Padres Down on the Farm: June 23 (Azocar HR for EP/Ornelas walk-off for SA/Rascon solid for FW)

The San Diego Padres, minor league affiliates, went 3-4 on Friday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost to the Tacoma Rainiers 10-5) (31-42 on the season)

Pedro Avila: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K (63 pitches, 43 strikes)

Jantzen Witte: (3-for-4), 2 R, HR, 2 RBI

Jose Azocar: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI

Alfonso Rivas: (1-for-4), R, 2B, RBI

Mason McCoy led off Friday night’s game with a blast over the right field wall on just the second pitch of the game off of Chihuahuas starter Pedro Avila. El Paso struck back though with a pair of solo homers from Jose Azocar and Jantzen Witte in the second and fourth innings. Avila was nearly perfect after the first inning home run. The right-hander struck out six while allowing just three baserunners.

Suga Suga 💪#FearTheEars x #BringTheGold pic.twitter.com/k7JyVhNT90

— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) June 24, 2023

Matthew Batten led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to former Padre Adam Engel. Batten would advance to second on a wild pitch. A batter later, Witte would single him in. Alfonso Rivas followed with an RBI double. Brett Sullivan capped off the rally with RBI single to center as well to give Ed Paso a 5-1 lead.

Tacoma would get to the Chihuahuas pen though and score nine unanswered runs including three longballs from Pat Valaika, Cade Marlowe, and Brian O’Keefe. The Rainiers only had 10 hits but every player in the lineup recorded at least one, including Marlowe who also tripled.

San Antonio Missions (Defeated the Midland Rockhounds 4-3) (37-30 on the season)

Daniel Camarena: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 3 K (84 pitches, 59 strikes)

Tirso Ornelas: (3-for-5), 2 RBI

Jake Perez: (2-for-4), 2 R

Thanks to an error and wild pitching, Midland took an early 2-0 lead off Missions starter Daniel Camarena on Friday. The Rockhounds added on in the third inning as well. After a hit by pitch to Bret Harris, Greg Deichmann doubled to right field giving Midland multiple runners in scoring position with no outs. Denzel Clarke flied out to Daniel Johnson in left field who instead of going home, threw to third base and was able to nab Deichmann to stop the bleeding. Camarena was able to settle down and keep San Antonio in the game.

Joey Estes was on the mound for Midland and was brilliant the first six innings, striking six while allowing just three hits and not a single run. Estes had gotten two outs in the seventh with Connor Hollis on second base (single, advanced via error) before allowing back-to-back singles including an RBI from Juan Fernandez. Estes was chased from the game, still with two outs. Jorge Juan came into the came allowing two more soft line drives into the outfield tie the game.

The San Antonio bullpen was excellent, allowing just three base hits in four scoreless frames. In the ninth inning. Jake Perez led off with a single. A hit-by-pitch led to another opportunity for Tirso Ornelas who tied the game in the seventh. The outfielder would send the fans home happy with a walk-off single on a line drive to right field.

Moments before Tirso Ornelas tied the game with a single. pic.twitter.com/5ozZ5Uulxr

— MadFriars (@madfriars) June 24, 2023

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Defeated the South Bend Cubs 6-4) (33-34 on the season)

Bodi Rascon: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 5 K (85 pitches, 49 strikes)

Jakob Marsee: (2-for-3), 3 R, 2 BB, 2 SB

Marcos Castanon: (2-for-4), R, HR, 3 RBI, BB

Natham Martorella: (1-for-3), 2 RBI

Joshua Mears: (1-for-4), R, HR, RBI

Fort Wayne wasted no time getting on the board Friday. Jackson Merrill singled followed by a double from Jakob Marsee. A single from Marcos Castanon and a sac fly from Martorella made it 2-0 before the Cubs even got to swing the bats. Kevin Made doubled in a run in the second to make it a 2-1 game. Castanon would homer in the third. Martorella sac flied for the second time in the game in the fifth inning to make it 5-1.

South Bend would try to get to TinCaps starter Bodi Rascon but were unsuccessful. The left-hander struck out five and lowered his ERA on the season to 4.97 while picking up his second win. Joshua Mears homered in the eighth to seal the victory.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4-0) (31-33 on the season)

Miguel Cienfuegos: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K (60 pitches, 40 strikes)

Kai Murphy: (1-for-2), BB, 2 SB

Devin Ortiz: (1-for-3), BB

Rancho Cucamonga walked and singled to lead off the game. A ground out would score one run. A few batters later, Rayne Doncon singled to make it 2-0 Quakes. The Storm was unable to get anything going offensively. Lake Elsinore was held to a mere 3-0 and quashed any opportunities they had going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Jose Izarra hit a two-run home run off Henry Baez in the seventh to make it 4-0.

DSL Padres Brown (Lost to the DSL Blue Jays 5-4) (7-6 on the season)

Wilmer Ramirez: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 K

Adrian Perez: (2-for-3), 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB

Yoiber Ocopio: (2-for-3), 2 R, 2 HBP

Luis De Leon: (1-for-3), R, 2 BB, SB

Padres starter Rafael Nava only faced four batters, walking one before allowing consecutive singles. He would hit the next batter, ending his day. Thanks to a pair of strikeouts and a ground out, reliever Wilmer Ramirez was able to hold them close. Ramirez didn’t allow a run in 4.2 scoreless innings.

The Padres tied the game 1-1 with a sac fly in the sixth. Adrian Perez made it 3-1 Padres with a two-run double in the seventh inning. It was all Blue Jays after that, however. The Padres bullpen imploded in the bottom half for three runs.

DSL Padres Gold (Defeated DSL Arizona Black 4-3) (9-4 on the season)

Johan Moreno: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K

Nestor Chevalier: (1-for-3), R, RBI, BB

Gustavo Marquez: (1-for-3), 2B, RBI

Johan Moreno ran into some trouble and allowed a pair of runs in the third inning including an RBI single from Gabriel Araujo to make it 2-0. Gabriel cut the defecit to 2-1 with an RBI double in the bottom half. Both teams scored in the fourth to make it 3-2.

The Padres entered the seventh inning still down one. A sac fly would tie the game at 3-3. An RBI single from Nestor Chevalier would win the game in the eighth. Bernard Jose and Miguel Valdez combined to throw 4.1 scoreless innings out of the Padres bullpen. The duo struck out two while allowing just one hit each.

ACL Padres (Lost to the ACL White Sox 8-3) (6-9 on the season)

Braden Nett: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K

Oswaldo Linares: (2-for-3), R, 2B, 2 BB

Braedon Karpathios: (1-for-3), R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB

A costly second inning proved to be the difference maker on Friday night for the Padres. Braden Nett was wild and walked three men (four total) and plunked a batter in before getting replaced. The White Sox took advantage and scored six runs in the inning including a three-run double from Colson Montgomery.

The Padres did score three runs in the third inning. After an error and a walk, Braedon Karpathios doubled to center, scoring one. A walk, a fielder’s choice and an error plated two more. The rest of the game was pretty silent until the ninth when the White Sox added two runs of insurance.

Saturday’s Probables:

El Paso: Angel Sanchez (0-2, 5.50 ERA, 43 K)

San Antonio: Jose Espada (0-2, 3.60 ERA, 51 K)

Fort Wayne: Victor Lizarraga (1-3, 4.54 ERA, 28 K)

Lake Elsinore: TBD

DSL Brown: TBD

DSL Gold: TBD

ACL Padres: TBD

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.