin IP, 2 H, ER, K, BB; RHP Tyler Schmitt 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 4 K
Prospect Watch: The Storm plated a run in each of the first two innings of the game, but the Dodgers affiliate roared back to even their short series. Batting out of the leadoff spot, Yimy Tovar had the club’s only multi-hit night, going 2-for-5. The 20-year-old right-hand hitting infielder went just 2-for his first 33 following a late-May promotion to Lake Elsinore. He has been producing better of late, hitting in six of his last seven, though he has only one extra-base hit in that span. Overall, he’s now hitting .176/.248/.241 in the Cal League. … Dawson Willis, rather predictably, had the club’s lone extra-base hit as he doubled and drew a walk in five trips to the plate. The 22-year-old is slugging .557 through his first 40 professional games. … Lan-Hong Su and Zack Qin each worked one inning as the organization got them some work after the All-Star break. Su, 19, hasn’t thrown more than three innings in a game yet this year, but he will get stretched out a bit over the final six weeks of the minor league season. He’s had a rough acclimation to the Cal League, giving up 12 earned runs in his first 7.2 innings, but his scoreless frame Saturday gives him something to work from. Qin, who was tagged for a run on two hits and a walk in his frame, has worked to a 3.60 ERA across 10 innings since rejoining Lake Elsinore. He is nearly two years post-Tommy John surgery.
ACL White Sox 6, ACL Padres 3 (7 innings)
Ty Harvey has jumped right back in during his second rehab stint in the desert.. Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Key Stats: C Ty Harvey 1-for-3, 2B; 2B Luis De Leon 1-for-3, HR (1); DH Isaac Ponce 3-for-3, 2B; RHP José Leclerc IP, 3 K
Prospect Watch: The Padres rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to close the gap a bit, but dropped this one down the road at Camelback Ranch. They got on the board when Luis De Leon connected on a solo shot for his first homer of the year. The 20-year-old infielder is hitting .272/.387/.346 in his third season in the desert. That’s a bit of a step back from his overall production last year and likely has him firmly on the bubble for one of the organization’s 165 domestic roster spots when the ACL season comes to a close. … Catcher Ty Harvey had a double in three trips to the plate and now has a pair of extra-base hits in his first two games back. The rest of the morning was brutal for the 19-year-old, who struck out in his other two at-bats and had three throwing errors behind the plate as the White Sox converted on six of eight stolen base attempts. Last year’s fifth-round pick, who secured a seven-figure bonus, is working back from a broken bone in his left hand that cost him his second IL stint of the year. He will likely rejoin Lake Elsinore when after the last game in the desert Thursday. … José Leclerc struck out the side in what will likely be his last outing before moving his rehab assignment up the system. The 32-year-old, who had shoulder surgery last year and signed with the organization at the end of spring training to continue his recovery, has punched out nine with only one walk in 5.1 innings across six appearances.
