Down on the Farm: August 5 (Mejia Records Three Hits & Weathers Pitches Well)
Credit: Padres
The minor league affiliates for the San Diego Padres were 4-3.
Here is a recap of the days games:
El Paso Chihuahuas (63-49) Won 4-1
A low-scoring affair to the very end, El Paso won in a spectacular fashion with a two-out, three-run home run from Dusty Coleman in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off as winners. Singles from Brett Nicholas and Auston Bousfield put runners on in the bottom of the ninth and Coleman delivered with his twelfth homer of the year after Javy Guerra flew out. El Paso used a quartet of pitchers, including Kyle Lloyd and Emmanuel Ramirez piggybacking off each other for seven combined innings of one-run ball while striking out seven. Raffy Lopez got El Paso on the board with his RBI single in the third inning, driving home Francisco Mejia who had doubled the previous at-bat.
Francisco Mejia: 3-4, 2B, R
Dusty Coleman: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, K, E
Raffy Lopez: 1-4, RBI
Kyle Lloyd: 3 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K (39 pitches-24 strikes) No Decision
Emmanuel Ramirez: 4 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 5 K (68 pitches-47 strikes) No Decision
San Antonio Missions (64-49) Lost 10-2
A day after snapping a five-game winning streak, the Missions were shut out for eight innings and only got their two runs in the ninth inning. Starter Logan Allen only got through four innings before getting pulled as he allowed three runs to cross on six hits. The wheels fell off when Danny Sexton entered the game, as Midland knocked him around for six runs on five hits in only an inning and a third pitched. The only offense came in the ninth inning, when a fielding error from shortstop Richie Martin allowed Peter Van Gansen to score, while a Buddy Reed sacrifice fly brought in the second and last run for San Antonio.
Austin Allen: 2-4
Josh Naylor: 1-5
Buddy Reed: 0-4, RBI
Logan Allen: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (98 pitches-68 strikes) Loss
Danny Sexton: 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (37 pitches-23 strikes)
Lake Elsinore Storm (56-58) Won 6-4
The Storm managed to get one inning out of Adrian Morejon in a rehab start and Pedro Avila was bailed out by his offense in a game that saw Lake Elsinore sweep San Jose. With the game tied at one run each, Rod Boykin grounded into a force out to drive home Chris Baker and gave the Storm the lead. Nate Easley followed the at-bat with a two-run home run to give Lake Elsinore the winning run. A seventh inning home run against Pedro Avila was erased thanks to an RBI double from Jorge Ona that gave Lake Elsinore a four-run lead. San Jose came close to tying the ball game in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-run double by Wander Franco off of Avila, but Avila would escape the inning by coaxing a groundball out to Chris Baker to end the threat. Morejon was apparently pulled in the second inning after feeling triceps discomfort in his throwing arm, so Padres fans will have to wait for further details from team officials.
Nate Easley: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, 2 K
Jorge Ona: 1-3, RBI, 2B, BB, K
Luis Torrens: 1-3, RBI, R
Rod Boykin: 1-4, RBI, 2 R, 2B
Pedro Avila: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 10 K (90 pitches-57 strikes) Win
Fort Wayne TinCaps (51-60) Lost 5-4
A three-run first inning advantage didn’t last for the TinCaps as Lancaster constantly chipped away at the lead and eventually overtook it and hunkered down to prevent Fort Wayne from starting a comeback. The TinCaps surged ahead on home runs by Jack Suwinski and Esteury Ruiz, but runs in the third and fifth inning against Ben Sheckler tied the ballgame up at three runs apiece. A RBI single off of Austin Smith gave Lancaster the lead in the seventh inning, while a solo shot off of Fred Schlichtholz in the eight provided the winning run. Suwinski cracked a double in the bottom of the eighth, but Fort Wayne would not be able to tie the game up.
Jack Suwinski: 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, 2 2B,
Esteury Ruiz: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R,
Gabriel Arias: 1-3, 2B, BB, K
Robbie Podorsky: 1-4, R, K
Ben Sheckler: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (88 pitches-51 strikes) No Decision
Tri-City Dust Devils (23-28) Lost 5-1
Cole Bellinger struggled again at short season Tri-City as the Dust Devils absorbed their fourth straight loss at the hands of the Salme-Keizer Volcanoes. Bellinger was unable to get out of the fifth inning, going four and two-thirds innings while allowing four runs to score on eight hits to boost his ERA to 6.87 on the season. The only source of offense was shortstop Owen Miller, who picked up the only three hits for the Dust Devils as well as the only run with his RBI single in the eighth inning. The rest of the team, minus Miller, went a combined 0-for-28 with twelve strikeouts and two walks.
Owen Miller: 3-3, RBI, BB
Cole Bellinger: 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, 3 K (79 pitches-59 strikes) Loss
Dan Dallas: IP, 2 K (13 pitches-9 strikes)
AZL Padres 1 (19-17) Won 18-3
The Padres 1 squad churned out 18 runs on 14 hits on a game that saw batters sprint to the batter’s box to take their at-bats. After an early run in the first inning, a five-run third inning was highlighted by a two-run double hit by Nick Gatewood, while the fifth inning saw a bases-loaded walk from Xavier Edwards (who was 3-for-4 on the night batting leadoff) precede a grand slam hit by Lee Solomon to give the Padres a 10-run lead. Padres hitters weren’t done wreaking havoc on the AZL Angels pitching as Jacquez Williams smacked a two-RBI double in the sixth inning and Gatewood hit a two-run triple the next inning later. The 15-run win was one of, if not the, biggest win for the AZL Padres 1.
Lee Solomon: 3-5, Grand Slam, 5 RBI, 2 R, 3B, K
Nick Gatewood: 2-5, 5 RBI, 2 R, 2B, 3B, K
Xavier Edwards: RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, SB
Carlos Ruis: 2-3, RBI, 2 R,
Alexuan Vega: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 5 K
AZL Padres 2 (19-17) Won 5-2
A perfect balance of good pitching mixed with timely offense got the young Padres 2 squad a victory. Ryan Weathers was solid in four innings, allowing only an unearned run on two hits while striking out four. The Padres took the lead in the fifth inning on a Yordi Francisco double that brought home Mason House, while Jordy Barley brought him home the very next at-bat with an RBI single up the middle of the diamond. The go-ahead run crossed in the eighth inning on an RBI ground out while Blinger Perez padded the lead with a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
Jordy Barley: RBI, R, BB
Blinger Perez: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, 2 K
Mason House: 1-4, 2B, R, K
Yordi Francisco: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R
Ryan Weathers: 4 IP, 2 H, R, 4 KÂ No Decision
Probable starters for Monday’s games
El Paso: TBD
Fort Wayne: TBD
AZL Padres 1&2: TBD
DSL Padres: TBD
San Antonio, Lake Elsinore and Tri-City are off.
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.