Padres Down on the Farm: July 23 (James Wood hits another homer for LE/Jackson Merrill & Samuel Zavala return to Arizona)

The minor league affiliates for the San Diego Padres went 3-3 on July 23.

Here is a brief recap of the day’s games.

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El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 7-6 to Reno Aces) (52-40 on the season)

Jose Azocar: (4-for-5) HR, 2 RBI, R, K

Luis Liberato: (2-for-4) HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Eguy Rosario: (2-for-4) RBI, 2B

Matt Waldron: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER (3 R), BB, 3 K (51 pitches – 30 strikes) No Decision

Pitching woes continued for the Chihuahuas despite the offense doing their best to keep El Paso in the game. Both sides couldn’t hold onto the lead, passing it back and forth between offensive bursts and untimely pitching. With a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Jose Castillo got a one-pitch out and followed it with a walk. His 1-1 pitch to Stone Garrett resulted in a two-run home run to give Reno the victory.

San Antonio Missions (Won 7-4 against Corpus Christi Hooks) (47-40 on the season)

Webster Rivas: (3-for-4) 2 RBI, R

Chandler Seagle:  (1-for-4) HR, RBI, R, 3 K

Domingo Leyba: (0-for-2): RBI, 2 BB, K

Ben Krauth: 4 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 5 K (70 pitches – 44 strikes) No Decision

An early offensive explosion for the Missions built up a seven-run lead, which was enough to hold off a late run from the Hooks. The first run crossed the plate due to, of all things, a bases-loaded balk. Base hits by Webster Rivas and Juan Fernandez brought home the final three runs of the first inning. Two more runs crossed the plate in the second inning, while Chandler Seagle popped his third home run of the season in the third run to pad San Antonio’s lead to 7-0. Corpus Christi began to chip away at San Antonio’s lead late in the game, but Carlos Belen and Angel Felipe pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball to send the Hooks home with a loss.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 7-3 against Dayton Dragons) (37-53 on the season)

Brandon Valenzuela: (2-for-5) 3 RBIs, 2 K

Robert Hassell III: (1-for-3) RBI, BB, K, CS

Lucas Dunn: (1-for-4) HR, 2 RBI, R, 3 K

Ryan Bergert: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 K (88 pitches – 59 strikes) Win

A balanced offensive attack combined with solid pitching performances from three TinCaps pitchers led Fort Wayne to victory. Lucas Dunn hit his fourth home run of the season in the second inning to push his OPS in High-A to .702, while Corey Rosier scored as a throwing error on his successful steal of their base allowed him to scamper home in the fourth inning. Brandon Valenzuela’s two-run single the following inning scored what would be the winning run. Ryan Bergert struck out seven in a solid outing, while Seth Mayberry pitched two shutout innings for the save.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 13-10 against Inland Empire) (52-37 on the season)

James Wood: (2-for-4) HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB

Albert Fabian: (2-for-5) 3 RBI, 2 K

Nerwilian Cedeno: (1-for-4) 2 R, BB

Carlos Luis: (3-for-3) 2 RBI, 2 R, BB

When the Storm jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first three innings, it seemed like they were going to cruise to victory. When they scored four runs in the seventh inning after the 66ers tied the game, it seemed like they were on the way to a triumphant victory. And then the 66ers dropped five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and added another three runs in the next inning to take the wind out of Lake Elsinore’s sails. Charlis Aquino and James Wood (whose time with the Padres may be limited thanks to trade rumors around one Juan Soto) hit solo home runs while Albert Fabian had 3 RBIs.

No. 3 @Padres prospect James Wood smacks his second home run in three games for @Storm_Baseball: pic.twitter.com/KgWUdyrFkC

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 24, 2022

DSL Padres (Lost 6-4 against DSL Blue Jays) (22-14 on the season)

Oliver Carrillo: (1-for-3) HR, 3 RBI, R

Jose Sanabria: (1-for-4) RBI, R, K

Alain Camou: (2-for-4) R, 2B

Emmanuel Pinales: 1.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K, No Decision

Despite scoring four runs in the sixth inning, the Padres couldn’t overcome early pitching woes against the Blue Jays. Maikol Munoz‘s error with two outs extended the bottom of the first inning, and the Blue Jays capitalized by hitting back-to-back singles for two runs. While Josemar Acevedo walked the leadoff hitter in the second inning, he rebounded with two quick outs. However, another walk led to him getting pulled from the game for Jeison Sanchez, who started his outing with a walk. One grand slam later and the Padres faced a deficit that they couldn’t overcome.

ACL Padres (Won 14-4 against ACL Mariners) (15-18 on the season)

Jackson Merrill: (2-for-3) RBI, R

Victor Acosta: (2-for-3) 2 RBI, R, BB, 2 CS

Carlos Rodriguez: (3-for-5) 5 RBI, R, 2 2B

Ruben Salinas: (3-for-5) RBI, 3 R, BB, K, SB

The return of Jackson Merrill and Samuel Zavala helped prevent the Padres from hitting a three-game losing streak. Carlos Rodriguez’s two doubles and RBI single pushed his RBI total to seven on the season, while Joshua Mears scored three times during the game. Each starter position player had at least one hit while the team went 9-for-20 with runners in scoring position and collected 19 hits against the Mariners.

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Probable Starters for Sunday’s Matches

El Paso: TBD

San Antonio: Brandon Komar (1-2, 3.71 ERA)

Fort Wayne: Noel Vela (5-6, 3.95 ERA)

Lake Elsinore: TBD

DSL Padres: Off

ACL Padres: Off

Jason Freund

I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.