If Donavan Tate has a great game for short-season Eugene, is that good news for the Padres or bad news?

If you're an optimistic Padres fan, you can celebrate the best day of Tate's short career on Sunday. If you're more pessimistic, you could fairly point out that it's a pretty bad sign that the third pick in the 2009 draft is still playing short-season ball.

But Tate's Sunday was one of the best days of a career known more for injuries than extra-base hits. Tate went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a triple and two stolen bases. But you could argue he was overshadowed by his new teammate and fellow first-round pick Cory Spangenberg. The third baseman had only two hits, but they included his first home run and a double as he raised his averages to .394/.563/.606 for Eugene.

Tate missed all of the 2009 season after an all-terrain vehicle crash broke his jaw. He missed time last year with a concussion, a shoulder injury and a virus. Then this year he started the season at low Class A Fort Wayne, but an outfield collision with fellow prospect Everett Williams sidelined Tate for roughly three months. Williams got the worst of it, though, after having season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Spangenberg is only a half-year younger than Tate because he signed out of junior college. But in terms of pro experience, he's just 121 at-bats behind Tate.

TERRIFIC TEHERAN AGAIN: Braves righthander Julio Teheran is doing everything you can ask a prospect to do.

Teheran lowered his International League-leading ERA to 1.79 on Saturday. He allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts and four hits while walking no one. Teheran was clocked at 97-98 mph at his best, but his feel for pitching impressed the Clippers just as much.

"The one thing that impressed me was he really pitched," Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh told the Columbus Dispatch. "He not only had a plus fastball, but he had an idea of what he was doing out there. You don't see that kind of presence very often from a kid that young."

Teheran now has a 1.00 ERA in five June starts. He's walked two in 36 innings over that span.