Down on the Farm: August 4 (Nix and Baez Pitch Well)

Credit: EVT News

San Diego Padres affiliates were 5-3 on Saturday.

Here’s a recap of the day’s action:

El Paso Chihuahuas (62-49) Won 5-3

Back in Triple-A for the first time since last season, Jacob Nix pitched almost as well as one could have hoped for, throwing six shutout innings. The offense was solid in backing a strong pitching performance all-around. Luis Urias had two hits with a run scored and a walk. Francisco Mejia also had two hits with an RBI, while Raffy Lopez also had two hits and scored two runs. Forrestt Allday had a good night at the plate too, with a hit and a run scored in the victory. All in all, it was a game that was won on the back of great pitching, led by Jacob Nix.

Luis Urias: 2-3, Run, BB

Francisco Mejia: 2-4, RBI

Raffy Lopez: 2-4, 2 Runs

Forrestt Allday: 1-4, Run

Jacob Nix: 6 IP, 5 H, O R, O BB, 3 K’s

San Antonio Missions (64-48) Won 9-6

In a game that went ten innings, the Missions’ offense pulled through and knotted the score in the ninth inning before adding another four runs in the tenth to seal the win for San Antonio. Miguel Diaz made the start and threw 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs. In other news, Travis Radke made his Double-A debut, pitching three innings, allowing one run, and striking out two. Buddy Reed had a big game out of the leadoff spot, with two hits along with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. River Stevens had a hit and two RBI in the win, and Ty France had two hits with four RBI, two runs scored, and a walk as the leading hitter for San Antonio. The team refused to give up at the end of the game, and made a nice comeback before winning it later.

Buddy Reed: 2-5, 2 Runs, BB, RBI

River Stevens: 1-5, 2 RBIs

Ty France: 2-5, 2 Runs, BB, 4 RBI

Kyle Overstreet: 2-4, BB, RBI

Travis Radke: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K’s

Miguel Diaz: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K’s

Lake Elsinore Storm (55-58) Won 5-3

Michel Baez made a strong start for the Storm on Saturday night, throwing six innings while allowing two earned runs and striking out eight. Trevor Megill and David Bednar then came on in relief and finished the final three innings of the game to close out the victory. Bednar pitched especially well, throwing two shutout innings while striking out four batters. Edward Olivares played a great game, hitting a solo home run in his first two at-bats. Brad Zunica played exceptionally well, with two home runs of his own, two runs, and three RBI. It was a strong offensive outburst to back equally impressive pitching in a win at San Jose.

Edward Olivares: 2-3,  2 Runs, 2 RBI

Brad Zunica: 2-4, 2 Runs, 3 RBI

Hudson Potts: 0-4

Allen Córdoba: 1-3

Trevor Megill: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K’s

David Bednar: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K’s

Michel Baez: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K’s

Fort Wayne TinCaps (51-59) Lost 5-3

TinCaps’ lefty starter Aaron Leasher was solid in his six innings of work, only allowing three hits, two runs, and only one earned run while striking out five. Unfortunately for the TinCaps, reliever Reiss Knehr allowed three earned runs in his Midwest league debut. Caleb Boushley then worked two hitless innings to finish the game, with three strikeouts. Leadoff hitter Robbie Podorsky had two hits, and an RBI to raise his season average to .368. Esteury Ruiz also had an RBI hit as another key offensive performer in the loss. It was a game the team would have had a chance to win, if not for the faltering of their relief pitching.

Robbie Podorsky: 2-4, RBI

Esteury Ruiz: 1-4, RBI

Gabriel Arias: 1-4

Reiss Knehr: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K’s

Caleb Boushley: 2 IP, 0 H, O R, 0 BB, 3 K’s

Aaron Leasher: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K’s

Tri-City Dust Devils (23-27) Lost 15-3

It proved to be a really rough day for the Dust Devils’ pitching staff, as starter Adrian Martinez allowed five earned runs in 4.1 innings. Then Jonathan Guzman allowed another three earned runs, only managing to get two outs. The team ended up using six pitchers in the loss, which was unfortunate, and probably fairly taxing on their young hurlers. Some bright spots on offense included Tre Carter‘s two RBI, run scoring, single hit night — along with Michael Curry and Luke Becker‘s two hit, one run scored nights at the plate. For the most part, the offense went completely quiet in the blowout loss to Salem-Keizer.

Tre Carter: 1-4, Run, 2 RBI

Michael Curry: 2-4, Run

Luke Becker: 2-4, Run

Jonathan Guzman: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Adrian Martinez: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s

AZL Padres 1 (5-13) Lost 8-7

It was a disappointing start for Efrain Contreras as he allowed five earned runs in seven innings. On the bright side, he did strike out ten hitters. The team’s offense produced well, though just not enough to win the game, unfortunately. Nick Gatewood had a huge game, with four hits, four RBI, two runs scored, and two home runs! Catcher Michael Cantu also had a big game, tallying three hits with three RBI as well. Center fielder Jawuan Harris had three hits, while left fielder Jaquez Williams added two hits with a run scored. The pitching was simply not strong enough for the team to have a chance to win the game on Saturday night.

Nick Gatewood: 4-5, 2 Runs, 4 RBI

Michael Cantu: 3-4, 3 RBI

Jawuan Harris: 3-5, Run

Jaquez Williams: 2-5, Run

Efrain Contreras: 7 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 10 K’s

AZL Padres 2 (18-17) Won 6-0 

This was a game that was fantastically pitched by the team’s hurlers. Manny Guzman and Joey Cantillo combined to throw nine innings while only allowing one hit, walking two, and striking out seven hitters. Mason House led the offense in the game, hitting two home runs and driving in three runs, while scoring two runs of his own and walking once as well. Tucupita Marcano didn’t get any hits, but did drive in a run and walked. Jordy Barley and Jason Pineda also drove in a run each in the victory. When the pitching was as good as it was today for the team, not much offense is needed to push the team to victory.

Mason House: 2-3, 2 Runs, BB, 3 RBI

Tucupita Marcano: 0-3, BB, RBI

Jordy Barley: 0-4, RBI

Jason Pineda: 0-2, BB, Run, RBI

Manny Guzman: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K’s

Joey Cantillo: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K’s

DSL Padres (28-26) Won 9-6

Mauricio Rodriguez had a tough start, throwing four innings while allowing five earned runs. Luckily for the team, Carlos Guarate followed him and threw four of his own innings, and only allowed one earned run with four strikeouts. Though the team only managed eight hits, they still put up nine runs. Center fielder Junior Perez had a three-hit game, scoring two runs, and knocking in three runs as well. Juan Garcia also had a hit, with three RBI and a run scored in the win. Second baseman Luis Paez had a hit with two walks and a run scored out of the leadoff spot. The pitching wasn’t very good for the team, but the hitting was so strong that it didn’t matter in the victory.

Junior Perez: 2-4, 2 Runs, BB, 3 RBI

Juan Garcia: 1-4, Run, BB, 3 RBI

Luis Paez: 1-3, Run, 2 BB

Carlos Guarate: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K’s

Mauricio Rodriguez: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K’s

What’s Next:

El Paso Chihuahuas:

Kyle Lloyd faces Round Rock in El Paso

San Antonio Missions:

Logan Allen versus the Rockhounds in Midland

Lake Elsinore Storm:

TBA versus San Jose Giants on the road

Fort Wayne TinCaps:

TBA versus Lugnuts at home

Tri-City Dust Devils:

Cole Bellinger goes up against the Volcanoes at home

AZL Padres 1:

TBA versus AZL Angels in Peoria

AZL Padres 2:

TBA vs AZL White Sox on the road

DSL Padres:

Off day

Conrad Parrish

A sophomore at Willamette University in Oregon, Conrad is majoring in Spanish but is also a writing center assistant for other students at Willamette. He has been a Padres die-hard his whole life and hopes to bring comprehensible statistical analysis to the site.