The San Diego Padres, minor league affiliates, went 1-4 on Saturday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Defeated Round Rock Express 2-1) (44-57 on the season)

Nolan Watson: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R (0 ER), BB, 6 K (82 pitches, 57 strikes)

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

Ben Gamel: (2-for-4), R

Thursday night, Kevin Plawecki walked it off with a single to send the El Paso fans home happy. On Saturday, the veteran catcher was batting seventh for Round Rock. Plawecki (2-for-4) singled in the second inning but was left stranded. Nolan Watson was near perfect Saturday night. The Express did get three consecutive singles off of Watson in the third inning. The third of which went to left fielder Ben Gamel who fielded it poorly, allowing a run to score. Watson recovered and struck out six in the best start of his season.

Nolan Watson turns in his best Triple-A start to date!

5.0 IP/6 H/ 1 R/ 0 ER/ 1 BB/ 6 K#FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/zV3J12DlQd

— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) July 30, 2023

El Paso’s offense was limited for most of the game, held scoreless on just five hits through the first seven innings. Former Padre Ian Kennedy came on for Round Rock in the eighth inning. With one out, Jose Azocar singled to left field and stole second. Following a walk to Tim Lopes, Azocar and Lopes pulled off a successful double steal. Kennedy intentionally walked Eguy Rosario to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Azocar to score. Kennedy managed to get out of the inning.

Ray Kerr came in for the Chihuahuas in the top of the ninth. The lefty struck out Dustin Harris and Plawecki to open the frame. Kerr then got Diosbel Arias to fly out to right field. Ben Gamel and Oscar Mercado opened the bottom half with a pair of singles. Jantzen Witte moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Austin Nola came up and hit a hard grounder that got out of the infield, scoring Gamel. El Paso has now won five straight (3 of 4 via walk-off) with an opportunity for a six-game sweep.

Austin No-Extra Innings-la@MiLB x #FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/QZ7Mvm0dkd

— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) July 30, 2023

San Antonio Missions (Lost to Corpus Christi Hooks 10-0) (46-49 on the season)

Jackson Wolf: 3.1 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 2 BB, K (74 pitches, 44 strikes)

Jackson Merrill: (1-for-4)

Brandon Valenzuela: (1-for-3), BB

Last Saturday, July 22, Jackson Wolf was called up to make a spot start for his MLB debut. Wolf pitched five innings, allowing just three runs and picking up his first career win. Wolf was optioned back to San Antonio. The lefty returned to the mound Saturday and was hit all the way around for 10 hits and eight runs. Zach Dezenzo and Kenedy Corona each hit a two-run home run. San Antonio’s offense was a complete dud. The Missions managed just four hits, all singles. Needless to say, they would like a do-over.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost to West Michigan Whitecaps 8-5) (49-46 on the season)

Miguel Cienfuegos: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, BB, 4 K (87 pitches, 59 strikes)

Nerwilian Cedeno: (1-for-5), R, HR, 2 RBI

Anthony Vilar: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI

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

The Whitecaps manufactured a run in the first inning Saturday thanks to a steal and a throwing error. Brady Allen followed with a single to center to make it 1-0. Miguel Cienfuegos was able to get out of the inning without any further damage. Anthony Vilar homered in the third inning. A few batters later, Nerwilian Cedeno hit a two-run home run to make it 3-0. Carlos Luis made it three home runs for the second day in a row with his fifth longball of the season.

Miguel Cienfuegos was dominant most of the afternoon. The Canadian left-hander got one out in the sixth before walking Carlos Mendoza. A double by Luke Gold put runners in scoring position.  Cienfuegos was replaced by Will Geerdes. Brady Allen tripled to right field, driving in two. Eliezer Alfonzo blooped a single into left field, tying the game.

Still tied 4-4, Nathan Martorella doubled to lead off the eighth inning for Fort Wayne. Later in the inning, with two-on, two-out, Kervin Pichardo singled to right field, scoring Graham Pauley. Pichardo was thrown out trying to make it to second. Geerdes allowed a walk and four hits without getting a single out in the bottom half of the inning. West Michigan put up four runs in the frame, going on to win 8-5.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost to Stockton Ports 4-2) (46-46 on the season)

Henry Williams: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, HBP, 4 K (77 pitches, 44 strikes)

Ethan Salas: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI

Jay Beshears: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI

Stockton struck first on Saturday. Henry Williams hit Cooper Uhl to lead off the second inning. Bjay Cooke walked to move Uhl into scoring position. He would advance to third on a fly-out. Elvis Rijo rolled over on a ground ball, allowing Uhl to score. Brayan Buelvas homered to lead off the third inning to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Uhl singled to center bringing in another run. Ethan Salas and Jay Beshears homered back-to-back in the fifth inning to make it 3-2.

Williams settled down after the third inning, giving the Storm five innings and striking out four. Unfortunately, Lake Elsinore was limited to just six total hits, including the two solo shots. Nick Thwaits allowed a run to score in the eighth inning on a wild pitch to seal the Storm’s fate.

DSL Padres Brown (Off today) (13-25 on the season)

Play DSL White Sox in doubleheader (7/13 makeup) on Monday at 8:00 am PST.

DSL Padres Gold (Off today) (24-15 on the season)

Play DSL Arizona Black on Monday at 8:00 am PST.

ACL Padres (Lost to ACL Reds 6-5) (22-17 on the season)

Braden Nett: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 2 K

Jacob Campbell: (1-for-4), 2B, 2 RBI

Juan Murillo: (1-for-4), R, HR, 3 RBI

After back-to-back singles in the first inning from Jarryd Dale and Romeo Sanabria, Juan Murillo put a ball over the left field fence, his second home run on the year. The Reds fought back in the second. After a double and a single, Luis Chevalier flew out to left field, scoring a run. The Reds tied the game with two more runs in the third inning off of Braden Nett. The Padres starter struck out two but allowed three runs on five hits and four walks in three frames.

Jacob Campbell doubled in two in the fifth inning to retake the lead. Jhosep Chirinos loaded the bases, only to hit Ricardo Cabrera, cutting the Padres lead to 5-4 in the sixth. Chirinos struck out two in a row to erase the threat. Unfortunately for Chirinos, he allowed a leadoff single before walking three in a row, tying the game. Chevalier singled to right field to win the game on a walk-off.

Sunday’s Probables:

El Paso: TBD

San Antonio: Ryan Bergert (5-3, 2.88 ERA, 81 K)

Fort Wayne: Bodi Rascon (2-3, 3.93 ERA, 58 K)

Lake Elsinore: TBD

DSL Brown: OFF

DSL Gold: OFF

ACL Padres: OFF

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.