Cal notes: Hard-luck Lemond stays upbeat

Like the rest of his team, Lake Elsinore right-hander Zech Lemond has struggled to find much consistency throughout the season.

Sunday night, Lemond was tagged for eight runs -- six earned -- across four innings of work in a loss to hot-hitting Lancaster. It came a few days after he held the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes to two runs -- one earned -- over six innings.

The Padres' No. 8 prospect might have a 5.42 ERA in 16 games this year, but the 22-year-old is keeping his head up.

"The biggest thing is I feel like I'm making quality pitches," Lemond said. "Sometimes it's bleeders and stuff you don't see on reports. It seems like a lot of things are not going my way, and I've never really experienced this until this year. It's been a struggle for me mentally, for sure, and spiritually. It's tough, but you've got to get through it.

"Just the hills and valleys of life and baseball and everything. You can't let it get you down too much, because then you'll never grow."

Almost a year ago to the day, Lemond made his professional debut for Class A Short Season Eugene, and he's been focused on making the transition to full-time starter ever since. Throughout his three-year career at college powerhouse Rice, Lemond established himself as a dominant reliever while making a few spot starts. Since the Padres selected him in the third round of the 2014 Draft, 23 of his 28 appearances have been as a starter.

He's piled up 86 1/3 innings so far this season, approaching his personal high of 95 2/3, which he set between Rice and the Minor Leagues last year. Lemond has allowed 110 hits and 29 walks -- for a 1.61 WHIP -- while striking out 66 batters.

"Honestly, my body feels great," Lemond said. "Everything feels like it's coming out of my hand good, feels like I'm making quality pitches and everything, but somehow they're getting hit."

Lemond said he's been working closely with Lake Elsinore pitching coach Glendon Rusch, who spent parts of 12 seasons in the Majors. About five starts into this year, Rusch approached Lemond about adding a curveball to his arsenal, which also includes a fastball that can touch the mid-90s, a slider and a changeup.

After tinkering with it in the bullpen, he's been using it as a fourth pitch in recent weeks, and he's been happy with the results.

"I've always wanted one, but I never really knew actually how to do it," Lemond said, "because everything I've thrown has always been hard, hard, hard -- fastballs, sliders and then changeups. My slider and changeup are almost the same velocity, and I wanted something to speed a hitter up and move their hips. The curveball's done that for me."

In brief

Blast off for Bellinger: With a three-run homer in Rancho Cucamonga's 8-3 win over Inland Empire on Monday, first baseman Cody Bellinger pushed his total to 16 dingers on the year. Bellinger also extended his hitting streak to six games with the blast, and it marked his third long ball in five contests. The Dodgers' No. 17 prospect is batting .267/.330/.518 through 79 games with the Quakes and leads the Cal League with 104 strikeouts.

Quick ascent: Ryan Lollis proved that patience pays off as the 28-year-old outfielder made his Major League debut for the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. Lollis has shuttled around the Giants organization since 2009 and spent 145 games in San Jose in parts of four different seasons. He batted .345/.431/.478 for the San Jose Giants this season in two separate stints.

Injury scare: The Visalia Rawhide held its breath Sunday when top hitter Daniel Palka injured his shoulder and had to exit the game. Palka has yet to appear in a contest since but hasn't been placed on the seven-day disabled list. The D-backs' No. 28 prospect ranks among the top 10 in the Cal League in runs scored (53), hits (89), doubles (27), homers (14), RBIs (53), slugging (.525) and OPS (.879).