Padres Down on the Farm: September 22 (Ornelas homers twice/Chihuahuas lose on walk-off)
Credit: EVT Farm
San Diego Padres minor league affiliates went 0-1 on Sunday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 6-5 vs Las Vegas) (64-86 on the season)
Tirso Ornelas – 2-for-3, Two Home Runs
Cal Mitchell – 2-for-4, Two-Run Home Run
Jared Kollar – 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K (54 pitches – 38 strikes)
The El Paso Chihuahuas closed out their season on the road, and their 10-game winning streak came to an end. El Paso’s offense made plenty of noise on the road as the team launched three home runs. Tirso Ornelas was responsible for two of the three home runs, ultimately ending the season with the team lead in home runs with 23. Cal Mitchell homered for the fifth time in the series, finishing his season with 22 home runs. Connor Hollis had two hits of his own in the game, with one being an RBI double. While the Chihuahuas had minimal opportunities with runners in scoring position, they hit .400 in five at-bats.
Jared Kollar made his final start of the season, and in what appeared to be an intentionally abbreviated outing, Kollar struck out three in three innings of work. The right-hander scattered five hits, but the Las Vegas offense struck for two runs in the third on a pair of doubles. As a whole, the right-hander finishes the season with a 3.65 ERA in 130.2 innings across two levels, positioning himself to be near the Majors entering 2025.
Fernando Sanchez tossed two scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut in the game, coming right up from High-A. Sean Reynolds was back on the mound, tossing a scoreless sixth, and Francis Pena struck out two in a scoreless seventh. The Chihuahuas’ relief corps fired five scoreless innings going into the ninth inning, with four total strikeouts. The team had a 5-3 lead going into the ninth, and Logan Gillaspie was called upon for the final three outs. Gillaspie found himself in hot water immediately, as two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. Aviators outfielder Cooper Bowman hit a sacrifice fly to bring the Aviators to within one. After another walk, left fielder CJ Alexander golfed a changeup to left field to tie the game at five.
Bases-loaded, one out. Logan Gillaspie against Aviators slugger Armando Alvarez. A double-play ball pushes the game to extras. A strikeout keeps it going. Anything else likely ends the game. On a 1-1 pitch from Gillaspie, Alvarez grounded a fastball up the middle, past the reach of Eguy Rosario and Clay Dungan, scoring the winning run from third and ending the Chihuahuas’ season with a walk-off loss.
Minor League Season Ended Sunday 9/22,
No Upcoming Games
And with that, the San Diego Padres minor league affiliates have all wrapped up their seasons, and what a year it was for the teams. Plenty of players are finding their stride, breaking out in unprecedented or anticipated fashion. From the writing staff here at East Village Times, thank you for following along with us every day of the minor league season.
A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.
A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.