Down on the Farm: July 5 (Missions Walk Off Twice to Sweep Doubleheader)
The minor league affiliates for the San Diego Padres were 7-2 on Thursday.
Here is a recap of the day’s action.
El Paso Chihuahuas (47-40) Won 3-2
The Chihuahuas escaped with their fifth win in six games, after a tumultuous ninth inning from Phil Maton allowed two runs to score before Brad Wieck entered to douse the flames and close the game out. El Paso had a three-run rally in the seventh inning capped off by a RBI single from Franmil Reyes. Brett Kennedy continued to shine in Triple-A, pitching six scoreless innings and generating two strikeouts and twelve groundouts.
Franmil Reyes: 2-5, 2B, RBI, K
Luis Urias: 1-4, RBI, BB
Javy Guerra: 1-4, RBI, 3B, K
Auston Bousfield: 1-4, R, 3B
Brett Kennedy: 7 IP, 6 H, BB, 2 K (95 pitches-59 strikes) Win
San Antonio Missions (49-34) Won Game 1 4-3
The Missions got a bases loaded walk from Nick Schulz in the bottom of the eight inning to win Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Fernando Tatis Jr. continued his solid streak of hitting with a three-hit performance, while Josh Naylor and Ty France had two hits each. Jesse Scholtens allowed three runs in six and two-thirds innings pitched, while Andres Munoz pitched one and one-third innings of scoreless ball. Munoz has yet to allow a run in Double-A.
Fernando Tatis Jr. 3-4, 2 R
Josh Naylor: 2-3, R, BB
Ty France: 2-4, RBI, R, K
Jesse Scholtens: 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 R, BB, 6 K (97 pitches-66 strikes) No Decision
Andres Munoz: 1 1/3 IP, BB, K (16 pitches-9 strikes) Win
San Antonio Missions (50-34) Won Game 2 4-3
Second game, same score, same path to victory. The Missions walked off against the Naturals again to sweep the doubleheader and take the series, this time winning on a throwing error on a bunt from Rod Boykin. Nick Schulz swatted a two-run home run in the eighth inning to tie the game and, with Matthew Batten placed on second base, a throwing error from pitcher Bryan Brickhouse allowed the winning run to cross the plate. Colby Blueberg picked up the win in relief by throwing one and two-thirds scoreless innings.
Fernando Tatis Jr. 2-4, 2 K
Nick Schulz: 3-4, HR, R, 3 RBI,
Rod Boykin: 2-4, K, E
Matt Batten: 1-4, R, 2 K
Colby Blueberg: 1 2/3 IP, BB, K (24 pitches-14 strikes) Win
Lake Elsinore Storm (40-45) Won 2-1
A low scoring affair saw the Lake Elsinore Storm pitching rise up to the occasion and limit the opposition, keeping them 1-11 with runners in scoring position. Starter Pedro Avila pitched six and two-thirds innings while striking out seven before giving the game away to his bullpen. Relievers Dauris Valdez and Elliot Ashbeck combined to throw two and two-thirds scoreless innings to keep the one run lead. The Storm secured their runs thanks to RBI singles from Hudson Potts and Luis Torrens.
Hudson Potts: 2-3, 2B, RBI, R, 2B
Luis Torrens: 1-3, RBI
Eguy Rosario: 2-4, 2B, R
Allen Cordoba: 1-3, 3B
Pedro Avila: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, ER, R, BB, 7 K (98 pitches-64 strikes) Win
Fort Wayne TinCaps (43-41) Won 6-5
A four-run outburst in the bottom of the tenth inning gave the TinCaps a walk-off victory as well as a fourth straight win. A bases loaded walk drawn by Justin Lopez brought home Tirso Ornelas for the winning run, while Esteury Ruiz and Ornelas each had run scoring singles in the inning. Luis Patino had another shining outing, throwing five and two-thirds innings and striking out eight batters while walking three. He allowed an unearned run despite giving up no hits.
Esteury Ruiz: 3-5, 2 R, 2 SB, E
Robbie Podorsky: 2-4, 2 R, BB, SB
Tirso Ornelas: 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Justin Lopez: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, K
Luis Patino: 5 2/3 IP, R, 3 BB, 8 K (84 pitches-48 strikes) No Decision
Tri-City Dust Devils (9-12) Lost 3-1
A fine start by Cole Bellinger went to the wayside as the Dust Devils could only muster up one run of offense. Bellinger allowed two runs in six innings pitched, however an error on a pickoff attempt led to an unearned run to score and the eventual downfall of Tri-City. Two recent draft picks in the 2018 MLB Draft, Owen Miller and Grant Little, continued their strong starts to their professional careers, as Little raised his batting average to .389 while Owen Miller went 3-3 to raise his batting average to .338 on the season.
Owen Miller: 3-3, 2B
Grant Little: 1-3, R
Justin Paulsen: 1-4
Cole Bellinger: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, ER, BB, 9 K (82 pitches-54 strikes) Loss
Dylan Coleman: IP, 2 H (8 pitches-7 strikes)
AZL Padres 1 (5-9) Lost 3-1
The Padres struggled to find an offensive rhythm and failed to support their pitchers in a close contest. The lone RBI came from a Luis Guzman single, despite multiple hit games from Juwan Harris and Carlos Luis. Luarbert Arias pitched five innings while allowing only a single run, but it was Jake Sims who saw his ERA balloon up to 12.27 by allowing two runs to cross the plate in a single inning.
Juwan Harris: 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 K, SB
Carlos Luis: 3-4
Luis Guzman: 1-4, RBI
Luarbert Arias: 5 IP, 3 H, ER, R, BB, K Loss
Jake Sims: IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K
AZL Padres 2 (7-7) Won 5-3
The second Padres squad in Arizona took advantage of sloppy defense from the AZL Rangers to win their seventh game of the young season. Tucupita Moreno continued his hot start by picking up another RBI, while Jordy Barley and Payton Smith each had RBI singles of their own. Starter Noel Vela struck out five while allowing one run and Danny Sexton needed three pitches to get three outs in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the year.
Tucupita Moreno: 2-4, RBI
Jordy Barley: 1-3, RBI, R, 2 SB
Payton Smith: 1-2, RBI, R, 2B, BB, K
Elvis Sabala: 1-3, 2 R
Noel Vela: 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, ER, R, 5 K No Decision
DSL Padres (17-12) Won 9-5
Thanks to timely hitting, the DSL Padres snagged yet another victory today. Cristian Heredia collected four RBI and a double while Yeison Santana had two RBI of his own. Starter Mauricio Rodriguez pitched five and two-thirds innings and allowed four runs to score, although three of those runs were unearned. Jose Garcia lowered his ERA to 0.71 with two and one-thirds innings of scoreless relief.
Cristian Heredia: 2-5, 4 RBI, 2B, K
Brandon Valenzuela: 1-5, 2 R, RBI
Yeison Santana: 0-1, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB, E
Mauricio Rodriguez: 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, ER, 5 K Win
Jose Garcia: 2 1/3 IP, H, 3 K
Probable Pitchers for Friday’s games
El Paso: Jerry Keel (Triple-A Debut)
San Antonio: Logan Allen
Lake Elsinore: Reggie Lawson
Fort Wayne: Mason Thompson
Tri-City: Sam Keating
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.
Thanks for the recaps … Can anyone shed some light on why Brett Kennedy is not talked about more, not necessarily as a top prospect, but as someone who might be able to move up from AAA to at least start a few games? He is only 23, he is 7- 0 in a huge hitters league (PCL) with a 2.58 ERA. What else can he do? Also, it was great to see Paddock promoted, but any word on other promotions (e.g. Logan Allen)?
So far, the word is mum on Logan Allen. He is most likely to stay in AA for now. Kennedy is a sleeper pick to be called up to the Majors in the case of another injury and should, at the very least, be a September call up. Allen might be sent up if/when Kennedy is called up barring injuries. I know Margevicius was called up to Lake Elsinore and Jerry Keel was sent to El Paso, so people are starting to move around, a good sign for prospects like Allen.