Padres Down on the Farm: June 11 (Azocar HR again for EP/FW wins duel/Zavala 2 RBIs for LE)
Credit: Storm Baseball
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost to the Oklahoma City Dodgers 24-5) (28-35 on the season)
Sean Poppen: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K (35 pitches, 23 strikes)
Luis Liberato: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI
Nelson Cruz: (1-for-4), RBI
Jose Azocar: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI
Jantzen Witte: (1-for-4), 2B, 2 RBI
A wild offensive showdown took place with a combined 33 hits and 29 runs on Sunday. Every single starter on both teams recorded at least one hit. Unfortunately for the Chihuahuas, they were responsible for only five of the runs. El Paso pitchers allowed 24 runs (19 earned) on 18 hits and 13 walks while striking out just four. The only player not to give up a run was catcher Michael Cantu who got the final four outs.
Sugar (C)Rush
446 Ft | 105.3 MPH EV | 25 degree Launch Angle#FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/9MROTfKYfL— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) June 12, 2023
Jose Azocar homered for the second straight game, and Luis Liberato homered for the fourth time in the series. Justin Yurchak went 3-for-5 with seven RBI, including a grand slam for the Dodgers.
San Antonio Missions (Lost to the Wichita Wind Surge 8-7) (31-26 on the season)
Daniel Camarena: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 1 K (60 pitches, 35 strikes)
Chandler Seagle: (4-for-4), 3B, RBI
Pedro Castellanos: (3-for-5), R, HR, 2 RBI
Tirso Ornelas: (2-for-5), R, 2B
Ray-Patrick Didder: (2-for-3), 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB
After a scoreless first inning, Daniel Camarena allowed a solo shot to Alerick Soularie to give Wichita a 1-0 lead. The Missions tied the game in the bottom half of the second inning with a suicide squeeze. Soularie drove in two in the fourth inning and would score on a wild pitch. He added on again in the sixth with his second home run of the game to make it 7-1. The left fielder finished 3-for-5 with five runs batted in and a stolen base.
San Antonio didn’t go away quietly, however, scoring one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh on a home run from Pedro Castellanos. Another run in the eighth cut it to 7-5. Wichita added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. In the bottom half, Ray-Patrick Didder hit a two-run laser over the left field wall for his first home run of the season before the magic ended. Despite the loss, San Antonio is still 20-10 over its last 30 games.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits 1-0) (27-30 on the season)
Jairo Iriarte: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (58 pitches, 39 strikes)
Raul Brito: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K (58 pitches, 37 strikes)
Joshua Mears: (1-for-3), R, 2B
Jakob Marsee: (1-for-4), RBI
The final game of the series offered not much in terms of excitement; however, fans of pitching duels were treated to quite the matchup. Quad City starting pitcher William Fleming thew four perfect innings, striking out 3 of the 12 batters he faced. Fort Wayne countered with Jairo Iriarte, who was nearly equally impressive, striking out four in four scoreless innings. The left-hander allowed just three hits.
Joshua Mears led off the sixth inning with a double and would score two batters later when Jakob Marsee singled him in. The two outfielders combined for two of the TinCaps’ four hits in the game. Fort Wayne got big help from reliever Raul Brito (1.00 ERA in 18 IP), who struck out nine in four scoreless frames. Despite the lack of offense, the TinCaps have now won six of its last seven games, with the victory on Sunday.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost to the Fresno Grizzlies 9-8) (27-27 on the season)
Miguel Mendez: 3 IP, 6 H, 8 R (7 ER), 3 BB, 2 K (56 pitches, 32 strikes)
Samuel Zavala: (2-for-5), 2 RBI
Nick Vogt: (2-for-4), 2 R, 2B, RBI
Kai Murphy: (1-for-4), RBI, BB, SB
Anthony Vilar: (1-for-4), R, 2B, RBI
The Storm fell behind early on Sunday after Miguel Mendez gave up a first-inning, three-run home run to Jamari Baylor. Samuel Zavala singled in two runs in the third to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Grizzlies tacked on five more runs, however, in the bottom half. The Storm matched them with five of their own in the fourth inning, including RBI doubles from Nick Vogt and Anthony Vilar.
Devin Ortiz would finally tie the game for Lake Elsinore in the fifth with an RBI single to left, scoring Nick Vogt. Robby Martin Jr. extended Fresno’s lead in the sixth with an RBI double to right field. The back-and-forth battled ended right there, however, keeping the Storm scoreless the final four innings. Ethan Salas went 1-for-4 with a walk. Lake Elsinore outscored Fresno 44-38 in the series.
Ethan Salas works yet another walk, his 10th in 10 games for Lake Elsinore pic.twitter.com/qxQVTfYg6t
— Al Scott (@AlScott1998) June 12, 2023
DSL Padres Brown (Off today) (3-2 on the season)
Play DSL Padres Gold at 8:00 am PST tomorrow morning.
DSL Padres Gold (Off today) (2-3 on the season)
Play DSL Padres Brown at 8:00 am PST tomorrow morning.
ACL Padres (Off today) (3-2 on the season)
Play ACL Rangers at 6:00 pm PST tomorrow night.
Monday’s Probables:
El Paso: Off
San Antonio: Off
Fort Wayne: Off
Lake Elsinore: Off
DSL Brown: TBD
DSL Gold: TBD
ACL Padres: TBD
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.