Padres Down on the Farm: June 13 (Suwinski 2 HR in FW/Mears 2 HR in LE/Campusano 3 Hits in EP)
(Photo: Reynaldo Holguin)
San Diego Padres affiliates went 4-0 on Sunday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 9-6 over Oklahoma City) (15-18 on the season)
Jerry Keel – 4.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO
Luis Campusano – (3-4) 3B, 2 R, BB
Ivan Castillo – (2-5) 3B, R, 2 RBIs,
Gosuke Katoh – (1-3) 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, SO
A huge 4th inning propelled the Chihuahuas to their 15th win of the season. As a team, they recorded 12 hits and nine walks in the game. Five of the hits and two of the walks came in the six-run fourth inning. In that inning, El Paso had four at-bats with the bases loaded. They produced a run in three of the at-bats. In the 7th and 9th, they would once again have bases loaded. In the 9th, Gosuke knocked in one run, but that is all they would get. Ivan Castillo lined a ball to the shortstop, who caught it and doubled off Luis Campusano, who was too far off second.
San Antonio Missions (Won 12-6 Midland) (20-16 on the season)
Reiss Knehr – 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
Jack Suwinski – (3-5) 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBIs, 2 SO
CJ Abrams – (3-4) 2B, 2 R, 2 RBIs, BB, SB
Jose Azocar – (2-4) 3B, R, 4 RBIs, BB, SO, CS
A common theme for the farm system on Sunday was their big innings in the first half of the game. For the Missions, it was two big innings in the 2nd and 3rd innings. In the second inning, Jack Suwinski got it going with his ninth home run of the season.
In Double-A Central, he is tied for first in home runs at 10 (spoiler, he hits a solo home run in the 8th) and second in OPS at 1.093. After being drafted in the 15th round of the 2016 draft, he hadn’t been producing with his bat. His previous high in OPS was in 2018 when he put up a .732 OPS at Forth Wayne.
Back to the explosive inning for the Missions. CJ Abrams hit an RBI double and later was the fifth run of the inning. In the 3rd inning, he would walk with bases loaded to score the 7th run. After that walk, Jose Azocar would hit a base clearing triple.
On the pitching side, Mason Fox was the only one to struggle. In 1.2 inning pitched, he gave up four runs. His command was missing with two four-pitch walks and a hit by pitch in the 7th. Fred Schlichtholz worked the final 2.1 innings of the game and managed to keep the RockHounds scoreless in that time.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 7-6 over Lake County) (16-19 on the season)
Anderson Espinoza – 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, BB, SO
Tirso Ornelas – (2-5) 2B, R, 2 RBIs
Yorman Rodriguez – (2-4) R, 2 RBIs, BB
Ethan Skender – (3-4) R
One of the biggest stories in the Padres farm system is the return of Anderson Espinoza. The pitcher was once a highly-ranked prospect in all of MLB. Then injuries kept him off the mound for over three years. This was his sixth start of the season, and he got roughed up. He gave up four runs on four hits, and three of those hits were extra-base hits.
The offense did give him room to work with. In the 2nd inning, they had seven hits to score a total of six runs. Tirso Ornelas’ two-RBI double highlighted the offensive production in the inning. After this, the bats would quiet down with just four hits until the 8th inning. During that time, the Captains were able to claw their way back to a tie game. In the bottom half of the inning, Yorman Rodriguez singled to score Reinaldo Ilarraza, who would be the winning run of the game for the TinCaps.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 8-5 over Rancho Cucamonga) (17-19 on the season)
Nick Thwaits – 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
Joshua Mears – (2-4) 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBIs, SO
Zack Mathis – (2-4) HR, R, 2 RBI
Jordy Barley – (0-2) 2 R, 3 BB, SO, 5 SB
The Storm were the 5th and final win in the Padres organization for Sunday. That’s right, the Padres and their affiliates went 5-0 today. This Storm win was highlighted by Joshua Mears as he slugged two home runs. His power continues to be his calling card, and its games like this that show why it’s such a hyped tool. Both pitches to the slugger caught too much of the plate, and Mears pulled both of them out of the park.
JOSHUA MEARS STAYS HOT 🔥🔥🔥
His 4th home run in his last 7 at bats gives us the 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 7th! pic.twitter.com/IyrSUKigql
— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) June 14, 2021
Another member of the Storm had an anomaly of a game. Jordy Barley went hitless in his five plate appearance. He did walk three times, and once on base, totaled five stolen bases within four innings. How crazy is that? Less than 30 players in the Cal League have at least five stolen bases. Barley reached that mark in four innings.
Great offensive performances like these helped the Storm tie the series 3-3.
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Sunday’s probable pitchers
El Paso – Daniel Camarena (2-2 3.18ERA)
San Antonio – No Game
Fort Wayne – No Game
Lake Elsinore – No Game
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.