Las Vegas Aviators 5, Chihuahuas 1
Key Stats: 1B Nick Pratto 2-for-3, 2B; C Blake Hunt 1-for-3; RHP Evan Fitterer 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 4 BB; RHP Juan Moreno 2 IP, H, 2 K, BB; RHP Alek Jacob IP, K
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas dropped their fourth straight as they fell to the worst record in the Pacific Coast League. They put together only six hits in the game and their lone run came in the third inning on a Carlos Rodriguez sacrifice fly. … Blake Hunt extended his hitting streak to six games with a line drive single that, at 98.3 mph, was the hardest-hit ball of the game. The 27-year-old caught back-to-back games for just the second time this month as the organization has given him regular off days after he spent the first two months on the IL with an oblique injury. … Reliever Johan Moreno worked two scoreless innings, recording a pair of strikeouts and two grounders as he worked around an infield single and a walk. The 23-year-old, who got hit hard in two of his first three appearances following a promotion to El Paso earlier this month, struggled to land his slider, but got good results with a fastball that sat at 95.2 mph. … Andrew Moore followed Moreno, but had a rough outing. The hard-throwing righty only gave up one weak single and recorded both of his outs with strikeouts, but walked four batters. That line encapsulates his second season in the Padres organization. The 26-year-old has walked 18 of the 61 batters he has faced since his promotion to El Paso, causing his typically stellar strikeout rates to crater. While his raw stuff remains some of the most tantalizing in the organization, only one pitcher with a walk rate above 20% has logged 20 total big league innings over the last six seasons.
Missions 4, Frisco RoughRiders 3
Jake Cunningham has continued to show impressive power in San Antonio. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Key Stats: C Ethan Salas 2-for-3, BB; CF Jake Cunningham 2-for-4, 2B, HR (3), 3 RBI; 1B Albert Fabian 2-for-2, 2B, SF; RHP Andrew Thurman 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 10 K; RHP Josh Mallitz (S, 4) 3 IP, H, 3 K
Prospect Watch: A sixth-inning sacrifice fly off the bat of Albert Fabian proved to be the difference as the Missions snapped a three-game losing streak. The Missions, who hadn’t scored in 20 innings coming into the night, fell behind in the first, but quickly bounced back to tie it when Jake Cunningham connected on his third Texas League homer. The 25-year-old, who also tied the game a second time in the fifth inning with a double, has seen his production taper off since his promotion, but still has put together a .289/.330/.464 line in his first taste of Double-A. While he’s seen a huge spike in production in his first season in the Padres organization, his strikeout rate continues to hover around 30%, just as it did in his tenure in the Orioles organization. … Fabian, the 24-year-old who has been in the system since 2018, had his third two-hit game in his last five contests. His double was just his fourth extra-base hit this month as he continues to limp through his lowest production season since his first campaign in the complex league. … Andrew Thurman, who slid into the Missions rotation at the end of June, gave up three runs over the first two innings, but then settled in and retired the final 13 batters he faced. The 34-year-old, who was out of affiliated ball for nine years, last made it through six innings in a game during the Obama administration. The righty struck out a career-high 10 batters, including the last three he faced. … Righty Josh Mallitz followed Thurman and worked three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit. The 24-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and rushed through three levels last season. He had a brutal start to the campaign this year, but has posted a 2.19 ERA with a 40:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 37 innings since the start of May.
TinCaps 14, Lake County Captains
Bryan Balzer has emerged as a top option in Fort Wayne. (Photo: Fort Wayen TinCaps)
Key Stats: SS Justin DeCriscio 3-for-5, 2 2B; CF Ryan Wideman 3-for-4, SF, SB (11); LF Alex McCoy 1-for-4, 2B, BB; 2B Rosman Verdugo 1-for-2, HR (12), 2 BB, 5 RBI; 1B Luke Cantwell 2-for-4, HR (4), BB; RHP Bryan Balzer 5 IP, H, 2 K, 2 BB; LHP Will Koger IP, 2 K, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps sent nine men to the plate, had a pair of homers, and put up six runs in the first inning, then just kept it going as they cruised to victory on Saturday. Justin DeCriscio set the tone for the lineup out of the leadoff spot, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a walk as he scored three times. It was the shortstop’s third three-hit game in his last nine contests and raised his OPS for the month to .919. … Ryan Wideman got his Midwest League average over .300 with a 3-for-4 day that included a sacrifice fly. Last year’s third-rounder has only managed two extra-base hits – both doubles – in his first 105 plate appearances in the Midwest League, but he has once again found his legs on the basepaths. Wideman logged one stolen base on Saturday and has four over the last three games to reclaim the overall minor league lead. … Rosman Verdugo had a three-run homer in the first and finished the day with five RBIs courtesy of a sacrifice fly and bases-loaded walk. While the blast was his first of the month, he has posted a strong .280/.403/.460 line in July. The 21-year-old continues to keep his strikeout rate at a career-best 24.2% while drawing walks at a strong 13.3% rate. … Given a big lead early, Bryan Balzer cruised through five scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. He did have to work around traffic all day as he added two hit batters to two walks, but he induced weak contact to avoid damage. The 21-year-old had a rough first outing for the TinCaps, but he has allowed only two runs over 16.2 innings this month while holding opponents to just a .180 average.
Storm 10, Visalia Rawhide 2
Jorge Quintana is finding a groove in July. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Key Stats: CF Conner Westenburg 2-for-3, 2B, BB, SAC, SB (40); SS Jorge Quintana 2-for-3, 2B, HR (4); 2B Jose Verdugo 2-for-4, SB (26); C Ty Harvey 0-for-4, BB, R, SB (6); RHP Tyler Schmitt 4 IP, ER, 2 K, 5 BB
Prospect Watch: The Storm pushed across runs in five of the first six innings and rolled to their third victory of the series between the Cal League’s two second-half cellar-dwellers. Shortstop Jorge Quintana stayed hot for Lake Elsinore, connecting on a double and his fourth home run of the year and drawing a walk. The Padres second-ranked position prospect coming into the year, Quintana struggled through the first three months of the year, logging an ugly .599 OPS while striking out in nearly a third of his plate appearances. This month, he has turned it on with a .288/.425/.525 line and cut his whiff rates while improving his strikeout rate to a still below-average 27%. The switch-hitter has had an especially rough time from the right side this year, while his .745 OPS from the left-hand batters box has been solid all year. … Conner Westenburg went 2-for-3 with a walk out of the leadoff spot and swiped one of the club’s four stolen bases in the game. The Houston native got off to a strong start for the Storm before his results bottomed out in June. He’s beginning to turn things back around with a mini four-game hitting streak. He has converted on 40 of 45 stolen base attempts on the year and is now just three off the league lead, which Ryan Wideman continues to own a portion of more than a month after he was promoted. … Jose Verdugo had a pair of singles in his second straight multi-hit game. The 18-year-old infielder has seen his power production dwindle this month as he approaches triple the plate appearances he logged in the DSL last summer, but his underlying bat-to-ball skills remain encouraging. The Sinaloa, Mexico, native has struck out at just a 17% clip this year, while his whiff and swing rates track well above league average.
Roster Moves: After the ACL season ended Thursday, the Padres activated Ty Harvey from the 60-day minor league IL on the first day he was eligible and returned him to Elsinore. The backstop went 0-for-4, but drew a walk and scored. The club also returned Truitt Madonna to the Storm after he spent a week in the desert to regroup a bit. The big-bodied catcher went 1-for-4 and drove in a run, snapping an 0-for-26 stretch. Lefty Adler Cecil was also added to the Storm roster prior to the game. When he gets into a game, he’ll be making his full-season debut just up the road from his hometown of Temecula three years after the Padres drafted him. To make room on the roster, catcher Alcides Hernandez was officially transferred back to the ACL roster. He’ll be part of the organization’s bridge league activities. Fellow backstop Colton Vincent was transferred to the Missions. He has now appeared on every domestic roster except Fort Wayne this year.
