Padres Down on the Farm: July 3 (Westphal 5 inning no-hitter in EP/Hernandez 6 IP scoreless/Hassell 3 hits)
Credit: MiLB
The San Diego Padres affiliates went 3-1 on Saturday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas: (Won 16-0 against Albuquerque in 5 innings) (23-27 on the season)
Luke Westphal – 5 IP, 6 Ks, 0 BB, 0 ER
Taylor Kohlwey – (4-for-4) 4 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Matt Batten – (4-for-5) 4 R, RBI
Ben Ruta – (3-for-4) 3 R, 3 RBI, HR
It was a special night in Albuquerque for starting pitcher Luke Westphal and the El Paso Chihuahuas on Saturday night. The 32-year old journeyman was signed by the Padres organization on July 1 and assigned to El Paso, and started with a bang.
In five innings of work, which was all that was needed for a lopsided Chihuahua 16-0 victory, Westphal allowed zero hits while striking out six.
Offensively, for El Paso, eight of the nine players in the starting lineup collected hits, with six of those eight having multi-hit nights.
Leadoff hitter and left fielder Taylor Kohlwey collected four hits and drove in two on a two-run home run. Shortstop Matt Batten had four hits of his own while scoring all four times he was on base.
The Chihuahuas completely dominated Albuquerque a night after falling 6-4 and only needed half of a game to put up the eye-popping stats.
San Antonio Missions: (Won 3-0 against Corpus Christi) (26-27 on the season)Â
Osvaldo Hernandez – 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks
James Reeves – 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 5 Ks
Yorman Rodriguez – (3-for-3) 2 R
Michael Curry – (1-for-2) 2-run HR, BB
The story of the night for the San Antonio Missions in their shutout victory over Corpus Christi was San Antonio’s pitching.  Starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez had one of his better starts of the season, going six shutout innings while only allowing four hits.
In a scoreless tie going into the bottom of the fifth, Missions left fielder Michael Curry hit a two-run home run. It was the second straight night that Curry hit a home run, which are his only two of the season.
Missions’ reliever James Reeves followed Hernandez with a completely dominant performance in his two innings of work. Reeves retired all six batters he faced, striking out five of them, which lowered his season ERA to 1.02.
With a 3-0 lead going into the ninth inning, the Missions brought in Nick Kuzia to close out the game. Kuzia made quick work of Corpus Christi and completed the shutout, giving San Antonio their third consecutive victory in dominant fashion.
Fort Wayne TinCaps- (Lost 8-6 to Great Lakes) (23-29 on the season)
Matt Waldron – 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 Ks
Jonny Homza – (2-for-3) 2-run HR, 2 BB
Kelvin Melean – (3-for-4) 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, BB
Agustin Ruiz – (2-f0r-5) 2B, R
Saturday night’s game between the TinCaps and Great Lakes Loons was played in front of the best crowd of the season in Fort Wayne. Unfortunately for the massive crowd looking to see a TinCaps win, they were disappointed by a couple of late-inning home runs by Great Lakes.
The night started off with Great Lakes taking an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, one of the few blemishes for TinCaps starting pitcher Matt Waldron.
That deficit was quickly erased by Fort Wayne in the third inning when TinCaps DH Jonny Homza belted a two-run home run to center field, his sixth of the season. That tied the game at 2-2, which wouldn’t hold for long.
After an RBI groundout put the TinCaps up 3-2, first baseman Seamus Curran extended the lead to 4-2 on an RBI double.
With the TinCups holding a 6-3 lead heading into the 8th inning, it was their bullpen that would let them down Saturday night. Left-handed reliever Ramon Perez came in the game in the eighth inning and allowed a three-run home run that allowed Great Lakes to tie the game at 6-6.
In the ninth inning, TinCaps brought in Edwuin Bencomo to try and keep the game tied, which he failed to do. Bencomo gave up a two-run home run that put the Loons up 8-6 which ended up being the final score, ruining a quality start by Waldron.
Lake Elsinore Storm- (Won 8-5 against Inland Empire) (26-27 on the season)
Ruben Galindo – 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 Ks
Robert Hassell III – (3-for-3) 2 R, BB, RBI, 2B, SB
Carlos Luis – (1-for-4) R, 2 RBI, K
Angel Solarte – (2-for-3) 4 RBI, 2B
The Lake Elsinore Storm used a five-run sixth inning to come back and defeat Inland Empire 8-5 on Saturday night, putting them atop the South Division.
Down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Storm got a two-run single from first baseman Carlos Luis, followed by a three-run double by left fielder Angel Solarte and took a 6-5 lead that would hold up for the rest of the night.
Angel Solarte is getting used to this hero stuff.
Good Guys: 6
A Fallen Empire: 5 pic.twitter.com/YKjEOQGrIr— Lake Elsinore Storm Baseball (@Storm_Baseball) July 4, 2021
The Lake Elsinore bullpen was dominant Saturday night, allowing only three hits and an unearned run over 5.1 innings, with nine strikeouts and one walk.
Duilio Ochoa, Michell Miliano, and Chase Walter each had scoreless innings to close out the game for the Storm, combining six strikeouts and one walk.
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                            Sunday’s Probable PitchersÂ
El Paso– TBD
San Antonio– Aaron Leasher (4-3, 2.59 ERA)
Fort Wayne– Gabe Mosser (2-4, 4.50 ERA)
Lake Elsinore– TBD
Kevin is a San Diego Native covering the San Diego Padres and their affiliates