Down on the Farm: April 29 (Chihuahuas Win 10th Straight, Gore Excellent for Storm)

The El Paso Chihuahuas won their tenth straight game while MacKenzie Gore struck out 11 Quakes for the Lake Elsinore Storm.

The minor league affiliates went (1-2) today. The Fort Wayne TinCaps were off.

Here is a recap of the day’s action.

El Paso Chihuahuas Won 7-6 (17-7 on the season)

It took two runs in the ninth inning, three runs in the tenth and a”hold-your-breath” moment in the bottom of the tenth, but the El Paso Chihuahuas secured their tenth straight victory.

A two-run homer clubbed by Seth Mejias-Brean in the fourth inning put El Paso ahead, but four Fresno runs went unanswered as the Grizzlies picked up the runs against Jerry Keel. Despite the four runs, Keel still pitched eight innings while throwing 73% of his pitches for strikes, a welcome relief for the Chihuahuas bullpen. El Paso struck back in the ninth inning thanks to two-out RBI singles from both Peter Van Gansen and Jason Vosler to tie the game at four runs apiece.

A red-hot Luis Urias kicked off the tenth inning with an RBI triple and immediately scored on Josh Naylor‘s RBI double. A critical insurance run came off the bat of Austin Allen as he drove Naylor in two batters later. Fresno nearly tied the game up again with two runs in their bottom half of the inning, but Gerardo Reyes buckled down to strike out Brandon Snyder to end the game.

Luis Urias: 1-5, RBI, Run Scored, 3B, 2 K

Josh Naylor: 1-5, RBI, Run Scored, 2B

Seth Mejias-Brean: 1-5, HR, 2 RBI, Run Scored, 3 K

Jerry Keel: 8 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 K (96 pitches-70 strikes) No Decision

Gerardo Reyes: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R (One earned), K (26 pitches-19 strikes) Win

Amarillo Sod Poodles Lost 9-6 (10-15 on the Season)

The Sod Poodles fell behind early against the Arkansas Travellers and, despite a late push of offense, lost their third straight game and fourth in their last five games.

Arkansas immediately took the lead against Lake Bachar, jumping on him in the first inning with an RBI single from Kyle Lewis, then got two more runs the following inning thanks to a fielding error by Jorge Ona on Joseph Odom‘s single. Odom later scored on a sacrifice fly from Joe DeCarlo. Bachar only lasted three innings against Arkansas, allowing six runs on four hits while walking three, however, four of those runs were unearned.

The Travelers scored six more runs in the third and fourth, firmly putting them ahead in the game. The Sod Poodles bats’ came back to life in the sixth and seventh inning, scoring five runs with two of those runs coming courtesy of Owen Miller. Amarillo picked up their sixth run in the top of the eighth inning on Buddy Reed‘s RBI groundout, but it was the last time a Sod Poodle crossed the plate in the game.

Owen Miller: 2-5, 2 RBI, Run Scored, 2B, K, E

Rodrigo Orozco: 3-5, 2 Runs scored

Jorge Ona: 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 K, 2 E

Lake Bachar: 3 IP, 4 H, 6 R (2 Earned), 3 BB (82 pitches-54 strikes) Loss

Kazuhiza Makita: 2 IP, 3 K (25 pitches-18 strikes)

Lake Elsinore Storm Lost 3-2 (11-14 on the season)

Despite a marvelous start from MacKenzie Gore, the Storm’s offense couldn’t back him up as the Quakes walked off in the bottom of the tenth inning on an RBI groundout.

Gore only lasted 4.1 innings in today’s game but threw 86 pitches in his outing. While it was a short outing, Gore struck out 11 total batters while allowing just a single run to cross the plate. Unfortunately, Lake Elsinore only managed a run in the first inning thanks to Jack Suwinski‘s RBI single and another RBI single supplied by Jeisson Rosario in the seventh inning.

Evan Miller took over in the bottom of the tenth inning, but a fly ball moved the runner placed on second base to third, and Devin Mann‘s fielders choice grounder scored the runner and ended the game.

MacKenzie Gore: 4.1 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 11 K (86 pitches- 51 strikes) No Decision

Jeisson Rosario: 1-5, RBI, 4 K

Jack Suwinski: 1-4, RBI, K

Taylor Kohlwey: 1-2, Run scored, 2 BB, SB

Jean Cosme: 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K (37 pitches-27 strikes)

The Fort Wayne TinCaps were off today

Probable Starters for Tuesday’s games

El Paso: TBD vs. Henderson Alvarez III (Fresno)

Amarillo: The Sod Poodles are off on Tuesday

Lake Elsinore: TBD vs. Victor Gonzales (Rancho Cucamonga)

Fort Wayne: Ramon Perez vs. TBD (Kane County)

Jason Freund

I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.