Padres Down on the Farm: June 18 (Abrams shines in debut/El Paso Stays Hot)

There was plenty of action throughout the farm system tonight, as the San Diego Padres minor league affiliates went 2-4 on the day.

Here is a recap of the day’s actions.

El Paso Chihuahuas beat Oklahoma City Dodgers 19-9 

In what seems to be a daily thing now in the Pacific Coast League, the El Paso Chihuahuas put on an offensive show against the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

It was the Dodgers, however, who struck first. Cameron Perkins drilled a solo home run off El Paso starter Jerry Keel to left center field with two outs in the inning. Shane Petterson followed that up with a double that scored Edwin Rios and made it a 2-0 ball game. El Paso wasted no time, however, and took the lead in the bottom half of the first inning. Seth Mejias-Brean doubled in both Michael Gettys and Luis Urias to tie the game. Matthew Batten scored Mejias-Brean on a ground out to shortstop, giving El Paso a 3-2 lead.

The scoring picked back up in the third inning when Oklahoma City hit two doubles and a single to take a 5-3 leadoff Keel. Jason Vosler‘s solo home run in the bottom of the third inning, however, got one of those runs back for the Chihuahuas. Boog Powell‘s solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning tied the game up at 5-5, but that would not last very long. Rios hit his 11th home run of the season, and a two-run single off the bat of Dennis Santana made it an 8-5 game. A wild pitch by Keel would score Errol Robinson as well later on in the inning.

That would be all for Keel on the night, as the right-hander departed after five innings and surrendered seven earned runs. Luckily for him, however, the Chihuahuas offense would explode in the bottom of the fifth inning and Keel would earn his sixth win of the season. El Paso scored eight runs in the fifth, with both Esteban Quiroz and Aderlin Rodriguez hitting run-scoring doubles. Michael Gettys hit his 15th home run of the season as well, a three-run shot that would make it a 13-5 game when the third out was recorded. The El Paso offense would not stop there, as the Chihuahuas added on as the game continued. Esteban Quiroz continued his hot streak with his 12th home run of the season, and Aderlin Rodriguez followed that up with a home run of his own. Michael Gettys scored Boog Powell on a fielders choice groundout, and the Chihuahuas found themselves scoring 19 runs in the ball game.

Oklahoma City would tack on four more runs in the ninth inning, with the final score being 19-9. El Paso’s dominance of the PCL continues as the Chihuahuas improve to a 44-27 record on the season.

Eric Yardley: 2 IP, H

Michael Gettys: 2-5, HR, 4 RBI, BB, K, 2 RS

Esteban Quiroz: 2-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 K, 2 RS

Matthew Batten: 3-5, 2 1B, 2B, RBI, K, CS, ROE, RS

Boog Powell: 3-5, 2 1B, HR, 2 RBI, K, 3 RS

Amarillo Sod Poodles lose to Northwest Arkansas Naturals 7-3

Just one day after winning the Texas League South’s first-half division title, the Amarillo Sod Poodles fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals by a score of 7-3. Ronald Bolanos toed the rubber for Amarillo, while J.C. Cloney started for Arkansas.

The Sod Poodles scored in their first at-bats of the ball game when a double-steal executed by Edward Olivares and Kyle Overstreet resulted in Olivares stealing home. That lead would not last very long, however, as the Naturals scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kansas City Royals star third baseman Hunter Dozier is rehabbing with the Naturals and drilled a two-run double to right field to kickstart the Arkansas offense.

Nick Heath would single in Taylor Featherston to make it a 5-1 game and end Bolanos night for the Sod Poodles. The 22-year-old surrendered three earned runs over four innings while walking three and striking out six.

A Buddy Reed home run in the top of the fifth inning and Kyle Overstreet’s RBI single made it a 5-3 game as the Sod Poodles started to mount a comeback. Those hopes would be put to rest rather quickly, as the Naturals scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI double and a sacrifice fly. With the Sod Poodles offense not able to get going for the remainder of the game Arkansas took the victory and improved to 32-37 on the season, while Amarillo dropped to 34-35.

Buddy Reed: 1-2, HR, RBI, BB, K, RS

Kyle Overstreet: 3-5, 3 1B, RBI, SB

Ivan Castillo: 2-5, 2B, K, RS

Edward Olivares: 2-4, 2 1B, BB, SB, RS

Jean Cosme: 2 IP, H, 2 K

Tri-City Dust Devils lose to Hillsboro 5-4

After a slow start to begin the 2019 short-season, the Tri-City Dust Devils look to right the ship against Hillsboro and earn their second victory on the year.

It looked good for the Dust Devils from the beginning, as they scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Nick Gatewood singled in Jordy Barley for the game’s first run. Jonny Homza followed that up with a two-run double and would eventually score on a Tre Carter single.

Hillsboro answered with two runs of their own off Dust Devils reliever Ramon Perez in the fourth inning. Both offenses remained quiet until the seventh inning when David Garza doubled in Joe Gillette to make it a 4-3 game. Hillsboro would tie the game up in the eigth inning on a Lucas Herbert double and after the Dust Devils inability to break the tie, this game headed to extra innings.

It was the Hops who eventually broke the stalemate, scoring in the top of the 10th innning when Daniel Wasinger doubled in Joe Robbins. Tri-City threatened in the bottom half of the inning but would fall up a bit short in route to their fifth loss of the season.

Cullen Dana: 2 IP, 3 H, K

Jordy Barley: 1-5, RS, 2 K

Nick Gatewood: 1-5, RBI, K, RS

Tre Carter: 1-2, RBI, 2 BB

Jonny Homza: 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K, RS

AZL Padres 1 defeat AZL Indians Red 4-3 

On opening day in the Arizona Rookie League, the San Diego Padres first team defeated the Indians Red squad by a score of 4-3. Luarbert Arias took the mound for the Padres, while Juan Zapata opposed him for the Indians. The Padres jumped on Zapata in the second inning when 2019 first-round pick CJ Abrams hit a ground ball to centerfield, resulting in a run-scoring throwing error, for his first professional hit. Chris Givin would reach on a throwing error by third baseman Gaspar Palacio, scoring Abrams, and the Padres took a 2-0 lead.

Abrams’ second hit of the night was a home run over the right-field fence to give the Padres a 3-0 lead. The 18-year-old out of Georgia had a fantastic professional debut at the plate, going 4-for-4 with an RBI, a walk, and two runs scored. Abrams showcased his elite bat-to-ball skills and should hopefully continue to produce at high-rate offensively in the AZL. It’s very likely that he earns himself a promotion to the Tri-City Dust Devils at some point before 2019 is over.

CJ ABRAMS HOME RUN!!! 3-3. You can hear his teammates staying quiet for when he gets to the dugout #ProspectOne @CJAbrams01 pic.twitter.com/cu0B4GJAoM

— The Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) June 19, 2019

The Indians would score in the seventh inning on back-to-back extra base hits from Yainer Diaz and Gaspar Palacio. Givin’s would double in Abrams for the Padres squad in the bottom half of the eigth inning, making it a 4-3 game and securing a victory.

CJ Abrams: 4-4, 3 1B, HR, RBI, BB, 2 RS

Luarbert Arias: 5 IP, 2 H, 4 K

Joshua Mears: 2-4, 2 1B, K

AZL Padres 2 lose to AZL Reds 7-6

Unlike the AZL Padres 1, the second squad for the Friars found themselves on the losing end of their inaugural game. The Padres team would draw first blood, however, as they managed to scratch across two runs in the second inning on a throwing error by Reds’ pitcher Luis Mey. They would also score in the third inning, on a Yeisson Santana sacrifice fly and singles from Kelvin Alarcon and Jarryd Dale. The Reds team would respond rather quickly, however, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third inning to make it a 5-4 ball game. They would score yet again in the bottom of the fifth on a wild pitch by Padres pitcher Jefferson Garcia.

The offenses would remain quiet until the eigth inning when Wendell Morero broke the tie with a home run over the left field fence to give the Reds a 6-5 lead. Kelvin Alarcon singled in Taylor Lomack to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning, but Ashton Creal’s walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Reds their first victory of the 2019 AZL season.

Kelvin Alarcon: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 RS

Ripken Reyes:  2-5, 2 2B

Cristian Heredia: 2-4, 2B, BB

Jeferson Garcia: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, BB, 2 K

DSL Padres lose to DSL White Sox 13-9

As the Dominican Summer League continues, the DSL Padres faced off against the DSL White Sox this Tuesday afternoon.

The White Sox took an early lead in this one, scoring in each of the first innings of the game to give them a 4-0 lead. It was the Padres team. However, that exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the third inning. Four of these runs were scored due to bases-loaded walks and one hit by pitch, with the other four coming off a grand slam from Reginald Dowston.

Unfortunately for the Friars DSL team, the White Sox would score nine runs throughout the next four innings to put this one away. The Padres did score in the bottom of the eighth inning when Nerwilian Cedeno singled in Juan Mercedes, but the White Sox team found themselves on the winning end of this game.

Euribiel Angeles: 4-5, 3 1B, 2B, BB, 2 RS

Reginald Dowston: 2-5, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, K, RS

Jonfy Diaz: 3 IP, 3 H, ER

Willmert Paula: 2-4, 2 1B, RBI, BB, RS

Nerwillian Cedeno: 1-4, RBI, 2 BB, K, RS

Wednesday’s Probables

El Paso- OFF

Amarillo- Adrian Morejon (0-4 4.56 ERA) vs. Brady Singer (1-0 9.24 ERA)

Lake Elsinore- OFF

Fort Wayne- OFF

Tri-City- Dallas vs. Frias

AZL Padres 1- TBD vs. AZL Giants Black

AZL Padres 2- TBD vs. AZL Rangers

DSL Padres- TBD vs. DSL White Sox

Diego Solares

Diego works at Prep Baseball Report as an Area Scout in Illinois and Missouri. He graduated this spring with a Bachelor Degree in Communications and played four years of college baseball, logging nearly 50 innings of work in a relief role. Diego hopes to work in an MLB front office one day and has been a Padres fan since he was six years old.