The San Diego Padres, minor league affiliates, went 2-1 on Thursday, with both San Antonio and Lake Elsinore having their games postponed due to rain. 

Here is a recap of the day’s games.

El Paso Chihuahuas (13-17; won 8-2 vs. Oklahoma City)

Anderson Espinoza: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 6 K, 4 BB (88 pitches, 47 strikes)

Reiss Knehr: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K

Alfonso Rivas: 3-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, R

Preston Tucker: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, RBI, R

A game that looks like a blowout was actually a lot closer than it looks. El Paso trailed for 7 innings before their seven-run explosion in the eighth. Scoreless for the first four innings, Oklahoma City got to Anderson Espinoza for two runs in the fifth. A Matthew Batten ground out in the bottom of the fifth cut the deficit to one, making it 2-1. Reiss Knehr came in in relief and threw 2.1 shutout innings to keep El Paso in the game. Down 2-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, the Chihuahuas’ offense woke up and scored seven. Alfonso Rivas put El Paso up 5-2 with a no-out grand slam. Preston Tucker homered two batters later to make it 6-2. Tucker’s home run was his third in the past two days. Jose Iglesias singled in two runs later in the inning to give the Chihuahuas an 8-2 lead.  

San Antonio Missions (10-12, PSPD- Weather)

The Missions’ game was postponed Thursday due to rain. They will play a doubleheader on Friday in Tulsa. 

Fort Wayne TinCaps (6-17, won 13-5, lost 3-2 vs. Lake County)

After Wednesday’s game was rained out, Fort Wayne played a doubleheader Thursday in Lake County, splitting the two games. 

Game 1: won 13-5

Garrett Hawkins: 4 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 5 K (77 pitches, 49 strikes)

Jackson Merrill: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Kervin Pichardo: 2-for-3, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R

Nathan Martorella: 2-for-3, RBI, R 2 BB

In Game 1 of the doubleheader, the TinCaps went down early after Garrett Hawkins allowed three runs in the first inning., but he threw the next three innings shutout. Fort Wayne got hot in the third inning as they put up seven runs. A sacrifice fly put up the first run of the game for the TinCaps, and a wild pitch and throwing error on the same play tied the game. Kervin Pichardo hit a grand slam to extend the lead to 7-3. Lake County scored two in the fifth off of Aaron Holiday to make it 7-5, and Fort Wayne responded in the sixth with an RBI double by Jackson Merrill and a sacrifice fly to make it 9-5. The TinCaps scored four more in the seventh inning on a hit by pitch, walk, sacrifice fly by Merrill, and a Nathan Martorella single to make it 13-5. 

Game 2: lost 3-2

Victor Lizarraga: 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 3 K, 2 BB (74 pitches, 42 strikes)

Alan Mundo: 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, L (1-1)

Brandon Valenzuela: 1-for-3, HR

The second game of the doubleheader was a makeup from Tuesday’s postponed game. It was a much different game for the offense, with only two hits and two runs. Martorella hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the first to put Fort Wayne up 1-0. The Padres’ No. 7 prospect, 19-year-old Victor Lizarraga, pitched great for the TinCaps, allowing only one run in the fourth over five innings of work. Alan Mundo came in relief and allowed two runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-1. The TinCaps cut the deficit to one in the seventh on a Brandon Valenzuela home run, but the next three batters got out to end the game. 

Lake Elsinore Storm (16-7, PSPD- Weather)

The Storm’s game was postponed Thursday due to rain. They return to action on Friday at home against Rancho Cucamonga with a doubleheader on Saturday. 

Friday’s Probables: 

El Paso: Julio Teheran (2-2, 6.84 ERA)

San Antonio: Game 1: Nolan Watson (0-1, 0.53 ERA), Game 2: TBD

Fort Wayne: Jairo Iriarte (0-2, 3.46 ERA)

Lake Elsinore: TBD

Bobby Murphy

Bobby is an Arizona State University alum and majored in Sports Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fall 2023. Bobby is from San Diego, loves to write, and has a deep passion for baseball, football and basketball. He has co-hosted the “Devils Talking Padres” podcast and was a digital reporter and photographer for Cronkite News/Arizona PBS. He also broadcasted high school and junior college football games in Arizona as a play-by-play and color commentator.