Padres’ affiliates went 3-2 on Thursday.

A Missions walk-off highlights the slate’s events, so let’s waste no more time and get right into the games. 

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 6-5 vs Round Rock) (50-72 on the season)

Will Wagner – 3-for-4, Two Doubles, RBI
Dustin Harris – 2-for-4, Home Run, Two RBI

Jhony Brito – 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K (47 pitches – 34 strikes)

Right-hander Jhony Brito pitched four innings of two-run baseball, again succeeding with his formula of no whiffs and all contact. Brito recorded five of 12 outs on ground balls, though he did allow a solo home run in the contest. Hunter Stratton continues to impress out of the El Paso bullpen, as he threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. The 29-year old has yet to allow an earned run over his first eight innings in the Padres organization. Hans Crouse allowed one run in the seventh, but was saved from a bases-loaded jam on a timely ABS challenge from Ethan Salas. David Morgan pitched the final two innings, overcoming a PCL home run to record his fourth save of the season. Morgan got chases on 41.2% of swings, and despite his stuff not registering as high as usual (thank the environment for that), he was able to strike out two and close it out. 

The Chihuahuas slugged their way to a win, as the team launched three home runs and five extra-base hits. Will Wagner had two doubles against Express starter David Davalillo, with one driving in Ethan Salas. Carlos Rodriguez launched a solo home run to tie the game in the sixth inning. Clay Dungan hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and Dustin Harris followed him up with another two-run home run two batters later. Ethan Salas went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored. Gage Workman was held hitless in the game, and is hitting .111 in his first seven games in El Paso. 

San Antonio Missions (Won 6-5 in 11 innings vs Northwest Arkansas) (54-63 on the season)

Alex McCoy – 2-for-6, Walk-off RBI Single

Ryan Jackson – 2-for-4, Double, Three RBI

Jamie Hitt – 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K (57 pitches – 39 strikes)

San Antonio is now two games out of a playoff berth thanks to a walk-off win over Northwest Arkansas. The Missions and Naturals had to go to the eleventh inning, but Alex McCoy’s walk-off single sealed a win for San Antonio. McCoy had two hits in the game, scoring a run. The right-handed hitter has not missed a beat since joining the Missions, currently hitting .414 with a 1.123 OPS in his first week at Double-A. Ryan Jackson drove in three runs in the contest, hitting a two-run double in the first inning. Jackson is currently in the midst of his best hitting month of the season, hitting .281 with an OPS of .827. Jack Costello drove in one run with an RBI single to the pitcher in the first inning, and Braedon Karpathios grounded an RBI double to right field to score a run in the fourth inning. Karpathios was back in the leadoff spot, and he currently has an .814 OPS when leading off. 

Starting pitcher Jamie Hitt allowed two runs in five innings, striking out four. The left-hander picked up seven of 15 outs on ground balls, and 10 of 39 strikes were swings and misses. Hitt’s outing was the 24-year old’s best outing of the season at San Antonio, and he has pitched five or more innings in five of his past six starts. With a fully rested bullpen, the Missions pulled Hitt after five innings, turning to Sadrac Franco. Franco allowed a game-tying two-run home run to Alberto Rodriguez in the seventh inning, striking out three in his outing. Josh Mallitz threw two scoreless innings to get the Missions into extra innings. Igor Gil allowed the ghost runner to score in the tenth inning, recording two outs. Garrett Hawkins struck out three in 1.1 innings, holding the Naturals scoreless to earn the win. 

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 7-2 vs Great Lakes) (49-66 on the season)

Bradley Frye – 1-for-4, Double, RBI

Rosman Verdugo – 2-for-4, Two Singles

Carson Montgomery – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K (78 pitches – 54 strikes)

Carson Montgomery pitched into the sixth inning for the second time in August, allowing five earned runs. The right-hander struck out three batters, walking just one. Montgomery was able to live in the strike zone much more consistently than he did in earlier starts. He has held opponents to a .179 batting average in August, posting a 0.98 WHIP in the month. Will Koger allowed two runs in 1.2 innings, with a grand slam by Mairo Martinus that put the nail in the proverbial win coffin. Braian Salazar retired both batters he faced before departing the game due to injury. Nick Falter struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings. The TinCaps tallied seven hits and six walks, but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Bradley Frye had the team’s only extra-base hit, an eighth-inning double that scored Kerrington Cross. Rosman Verdugo hit two singles, also reaching base on an error that scored Conner Westenburg. Luke Cantwell reached base twice in the loss, and the duo of Kasen Wells and Ryan Wideman each had a single in the game. Wideman was caught stealing for the eighth time in 27 attempts as a TinCap. 

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 9-5 vs San Jose) (61-56 on the season)

Jorge Quintana – 1-for-5, Three-Run Home Run

Elliot Lascelles – 2-for-3, Two Singles, Two Walks, RBI

Lan-Hong Su – 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K (54 pitches – 39 strikes)

Lake Elsinore saw Lan-Hong Su and Zack Qin combine to throw eight innings of two-run baseball, but Jordan Valenzuela allowed six earned runs in the ninth inning to lose 9-5. Starting with Su, the right-hander struck out five batters in four innings, allowing two runs. Su allowed two runs on four hits, striking out the side in the second inning. Zack Qin threw four shutout innings in relief, tossing 49 pitches in his four frames. The 21-year old from Nanjing, China struck out three while walking two. Jordan Valenzuela came on for the ninth inning, looking for the save. Three straight singles cut the lead to 5-3. A balk, intentional walk, and hit batter later, the game was tied. With the bases loaded, Andrew Wright was called on to leave the bases loaded. A passed ball by Ty Harvey scored the go-ahead run, and two hits later scored three more runs for the Giants. 

Jorge Quintana drove in three runs for the Storm, launching a three-run home run in the third inning. Chris McHugh reached base twice in the loss, hitting a single and drawing a walk. Nu’u Contrades had two hits, both singles, and scored one run in the contest. Contrades scored on an RBI double by Jesmaylin Aras. Arias just missed a home run by feet, and has shown off his power potential since joining the Storm. Qrey Lott drew three walks, scoring two runs. Elliot Lascelles continued to do Elliot Lascelles things, reaching base a staggering four times. Lascelles hit an RBI single in the game, and has shown a knack for hitting the ball to all fields so far. 

DSL Padres Gold (Won 14-1 vs DSL Angels) (1-0 in DSL Cup Pool Play)

Dayquer Alfonzo – 2-for-5, Two Doubles, Three RBI

Sebastian Nadales – 2-for-3, Home Run, Two RBI

Carlos Alvarez – 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 5 K 

Left-hander Carlos Alvarez threw four innings of one-run baseball as the Padres offense exploded out of the gate to earn their first win in DSL Cup Pool Play. Alvarez struck out five batters in his start, walking just two batters. Alvarez allowed one hit all game, dominating from the get-go. Jose Perez earned the win with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Edwyn Hernandez threw 1.2 scoreless innings, and Joseph Uzeta closed out the win with a scoreless ninth. Dayquer Alfonzo had two doubles in the game, driving in three runs. Sebastian Nadales launched a two-run home run in the second inning. The Padres Gold burst out for eight runs in the fourth inning, with Eliander Primera, Gabriel Teran, Alfonzo, and Timothy Mogen each having RBI hits in the inning. Endy Rios later had an RBI single, with Alfonzo and Mogen driving in one run each in the fifth.

Friday’s Probable Pitchers

El Paso – RHP Andrew Thurman (0-1, 8,74 ERA)

San Antonio – RHP Victor Lizarraga (3-7, 6.35 ERA)

Fort Wayne – RHP Matthew Watson (1-4, 5.23 ERA)

Lake Elsinore – LHP Kruz Schoolcraft (2-5, 5.32 ERA)

DSL Gold – 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.