Padres Down on the Farm: July 27 (Campusano 3 hits/Ornelas game-winning HR for FW/Merrill another hit in ACL)
Credit: TinCaps
San Diego Padres affiliates went 3-3 on Tuesday night.
Here’s a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 11-7 to Albuquerque) (29-41 on the season)
Luis Campusano: (3-for-5), HR, 2B, 4 RBIs, 2 R, K
Ivan Castillo: (2-for-5), HR, RBI, 2 R, K
Pedro Florimon: (2-for-4), 2B, RBI
Matt Strahm: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (19 pitches, 15 strikes)
The El Paso Chihuahuas bats woke up after putting up just one run in Monday’s 1-0 win, but unfortunately, the Isotopes’ bats woke up, even more, hammering five home runs off Chihuahuas arms. Luis Campusano continued to rake, homering for the ninth time this season, and Ivan Castillo hit his second home run of the year. Pedro Florimon doubled and drove in a run for El Paso, but their offense was behind the eight ball the entire way.
It was a bullpen day for the Chihuahuas, and it didn’t get off to a good start as Miguel Diaz surrendered four first-innings runs, with two long balls stinging Diaz. Matt Strahm continued to rehab, pitching a strong inning, striking out two batters. Caleb Boushley gave up two more runs in two innings of work, and James Norwood gave up three in his lone inning on the bump. Five of the eight pitchers for El Paso didn’t allow any runs, but thanks to Diaz’s and Norwood’s troubles, Albuquerque put up too much for El Paso to handle.
San Antonio Missions (Lost 8-3 to Amarillo) (35-37 on the season)
Matt Waldron: 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 7 K (114 pitches, 69 strikes)
Ben Ruta: (3-for-5), HR, RBI, 2 R, K
Michael Curry: (1-for-4), HR, 2 RBIs, R, 2K
Kyle Overstreet: (1-for-3), BB
The Missions dropped the season opener against the Amarillo Sod Poodles. The game got off to a good start for San Antonio, as Michael Curry started the scoring with a two-run blast to left-center field. Ben Ruta, who Curry drove in with his home run, added the final Missions run of the game with a home run to right field in the seventh inning. Ruta picked up three knocks, the only Missions player to pick up multiple hits in the game.
Missions’ starter Matt Waldron worked his way through the first two frames without allowing a hit and striking out four, but he ran into trouble in the third and fourth innings. A two-out ground ball single halved the Sod Poodles’ deficit, but things only got worse for Waldron and San Antonio in the fourth. Waldron retired two of the first three batters, but three straight hits for Amarillo players led to three runs, and the Missions trailed, something they didn’t recover from. After Ruta’s home run, San Antonio trailed by a run, but James Reeves gave up four runs in the seventh innings, ending any chance of a comeback. Despite having 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, the Missions didn’t pick up a single hit in those at-bats.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 3-1 vs. Lansing) (34-39 on the season)
Danny Denz: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K (66 pitches, 42 strikes)
Tirso Ornelas: (1-for-4), HR, 3 RBIs, R, BB, K
Luis Almanzar: (2-for-4), 2 2B, K
Grant Little: (2-for-3), R, BB
Tirso Ornelas hit a clutch three-run home run in the eighth inning to shoot the TinCaps into the lead, and great pitching allowed just one unearned run. With two outs and the tying run in scoring position, Ornelas took a middle-middle fastball over the right-field wall. Zack Mathis, Luis Almanzar, and Grant Little all had multi-hit days, with Almanzar doubling for each of his two hits. Starting pitcher Danny Denz went five strong shutout innings, controlling the Lugnuts lineup throughout his outing. Fred Schlichtholz gave up three hits across his two innings of work, but a throwing error by catcher Jonny Homza on a stolen base is what cost the TinCaps the run. Fort Wayne looked like they were getting shut down the entire night, but thanks to Ornelas’ home run and Ramon Perez’s six-out save, Fort Wayne managed to pick up the victory.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 3-2 vs. Fresno) (33-40 on the season)
Ruben Galindo: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K (59 pitches, 38 strikes)
Jack Stronach: (2-for-3)
Jarryd Dale: (1-for-2), 2B, RBI, R, BB, CS
Angel Solarte: (1-for-3), 2B, RBI
The Lake Elsinore Storm’s bullpen threw five scoreless innings to secure the win on Tuesday night. The Storm started off the second inning with three straight hits, but Angel Solarte’s double-play slashed the Storm’s hopes to blow the game open. With the game tied at two in the fourth inning, Solarte made up for his double play with a two-out double to drive in Matthew Acosta for what proved to be the final run of the game for both teams. On the mound, Ruben Galindo limited the damage to just two runs, despite the fact that he gave up six hits. Three pitchers out of the bullpen worked the next five innings, allowing just two hits in the process. Thanks to the bullpen pitching amazingly, Lake Elsinore’s three runs were enough to get the win over division-leading Fresno.
DSL Padres (Won 11-9 over DSL Reds) (9-3 on the season)
Yariel Moreno: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Daniel Montesino: (2-for-4), HR, 4 RBIs, R, 2 BB, K
Ignacio Ramos: (2-for-3), 2B, RBI, K
Eddy Beltre: (2-for-5), 2B, R
Daniel Montesino hit a walk-off grand slam, and the Padres won dramatically against the Reds on Tuesday. Yariel Moreno started for the Padres, and the Reds were only able to pick up one run off Moreno. However, the Padres got off to a frustrating start, and after four innings, they were still scoreless, having left seven runners on base. The Padres picked up three runs in the fifth, but it was mainly due to the Reds shooting themselves in the foot, with two errors and catcher’s interference in the frame. In the eighth inning, with the Padres ahead by two runs, the Reds scored four runs off of Luis Acosta, slingshotting them into the lead. The Padres tied the game later in the frame, thanks to back-to-back Reds’ wild pitches. The Reds jumped ahead with three runs in the ninth, but thanks to Montesino’s grand slam, the Padres won dramatically.
ACL Padres (Lost 7-4 to ACL Brewers Gold) (6-12 on the season)
Victor Lizarraga: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, BB, 3 K
Willmert Paula: (1-for-2), HR, 3 RBIs, 2 R, BB, K
Jackson Merrill: (1-for-3), CS
Jared Alvarez-Lopez: (1-for-4), R, 2 K
The ACL Padres dropped a game to the Brewers, giving up five runs in the first four innings, and never really getting back into the game. Willmert Paula hit a three-run home run to close the gap to two, but it wasn’t enough for the Padres. The Brewers quickly answered back, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth inning, and it put the Padres behind for the rest of the game.
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Wednesday’s Probables
El Paso: Off Day
San Antonio: TBD
Fort Wayne: Anderson Espinoza (0-1, 5.61 ERA)
Lake Elsinore: TBD
DSL Padres: Off Day
ACL Padres: Off Day
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.