Game 1: Chihuahuas 5, Oklahoma City Comets 4 (8 innings)
Key Stats: C Ethan Salas 1-for-3, RBI, SB (16); CF Samad Taylor 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; LF Carlos Rodriguez 2-for-4, SB (17), RS, RBI; RF Bryce Johnson 0-for-2, BB, 2 R, SB (14); RHP Jhony Brito 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 K
Game 2: Oklahoma City Comets 6, Chihuahuas 0 (7 innings)
Key Stats: 3B Will Wagner 1-for-3; RF Carlos Rodriguez 2-for-3; SS Gage Workman 1-for-3
Prospect Watch: For the second time during his seven-game rehab stint, Samad Taylor started in center field. It was his fifth game in center this season. Taylor played only right and left field during his tenure with the Padres. His ability to patrol center field could alter who the Padres send down when Taylor is activated. At the plate, Taylor accounted for 80% of the team’s runs, driving in two runs and scored two more. Taylor is hitting .304/.407/.478 over seven games and 26 plate appearances as he works back from a right oblique strain. … Jhony Brito started Game 1 and, for the first time since June, was allowed to pitch five innings. For the 16th consecutive outing, including his time with the Padres, Brito allowed no more than two earned runs. The last time Brito allowed more than two runs in an outing, he was on a rehab assignment in San Antonio while Lucas Giolito won a 2-0 game in which Nick Castellanos scored the final run for the big-league club. Brito has a 3.11 ERA over 66.2 innings this season. … Carlos Rodriguez was the only Chihuahua to record a hit in both games. He had multiple hits in each game and now has a team-leading 10-game hitting streak. In 105 games this season, Rodriguez is hitting .307 with a .788 OPS. His 85% stolen-base success rate is now the best of his eight-year minor league career. … After going hitless in his previous three games, Ethan Salas picked up an RBI single in the Game 1 win. Salas also stole his career-best 16th base. He has cooled off recently but is still hitting .304 with a .899 OPS in 21 games for El Paso.
Springfield Cardinals 14, Missions 4
Key Stats: LHP Luis Gutierrez 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; RF Alex McCoy 2-for-4, RBI; DH Tirso Ornelas 1-for-4, HR (14); RBI; SS Justin DeCriscio 1-for-3, BB, SB (21)
Alex McCoy is a fearsome presence in the batter’s box. (Photo: Charisma Jones)
Prospect Watch: Left-hander Luis Gutierrez continues to build up his innings with the Missions. After missing three months with shoulder issues, Gutierrez has been slowly increasing his pitch count. Unfortunately, he only recorded five outs before he hit 52 pitches and was removed from the game. Since returning to San Antonio, the 23-year-old has allowed four runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings. … The game did not get much better for the Missions as Alex McCoy was the only player to record multiple hits. The former undrafted free agent has been punishing the ball since joining the Missions. In 11 games with San Antonio, McCoy has hit safely in 10 and is hitting .340/.353/.520. Between Fort Wayne and San Antonio, McCoy has 30 doubles, 17 home runs, and 23 stolen bases. … Tirso Ornelas had the team’s only extra-base hit. His home run was his 14th of the season, but only his second over the last seven weeks. During that span, he had been hitting .215 with a .620 OPS. Over his last four games, however, the tide might finally be turning. Ornelas is 6-for-16 with a double and a home run, his best stretch since early July. He is hitting .248 with a .744 OPS in 111 games this season.
Dayton Dragons 2, TinCaps 1
Key Stats: RHP Carson Montgomery 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; LF Kasen Wells 1-for-3, 2B, BB; CF Conner Westenburg 2-for-4, 3B, R; 1B Yoiber Ocopio 2-for-4; RHP Isaiah Lowe 2 IP, H, 2 K
Conner Westenburg has been a frequent spark plug in his debut season. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps’ lone run came on a Little League home run. Conner Westenburg tripled into the gap and came around to score on an errant throw to third by the shortstop. It was his fourth extra-base hit in 15 games for the TinCaps and his fourth run scored. In his first professional season, Westenburg now has six triples and 48 stolen bases in 109 games between Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore. … Kasen Wells had the team’s other extra-base hit. Wells, who homered Tuesday night, now has extra-base hits in consecutive games for the first time since May 14-15. Earlier this month, Wells went 10 days without a hit, but has slowly rebuilt his monthly numbers, finally getting his batting average back above .200. Wells is hitting .265 with a .673 OPS this season. … Despite taking the loss, Carson Montgomery turned in one of his better starts of the last two months. Montgomery struck out six batters for the first time in more than two months. The former 11th-round pick needed 78 pittches to get through four innings before being pulled. Montgomery had a sub-2.00 ERA at the end of May, but has struggled to an ERA above seven since. He is in line for one more start this season.
Michael Salina finally got through multiple innings. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 14, Storm 1
Key Stats: RHP Cameron Nohos 1.1 IP, 8 H, 8 R (7 ER), K; Michael Salina 2 IP, 3 H, ER, K; DH Ty Harvey 1-for-4; 1B Augie Lopez 1-for-3, HR (1), RBI
Prospect Watch: The Storm managed just two hits and were blown out yet again. They have given up at least nine runs in six times in the last nine games. The only good news was Michael Salina, who got through two innings. After battling injuries for most of the season, Salina came off the IL three weeks ago and pitched a scoreless inning before walking off the mound with the trainer while warming up for his second frame. He returned last Wednesday, but didn’t appear again in the series. Salina finally got a chance to throw a second inning in this one, tossing 23 strikes among 31 pitches. Salina slid to the Padres in the fourth round last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. If he can get healthy, the Padres believe he can emerge as a top prospect. Any healthy progress right now, regardless of the results, is a major step forward for the Padres’ 30th-ranked farm system. … Augie Lopez, this year’s 10th-rounder who signed for $10,000, hit his first professional home run. The former USC Trojan had a big two-RBI double in his first game with the Storm but had gone 1-for-20 since then. Lopez, primarily a catcher, has been getting some time at first base in deference to Ty Harvey and Truitt Madonna.
