Padres Down on the Farm: April 29 (Taylor’s two homers, Cunningham’s five-RBI day)
Mandatory Credit - WANE 15 Fort Wayne

Padres affiliates went 3-1 on Wednesday.
Here is our daily recap of games played.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 7-6 vs Albuquerque) (14-15 on the season)
Samad Taylor – 3-for-4, Two Home Runs, Four RBI
Sung-Mun Song – 2-for-5, Double, RBI, Two Runs Scored

JP Sears – 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K (90 pitches – 62 strikes)
Samad Taylor continued his blistering stretch with two home runs as the Chihuahuas won their third straight game. Taylor drove in four of the team’s seven runs, and fresh off PCL Player of the Week honors, his performance so far looks like that of a back-to-back winner. Jase Bowen and Sung-Mun Song joined in on the action, as each had a multi-hit performance. Song went 2-for-5 with an RBI double, and barreled two of his four batted balls. Bowen hit two singles and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Jose Miranda had a 3-for-3 day with three singles and an RBI, while Rodolfo Duran hit his first triple of the season in the win.
Samad Taylor, the reigning PCL Player of the Week, is back at it again! Another home run as the Chihuahuas take an early 2-0 lead in Albuquerque. ?@EPChihuahuas | #FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/abaWVEPAIs
— Ian Napetian (@ian_napetian) April 30, 2026
JP Sears pitched 4.1 innings for El Paso, allowing three runs. The southpaw was through four innings clean, but ran into fifth-inning woes. Sears allowed five straight singles to end his outing, with all three runs he allowed coming in this sequence. While Sears has given the Chihuahuas innings, he now sits at a 7.00 ERA over the first month. Miguel Cienfuegos got out of the inning without any further damage. Yuki Matsui allowed two runs in an inning of relief, fanning one. The left-hander continued to deal with diminished velocity while also committing a throwing error. Eli Villalobos was the MVP out of the bullpen, working two innings with one run allowed. Villalobos made quick work of the Isotopes, bridging the game to the ninth inning. Alek Jacob threw a scoreless ninth inning for the save, tying a bow on a Chihuahuas road win.
San Antonio Missions (Lost 4-3 vs Tulsa) (5-18 on the season)
Carson Tucker – 2-for-4, Two Doubles
Leandro Cedeno – 1-for-4, Home Run
Victor Lizarraga – 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K (82 pitches – 46 strikes)
On Tulsa’s first “Education Day” of the season, San Antonio piled up nine base hits, but dropped a second straight game. Victor Lizarraga got the start for the Missions, and the right-hander allowed just two hits in five innings. Lizarraga’s sinker-heavy approach allowed him to mitigate the big innings that Tulsa is capable of bringing forth. The only runs Lizarraga allowed came on home runs; Zyhir Hope hit a two-run home run against him in the fourth, and Frank Rodriguez took Lizarraga deep in the fifth. The Missions’ bullpen saw Sadrac Franco pitch 1.1 innings in relief; while the right-hander hit 99 mph against the Drillers, he allowed the go-ahead run on an RBI double to Rodriguez. Harry Gustin made another scoreless appearance out of the bullpen, pitching 1.2 innings and striking out one. The left-hander did not allow a ball to get hit beyond the infield, and in 12.2 innings this season, Gustin now has a 2.13 and 2.31 FIP.
The Missions’ lineup was able to do damage without Ethan Salas in the leadoff spot. Kai Murphy stepped into said role and went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Romeo Sanabria went 1-for-3 with a first-inning RBI single. Leandro Cedeno and Tirso Ornelas, batting in the 3-4 spots in the lineup, hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning. Cedeno continues to mash since joining the Missions, as he now owns an .889 OPS since joining the team. Carson Tucker had two doubles in four at-bats, bringing his season total to four. It has been a long journey for Tucker in pro ball, but the former 2020 first-rounder is making waves in his return to affiliated ball. Chris Sargent, starting behind the plate, went 0-for-3 but threw out two of three stolen base attempts, holding down his position behind the plate. The former Indy Ball signee has been a rock-solid addition behind the dish, even if his bat is taking time to translate over to Double-A.
Cedeño hits a solo HR to extend the lead 2-0! ? pic.twitter.com/ly3W7wy7ha
— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) April 29, 2026
Tirso hits a bomb for back 2 back homers for the Missions! ? pic.twitter.com/ZPBZK35bb4
— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) April 29, 2026
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 7-4 vs South Bend) (8-15 on the season)
Jake Cunningham – 2-for-5, Home Run, Single, Five RBI
Alex McCoy – 2-for-4, Double, Three Runs Scored
Isaiah Lowe – 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K (72 pitches – 41 strikes)
The TinCaps won another matinee game, defeating the South Bend Cubs by a 7-4 final. Jake Cunningham led the way, as the former Orioles farmhand drove in five of Fort Wayne’s seven runs. Cunningham put the team on the board in the fourth inning with a two-run single, giving the TinCaps a 2-0 lead. Jack Costello queued up an encore, as he hit a two-run single of his own to give Fort Wayne a 4-0 lead.
On the board with ✌️
Jake Cunningham with a two-run single pic.twitter.com/SLzT79U1oB
— Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) April 29, 2026
JACK ATTACK ?
Four-run, five-hit fourth inning pic.twitter.com/enDRE4UTWt
— Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) April 29, 2026
Unfortunately, this lead was not for long. Though starter Isaiah Lowe had cruised through three innings, South Bend got to the right-hander in the fourth inning. Cameron Sisneros and Matt Halbach opened the inning with back-to-back hits, and former Padres prospect Reginald Preciado (yes, the guy from the Yu Darvish trade) hit a three-run home run against Lowe to close the deficit to one.
We’d like to personally thank the Padres for Reggie Preciado! ?
It’s a @hoosierlottery home run and a tie game through four!#SBCubs pic.twitter.com/ObHLteOPQq
— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) April 29, 2026
Kane Kepley (who saw the Padres in the Spring Breakout game) hit a game-tying sac fly against Braian Salazar four batters later, bringing the score to four runs apiece. The score shifted once more thanks to Jake Cunningham, as his two-run home run gave the TinCaps a 6-4 lead.
JAKE THE RAKE ?
Home run #️⃣5️⃣ for Cunningham. Lead back to the good guys pic.twitter.com/DnTPiBuZmg
— Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) April 29, 2026
The newfound lead was more than enough to let the TinCaps bullpen do their thing, as Kleiber Olmedo pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning with the lead intact. Olmedo showed off his changeup to positive results, and the wiry right-hander was efficient in his latest outing. Tucker Musgrove was back on the mound in the eighth, and in his first test as a setup man, he stepped up, striking out one in a scoreless eighth inning. Musgrove’s fastball hit as high as 96-97, and his breaking ball flexed impressive two-plane movement. After a sac fly by Cunningham scored Alex McCoy to extend the lead to 7-4, Clay Edmondson closed out the matinee with a scoreless ninth.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 4-3 vs Ontario) (13-10 on the season)
Victor Duarte – 2-for-4, Home Run, Two RBI
Justin DeCriscio – 2-for-4, Two Doubles, Run Scored
Jesus A. Castro – 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 H, 4 BB, 2 K (60 pitches – 30 strikes)
Lake Elsinore took the second game of the series on the road, swiping a 4-3 win away from the Ontario Tower Buzzers. The top of the Storm lineup did plenty of heavy lifting; Ryan Wideman was 2-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with two singles. Justin DeCriscio has become a doubles machine, as he hit two doubles and scored a run in the game. The team got on the board in the fourth inning, as after back-to-back singles by Victor Duarte and Luke Cantwell, George Bilecki’s one-out single scored Duarte, tying the game at one. Qrey Lott hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two runs apiece. The game stayed at 2-2 into the next inning, when DeCriscio doubled. Duarte then stepped up and hit a two-run home run to give Lake Elsinore a 4-2 lead.
@Storm_Baseball‘s Victor Duarte goes deep to give the Storm a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning on the road. @EVT_News pic.twitter.com/UAZ4OccvVf
— Diego Garcia (@StatNerd_Base) April 30, 2026
Starting pitcher Jesus A. Castro pitched into the third inning, allowing two runs. The right-hander did not have his sharpest command, as he walked four batters, including three in his final inning of work. Castro was relieved by Rordy Mejia, who worked 2.2 innings with four strikeouts. It was Mejia’s second straight scoreless outing, and a bounce-back from his first outing against Ontario on Opening Weekend (1.1 IP, 4 R). Carson Swilling allowed a home run in two innings of work, but nothing more, as he fanned two. Vicarte Domingo entered in the eighth and pitched the final two innings to record his second save of the young season. Domingo has been scoreless in four outings since returning to Lake Elsinore, and will likely see time at Fort Wayne as the season goes on.
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.