Rodofo Durán has made sure there’s little drop-off when he’s behind the plate. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)

Chihuahuas 6, Tacoma Rainiers 3

Key Stats: DH Luis Campusano 2-for-3, 2B, BB; CF Tirso Ornelas 2-for-5, 2 2B; RF Yonathan Perlaza 2-for-5, 2 2B; C Rodolfo Durán 1-for-4, HR (13), 3 RBI; SS Clay Dungan 2-for-3, 2 2B; RHP Matt Waldron IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB; LHP Wes Benjamin 5 IP, 2 H, BB, K

Prospect Watch: Matt Waldron labored through another tough start, giving up three runs on four hits with a walk while only lasting one inning. Of the 30 pitches he needed to get three outs, only 16 were strikes. In five August starts, Waldron, who has reverted to using his knuckleball less than 50% of the time has allowed 22 runs in 14.2 innings. … Once Waldron left, a quartet of relievers kept the Rainiers scoreless over the final eight innings. Wes Benjamin, scheduled to work in a piggyback role, had his first scoreless outing since May 24. The 32-year-old tossed five strong innings and now has a 2.96 ERA over 24.1 innings in his last five outings. … Bradgley Rodriguez came in after and threw a scoreless inning topping out at 98.3 mph. Rodriguez has yet to be scored on in three appearances since coming off the IL. … Kyle Hart threw a scoreless eighth as he continued to thrive in a relief role. As a starter between El Paso and the big leagues, the lefty has a 5.45 ERA. Since moving to the bullpen, that number has dropped to a stellar 1.82 in 24.2 innings, including 6.2 for the Padres. … Ron Marinaccio threw a perfect ninth for his sixth save. … After falling behind early, the home club put up one run in the bottom of the first before Rodolfo Durán decided the game with a no-doubt three-run home run in the sixth for his 13th homer in only 68 games this year. His .843 OPS in his first season in the Padres organization is more than 100 points higher than his career mark through a decade in the minors. … Yonathan Perlaza had two doubles, one of which clocked 106 mph off the bat. That was only his second hardest hit ball of the night as the switch-hitter just missed a home run on a low, 111.1 mph line drive. It was the second-hardest hit ball in all of Triple-A on the night, but was caught for an out. … Luis Campusano “only” had a single, double, and walk out of the DH slot, which somehow lowered his OPS for the month. He now has an ungodly .429/.532/.818 line in August and has reached base safely in 27 straight games. He is hitting .328/.439/.613 on the season.

Missions 14, Frisco RoughRiders 11

Key Stats: RHP Eric Yost 3.2, 9 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K; DH Marcos Castañon 2-for-5, 2 HR (12), 3 RBI, SB (3); RF Moises Gómez 2-for-5, HR (7), 2B, 2 RS, 2 RBI; CF Braedon Karpathios 3-for-4, 2 HR (2/14), 4 RS, 2 RBI, BB; 3B Devin Ortiz 1-for-4, HR (6), 3 RBI, BB; C Christopher Sargent 1-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI

Marcos Castañon leads the Missions in extra-base hits. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)

Prospect Watch: After struggling to score runs all year, the Missions exploded for 14 runs, including seven home runs. Trailing 10-6 going to the seventh inning, they put up eight runs on four homers to put the game out of reach. … Marcos Castañon got the power parade started when he homered in the second inning. The 26-year-old, who had only two home runs since July 3 entering the game, then doubled that output with a solo shot in the seventh. After a horrendous June and July, the UC Santa Barbara product is hitting a strong .306/.383/.486 in August. … Braedon Karpathios, playing in his seventh Double-A game, also came through with his first two homers for the Missions. The 22-year-old was tied for the Fort Wayne team lead with 12 round-trippers before his promotion. He reached base four times out of the leadoff spot and now is hitting .255/.368/.423 between the two levels. … Moises Gómez added his seventh home run and 23rd double of the year. In 2022 and 2023, he was one of the upper minor’s loudest power threats despite huge strikeout rates. After missing much of last season dealing with injuries, the power hasn’t come back in the same way this year. The home run was his first since July 30 and left him with a .363 slugging percentage. … Prior to the game, the Padres announced they had signed catcher Christopher Sargent to his first contract and assigned him to the Missions. The 25-year-old right-handed slugger made an impression in his first game in affiliated ball, capping the big seventh inning with a two-out, two-run homer. Undrafted out of the University of Southern Mississippi last year, Sargent went to the offense-happy Pioneer League, where he put up huge home run totals last year and this. He played exclusively first base in college, but added catching to his resume while working in one of MLB’s partner leagues. … After giving up five earned runs in less than an inning last time out, Kevin Kopps came on to strand a pair of runner left on by starter Eric Yost as he tossed a scoreless 1.1 innings. Encouragingly, the righty only issued one walk, but still has allowed seven free passes over his last 5.1 innings. Opponents have hit just .233 against him this month, but his performance since his demotion from El Paso has remained spotty.

Clark Candiotti has showed strikeout stuff, but has also gotten hit hard. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)

Dayton Dragons 3, TinCaps 2

Key Statistics: RHP Clark Candiotti 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K; LHP Fernando Sanchez 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Josh Mallitz IP, H, K; 3B Eguy Rosario 1-for-4, 2B; 2B Zach Evans 2-for-4, 2B, RBI; RF Chase Valentine 1-for-4, 2B, RBI

Prospect Watch: Clark Candiotti gave up three runs on a pair of loud doubles in the top of the first, but then settled down to make it through four innings. The 24-year-old fell one short of matching his career high in strikeouts, punching out eight batters, but needed 78 pitches (47 strikes) to make it through the four innings. While he has a strong 29.2% strikeout rate in his first full season in the organization, last year’s fourth-round compensation pick has a 5.12 ERA on the season. … Fernando Sanchez continued to dominate in a multi-inning relief role, throwing another four scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.14 in 66.2 innings. Since July 11, the lefty has allowed just five earned runs over 27 innings (1.67 ERA). … Eguy Rosario collected his second double in as many nights, but also struck out three more times. In his return from sports hernia surgery, Rosario is just 2-for-22 and 48% of his plate appearances have ended in a strikeout. … Zach Evans had the club’s only multi-hit game on the night.  A senior sign in the ninth round last year, Evans has struggled in his first month in High-A. This was his third multi-hit game in 19 High-A games, and only his second extra-base hit in 70 AB. Prior to his  promotion, Evans hit .296/.367/.377 for the Storm. He had four multi-hit games over his last eight in Lake Elsinore.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 3, Storm 2 (10 innings)

Key Statistics: LHP Kash Mayfield 5 IP, 3 H, BB, 9 K; RHP Clay Edmondson 2 IP, H, 2 BB, K; CF Ryan Wideman 1-for-4, 2B, R, BB; 2B Dylan Grego 2-for-4, 2 2B; SS Bradley Frye 2-for-4, R, SB (2)

John Conniff saw Kash Mayfield put up the best start of his career while the Storm offense went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Read his gamer here.