Chihuahuas 6, Round Rock Express 5
Clay Dungan continues to contribute in El Paso. (Photo: Deanna Almaguer)
Key Stats: RHP Jhony Brito 4 IP. 6 H, 2 ER, K; RHP Hunter Stratton 2 IP, H, 3 K; RHP David Morgan 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K; DH Will Wagner 3-for-4, 2 2B; 3B Clay Dungan 1-for-4, HR (9); RF Dustin Harris 2-for-4, HR (6), PO
Prospect Watch: El Paso went single, homer, single, homer in the seventh inning to get enough of a lead that they were able to hold off a ninth-inning rally by the Express. Clay Dungan came through with his second homer of the month, leaving him with an odd .258/.258/.516 line for August. The 30-year-old system veteran now has more than 2,100 career Triple-A plate appearances, 1,325 of them with the Chihuahuas. Bryce Johnson followed with a single before Dustin Harris blasted homer deep to center for his sixth round-tripper in 27 games for the Chihuahuas. Signed as a minor league free agent after the White Sox organization released him, the 27-year-old has been on fire since joining the Padres system, hitting .342/.416/.604. He had 30 homers in 289 PCL games previously in his career in the Astros organization. Harris finished the night 2-for-4. … After rolling through the eighth inning uneventfully, David Morgan got knocked around a bit in the ninth, but held on to record his fourth save of the year. He gave up a homer and an RBI-double in the final frame, though neither ball was hit hard. The reliever has put up a 4.32 ERA across seven appearances since coming back from his injury, with nine strikeouts against just one walk in 8.1 innings. His fastball and sinker both sat 95-96, about one MPH below where he’s been most of the year.
Missions 6, Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5 (11 innings)
Garrett Hawkins had a dominant outing to give the Missions an extra-inning victory. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Key Stats: CF/1B Braedon Karpathios 1-for-5, 2B, BB, 2 K; RF Alex McCoy 2-for-6; 2B Ryan Jackson 2-for-4, 2B, SAC; LHP Jamie Hitt 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K; RHP Josh Mallitz 2 IP, 2 H, K, BB; RHP Garrett Hawkins 1.1 IP, 3 K
Prospect Watch: Alex McCoy lined a bases-loaded single to left just over a drawn-in infield to walk it off in the 11th inning and give the Missions their third straight win over the Naturals to start the series. The Royals affiliate opted to intentionally walk Anthony Vilar and Braedon Karpathios after Justin DeCriscio sacrificed the Manfred Man to third base to open the frame, setting up one of the league’s hottest hitters with the opportunity to be the hero. It was McCoy’s second hit on the night, and he now has four multi-hit games in six starts since his promotion. After his monster debut last week, the 24-year-old outfielder is hitting .414/.433/.690 in his first taste of Double-A ball. Encouragingly, he’s also struck out at only a 16.7% clip. … The Missions scored in each of the extra innings, getting a squeeze bunt from Ryan Jackson with runners on the corners in the 10th inning. The Missions second baseman also got the scoring started for San Antonio with a two-run double in the first inning. It’s been a mixed year for the USC product, who is hitting .257 but has seen his on-base percentage fall off dramatically this year as Texas League pitchers have forced him to beat them. … The Missions had the opportunity to win because of a stellar outing from Garrett Hawkins. The righty-hander, who has had a rough year, came on after Northwest Arkansas plated their automatic runner in the 10th and had put another runner on second. He battled through an eight-pitch at-bat to get a strikeout and end the inning. He came back for the 11th, and quickly shut things down with a fly ball and two more punchouts. Hawkins got six whiffs on eight swings in the final inning of work.
Great Lakes Loons 7, TinCaps 2
Carson Montgomery continues to make his starts with mixed results. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Key Stats: LF Kasen Wells 1-for-4, BB; CF Ryan Wideman 1-for-5, CS (8); SS Rosman Verdugo 2-for-4; 2B Bradley Frye 1-for-4, 2B; RHP Carson Montgomery 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 K, BB
Prospect Watch: After winning three straight over Great Lakes, the TinCaps fell behind early and never made much of a game of it Thursday. Carson Montgomery gave up a first-inning two-run homer and allowed another on an RBI single in the second when he grooved an 0-2 fastball. The righty then got into a groove, retiring 10 straight batters to earn the opportunity to come out to start the sixth inning for just the second time this year. After getting a leadoff out, he surrendered back-to-back singles to end his night. Both of those runners quickly came around when Will Koger gave up another hit and then a monster grand slam to put the game well out of reach. Montgomery finished the night having allowed five earned runs over 5.1 innings, with three strikeouts and one walk. The 24-year-old ran his fastball up to 96 in the game, but continues to struggle badly with sequencing and finishing off hitters. While he’s held opponents to a .179 average and 0.98 WHIP over three starts and 15.1 innings this month, Montgomery has only struck out 10 and has a 4.70 ERA. … The Storm offense never mustered much of a fight despite drawing six walks. Bradley Frye had the club’s only extra-base hit, an RBI double in the eighth to finish the scoring. The undrafted free agent middle infielder has seen a bit of a power spike since his promotion from Lake Elsinore, connecting on four extra-base hits in his first 12 Midwest League games. After slugging just .366 in the Cal League with an anemic .096 isolated power rate, he has gotten the ball in the air more with Fort Wayne and has a .429 slugging percentage to show for it.
San Jose Giants 9, Storm 5
Key Stats: 2B Ethan Lascelles 2-for-3, 2 BB; SS Jorge Quintana 1-for-5, HR (7), 3 RBI, 2 K; 3B Nu’u Contrades 2-for-3, BB, SB (2), PO/CS; RHP Lan-Hong Su 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 K; LHP Zack Qin 4 IP, 3 K, 2 BB; RHP Brandon Valenzuela (L, 2-1) 0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, HBP, Balk; LHP Andrew Wright 0.2 IP, 2 H, ER, K
Prospect Watch: The Storm took a 5-2 lead to the ninth before a brutal meltdown from the bullpen cost them a win. John Conniff was on-site and has the coverage here.
