Chihuahuas 4, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 3
Key Statistics: RHP Gabe Mosser 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; RHP Alek Jacob (W, 2-0) 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K; RF-LF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-3, HR (7), BB; DH Brett Sullivan, 2-for-2, HR (11), 2 RBI, 2 HBP; CF Bryce Johnson 1-for-2, BB, HBP, 2 SB (18)
Prospect Watch: Six innings of three-run ball is quite the accomplishment in the Pacific Coast League, and Gabe Mosser managed it while only striking out two batters. The 28-year-old righty excelled at keeping it in the yard with five groundouts and seven flyouts, improving his 2024 numbers to a 5.98 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 52.2 innings pitched. … Alek Jacob picked up the win with two shutout innings, striking out three batters. After the sidearming righty reached the big leagues last spring before an elbow injury wiped out the remainder of his season, Jacob has returned to El Paso in an effort to return to form. After posting an 11.45 ERA in nine May outings, Jacob has earned a 4.50 mark in six June appearances despite six walks in 10 innings as he tries to regain the control helped him evade bats readily in the past. … Tirso Ornelas hit his seventh home run of the season and second of the series after the Tijuana native went a month without a round-tripper. The 24-year-old outfielder overcame an ice cold start to the season with a .329/.400/.506 slash line in May and has added to that with a ,300/.417/.520 line this month. … Taking a night off from catching, Brett Sullivan contributed out of the designated hitter spot, hitting a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning as part of a two-hit night. The 30-year-old Stockton native, who was also hit by pitches in two trips to the plate, continues to feast on Triple-A pitching, batting .282 with 11 home runs and an .898 OPS in 216 at-bats for El Paso in the 2024 season.
Missions 12, Amarillo Sod Poodles 10
Key Statistics: LHP Omar Cruz (W, 2-0) 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; RHP Ethan Routzahn (H, 4) 1 IP, 3 BB, 1 K; LF Cole Cummings 2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB; 3B Marcos Castañon 3-for-4, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Prospect Watch: While the Chihuahuas played an unusually pitcher-friendly brand of baseball for the PCL, the Missions’ game in Amarillo turned into exactly the sort of slugfest you’d expect. San Antonio bypassed Ryan Bergert‘s turn in the rotation for a bullpen game. After Carter Loewen got through two innings as the opener, Omar Cruz gave three-plus innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts stabilize the game in the middle innings and pick up the win. The 25-year-old southpaw is 2-0 with a 3.96 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 36.1 innings for the Missions in his second go-around with the Padres organization after being included in the Joe Musgrove trade in 2021. … Ethan Routzahn continues to shine for the Missions, picking up a hold with a scoreless inning despite having to escape a jam he created by walking three. The 26-year-old St. John’s alum is 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 31.2 innings for San Antonio in the 2024 season. … Cole Cummings homered as part of a two-hit night. The 26-year-old outfielder is batting .241 with five home runs and a .709 OPS for the Missions in 2024 while playing the outfield corners and first base. … Marcos Castañon went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run as the infielder heats up in June, slashing .273/.368/.455 in the month. The UCSB product has posted a .918 OPS against left-handed pitching in 2024.
TinCaps 5Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 1
Key Statistics: LHP Fernando Sanchez (W, 1-2), 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; RHP Tyler Morgan 1 IP, 1 K; CF Joshua Mears, 2-for-4, HR (2), 3 RBI; C Colton Bender 3-for-4, 2B, HR (1), 2 R, RBI; DH Jay Beshears 2-for-3, BB, SB (3)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps cruised to victory thanks to a stellar start from Fernando Sanchezwho bounced back from a pair of forgettable outings to begin his High-A career with a seven-inning gem, allowing one run on five hits. The 23-year-old southpaw is 2-3 with a 4.42 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne this year. Although his strikeout rates are down, he’s also significantly cut his walk rate as he lands his breaking ball in the zone more consistently. … Sanchez yielded to Tyler Morganwho pitched a perfect eighth, striking out one. The 23-year-old righty, who the Padres drafted in the 14th round last year, is 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched in the 2024 season. … At the plate, Joshua Mears went 2-for-4 with a laser beam of a three-run home run to left. The 23-year-old Mears, a former second round pick, is batting .195 in 41 at-bats with Fort Wayne in 2024 with a pair of home runs, but his strikeout rate continues to hover north of 40% in his third pass at High-A. … TinCaps backup catcher Colton Bender may be batting .181 with a ,490 OPS, but it didn’t show Thursday as the Quinnipiac product went 3-for-4 with a double and his first home run of the season. The 2021 10th-rounder has thrown out 21.7 percent of would-be base stealers in 2024.
Visalia Rawhide 2, Storm 1
Key Statistics: RHP Eric Yost, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 K; RHP Maikel Miralles IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 WP; DH Leodalis De Vries, 1-for-3, BB; CF Nick Vogt, 1-for-3, RBI; C Oswaldo Linares, 1-for-4, 2B, R
Prospect Watch: The Storm were given every chance to pull through, but in the end failed to back Eric Yost‘s stellar pitching performance. Yost, a 17th round pick in 2023 out of Northeastern, struck out nine batters in seven scoreless innings and took a no-decision. The 21-year-old struggled through the early part of the year as he worked to trust his fastball more consistently, but he has allowed just one run over 18.1 innings in his last three outings while posting a stellar 22:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He induced five groundouts, including a pair of double plays on the night. … On a night the Storm managed only five hits, one came off the bat of top prospect Leodalis De Vrieswho got the start in the designated hitter role. The 17-year-old De Vries, who also drew a walk, is batting .208 with a .648 OPS in 130 at-bats for the California League first-half champs in 2024. … The lone RBI of the night came on a single off the bat of Nick Vogtwho has hit in seven of his last eight games. Vogt, a seventh-round pick in 2022 out of UC Santa Barbara, is batting .300 since coming off the injured list at the end of May. … The run was scored by catcher Oswaldo Linareswho went 1-for-4 with only his fourth double in 120 trips to the plate this year. Linares, a 21-year-old native of Venezuela, is batting just .146 with a .498 OPS, in part because he’s had terrible luck with a .209 average on balls in play despite solid batted ball profile.
ACL Mariners 5, ACL Parents 2 (7 innings)
Key Statistics: LHP Yovannki Pascual (L, 1-2), 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 5 K; CF Spence Coffman, 2-for-3, R; 1B Carlos Rodriguez, 1-for-2; PH-1B L.J. Jones BB, RBI
Prospect Watch: Giving up only earned run in four innings while striking out five and avoiding the dreaded walk entirely is usually a recipe for success in the low levels of the minor leagues, but Yovannki Pascual took a hard-luck loss despite his showing in the desert. Pascual, a 21-year-old southpaw from the Dominican Republic, opened the year working in shorter bursts from the bullpen, but has gotten better results as he’s stretched out in his last three outings. After walking eight in his first 10 innings of the year, he hasn’t given up a free pass in the last 10. … The Padres managed only three hits, and two of them came off the bat of leadoff hitter Spence Coffman. The 20-year-old, a 19th-round selection in 2022, extended his hitting streak to seven games, a stretch in which he’s gone 13-for-23 to push his batting average up to .327 for the year. He’s not yet showing much power, but he’s struck out only five times in his last 54 trips to the plate. … The other hit came from Carlos Rodrigueznominally a catcher who got the start at first base. The lefty-swinging backstop is batting .240 with a .670 OPs in 104 at-bats in the 2024 season. … L.J. Jones subbed in as a pinch hitter and walked in a run to get the Padres on the board. The 24-year-old first baseman/outfielder is batting .474 with a 1.368 OPS and four home runs in 38 at-bats in the desert. It looks likely that the recently signed free agent will be headed to San Antonio sooner rather than later.