The San Diego Padres affiliate clubs went 2-3 on Thursday. 

Here’s a recap of the night’s action. 

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 7-3 vs Las Vegas) (17-25 on the season)

Matthew Batten – (3-for-5) 2B

Tirso Ornelas – (1-for-3) Home Run, BB

Ryan Carpenter – 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 K (85 pitches, 51 strikes)

The Las Vegas air did not yield positive results for the Chihuahuas for the third consecutive night, as El Paso struggled on the mound. Ryan Carpenter started for the Chihuahuas and would not fare well, surrendering six runs on the night. The Chihuahua starter would allow two runs in the first, three in the third, and one in the fourth inning. Sean Reynolds would allow the final run surrendered by the Chihuahuas in the seventh. Las Vegas would go 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and would record four doubles and one home run off Carpenter. 

The Chihuahuas would score early in the game, with RBI singles by Nate Mondou and Graham Pauley giving the team a 2-0 lead. El Paso’s final run would come across the plate on Tirso Ornelas’ fourth homer of the season. Brett Sullivan would record one hit in four at-bats, and Nate Mondou would walk three times in the game. Sullivan and Ornelas continued to build up their numbers in the PCL environment, with both aiming for call-ups to the big league club later in the year. 

San Antonio Missions (Lost 8-1 vs Corpus Christi) (15-19 on the season)

Robert Perez Jr – (2-for-4) Run

Ripken Reyes – (1-for-1) 3B, RBI, BB

Ryan Bergert – 4.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K (82 pitches, 52 strikes)

The Missions fell behind early against the Corpus Christi Hooks at home and were unable to come back. While the Hooks only recorded four extra base hits (out of 17 total hits), the were able to get hits on 40% of their opportunities with runners in scoring position (6-for-15). Ryan Bergert took the mound for the Missions, looking to rebound from a rough outing, but his struggles continued in this outing. Bergert would allow four runs on nine hits across 4.1 innings, only recording two strikeouts. First pitches were his undoing, as the Hooks’ RBI hits in the fourth would come off first pitch swings. Elsewhere on the Missions’ pitching staff, left-hander Omar Cruz (formerly part of the Joe Musgrove trade) recorded three strikeouts over 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, and right-hander Carter Loewen recorded two strikeouts over 1.2 scoreless innings. 

Offensively, the Missions were held off the board until the fifth inning, when Ripken Reyes would hit an RBI triple to score Robert Perez Jr. Perez was the only starter for the Missions to have a multi-hit game. Six of the nine starters went hitless for the Missions, with Cole Cummings punching out four times to highlight the Missions’ offensive woes. Despite having eight at-bats with runners in scoring position, the Missions would go hitless in those scenarios to really secure the loss. 

EVT’s Rylan Renteria was in San Antonio. You can find his recap here. 

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 5-1 vs Cubs) (14-22 on the season)

Jay Beshears – (1-for-4) 2B, RBI

Devin Ortiz – (2-for-4) 2 RBI

Miguel Cienfuegos – 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER,  1 BB, 4 K (84 pitches, 54 strikes)

Fort Wayne rode a quality start from Miguel Cienfuegos to a 5-1 victory on their home field. Cienfuegos bounced back from a five-run drubbing in his last start to hold the Cubs to one run on three hits, walking only one and striking out four. The only blemish on his outing was a solo homer, but otherwise, the Cubs did not have another extra-base hit against him. The bullpen tandem of Ruben Galindo and David Morgan held the Cubs off the board for three hitless innings, striking out four in the process. 

Offensively, the TinCaps were led by a pair of multi-hit efforts, courtesy of Devin Ortiz and Homer Bush Jr. Both would hit RBI singles to put the TinCaps up 2-0 in the first inning, with Ortiz getting another RBI single later in the ballgame. First baseman Griffin Doersching would hit his fourth homer of the season in the fourth, and recent call-up Jay Beshears would record his first RBI at the High-A level with a double in the bottom of the eighth inning. The TinCaps went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position, only stranding four runners in the game. Clearly the offense was clicking, leading to Fort Wayne’s second consecutive win. 

Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 7-1 vs Visalia) (17-17 on the season)

Romeo Sanabria – (2-for-4) 2B

Ethan Long – (2-for-5) 2B

Sam Whiting – 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

The Lake Elsinore Storm took advantage of a six-run fourth inning to win against Visalia. The offense continued its roll from the previous game, with three players in the lineup recording multi-hit games. The team would total ten hits and six walks, led by Rosman Berdugo’s three bases on balls. In the hits column, the bottom of the lineup would be pivotal in the game, as Jose Sanabria and Wyatt Hoffman would each drive in two runs. Padres top prospect Leodalis De Vries would also record a single of his own, his third hit in two games after missing time due to a sore, non-throwing shoulder. 

On the mound, Sam Whiting held the Visalia offense scoreless through four solid innings. The 2023 16th-rounder would strike out one and walk one, but nine of his twelve recorded outs came on ground balls. On the year, the 23-year old now has a 1.69 ERA across seven games, with five starts. Kobe Robinson would toss two scoreless innings of his own, with Luis German and Dwayne Matos closing out the game allowing two runs with a seven run lead. The TinCaps have now taken two in a row against South Bend with three games left in the series. 

ACL Padres (Lost 4-3 vs ACL Rangers) (5-5 on the season)

Kashon Conliffe – (1-for-3) RBI 2B

Yendry Rojas – (1-for-3) 2B

Igor Gil – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 K

The ACL Padres lost a close game against the ACL Rangers by a score of 4-3. The Rangers would score three runs in the third off of reliever Henry Martinez on a home run by Maxton Martin. Pitcher Jesus Lopez would allow one run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth but would throw two scoreless innings after the fourth. In only his second outing of the year, the 18-year-old right-hander navigated an error and four walks to get through three innings. 

On the offensive side of the ball, the Padres recorded three doubles, with Kashon Conliffe driving in Yendry Rojas to make it a 3-1 game. Donte Grant would make it to third base in the sixth inning but would be stranded. The Padres would not score again until the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice on two wild pitches, bringing the game within one. However, Kashon Conliffe would fly out as the tying run, concluding a 4-3 loss. 

Friday’s Probable Pitchers:

El Paso: TBD

San Antonio: Robby Snelling (1-2, 3.86 ERA)

Fort Wayne: Henry Baez (0-2, 4.01 ERA)

Lake Elsinore: TBD

ACL: TBD

Diego Garcia

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.