AAA: Round Rock 5, El Paso (SDP) 6
Round Rock: 8 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 10 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 29-26, 5.5 GB
SP Owen White: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 3 SO, 99 P / 55 S, 4.69 ERA
CF Jonathan Ornelas: 3-5, 2B, BB, .263/.307/.355
SS Davis Wendzel: 1-2, 2B, 3 BB, .292/.397/.538
Six walks from Owen White are a career-high, as are the 99 pitches. On the upside, nearly everything hit hard was grounded, and the soft shots were airborne. Davis Wendzel is hitting .267/.371/.400 since rejoining Round Rock.
AA: Frisco 5, @ San Antonio (SDP) 3
Frisco: 13 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 33-17, 3 G up
SP Dane Acker: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 36 P / 23 S, 3.16 ERA
RP Steven Jennings: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.12 ERA
RP Seth Clark: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 3.06 ERA
RP Reid Birlingmair: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.09 ERA
LF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, SB (9), .292/.386/.405
C Liam Hicks: 4-5, 2B, .261/.366/.323
2B Frainyer Chavez: 3-4, 3B, SB (9), .245/.348/.338
Dane Acker’s line doesn’t seem poor enough for an early removal, but he needed 36 pitches to face just six batters, the last of which reached on an error by CF Daniel Mateo (a soft fly that was no gimme but catchable). The bullpen held firm as the offense mounted a gradual comeback. Tied at three in the 9th, Frainyer Chavez singled and stole second, Kellen Strahm was intentionally walked, and Liam Hicks and Aaron Zavala hit RBI singles.
Hi-A: Hickory 6, @ Winston-Salem (CHW) 9
Hickory: 16 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 7 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 20-30, 9 GB
SP Winston Santos: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 80 P / 56 S, 2.33 ERA
DH Alejandro Osuna: 3-5, HR (5), .263/.321/.444
LF Yosy Galan: 2-5, 3B, .175/.275/.367
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 3-5, 2B, .272/.306/.358
The Crawdads have reached double-digit hits in four straight games after four in their first 46. They’ve lost two of them, but I’ll make that trade. Winston Santos suffered his worst night of the season, really just a worst inning, as he worked three scoreless before allowing four runs in a 31-pitch 4th.
Lo-A: Down East 3, Fredericksburg (WAS) 0
Down East: 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Record: 27-22, 4.5 GB
SP Alejandro Rosario: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 SO, 66 P / 47 S, 1.44 ERA
RP Kai Wynyard: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1.80 ERA
1B Erick Alvarez: 2-4, HR (1), .235/.301/.345
Goodness. Alejandro Rosario decided his five scoreless innings and nine strikeouts last week were the appetizer. For the season, Rosario has a 40% strikeout rate, second-best in the Carolina League behind Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, who has moved on to high-A. Rosario will as well at some point, barring something unfortunate. His upper-90s fastball with a slider and change are beyond the ability of most low-A hitters.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Solomon
AA: Teodo
Hi-A: Curry
Lo-A: TBA
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Jacob Latz threw seven innings for Down East, one-and-one-third fewer than the entirety of his college career. The Wood Ducks won 7-0 to improve to 39-17.