Padres Down on the Farm: April 19 (Pauley HR/Murphy 4 hits)

The San Diego Padres’ farm affiliates had a clean sweep on Friday, going 4-0 as a whole.

Here’s a recap of the night’s action:

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 9-3 vs Isotopes)
Graham Pauley – (1-for-2) Home Run, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Tirso Ornelas – (3-for-4) 2 Doubles
Nolan Watson – 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K

The Chihuahuas channeled their inner tenacity to pull out a 9-3 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes. The team recorded a total of five extra-base hits, with Graham Pauley hitting his fourth home run since being optioned down to El Paso. The Chihuahuas would score first on a double by Brett Sullivan (who is hitting .419 with a 1.119 OPS this season). Pauley’s home run would make it 3-0 in the first, and the Isotopes would score three of their own in the fifth with a single and two-run homer by Hunter Goodman to tie the game at 3-3.

The Chihuahuas came back to take the lead in the sixth against reliever Stephen Jones, with a bases-loaded walk giving El Paso the lead and a fielding error on a ball hit by Tirso Ornelas, making it a 6-3 game. The Chihuahuas added three more over the seventh and eighth innings, highlighted by a Bryce Johnson RBI double, to win the ballgame by a score of 9-3.

San Antonio Missions (Won 7-2 vs Corpus Christi)
Nathan Martorella – (1-for-4) 2-RBI Double
Robert Perez Jr – (1-for-3) 2-run home run
Robby Snelling – 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K (78 Pitches – 50 Strikes)

The Missions took their Friday night game against the Corpus Christi Hooks by a final score of 7-2. Robby Snelling took the mound for San Antonio, and while he walked three batters over 4 ⅔ innings, he only allowed two hits and one run, with his only tough inning being in the second. Snelling walked two and allowed a double and run-scoring groundout, but this was the most laborious inning of his outing. Snelling (and the Missions rotation as a whole) continues to impress early in the year.

Offensively, the Missions pounced on Hooks starter Michael Knorr, scoring five in the second inning. All the Missions’ runs that inning came with two outs, with a walk, error, and RBI single knocking Knorr out of the game. Reliever Kasey Ford would struggle as well, with another error scoring a run, and a 2-RBI double by Nathan Martorella capped the scoring at 5-0. Martorella has played well early on, hitting .354 in the Missions’ first 13 games. The Missions’ final runs would score on a homer by outfielder Robert Perez Jr in the fifth, making the score 7-1 San Antonio. The Missions bullpen would allow one run on two hits over the final 4 ⅓ innings, with Jason Blanchard striking out the side to end the game.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 5-3 vs Dragons)
Kai Murphy – (4-for-4) 2 Doubles, 3 RBI
Albert Fabian – (2-for-3)
Henry Baez – 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K (74 Pitches – 47 Strikes)

In a game where they faced an early 3-0 deficit, the Fort Wayne TinCaps came back to claim a 5-3 victory on the road in Dayton. Starter Henry Baez was wild over his three innings, walking two and hitting two batters. The pitch count per inning was also not efficient, averaging 24 pitches per inning. However, this is the sort of outing that can be a learning experience for the young Baez.
On the offensive side of the ball, the TinCaps were led by Kai Murphy’s four-hit game, which featured an RBI double and a go-ahead RBI single against Dragons pitcher Myles Gayman.

The Fort Wayne lineup had a patient day at the plate as well, walking six times and going 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Outside of Murphy, top prospect Ethan Salas tied the game at three in the fifth with an RBI single, and after the short start from Baez, reliever Joan Gonzalez and Tyler Morgan combined for six shutout innings, striking out eight en route to a 5-3 win.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 4-3 vs Rawhide)
Wyatt Hoffman – (1-for-3) RBI Double
Nick Vogt – (1-for-4) RBI
Eric Yost – 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K (57 Pitches, 37 Strikes)

The Storm scored four runs in the first three innings and fended off a late-inning comeback to win 4-3 against the Visalia Rawhide. While the Storm only had four hits in the game as a team, they were able to capitalize on four errors to score early.

A wild pitch by Visalia starter Ryan Angelo would give the Storm their first run in the bottom of the first inning. While the Rawhide tied the game in the top of the third inning, the Storm answered back with three in the bottom of the frame. Two walks with two outs were followed by Nick Vogt’s RBI single to make it 2-1, and another wild pitch made it 3-1. Wyatt Hofmann would then hit an RBI double to make it a three-run advantage for the home team.

Storm starter Eric Yost had a short yet effective outing, tossing three innings of one-run ball. Right-hander Dwayne Matos followed with his own three innings of one-run ball, striking out five. Left-hander Fernando Sanchez surrendered a run in the seventh but pitched a clean eighth inning. Now in a save situation, right hander Bradgely Rodriguez came in for the ninth and struck out two to end the game and record his second save of the year, securing a 4-3 Storm victory.

Saturday’s Probable Pitchers:
El Paso – RHP Gabe Mosser (0-0, -.— ERA)
San Antonio – RHP Ryan Bergert (0-0, 3.38 ERA)
Fort Wayne – RHP Dylan Lesko (0-0, 1.29 ERA)
Lake Elsinore – 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.