San Diego Padres affiliates went 4-3 on Thursday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 8-7 vs Salt Lake) (40-59 on the season)
Jose Azocar – 3 for 5, Home Run
Tirso Ornelas – 2 for 4, Double, RBI
Omar Cruz – 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K (69 pitches, 48 strikes)

Left-hander Omar Cruz made his third start of the season and pitched very well, allowing two runs in five innings. Cruz lived in the zone heavily, not walking a batter and striking out seven, reaching the 50% whiff plateau. Reliever Paul Fry was tagged with the loss, allowing two runs in the bottom of the tenth. The offense came alive early, with Tirso Ornelas hitting an RBI double and Jose Azocar homering for the second consecutive game. Three of the team’s seven runs came on sacrifice flies, and the team went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

San Antonio Missions (Won 2-0 vs Midland) (45-46 on the season)
Brandon Valenzuela – 1 for 3, Sacrifice Fly
Connor Hollis – 1 for 4, Go-Ahead RBI Single
Victor Lizarraga – 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

Deep in the heart of Texas, the Missions and RockHounds engaged in a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. A’s No. 16 prospect Gunnar Hoglund faced off against Padres No. 10 prospect Victor Lizarraga. Lizarraga had a dominant outing, going seven shutout innings and striking out eight batters. Lizarraga was incredibly efficient with his pitches, averaging 12 pitches per inning. On the offensive side of the ball, a rally in the eighth inning led to the win, with Connor Hollis notching an RBI single, scoring Zach Reks to make it a 1-0 game. Brandon Valenzuela drove in a second run with a sac fly, and Jason Blanchard struck out two of the last four batters to secure the win.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 4-3 vs Dayton) (37-56 on the season)
Homer Bush Jr – 2 for 4, Run Scored
Nick Vogt – 2 for 5, Two Stolen Bases
Jagger Haynes – 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 9 K (91 pitches, 56 strikes)

The top of the lineup did the heavy lifting for the TinCaps, as Homer Bush Jr and Nick Vogt each had a multi-hit game. Bush stole his 43rd base of the season, and Vogt swiped two bags of his own. Romeo Sanabria also drove in a run on an RBI single. On the mound, Jagger Haynes delivered a promising start, striking out nine in five innings. Haynes’ swing-and-miss stuff was there, as the left-hander generated an astounding 48.8% whiff rate (21 whiffs on 43 swings).

Lake Elsinore Storm (won 5-4 vs Visalia) (47-44 on the season)
Leodalis De Vries – 2 for 4, Home Run
Jacob Campbell – 2 for 4, Walk-off Single
Eric Yost – 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K (85 pitches, 55 strikes)

No, it was not deja vu: Leodalis De Vries homered yet again. The Padres’ No. 4 prospect delivered another multi-hit effort with his ninth home run of the season. Jacob Campbell notched two hits as well, including the walk-off winner. Catcher J.D. Gonzalez went hitless but reached base twice via the walk. Starter Eric Yost struggled early, allowing four runs in the third and fourth innings, but rebounded to pitch 5.2 innings on 85 pitches, securing eight outs on the ground. Yost has a 44.2% ground ball rate in his first full taste of A-Ball and has been victim to errors and unearned runs at times. Left-hander Harry Gustin punched out three in two innings of relief.

ACL Padres (Won 2-0 vs ACL Royals) (24-36 on the season)
Lamar King Jr – 1 for 3, Two-RBI Single
Humberto Cruz – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

In their final regular season game, the ACL Padres shut out the ACL Royals in their own house. Humberto Cruz pitched in his second game, tossing a scoreless inning. Zack Qin earned the win with two innings of relief. The game’s lone runs scored on a two-RBI by Padres’ No. 20 prospect Lamar King Jr. The team went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stole three bases in a winning effort.

DSL Padres Gold (Won 3-2 vs DSL CLE Mendoza) (17-20 on the season)
Yimy Tovar – 2 for 4, Two RBI
Jesmaylin Arias – 2 for 4, RBI Single
Luis Maracara – 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K

The Padres Gold got an excellent start from right-hander Luis Maracara, as the 16-year-old struck out five in four innings. So far this season, Maracara is limiting hits and has struck out more than one batter per inning, making for a solid first pro season. The offense came alive late, with a three-run rally in the sixth inning. Yimy Tovar hit a go-ahead single, and Jesmaylin Arias drove in an insurance run. That insurance run would be important, as the Cleveland affiliate would score one in the ninth, but the comeback would not come, as Darlin Mendez recorded the final out, sealing a 3-2 win.

DSL Padres Brown (Lost 9-1 vs DSL Orioles Black) (8-27 on the season)
Joan Sierra – 1 for 3, Double
Yorvin Morla – 1 for 4
Pedro Martinez – 2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 1 K

Left-hander Pedro Martinez allowed four runs in 2.2 innings, walking five and punching out only one. Right-hander Jordan Valenzuela had the best performance of the four Padres pitchers, allowing one hit in 3.1 shutout relief innings. Five players recorded hits for the Padres, with Joan Sierra recording the team’s lone extra-base hit with a double. The team walked only twice and went 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

Friday’s Probable Pitchers:
El Paso – TBD
San Antonio – Austin Krob (3-6, 5.13 ERA)
Fort Wayne – Braden Nett (0-1, 8.71 ERA)
Lake Elsinore – TBD
ACL – No Game
DSL Gold – TBD
DSL Brown – 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.