Padres minor league affiliates went 1-4 on Wednesday. 

Here is our daily recap of games played. 

Roster Roundup

The Padres’ minor league affiliates made a trio of transactions prior to their games: 

• Left-hander JP Sears was called up by the Padres (MLB) from El Paso (Triple-A) to start Wednesday’s game. Right-hander Ron Marinaccio was optioned to El Paso in a corresponding move. 
• Outfielder Kai Murphy was activated off the 7-day injured list by Double-A San Antonio. In a corresponding move, left-hander Austin Krob was released. 
• Infielder Kerrington Cross was placed on the 7-day injured list by the Lake Elsinore Storm (Single-A). Cross exited Tuesday’s game after being hit by a pitch. Fellow infielder Justin DeCriscio was called up from the Arizona Continuation League to take Cross’ active roster spot, and will make his official debut when he appears in a game. 

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 9-8 vs Sacramento) (67-54 on the season)

Yonathan Perlaza – 2-for-4, Home Run, Four RBI

Nate Mondou – 2-for-5, Home Run

Wes Benjamin – 4 IP, 4 H, 5 R (2 ER), 4 BB, 4 K (83 pitches – 48 strikes)

El Paso and Sacramento engaged in a classic case of PCL baseball, with Sacramento winning 9-8. El Paso tallied 11 hits and seven walks, with five players driving in a run. Yonathan Perlaza took the spotlight for the Chihuahuas, finishing with two hits, including a three-run homer to the right field corner. Nate Mondou also homered in the game, hitting his fifth of the season. Tyler Wade had three hits and a walk, while Tirso Ornelas had one hit and two walks in the game. Mason McCoy doubled, scoring two runs. 

Giving a souvenir to our pitchers. How thoughtful of Yonathan. pic.twitter.com/w9dL5NbMZU

— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) August 21, 2025

Wes Benjamin allowed five runs in four innings, although only two runs were earned. Benjamin allowed only four hits, but walked four; his normal command was not quite in sync. Miguel Cienfuegos threw two hitless innings in relief, striking out two batters. Raul Brito allowed two homers in the seventh, chased from the game with two outs in the inning. While Jake Higginbotham got through the seventh unscathed, he ran into trouble in the eighth. A one-out single and walk put two runners on, and after a flyout, Higginbotham was one out away from exiting the inning. However, his first pitch to Wade Meckler was lined to left field, scoring both runners and giving Sacramento a 9-7 lead. El Paso got to within one on a single by Clay Dungan in the ninth, but Mason McCoy struck out and Tyler Wade lined out to right to strand the tying run on base. 

San Antonio Missions – Split Doubleheader vs Amarillo

Missions won 5-4 in Game 1

Albert Fabian – 1-for-3, Go-Ahead Home Run

Braedon Karpathios – 1-for-3, Triple, Run Scored

Miguel Mendez – 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K (86 pitches – 58 strikes)

In the first half of a twin bill, Albert Fabian’s sixth-inning homer gave the Missions a 5-4 win. Miguel Mendez started the first game of the day, pitching into the fifth inning and striking out five. Mendez also limited the walks, as his two walks were his fewest in his three Double-A starts. Mendez did allow four runs on a pair of homers and seven hits total, as he was pulled with two outs and two on in the fifth. Ryan Och ended the inning without any further damage, getting two outs in the sixth before Missions manager Luke Montz called on Garrett Hawkins with a runner on second. Hawkins struck out Jean Walters to end the sixth. 

HE CANT STOP HITTING HOMERS.

Christian Cerda launches another one and the Soddies take the lead! pic.twitter.com/9Td9ITvdzE

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) August 20, 2025

San Antonio scored first on a double by Francisco Acuna to score Devin Ortiz. Acuna was a thorn in the Sod Poodles’ side, as we will see later in the game. The bottom of the fifth saw the Missions’ biggest rally against a tiring Mitch Bratt. Braedon Karpathios tripled for his first hit at Double-A, coming in to score on a single by Ryan Jackson. Jackson, who has seen time at now three levels, just keeps hitting, as he finished a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of singles. With two outs and two runners on, Francisco Acuna had his second double of the game, scoring two runs to tie the game at four. The next inning saw the Missions go ahead on a home run by Albert Fabian, his third with the Missions. 

Albert Fabian’s big blast won the first game of the day for San Antonio! He is the overall @FrostBank Player of the Day! pic.twitter.com/3o5Duo8W1E

— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) August 21, 2025

Garrett Hawkins returned to the mound with a one-run lead in the seventh. Hawkins did what he has done all season, getting the first out before a triple by Ryan Waldschmidt put the tying run 90 feet away. LuJames Groover hit a sharp grounder to the left side, but Francisco Acuna made a strong throw home to record the out on Waldschmidt. With two outs, Gavin Conticello stepped up to face Hawkins. Conticello entered the series hitting .333 against San Antonio this season (hat tip to Austin Hartsfield of Sideline Sports), but he struck out on three pitches against Hawkins to secure the Missions win. 

Missions Lost 4-2 in Game 2 (57-59 on the season)

Damon Dues – 1-for-2, Home Run

Romeo Sanabria – 1-for-3, Home Run

Eric Yost – 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 K (85 pitches – 49 strikes)

San Antonio’s late power surge was insufficient to push the team to a win, as the Missions and 

Sod Poodles went on to split their doubleheader. Eric Yost started for the Missions, and in his fourth Missions start, pitched 3.2 innings. Yost labored through the first inning, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks, with a sacrifice fly scoring the third run against the right-hander. Yost settled in from there, pitching a clean inning in the second before some defensive miscues cost him in the third. With runners on the corners and one out, a grounder to the right side saw Romeo Sanabria throw home, but his throw was off the mark, allowing Gavin Conticello to score. Harry Gustin made his Missions debut in relief, pitching two scoreless innings and picking up his first Double-A strikeout. Kevin Kopps worked around three walks to toss 1.1 scoreless innings. 

We very much like this fielder’s choice ?

Cerda reaches second on a fielder’s choice, with a throwing error at the plate allowing Conticello to score! pic.twitter.com/9jZAr1Yhf5

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) August 21, 2025

The Missions were held off the scoreboard until the sixth inning by Amarillo’s Jose Cabrera. The Missions only recorded three hits off the right-hander, and it wouldn’t be until a solo homer off the bat of Damon Dues that the Missions had a run on the board. For Dues, it was his first homer of the season with San Antonio. Romeo Sanabria homered later in the inning, his 11th of the season. With his homer, Sanabria matched his career-high in homers from 2024. Unfortunately, not much of a rally would come in the seventh, as Amarillo’s Landon Sims worked around a one-out walk to Devin Ortiz to secure a win for Amarillo, dropping the Missions to two games below .500. 

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 3-0 vs Lake County) (52-62 on the season)

Chase Valentine – 2-for-3, Two Singles

Brendan Durfee – 1-for-3, Double, Walk

Ian Koenig – 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K (97 pitches – 66 strikes)

Right-hander Ian Koenig finished with a quality start, pitching 6.1 innings of three-run baseball. Koenig punched out six batters, pitching six scoreless before running into trouble in the seventh inning. Koenig allowed two hits to open the inning and got to a 2-2 count against Ryan Cesarini, but Cesarini took a 2-2 fastball to left field for a three-run homer, putting Lake County up 3-0. Since July 1, Koenig has pitched to a 3.11 ERA and 3.47 FIP in 43.1 innings, pitching six or more innings in six of seven starts in that span. Josh Mallitz recorded the final five outs by TinCaps pitching, and has now pitched four consecutive scoreless appearances. The TinCaps lineup didn’t get much traction against Captains starter John Means, only recording three baserunners off the rehabbing southpaw. Brendan Durfee had the team’s lone extra-base hit with a double off reliever Connor Whittaker, but the team went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position in the loss. Durfee and Kasen Wells reached base twice in the game, while Chase Valentine had two hits in the game. 

Ryan Cesarini’s 3-Run opposite field blast proved to be the different tonight! ??

His 2nd home run as a Captain propelled us to a 3-0 series opening win! pic.twitter.com/mxVur02Dp7

— Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) August 21, 2025

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 3-2 vs Stockton) (52-64 on the season)

Truitt Madonna – 2-for-3, RBI Single

Kale Fountain – 1-for-4, RBI Single

Kash Mayfield – 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K (72 pitches – 46 strikes)

Kash Mayfield doing Kash Mayfield things yet again. The Storm left-hander struck out five in five innings of work, walking only one batter. Mayfield continued his dominance and showed no signs of slowing down, as he allowed two runs on four hits. Since the calendar turned to June, Mayfield has only allowed seven earned runs in 34 innings, striking out 50 against 18 walks. That adds up to a 1.85 ERA and 2.33 FIP in that span. Jaxon Dalena made his pro debut in a scoreless inning of relief, fanning two batters and using his fastball/cutter/changeup/slider mix for the punchouts. Dalena will likely be eased into starting duty as the season winds down or at the start of 2026, but it is good to see the Padres’ 2025 6th rounder on the mound. Vicarte Domingo and his high-rise fastball struck out three in two scoreless innings, not allowing a baserunner. 

The Storm struck with two runs in the fifth inning to tie the game. George Bilecki and Jorge Quintana walked to open the inning. After Carlos Rodriguez and Ryan Wideman hit into outs, Truitt Madonna put the Storm on the board with an RBI single to left field. Kale Fountain beat out an infield single to score Wideman. After a wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third, Kavares Tears had a chance to give Lake Elsinore the lead, but struck out swinging. Lake Elsinore would have chances to score, but stranded two runners in the sixth and hit into double plays in the seventh and eighth innings. After three Ports strikeouts in the ninth, the game went to the home half of the ninth. Kleiber Olmedo took the mound in a tie game, but hung a 1-2 breaking ball to Bryan Arendt, who turned on it to left field, walking off the game for Stockton. 

Don’t forget to touch first! ?

Bryan Arendt’s first pro homer is a WALK-OFF HOMER ?@stocktonports | @Athletics | @UNCWBaseball pic.twitter.com/raetTYtQq9

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 21, 2025

DSL Padres – No Game

The DSL Padres Gold play their first playoff game Thursday against the DSL Astros Blue.

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.