O’Hearn among top prospect performers Wednesday

Chris Ellis spun six no-hit innings, but an elevated pitch count prompted Triple-A Gwinnett to turn to the bullpen.

Despite the effort from the 23-year-old, Gwinnett lost 2-1 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night as the International League Finals evened up at a game each.

Ellis, the Braves’ No. 16 prospect, lost each of his final three starts of the regular season, but he has been nearly unhittable in the postseason.

Ellis threw just 54 of his 104 pitches for strikes, but he struck out five in six scoreless frames. In his first start of the playoffs, the right-hander gave up just three hits in seven scoreless innings.

“My fastball command was kind of hit or miss, so I had to rely on some breaking stuff,” Ellis told MiLB.com. “I had a couple nice plays behind me, so I was kind of just relying on my defense, relying on pitching inside and getting some weak contact.”

Six no-hit innings are always impressive, but even moreso when Ellis’ history is considered. The Braves prospect had struggled against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the past, giving up 13 runs on 11 hits in four innings over his prior two starts against the team.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Wednesday:

• Padres prospects Manuel Margot (Padres’ No. 2, No. 27 overall) and Carlos Asuaje (Padres’ No. 20) led the way offensively as Triple-A El Paso topped Oklahoma City and took a 2-0 lead in the Pacific Coast League Finals. Margot, who finished 3-for-5 with an RBI, tripled and scored in the first to jump-start the scoring. Meanwhile, Asuaje joined the party a little later with a solo homer in the …

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