The San Diego Padres, minor league affiliates, went 3-5 on Friday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Defeated the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 5-4) (35-53 on the season)

Pedro Avila: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, HBP, 3 K (60 pitches, 34 strikes)

Jose Azocar: (2-for-3), 2 R, 2B, RBI, 2 SB

Alfonso Rivas: (1-for-2), 3 R, 2B, 2 BB

Max Shrock: (2-for-4), RBI, SB

A first-inning home run from Rylan Bannon set the tone for a less-than-stellar day for El Paso starter Pedro Avila. The Chihuahuas responded in the second, though. After a leadoff walk for Alfonso Rivas, Jose Azocar lined a single to right field. Rather than waiting to for the offense to drive them in, Azocar stole second, forcing an errant throw, scoring Rivas and himself all the way from first base. Sugar Land retook the lead 4-2 in the bottom half of the inning, including a two-run single from Quincy Hamilton.

Azocar kept things going in the fourth with an RBI double. A few batters later, Max Shrock singled to left, scoring Azocar and tying the game at 4-4. Jantzen Witte would triple in the sixth as the go-ahead run. Rivas and “Sugar” combined to reach base five times, scoring all five runs in the victory. The Chihuahuas bullpen came up huge, throwing five scoreless frames on five hits and just one walk.

San Antonio Missions (Defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4-2) (43-39 on the season)

Jose Espada: 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (53 pitches, 34 strikes)

Jackson Merrill: (1-for-4), R, 3B

Brandon Valenzuela: (1-for-4), R, HR, 2 RBI

Korry Howell: (1-for-3), R, HR, RBI

Jackson Merrill wasted no time getting acquainted with Double-A on Friday. The Padres top prospect tripled in his first at-bat, promptly throwing his arms in the air in excitement. Merrill would come around to score on a double from Juan Fernandez. Brandon Valenzuela and Korry Howell followed with home runs in the second and fourth innings to give San Antonio a 4-0 lead.

"How about that in your first Double-A at-bat?"

Top-ranked @Padres prospect Jackson Merrill legs out a triple for @missionsmilb. pic.twitter.com/Rmh1zLDPNp

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 15, 2023

Jose Espada threw the first three innings of a bullpen game for the Missions. Espada, Raul Brito, and Lake Bachar combined to throw 7.1 scoreless innings, striking out nine. Northwest Arkansas singled three times in the eighth, the third of which from Parker Bates would score two runs to cut the deficit to 4-2. Jose Quezada threw a scoreless frame in the ninth inning to pick up his second save. Merrill impressed a crowd of 4,594 with his bat, speed, and defense in the victory. San Antonio is now 32-23 (.582) in its last 55 games. They, indeed, are on a mission.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost to the Great Lakes Loons 3-2) (43-39 on the season)

Austin Krob: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 5 K (80 pitches, 48 strikes)

Jakob Marsee: (3-for-4), R, HR, 2 RBI, SB

Nathan Martorella: (2-for-5), 2B

Joshua Mears: (1-for-4), R, 2B

A triple and a passed ball led to a second-inning run for Great Lakes. Jakob Marsee responded with a solo shot for Fort Wayne in the third. The TinCaps center fielder singled in Joshua Mears in the fifth to give Fort Wayne its first lead of the game.

TinCaps starter Austin Krob was excellent, not allowing an earned run in five innings while striking out five. The game stayed 2-1 until the ninth when Fort Wayne gave the ball to Will Gerdees, who was recently called up from Lake Elsinore. After allowing a leadoff single, Geerdes was able to get back-to-back outs. The Loons would tee off on him, however. Consecutive singles would tie the game, followed by a walk and the game-winning single from Taylor Young.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost to the Fresno Grizzlies 9-6) (38-41 on the season)

Henry Williams: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 5 K (57 pitches, 39 strikes)

Ethan Salas: (2-for-5), R, RBI

Griffin Doersching: (2-for-3), 3 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Oswaldo Linares: (2-for-4), 2B, RBI

The Storm opened up the bottom of the first with a two-run double from first baseman Griffin Doersching. Oswaldo Linares followed with an RBI double of his own to make it 3-0. Jesus Bugarin would homer off Henry Williams. After allowing another in the third, Fresno tied the game in the fourth with three runs, thanks to some poor defense from Lake Elsinore. Henry Williams struck out five but gave up four runs to a red-hot Grizzlies team (27-6 in last 33).

Ethan Salas hits a grounded rocket to first base and picks up the RBI to retake the lead!!#StormTheLake pic.twitter.com/7H8GSLdk3t

— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) July 15, 2023

Ethan Salas took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single. The Grizzlies would take over, however, scoring five runs off the Storm bullpen. Eight different started picked up a hit for 14 on the night.

DSL Padres Brown (Lost to the DSL Arizona Black 2-1, 11-8) (11-16 on the season)

Game 1: Completion of June 15 game

Wilmer Ramirez: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Rasmes Velasquez: (1-for-3), R, 3B

Yoiber Ocopio: (1-for-2), BB

Padres starter Jefren Tejeda pitched only one inning on Friday. Tejada allowed a leadoff double before striking out the next batter. Arizona made it first and second with a walk, but the rally was canceled with a 5-4-3 double play. After a leadoff triple from Rasmes Velasques, the Padres drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Velasquez would score via a double play to take a 1-0 lead.

Arizona would score in the second inning to tie the game; it would stay 1-1 until the seventh inning. Wilmer Ramirez pitched 4.1 innings, striking out five. Both runs for Arizona came from RBI singles via Lewin De La Cruz.

Game 2:

Erick Batista: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 0 K

Jose Cordero: (2-for-4), R, 2B, RBI, HBP, SB

Alexander Garcia: (2-for-3), 2 R, RBI, 2 BB

Moises Valdez: (1-for-3), R, 2 RBI, BB

The Padres put up eight runs on seven hits and 10 walks. Jose Cordero, Alexander Garcia, and Moises Valdez supplied the majority of the offense, each picking up two hits. Rasmes Velasquez also scored twice in game two. The pitching faltered, however, as Arizona took advantage, scoring 11 runs between the second and third innings.

DSL Padres Gold (Lost to the DSL Orioles Black 4-1) (16-11 on the season)

Jesus Lopez: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 7 K

Emil Turbi: (1-for-3), RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB

Kevin Hacen: (2-for-4)

The Orioles got an early run in the first inning thanks to a single from Joshua Liranzo. Padres second baseman Kevin Hacen would throw the ball away, allowing Hector Jimenez to score. Emil Turbi singled to right in the third inning to tie the game. Liranzo homered in the fourth to take the lead. The Orioles would chase Jesus Lopez in the fifth inning. Lopez struck out seven but lacked run support in his third loss of the season.

ACL Padres (Defeated the ACL Athletics 12-3) (16-13 on the season)

Duncan Snider: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Juan Murillo: (2-for-4), 2 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, BB

Romeo Sanabria: (4-for-5), 4 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

Yendry Rojas: (2-for-3), 2 R, BB, 2 SB

Josttin Diaz: (1-for-3), 2B, 2 RBI, BB, SB

After a pair of scoreless innings, Juan Murillo opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third with a two-run triple. Two batters later, Romeo Sanabria singled in two and then scored on a walk to make it 5-0 Padres. Sanabria went 4-for-5 on the night, including a two-run home run in the seventh. He would single in a run in the seventh as part of a four-RBI game.

Saturday’s Probables:

El Paso: Jay Groome (1-6, 8.69 ERA)

San Antonio: Jackson Wolf (8-7, 3.49 ERA)

Fort Wayne: TBD

Lake Elsinore: TBD

DSL Brown: TBD

DSL Gold: TBD

ACL Padres: TBD

Al Scott

Al was born in Fresno, California with a passion for talking and writing about sports. The lifelong Padres fan is currently attending Fresno State as he pursues a degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to being a student, he does public address announcing at both the high school and collegiate levels.