Padres Down on the Farm: May 28 (Ethan Elliott 5 shutout innings/Carlos Guarate 5+ shutout innings)
Credit: TinCaps
San Diego Padres affiliates were 2-3 on Friday. The Missions had a doubleheader to make up for yesterday’s rainout.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 6-3 to Oklahoma City) (9-10 on the season)
Daniel Camarena – 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
Patrick Kivlehan – (1-for-3) HR, 2 RBIs, R, BB
Nick Tanielu – (1-for-4) HR, RBI, R, 2 SO
Ben Ruta – (1-for-4) 2B, SO
The Padres Triple-A affiliate set the tone for how the rest of the farm system would fare, with a few hits and a lot of strikeouts. As a team, the Chihuahuas would record three hits, five walks, and fifteen strikeouts. All three of those hits would be extra-base hits, with two of them leaving the yard.
Most of Oklahoma City’s runs came in the first three innings. The second inning saw back-to-back home runs to score the first runs of the game. Then in the third inning, an Ivan Castillo error proved to be costly. What could have been a double play ended up as no-outs and left the door open for the Dodger’s affiliate. They would go on to score three more to give themselves a five-run lead which they would only expand throughout the game.
.@PatrickKivlehan & @TanieluN #Back2Back pic.twitter.com/TGgILY8zxj
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) May 29, 2021
San Antonio Missions (Won 3-2 and Lost 6-0 to Northwest Arkansas) (10-12 on the season)
Game 1:
Reiss Knehr – 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
Jose Azocar – (1-for-2) HR, 2 RBIs, R, BB
Jack Suwinski – (1-for-2) HR, RBI, R, BB
Chandler Seagle – (0-for-1) R, BB
The first game of the doubleheader was a pitcher’s duel. Both starters pitching for a majority of the seven-inning game. And both starters minimized the damage. Knehr was cruising through the first four-inning, only allowing two base runners to that point. Then his fifth inning is when the damage came. He hit one batter and walked the following hitter. After nearly avoiding the threat by getting the next two batters out, Rudy Martin lined a single to right field to score both runs.
Jack Suwinski gave the Missions a lead with a home run in the second inning. Then Jose Azocar’s home run came in the sixth to give the team the lead. The offense as a whole was flat. Only six times, the Missions reached base, and Suwinski and Azocar combined for four of them.
Game 2:
Adrian Martinez – 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
Juan Fernandez – (1-for-2) BB
Kyle Overstreet – (0-for-2) BB
Eguy Rosario – (0-for-2) BB
The offense being flat was a big part of game one. This is the biggest story of the game. The Missions struggled again and were held to just one hit and three walks. It wasn’t an overpowering opponent that stopped them. The Naturals pitching staff only had four strikeouts, meaning the Missions were putting the ball in play, just not in the right spots. The damage to Martinez was swift. A three-run homer in the first, RBI single in the third, and two-run double in fourth did all the necessary damage. After him, the Missions’ pitching staff was able to avoid any further damage.
Fort Wayne Tincaps (Won 6-0 over South Bend) (9-12 on the season)
Ethan Elliott – 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
Tirso Ornelas – (2-for-5) 2B, 2 RBIs 2 R
Jawuan Harris – (1-for-3) RBI, R, 2 BB, SO
Jonny Homza – (1-for-4) 2B, RBI, BB, 2 SO
The bats were out and ready to take on the Cubs affiliate. Everyone in the lineup reached base at least once, and five players reached twice. As a team, they had eight hits and seven walks. Homza got things going early with an RBI double. The bulk of the Tincap’s runs would come in the fifth inning. In that inning alone, they had four of their seven walks and three of their eight hits. Ornelas was the star of the game. After not being protected from the rule five draft and not being selected, he was off to a slow start. In the last ten days, he has started to find a groove with 12 hits. Lefty Ethan Elliott continues to impress and many are taking notice of his performance in 2021.
Lefty @Ethan_Elliott5 leads the High-A Central so far in strikeouts, WHIP & average against.
His success comes after time with the @Padres in big league spring training, where @snellzilla4 took time to give him special advice.
“I can’t say enough about him.” #PadresOnDeck https://t.co/k8nqT6pjT1 pic.twitter.com/BLGOX3c2Dq
— John Nolan (@John_G_Nolan) May 28, 2021
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 1-0 to San Jose) (11-11 on the season)
Carlos Guarate – 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0ER, BB, 4 SO
Jordy Barley – (1-for-4) 3 SO
Sean Guilbe – (1-for-3)
Brandon Valenzula – (0-for-3) BB, 2 SO
[wpedon id=”49075″ align=”right”]
The Storm offense struck out 18 times. Sean Guilbe was the only player on the team not to strike out and one of two that got a hit all game. Their opponent on the mound, Carson Ragsdale, isn’t even one of the top prospects for the Giants. He was drafted in the 4th round by the Phillies in 2020 and then traded at the beginning of the year. In his first season of pro ball, he had a 3.20 ERA headed into this out. This may have been the breakout game that he needed.
On the field, the Storm didn’t fare much better. The one-run surrendered does not show the full story. The team committed four errors this game. One of those errors put a runner on third which ended up scoring as the lone run of the 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.