Chihuahua’s Fail to Overcome Early Omaha Lead

The El Paso Chihuahuas played their first home game since July 9th, on Friday.

Peter Van Gansen started at 2B after making his Triple-A debut yesterday in Sacramento, and Chase d’Arnaud started at third base. That made it the first game in front of the El Paso home crowd for both of them. Also, Travis Jankowski, still on a rehab assignment, was transferred to the Chihuahuas today as he nears his return to the big leagues after a D.L. stint.

Michael Kelly started for the Chihuahuas, facing off against Eric Skoglund of the Omaha Storm Chasers. The Storm Chasers struck first, scoring after a walk and two base hits in the 1^st inning. They scored again in the 2^nd after Dean Anna doubled, advanced to third base on a Logan Moon sacrifice bunt, and then was knocked in by a Jack Lopez single. A three-run home run from Frank Schwindel in the top of the 3^rd made it 6-0 Omaha.

El Paso bats came alive in the 6^th inning. Nick Schulz led the inning off with a home run. He was followed by Van Gansen, who hit a hard line drive single. Then Chase d’Arnaud and Nick Buss followed up with infield singles to the shortstop. Hitting next, Christian Villanueva hit another ground ball to the short stop. Lopez fielded it and went to third to try to get the force there. He overthrew Cheslor Cuthbert, and the bases remained loaded with the score now 6-2 in favor of Omaha. The play was originally ruled a single with the scorekeeper saying that d’Arnaud would have possibly been safe with a good throw.

After looking it over a few more times, he switched it to a fielder’s choice and throwing error, ruling that Lopez could have thrown out Villanueva. D’Arnaud would go on to score on a Ryan Schimpf sacrifice fly. Tony Cruz and Dusty Coleman both struck out to end the inning and strand two.

Omaha tacked on their seventh run in the 7^th when Cam Gallagher knocked in Ruben Sosa but the Chihuahuas continued their scoring in the 7^th and 8^th, bringing them to within one run in the bottom of the 9^th. Kyle Zimmer, who had replaced Skoglund in the 8^th inning retired the side in order to get the save.

Despite the loss, the Chihuahuas looked good after those first three rough innings. The bullpen didn’t allow any runs in 2 2/3 innings and the defense didn’t commit any errors.

Chihuahua Notes:

• Nick Schulz’ 2 for 4 day brought his Triple-A average up to .157. He needs more than a few good games for El Paso to prove he belongs there, and with so many Padre outfielders coming off the D.L. or paternity list soon, he won’t get that chance soon. He’ll be demoted soon regardless of performance.
• On that note, several guys who have spent a lot of time with the Chihuahuas are currently with the Padres, but with the return of Hunter Renfroe, the upcoming returning of Travis Jankowski, and the fact that Manny Margot won’t be on the paternity list long, we can expect to see some guys who are performing well return to El Paso.
• Logan Bawcom has been looking good for a few weeks now and with the regular promotions and demotions of Chihuahua relievers, he’s starting to look competitive for a promotion
• Ryan Schimpf hit his tenth Triple-A home run of the year.
• This was Chase d’Arnaud’s home debut since his demotion to Triple-A.
• Dusty Coleman, who is struggling, and Nick Buss, who is not struggling at all, hit two singles each.

Eric Killian

I’m Eric. I’m a lifetime baseball fan, recreational fantasy baseball player and serious baseball collector. Unlike most of the team, it’s my love of collecting that got me into prospecting. I just moved to El Paso, home of the San Diego Padres Triple-A club, the El Paso Chihuahuas. I was able to watch a few Padres prospects in the Arizona Fall League this November. Beyond that I hadn’t seen Padres minor league baseball since 2007. The San Antonio Missions had just become affiliated with the Padres and the team was named the Baseball America Minor League Team of the Year. They had guys like Will Venable, Chase Headley, Wade LeBlanc, Dirk Hayhurst, Nick Hundley, and the everlasting Chad Huffman. I say “everlasting” because Huffman is still in the minors battling for a job and will attend spring training with the Cardinals this year.

I’m in the Army which is what brought me to El Paso. I’m originally from Texas and at heart I’m a Reds fan, but my situation makes it much more sensible for me to cover the Padres. I have a girlfriend, two cats and about a million baseball cards and books. Moving to a city with a AAA baseball team is very exciting and I plan on attending several games throughout the season. I’m on Twitter at @USKillian.