Topes Notes: One final homestand before sun sets on Isotopes season

Six more chances to spend a day or night at the ballpark.

The Albuquerque Isotopes host the Reno Aces for six games — Tuesday through Sunday — at Rio Grande Credit Union Field before putting a bow on the 2025 season, the team’s 22nd in existence.

And before Orbit and crew go into offseason hibernation — does Orbit’s kind even hibernate? — there’s plenty of baseball to play, fireworks to blow up and stuff to giveaway. Here are the highlights of the Isotopes’ final homestand of the season:

THURSDAY: Day game! Skip work, ditch school, forget running those errands. There’s one more chance to get a weekday, middle-of-the-day game in.

FRIDAY: Fan Appreciation Weekend (Day 1 of 3, 6:35 p.m.) — Prizes will be given out to fans throughout the final three games of the season; postgame fireworks; pregame player autograph session along third-base-side concourse from 5:40 p.m. to 6 p.m.

SATURDAY: Fan Appreciation Weekend (Day 2 of 3, 6:35 p.m.) — Prizes; postgame fireworks.

SUNDAY: Fan Appreciation Weekend (Day 3 of 3, 1:35 p.m.) — Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico game with Mariachis adult jersey giveaway to first 3,000 fans 16 and older; pregame player awards ceremony (1:15 p.m.); prizes.

Trivia time!

When better to start a new Topes Notes feature than for the final week of the season?

QUESTION: Which Isotope had the most at-bats this season?

ANSWER: See below...

Know the foe

The Isotopes host the Reno Aces for the final six games of both teams’ Pacific Coast League season.

The Isotopes need to win the series (at least four of the six games) to avoid finishing in last place in the PCL. The two teams are currently tied in losses (84), but Reno played one more game due to the Isotopes not playing a rain-canceled game May 4 vs. Salt Lake that was not made up; the Aces have 60 wins to Albuquerque’s 59.

• Isotopes, Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, 59-84 overall, 10th place; 28-41 second half, ninth place.
• Reno Aces, Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, 60-84 overall, ninth place; 23-46 second half, 10th place.

They’re safe

This year’s Isotopes are clear of setting a franchise record for losses in a season. Even a worst-case scenario six consecutive losses would keep them two shy of the franchise record.

Most losses in Isotopes history:

92 — 2024

86 — 2022

84— 2025

Six games remain

It’s a challenge

Minor League Baseball uses the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System at the Triple-A level which allows teams (technically a pitcher, catcher or hitter) to challenge (twice) an umpire’s call of a ball or strike. If the team is right, they keep their challenge and the call is reversed. If a player is wrong, the call stands and the team loses a challenge.

Here’s how the Isotopes, and their opponents, have done this season.

• Isotopes challenges: 261
• Right/wrong: 118/143
• Success rate: 45.2%
• Opponent challenges: 300
• Right/wrong: 154/146
• Success rate: 51.3%

Three up, three down

Looking good:

1. The Isotopes scored seven runs in the first inning of last Wednesday’s 21-8 win at El Paso. It was the most first inning runs scored this season and tied for third most all-time.

2. Powered by that record-setting Wednesday game (21 runs, franchise-record 27 hits, 14 extra base hits, etc., etc., etc.) the Isotopes had 77 hits in last week’s series at El Paso, the most they had in a series this season (previous high was 73 hits, done twice).

3. OF Braiden Ward stole his 30th base Sunday in just his 39th game. He ranks seventh in the PCL, though nobody else inside the top 20 have played fewer than 63 games.

Look away:

1. The Isotopes allowed El Paso to score seven first-inning runs in Sunday’s 13-8 loss. That’s the most first-inning runs Albuquerque allowed all season and one year and one day after the last time they allowed seven runs in the first inning, to Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2014.

The Isotopes allowed six or more runs in an inning four times last week in El Paso.

2. El Paso’s Rodolfo Duran hit for the cycle against the Isotopes on Saturday and drove in seven runs. This gets slotted as the No. 2 “Look away” note this week because that is the second cycle the Isotopes gave up this season (Oklahoma City’s Michael Chavis also did so on June 14).

Before this season, the Isotopes had allowed two cycles ever, one in 2011 and one in 2018.

3. Pitcher Mason Albright, just 22 but being thrown into the pitching nightmare that is PCL baseball this season by the Colorado Rockies, is tied for the PCL lead in home runs allowed (26).

Fast food

The eyes of the world will be on Rio Grande Credit Union Field this week as one of the hottest chile race competitions hits the final home stretch.

Standings through 68 races:

21 wins — Salsa Jar

18 wins — Green Chile

15 wins — Taco

e-14 wins — Red Chile

e — eliminated from finishing with the most wins this season

Weather or not

It’s that time of year as weather can put a damper, literally, on any game in September. Here’s a look at the weather-related delay log for the season for the Isotopes:

Lost games: 1 (May 4 vs. Salt Lake, rain cancelation)

Time delayed: 9 hours, 24 minutes (over 12 games, including 24 minutes of delay on May 4 before the game was called altogether)

Trivia answer

ANSWER: Outfielder Sterlin Thompson has had 420 at-bats with the Isotopes this season, the most on the team.

It’s worth noting, however, that first baseman Blaine Crim has had 427 Triple-A at-bats this season, but just 99 of those were with the Isotopes and 328 were with Round Rock before he was traded. (Crim last week was called up and made his Rockies debut).

You can reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.