AAA: Round Rock 5, at Albuquerque (COL) 8
Round Rock: 7 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 62-56, 5 GB
SP Kolby Allard: 4 IP, 8 H (3 HR), 7 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 88 P / 48 S, 5.37 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3.38 ERA
DH Yohel Pozo: 1-4, .343/.382/.512
SS Davis Wendzel: 2-3, 2B, BB, SB (2), .201/.284/.350
Mirroring the big-league club, the Express visited Colorado’s hitter-friendly AAA location and lost a sizable early lead.
Josh Jung was 0-4 with a walk. Yohel Pozo played for the first time in over two months. He’d been on the temporary inactive list, not the IL.
AA: Frisco 4, Wichita (MIN) 3 (10)
Frisco: 9 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 25-20, 1 GB, 61-53 overall
SP Antoine Kelly: 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 51 P / 28 S, 5.19 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 4.50 ERA
DH Kellen Strahm: 1-4, HR (8), BB, .270/.390/.402
1B Blaine Crim: 2-3, 2B, BB, HBP, .276/.344/.446
Aaron Zavala singled home David Garcia with two out in the 9th to tie it, and after a scoreless top of the 10th, Blaine Crim quickly ended the contest with an RBI double.
Kelly’s outings with the Rangers were and probably will be brief. Although coming off thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, he faced more batters than any Texas prospect before he joined the Rangers. I’m not saying Milwaukee handled him wrong; I’m not qualified to judge usage patterns. But I can safely say he would not have faced that many batters had he been a Ranger entering the season.
High-A: Hickory 3, at Hudson Valley (NYY) 2
Hickory: 7 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 24-25, 8 GB, 62-53 overall
SP Josh Stephan: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 73 P / 48 S, 3.18 ERA
RP Nick Krauth: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 5.20 ERA
RP Michael Brewer: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.48 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 2-4, .297/.342/.375
SS Frainyer Chavez: 1-3, BB, 2 SB (13), .286/.373/.362
RF Angel Aponte: 1-3, BB, SB (11), .261/.345/.392
Back-to-back singles by Angel Aponte and Chris Seise (1-4) plated the tying and go-ahead runs in the 6th.
Low-A: Down East 2, at Fredericksburg (WAS) 3
Down East: 6 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 6 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 26-23, 4.5 GB, 59-56 overall
SP Mitch Bratt: 6 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 81 P / 54 S, 2.40 ERA
RP Alberto Mota: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3.18 ERA
LF Yosy Galan: 1-3, HR (17), .211/.299/.429
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-2, HR (10), BB, .222/.304/.375
Dang. Down East led part of the game and never trailed until the final batter. Kai Wynyard walked his first two batters in the 9th, and one would trot home victorious on a sac fly. Mitch Bratt was solid, mostly 94-95 and reaching 98 with a heavily emphasized fastball.
Rookie: Rangers 1, Royals 5
Record: 32-22, 3 G up, regular season overThe baby Rangers staved off a no-hitter with Keithron Moss’s two-out single in the 7th and final inning. After a 16-game winning streak, probably the longest for any team I’ve covered, the Rangers lost 12 of 18 but still won the division handily. Tomorrow, they’ll face the Giants (league-best 37-17) in a one-off for the right to reach the best-of-three finals.
Some noteworthy performers (signing year in parentheses):
3B Gleider Figuereo (2021) — team-best OPS, .280/.363/.616, second in the league in slugging and homers
OF Yeison Morrobel (2021) — .329/.405/.487, team-best 13 doubles,
SS Danyer Cueva (2021) — .330/.376/.483, 10 doubles, 5 homers, team-best in hits, runs, RBI
OF Anthony Gutierrez (2022) — .259/.299/.407RHP Ivan Oviedo (2021) — 3.02 ERA, 44.2 IP, 12 BB, 50 SO
RHP Aidan Curry (2021) — 4.63 ERA, 35 IP, 17 BB, 50 SO
RHP Joseph Montalvo (2021, 10th round) — 2.31 ERA, 23.1 IP, 3 BB, 36 SO
DSL: Texas Blue 7, Cleveland Red 3
Record: 40-19, division co-winner, regular season over
DSL: Texas Red 1, Phillies White 8
Record: 21-39, 19.5 GB, season over
The Dominican Summer League regular season also concluded yesterday. The Blue will proceed to the eight-team playoff. Texas Blue and Phillies White are tied atop the San Pedro division. I don’t know who holds the tiebreaker, but both have qualified, the seeding is purely by winning percentage, and these teams are ranked fourth and fifth, so I believe they’ll face each other. The Blue were third in the league in run prevention (3.9 per game) and held the opposition to a miserly .197/.327/.277 line.
Some noteworthy performers (signing year in parentheses):
RF Edgar Basabe (2021) — younger brother of former Ranger Osleivis (traded to Tampa Bay for Nate Lowe), .306/.438/.455 line, best OPS.
OF Wady Mendez (2022) — .302/.380/.509 with a team-best seven triples.
SS Echedry Vargas (2022) — .301/.368/.510, team-best 19 doubles.
CF Jose DeJesus (2022) — .281/.368/.382, highest bonus after OF Anthony Gutierrez
RHP Rayner Urbaez (2022) — 1.89 ERA, 38 IP, 10 BB, 54 SO
RHP Biembenido Brito (2021) — 3.63 ERA, 34.2 IP, 21 BB, 55 SO
RHP Leandro Calderon (2021) — 1.97 ERA, 32 IP, 16 BB, 59 SO
RHP German Nunez (2022) — 4.55 ERA, 27.2 IP, 7 BB, 37 SO
Today’s Starters
AAA: Winn
AA: Leiter
Hi-A: TBD
Lo-A: TBD (Santos)
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East won 2-0 behind Jonathan Hernandez’s 7.1 innings and Adam Choplick’s eighth save in 16 appearances since taking a late-inning role.