Padres Down on the Farm: May 15 (Missions toss no-hitter/Batten homers, Akiyama 3 hits for EP/Morejon shaky for LE)
Missions
The San Diego Padres affiliates went 1-3 on Sunday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 11-8 to Sacramento) (20-16 on the season)
Jesse Scholtens: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 7 K (93 pitches, 58 strikes)
Shogo Akiyama: (3-for-6), 3B, 3 RBI, R
Luis Campusano: (2-for-3), 3B, R, 2 BB
Matt Batten: (1-for-3), HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
El Paso’s bullpen gave up seven runs, and the entire team surrendered six long balls en route to a tough loss. Matt Batten’s three-run home run in the second inning put the Chihuahuas ahead early, but Sacramento scored four off of El Paso starter Jesse Scholtens before a pair of runs in the sixth put the River Cats in front.
Shogo Akiyama hit a bases-clearing triple in the sixth before scoring on a passed ball to put El Paso back ahead. Akiyama had a three-hit day, one of three Chihuahuas’ to record a multi-hit day. However, Brad Miller surrendered four runs in the eighth, putting Sacramento ahead for good. El Paso did bring the winning run to the plate in the ninth, as they loaded the bases, but Akiyama grounded out, securing the win for the River Cats.
San Antonio Missions (Won 4-0 vs. Arkansas) (15-18 on the season)
Moises Lugo: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (34 pitches, 23 strikes)
Lake Bachar: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (26 pitches, 19 strikes)
Yorman Rodriguez: (2-for-4), 2B, R, K
Esteury Ruiz: (1-for-3), BB, SB, CS, K
The Missions threw a combined no-hitter, the 15th in their history. Four pitchers combined to make history, with both starter Lake Bachar and Moises Lugo going three innings. Carlos Belen went two innings, with his eighth-inning walk breaking up the chance for a combined perfect game. Kevin Kopps also gave up a walk in the ninth, but his strikeout of Kaden Polcovich secured the no-hitter.
Double-A @missionsmilb, affiliate of the @Padres, have put the 15th nine-inning no-hitter in franchise history in the books! pic.twitter.com/ufgFdCviHW
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 15, 2022
San Antonio only produced six strikeouts, but there were also just two lineouts, as most of the contact they allowed was weak. The Missions pushed four runs across, with Tirso Ornelas driving in Thomas Milone to get the scoring started in the second. He scored on Korry Howell’s sacrifice fly later in the frame. Ornelas brought in another run with a sacrifice fly of his own in the fourth before Howell doubled home Milone to complete the scoring. The pitching staff dazzled as a bullpen day turned into one for the history books.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 5-1 to South Bend) (13-20 on the season)
Robert Gasser: 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K (91 pitches, 61 strikes)
Corey Rosier: (1-for-3), 3B, R, BB, K
Brandon Valenzuela: (2-for-4), 2B, K
Robert Hassell III: (1-for-4), RBI
The TinCaps offense was nowhere to be found, as they produced just four hits on the day. The game was a duel early, as Fort Wayne starter Robert Gasser allowed two runs in his first five innings, but it turned disastrous when he came out for the sixth. He faced four batters in the sixth, allowing a double, a single, a three-run home run, and another double before being lifted.
The TinCaps bullpen was solid, throwing three scoreless innings, but it made no difference in the outcome. The only run of the afternoon for Fort Wayne came in the top of the sixth, as Corey Rosier tripled before scoring on Robert Hassell III’s single. Brandon Valenzuela hit a single and a double, but that was all for the offense as Fort Wayne went down quietly.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 10-0 to San Jose) (18-15 on the season)
Adrian Morejon: 0.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 2 K (33 pitches, 20 strikes)
Alan Mundo: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K (26 pitches, 14 strikes)
Marcos Castanon: (1-for-2)
Pierce Jones: (1-for-3)
It was an awful day for the Storm, who recorded just two hits offensively. The game started off with Adrian Morejon striking out Grant McCray before McCray reached on a wild pitch. That summarized the next two hours and 42 minutes, which started out with Morejon allowing five hits, recording a strikeout that secured an out before being lifted.
It did not get any better out of the bullpen, as each of the next two pitchers that entered the game allowed at least two runs. Lake Elsinore did not pick up a hit in their final 26 plate appearances, as they had just two opportunities with runners in scoring position.
Monday’s Probables
All four teams are off on Monday, and none of them have announced starters for Tuesday’s series openers.
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.