Salt Lake City Bees 8, Chihuahuas 7
Key Statistics: RF Dustin Harris 3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI; 1B Marcos Castanon 2-for-3, HR (15), RBI, BB; SS Mason McCoy 3-for-3, BB, 3 SB (30); C Rodolfo Duran 2-for-4, 2 RBI; RHP Jhony Brito 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R; 3.0 Logan Gillaspie 3.0 IP, 2 H, R, K, HR; RHP David Morgan 1.0 IP, H, K; RHP Hans Crouse (L, 0-1) (BS) 0.1 IP 3 H, 4 R, 3 BB
Mason McCoy is second in the PCL in stolen bases with 30. (Photo: El Paso Chihuahuas).
Prospect Watch: El Paso went into the top of the ninth inning up by three when reliever Hans Crouse replaced David Morgan to close out the game. In his first four appearances with the Chihuahuas since coming over from the Orioles’ organization, Crouse had not allowed a run, but on Saturday he gave up four, as he walked three and gave up three hits before being pulled for Ethan Routzahn. … Marcos Castanon hit his team-leading 15th home run of the year, a 406-foot shot to center field in the second. As team broadcaster Tim Hagerty noted, it’s his fourth home run in 13 games against the Bees. Castanon has a .788 OPS on the season. … Mason McCoy hit a few milestones on Saturday in addition to his three hits. He became the seventh player to reach 300 hits with the Chihuahuas, and his three stolen bases gave him 30 on the year in 34 attempts, and he is two behind Nelson Rada of the Bees. McCoy, 31, is in his third year with El Paso since coming over from the Blue Jays’ organization. .. David Morgan threw another clean inning, and in five of six outings in August has not allowed a run. In 6.1 innings this month, he has seven strikeouts against only one walk, but has also allowed seven hits.
Frisco RoughRiders 7, Missions 1
Key Statistics: LF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-4, HR (13), RBI, BB; CF Braedon Karpathios 0-for-4, BB, 4 K; 1B Romeo Sanabria 1-for-3, 2 BB; SS Wyatt Hoffman 0-for-1, 2 BB; RH Alex McCoy 1-for-5, 2B, 2 K; C Anthony Vilar 1-for-3, BB; RHP Matthew Watson (L, 0-3), 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 HR; RHP Tucker Musgrove 0.2 IP, H; RHP Sadrac Franco 1.0 IP, BB
Tirso Ornelas had a solo home run on Saturday. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Prospect Watch: The RoughRiders used a bullpen game to shut down San Antonio on the road, as the Missions could manage only six hits on the evening. … A great example of the ups-and-downs of baseball is what Braedon Karpathios experienced within a 24-hour period. After having one of the better nights of his career, with three hits and two home runs, he struck out in four of his five plate appearances tonight. … Tirso Ornelas got the visitors off to a good start with a solo shot to right field, which unfortunately was the only offense of the night for the Missions. It was his 13th of the season, and puts him one behind Karpathios for the team lead. The 26-year-old is in his ninth season in the organization, and this year with San Antonio has a .244/.323/.418 slash line after spending most of the previous year in Triple-A El Paso. … San Antonio will attempt to split the series on Sunday.
Bryan Balzer had one of the best outings of his career. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Quad Cities River Bandits 4, TinCaps 2 (7 innings)
Key Statistics: C Robbie Lavey 2-for-3, HR (2), RBI; LF Dylan Grego 1-for-3, RBI; RHP Carlos Medina (L, 0-1) 2.0 IP, 2 H, R, 2 BB, 2 K; LHP Braian Salazar1.0 IP, BB, K
Quad Cities River Bandits 2, TinCaps 2 (Suspended by rain, to be completed on Sunday)
Key Statistics: 1B Luke Cantwell 1-for-3, 2B; DH Carlos Rodriguez 1-for-3; 2B Dylan Grego 1-for-3, RBI; RF Conner Westenburg 1-for-1, SB (1), CS; RHP Bryan Balzer 5.0 IP, H, 4 BB, 10 K; RHP Will Koger 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 K
Prospect Watch: In the first game on the road in Davenport, Iowa, the TinCaps were shut down for the first six innings of the shortened game and down 4-0 in the final frame when the team staged a mini-rally when the left-handed hitting Robbie Lavery hit his second home run in two days with a solo home run to right field. Dylan Grego’s two-out single added another run before a pop-out ended the first game. … Lavery, 20, was drafted in the fourth round of this year’s draft from George Washington University, and it’s an aggressive placing by the organization in sending him to High-A without a plate appearance in the ACL or Lake Elsinore.In our post-draft interview with MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, he described Lavery as having the profile of a major league catcher. He has three hits and two home runs in his first three games. … The nightcap was called going into “extra innings” on account of impending rain and the premature lighting of fireworks in the bottom of the seventh inning. … Last week Bryan Balzer had one of his more disappointing outings of the season, giving up six earned runs in two innings. On Saturday he bounced back, throwing a career-high 94 pitches and striking out a season-high 10 batters. As we have mentioned here more than a few times, he is still only in his second full year as a pitcher, including his high school career in Japan, but he has a fastball that sits comfortably in the mid-90s to go along with a sweeper. If his control improves, he is a very interesting prospect.
Storm 6, Inland Empire 66ers 0
Kruz Schoolcraft has been improving every month. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Key Statistics: DH Nu’u Contrades 1-for-5, 2 RBI; C Ty Harvey 3-for-5, HR (2) RBI; 2B Joe Tiroly 3-for-5; 3B Yimmy Tover 2-for-5; LHP Kruz Schoolcraft 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 K; LF Alex Conover 1-for-5, HR (2), RBI; RHP Tyler Schmitt (W, 8-6) 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K; RHP Brandon Langley 1.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 K
Prospect Watch: The Storm put together a solid offensive performance to give them their third victory against the 66ers and a chance to take the series on Saturday. Kruz Schoolcraft, 19, got the start, and the 6-foot-9-plus Oregonian had one of his better starts of the year, striking out four and not walking any in three innings and 48 pitches, 30 for strikes, of work. It’s been a long road, but the Padres’ number one draft pick from last year has steadily been improving with a 3.47 ERA in July in 23.1 innings after an April where he was at 15.95 in his first four starts. … Ty Harvey is a name that will appear on every Top 10 Padres Prospects list next season; he had a solid night with three hits, including his second home run of the year. He missed significant portions of the season with hamstring and hand injuries, but has a .714 OPS on the season with a .348 on-base percentage, which is very good for a 19-year old in his first full season of professional baseball.
