Padres Down on the Farm: August 12 (Ornelas’ multi-homer game/Koenig’s seven strong)
Padres minor league affiliates returned to action on Tuesday with a 3-3 finish.
Here is our daily recap of games played.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 9-7 vs Reno) (62-52 on the season)
Tirso Ornelas – 2-for-5, Two Home Runs, Four RBI
Yonathan Perlaza – 1-for-1, Double, Walk
JP Sears – 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K (89 pitches – 56 strikes)
The Chihuahuas’ potent lineup came to play, cruising to a 9-7 win over Reno. Tirso Ornelas had his “I’m Back” game, as he crushed a pair of two-run home runs in the game. Yonathan Perlaza saw two plate appearances, and hit a double for his lone hit of the night. Perlaza’s double was his 37th of the season, setting a new Chihuahuas franchise record in the process. Rodolfo Duran had three hits and drove in two runs in the game, and Will Wagner kept his hot hitting going with another two-hit game. Wagner has been reported to be a strong candidate to join the 2026 Padres’ big-league roster, and he is certainly staking a claim to a future roster spot.
I’ll take 2 please.
The double in question. https://t.co/Zg48rg1SNL pic.twitter.com/BX58gH0X5C
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) August 13, 2025
It’s once again TIRSO TIME, but this time in Reno pic.twitter.com/EmMZo51oMR
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) August 13, 2025
Left-hander JP Sears earned his first win as a member of the Padres organization, as he punched out three over five innings of two-run baseball. Sears got eight whiffs in the game, the most by any pitcher in the game. Raul Brito allowed two runs in one inning of work, and Alek Jacob was charged with two runs on a two-run home run. Sean Reynolds bounced back from a rough MLB appearance on August 8 to deliver a scoreless eighth inning. Ron Marinaccio earned his fifth save of the season with a one-run ninth.
San Antonio Missions (Lost 8-5 vs Tulsa) (55-54 on the season)
Francisco Acuna – 3-for-4, Three Singles, RBI
Albert Fabian – 2-for-3, Two Singles, Run Scored
Victor Lizarraga – 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K (62 pitches – 43 strikes)
San Antonio’s bullpen allowed two runs in the sixth and eighth innings to drop the series opener 8-5 against Tulsa. Victor Lizarraga got the ball to start, and the right-hander pitched three innings. Lizarraga was charged with four runs on five hits in his outing, striking out two batters. Lizarraga has struggled the second time facing a lineup this season, and that proved to be the case against the Drillers; four of the five hits allowed came in the third inning when he faced the lineup a second time. Ryan Och delivered two scoreless innings of relief, fanning two batters. Andrew Moore was charged with the loss, allowing two runs while recording only one out. Misael Tamarez threw 1.2 innings of scoreless ball in relief. Garrett Hawkins’ scoreless streak came to an unfortunate end in the game, as the right-hander walked three batters in one inning, allowing two runs on two hits.
Kyle Nevin delivers a big hit and its +✌️ for the 918😁
TUL8️⃣| SA5️⃣ pic.twitter.com/hu07KHGnB9— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) August 13, 2025
Francisco Acuna had three hits for the Missions, driving in one run and scoring two runs. Albert Fabian and Moises Gomez also had multi-hit efforts in the loss, with Fabian scoring a run. Romeo Sanabria and Jacob Campbell had RBI singles in the game, each driving in one run. Damon Dues, signed to the Missions last week, had an RBI forceout in the game. Dues is still looking for his first Missions hit. The team stranded eight baserunners in the loss, going 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Francisco Acuña had a huge offensive night for the Missions! Three hits placed him everywhere, making him the @FrostBank Player of the Game. pic.twitter.com/IV5jRj2Dbu
— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) August 13, 2025
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 6-1 vs West Michigan) (51-57 on the season)
Kai Roberts – 2-for-4, Home Run, Three RBI
Zach Evans – 1-for-4, Two-RBI Single
Ian Koenig – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K (90 pitches – 63 strikes)
Facing the Midwest League powerhouse Whitecaps, the Fort Wayne offense surged for six runs while Ian Koenig delivered seven innings of stunning performance en route to a win. Starting with the lineup, Kai Roberts took charge out of the nine spot, as he launched his fourth home run of the season. Roberts finished with three RBI in the game after also hitting an RBI single. Zach Evans got the TinCaps on the board early with a two-run single in the first inning. Kasen Wells drew three walks and scored one run. Braedon Karpathios had two base hits, stealing a base and scoring a run. Brendan Durfee had a double in the eighth inning, scoring a run as well.
Now for the man on the mound: Ian Koenig delivered another rock solid outing. The right-hander went seven innings for the second straight start, this time allowing only one run. Koenig struck out seven batters in the outing, setting a new career-high in the process. Koenig has now thrown five innings or more in each of his last seven starts. Ruben Galindo and Harry Gustin each fired off scoreless innings to close out the win, with Gustin racking up two strikeouts.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 13-2 vs San Jose) (49-60 on the season)
Dylan Grego – 2-for-5, Two Singles
Alex McCoy – 1-for-2, Triple, RBI
Humberto Cruz – 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K (65 pitches – 42 strikes)
Lake Elsinore’s bullpen was tagged for ten runs after an early exit from starter Humberto Cruz. Cruz lasted all of 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. Cruz has made strides in his command over the course of the season, and he also managed a season-high five strikeouts. Winyer Chourio pitched two innings in relief, allowing three runs (two earned). Igor Gil allowed two runs on two hits, recording two outs. Jordan Valenzuela and Yovannki Pascual each pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two runs. Bernard Jose was the only Storm pitcher to not allow a run.
Dylan Grego and Jorge Quintana had two hits each in the ballgame, also combining on one of the Storm’s top double plays of the season. Alex McCoy keeps hitting and hitting more, as he had another triple and drew two walks. Kale Fountain drew three walks, and Kerrington Cross drew two, including one with the bases loaded. George Bilecki singled for his first professional base hit in the game as well.
Jorge Quintana completes the wild double play off of a leaping Dylan Grego!
Presented by High Desert Psychology pic.twitter.com/uWb9a1ceJq
— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) August 13, 2025
DSL Padres Gold (Won 10-5 vs DSL Reds) (35-16 on the season)
Eddson Martinez – 2-for-2, RBI Single
Jhoan De La Cruz – 2-for-3, Two Singles, Two RBI
Carlos Alvarez – 0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 0 K
Marco Eluscat – 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K
The Padres Gold received a boost from right-hander Marco Eluscat, who fired off four perfect innings in relief in his first Padres Gold outing. Eluscat came on to relieve Carlos Alvarez, who started the game but failed to retire any of the five hitters he faced. Alvarez walked five without recording an out. After Eluscat’s valiant relief effort, Guillermo Romero was one of three Padres relievers to pitch the rest of the game; Romero was the only one apart from Eluscat to pitch scoreless ball. Jose Blanco allowed two runs in one inning of work, and Yoesmerli Beltre allowed one run.
It took a team effort to score ten, as no Padres Gold hitter finished with more than two RBI. Jhoan De La Cruz had two runs batted in, hitting two singles. Eddson Martinez and Moises Valdez each had an RBI single in the fourth inning, and Isaac Ponce drew a bases-loaded walk. Darian Castillo hit an RBI single, and Kevin Tamburini hit a sacrifice fly in the win.
DSL Padres Brown (Lost 4-3 vs DSL Rojos) (18-32 on the season)
Jose Bericoto – 2-for-2, Double, Two Walks
Yonaiker Hernandez – 1-for-3, RBI Double
Cristian Navarro – 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Cristian Navarro’s five-inning effort allowed the Padres Brown to go into the seventh up 3-2 before a two-run rally against reliever Randoll Cruz gave the Rojos the win. Navarro struck out five batters in five innings, not walking anyone. Jose Bericoto doubled in the fourth inning and scored on a ball off the bat of Endy Rios that was misplayed by the Rojos defense. After the Rojos took the lead, Yonaiker Hernandez doubled to tie the game at 2. Tom Guerrero gave the Padres Brown a 3-2 lead on an RBI single in the sixth. Randoll Cruz allowed the tying run in the seventh on a wild pitch and fielding error combo. Angel Barboza singled off Cruz to score the go-ahead run, and the Padres Brown failed to rally in the seventh to lose 4-3.
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.