Down on the Farm: August 16 (Tucupita Homers, Mejia & Urias Again with Big Days)
Credit: MiLB
The minor league affiliates for the San Diego Padres were 5-2 on Thursday.
Here is a recap of the day’s action:
El Paso Chihuahuas (70-52) Won 3-2
Winning their third game in a row on the backs of yet another strong offensive showing from both Luis Urias and Francisco Mejia. After Urias tripled, Mejia drove him home with an RBI single to center field. El Paso would strike again in the sixth inning on back-to-back doubles from Urias and Mejia while Shane Peterson would drive home Mejia with a RBI single of his own. Walker Lockett looked good in his first start after his demotion from San Diego, pitching seven innings of one-run ball, striking out six batters and walking three while allowing six hits. Rowan Wick allowed a run in the ninth, but was still able to shut down Las Vegas to pick up his sixth save for El Paso.
Francisco Mejia: 3-4, 2 RBI, R, 2B
Luis Urias: 3-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B
Shane Peterson: 1-4, RBI
Walker Lockett: 7 IP, 6 H, R, ER, 3 BB, 6 K (91 pitches-61 strikes) Win
Rowan Wick: IP, H, R, ER (16 pitches-11 strikes) Save
San Antonio Missions
The Missions game was cancelled due to rain.
Lake Elsinore Storm (59-64) Lost 9-1
Pedro Avilla was hit hard in four and one-third innings and Lake Elsinore only scored a single run despite collecting nine hits. The Storm would only score in the top of the eighth inning on an RBI single by Michael Cantu II that scored Ruddy Giron. Avila, on the other hand, allowed four runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out seven. Lake Elsinore’s bullpen provided little in terms of relief, as Caleb Boushley allowed two runs in two and two-thirds innings while Korey Anderson allowed three runs in his one inning of relief.
Nate Easley: 3-4, 2B, K
Michael Cantu II: 2-3, RBI
Ruddy Giron: 2-4, R, 2B
Luis Torrens: 1-4, 2B
Pedro Avila: 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (99 pitches-63 strikes) Loss
Fort Wayne TinCaps (57-63) Won Game 1 5-1
In the first game of a doubleheader, the TinCaps took their fourth victory in a row thanks to a strong performance from Osvaldo Hernandez. Hernandez pitched five innings while allowing one run, striking out four, and walking three. Hernandez lowered his ERA to 1.81 on the season and should find himself on the Padres’ Top 30 prospect list by next season. While South Bend got on the board first, Esteury Ruiz tied the game on a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning and Hunter Jarmon put Fort Wayne on top with his RBI double in the second inning that scored Jalen Washington. Gabriel Arias and Olivier Basabe also picked up RBI in the game.
Esteury Ruiz: 1-2, HR, RBI, R, BB, SB
Gabriel Arias: 1-3, 2B, RBI, 2 K
Hunter Jarmon: 1-1, 2 RBI, 2B
Osvaldo Hernandez: 5 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 3 BB, 4 K (87 pitches-49 strikes) Win
Dan Dallas: 2 IP, 3 K (27 pitches-21 strikes)
Fort Wayne TinCaps Game 2
Game 2 of the doubleheader was cancelled due to rain. It will be made up a later date.
Tri-City Dust Devils (26-33) Won 6-0
Despite being a little wild, Omar Cruz pitched four shutout innings and continues to have a strong season. Cruz walked four batters in his outing, but allowed only a single hit and struck out five. Tucupita Marcano built on a breakout campaign with a 3-4 game and has certainly put himself on the map for a start in Fort Wayne next season. Grant Little cranked a two-RBI double in the seventh inning to pad the Dust Devils lead while Justin Paulsen had a two-run single in the sixth inning.
Tucupita Marcano: 3-4, HR, RBI, 3 R, SB,
Xavier Edwards: 2-4, R, BB, SB
Grant Little: 1-4, 2 RBI, R, 2B
Justin Paulsen: 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 K
Omar Cruz: 4 IP, H, 4 BB, 5 K
AZL Padres 1 (22-24) Won 10-8
An offensive explosion on both sides that featured little offense saw the Padres 1 outslug the AZL Mariners and take advantage of four errors by the Mariners. Starter Nick Thwaits only lasted two and one-thirds innings as he allowed five runs on five hits, but he was picked up by an offense that scored seven runs in the first two innings. The Padres picked up three insurance runs in the later innings, and the ninth run came off of a solo home run by Lee Solomon. This ninth run was the essential run to winning the game as the Mariners stormed back for three runs in the eighth inning.
Lee Solomon: 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Nick Gatewood: 4-5, RBI
Agustin Ruiz: 3-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 3B, 2B, 2 BB
Luis Almanzar: 2-5, RBI, 2 R
Nick Thwaits: 2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K No Decision
AZL Padres 2 (23-22) Lost 2-0
The AZL Padres got a fantastic start from Joey Cantillo, but the offense was non-existent as they went 0-7 with runners in scoring position. Cantillo pitched six shutout innings, allowing only a single hit while striking out six and walking none, but it was a throwing error by relief pitcher Tyler Mortensen that allowed two unearned runs to cross the plate and fuel the AZL Brewers to victory. Alison Quintero was the only Padre to record multiple hits as he had two singles on the day.
Alison Quintero: 2-3, BB
Angel Solarte: 1-3, BB
Sean Guilbe: 1-3, BB
Joey Cantillo: 6 IP, H, 6 K No Decision
Tyler Mortensen: 2 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, BB, K Loss
DSL Padres (32-32) Won 3-2
Despite allowing two unearned runs, the DSL Padres still won thanks to a two-run eighth inning. A wild pitch with runners on second and third allowed Yanger Morales to score, while a sacrifice fly lifted by Juan Garcia saw Julio De La Cruz scamper home to score the go-ahead run. 17-year-old Carlos Guarate had another fine start, pitching six innings and striking out one while walking two and allowing a single unearned run.
Yanger Morales: 1-3, R, BB, K, E
Juan Garcia: 0-2, RBI, BB, K
Carlos Batista: 2-3, R, K
Julio De La Cruz: 0-3, R, 2 BB, K
Carlos Guarate: 6 IP, 4 H, R, 2 BB, K No Decision
Probable Starter’s for Friday’s games
El Paso: Logan Allen
San Antonio Game 1: Chris Paddack
San Antonio Game 2: Emmanuel Ramirez
Lake Elsinore: TBD
Fort Wayne Game 1: TBD
Fort Wayne Game 2: TBD
Tri-City: Angel Acevedo
AZL Padres 1 & 2: TBD
DSL Padres: TBD
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.