Padres Down on the Farm: June 23 (CJ Abrams another multi-hit game/Luis Campusano three hits/Michel Baez roughed up)
Credit: MiLB
Busier days are ahead for Padres’ minor leaguers, as summer and rookie leagues are in full swing. The Padres minor league affiliates went 3-4 on the day.
Here’s a recap of how the games played out:
El Paso Chihuahua’s Rally Late for 8-7 win
The Chihuahua’s closed out the series against the Tacoma Rainiers on Sunday, earning their third win in the four-game series.
Kyle McGrath took the mound to start the game for El Paso, in another rough outing for the lefty he allowed five runs in the fourth inning and six runs overall in just four innings of work. Including Sunday, the 26-year-old 36th round draft pick (2014) has allowed 27 runs in 33.2 innings pitched over his last ten outings.
Gerardo Reyes had his first pitching appearance since being sent back down to El Paso, he took over for Eric Yardley with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning and pitched a total of two innings. He allowed just one hit, no runs, and struck out two while earning the win.
Jason Vosler had himself a game racking up three hits in four at-bats while Jose Pirela went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
After McGrath’s meltdown in the fourth inning, the Chihuahua’s were trailing big looking at a 6-0 deficit. It didn’t take long for them to answer, however, as they answered the Rainiers four-run sixth with a four-run inning of their own in the seventh.
Webster Rivas got the rally going with a ground ball single to right field that plated the Chihuahua’s first run of the game. Later with two men on base, Michael Gettys hit his 19th homerun of the season cutting the lead to just two.
Tacoma later added one more run of their own in the bottom of the sixth, which was answered by Ty France in the very next inning. In dramatic fashion and with a 1-0 count, France crushed a grand slam over the left field wall to put the Chihuahua’s up by one with just six more outs to go.
Robbie Erlin, who was sent down to El Paso June 16, took over for Reyes in the bottom of the eighth inning. Reyes sat down the first two batters to come to the plate in the eighth inning, but after throwing 25 pitches, Erlin took over and worked a four-out save slamming the door shut on Tacoma.
Luis Urias: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Gerardo Reyes: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K, Win
Webster Rivas: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI
Amarillo Sod Poodles drop a close 3-5 against Tulsa Drillers
Lefty Adrian Morejon roughly opened up the game for the Sod Poodles on Sunday; he allowed two hits, two walks, two earned runs, and hit a batter in the inning.
After forcing the lead off man for the Drillers to ground out, Morejon allowed a single which was followed by a walk and a HPB to load the bases. A single followed the hit batter to crack the scoreboard. Later, a walk plated the Drillers second run. Morejon was able to force a fly out to limit the damage.
The Sod Poodles answered back in the third inning when Peter Van Gansen hit a solo shot that was later followed by an Edward Olivares sac-fly to tie the game.
Ronald Bolanos, who took over after the opening inning, held the Drillers scoreless until the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and one out in the inning, the 22-year-old righty allowed a single which broke the stalemate.
Edward Oliveras came to the plate in the eighth inning and got on with a lead off single, after stealing second, and an Owen Miller ground out Oliveras stood at third base with just one out. Luis Torrens came up and put up a sac-fly to tie the game.
Michel Baez took the mound in the eighth inning where he also faced some trouble. A lead-off single was followed by a double to put two men in scoring position with no outs. After a strikeout, an intentional walk was passed to load the bases. This was followed by two straight singles that put the Drillers on top, and that was the difference in the ball game.
Edward Oliveras: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 R
Michel Baez: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, Loss
Lake Elsinore pummel Inland Empire 11-1
In the battle of the Inland Empire, the Storm took down the 66ers in the final game of the four games series; the Storm won the series 3-1.
Aaron Leasher took the mound to start the game for the Storm and put on a dominant performance. He went six scoreless innings allowing just six hits while striking out nine batters and issuing no walks. It was a breath of fresh air for Leasher, as the 23-year-old is coming off back-to-back rough outings.
Franklin Van Gurp appeared in his fourth outing since being traded to the Padres organization for Alex Dickerson; he allowed a run and a walk while striking out two over 2.0 innings of work.
The offense was plenty for the Storm as four different players had a multi-hit night, three of which had at least three hits on the night.
Allen Cordoba was all over the stat sheet; he went 4-for-5 while driving in two runs and crossing the plate four times himself. Eguy Rosario went 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs with a pair of RBI-singles. Connor Panas went 2-for-5 with an RBI double of his own.
Despite Cordoba’s big night, Luis Campusano put on a show as he had a pair of RBI-doubles and crushed a two-run shot to left center in the bottom of the eighth to further solidify the Storm’s dominant victory.
Allen Cordoba: 4-for-5, 4 H, 4 R, 2 RBI
Luis Campusano: 3-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBI
Aaron Leasher: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 9 K, O BB WIN
Franklin Van Gurp: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 BB
Fort Wayne drops pitchers duel 1-2
Efrain Contreras took the ball to start the game for Fort Wayne; he has been pretty consistent in his first full season of baseball. The 19-year-old out of Chihuahua, Mexico went five scoreless innings allowing three walks while sitting down eight by way of the K. His ERA is down to just 3.19 in 62.0 IP on the season, he now has a 1:4.5 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
Cody Tyler took over for Contreras and allowed the Great Lakes Loons to strike first on a solo shot in the seventh inning. The 32nd round draft pick (2018) allowed four hits, the one earned run, and struck out two over two innings; he took the loss tonight.
For a quiet night on the scoreboard, the TinCaps blew eight chances to score going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving five runners stranded on base.
Agustin Ruiz had himself a night; he went 3-for-4 on the night with two singles and a double. He also scored the TinCaps only run of the night on a ground out in the top of the ninth inning the pull the team to within a run.
The rest of the team went a combined 3-for-27 with two of those hits coming from 21-year-old Grant Little.
Agustin Ruiz: 3-for-4, 1 R, 0 K
Grant Little: 2-for-3, 0 K
Efrain Contreras: 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 8 K, 3 BB
AZL Padres 1 lose 2-3 to AZL Indians, AZL Padres 2 crush AZL Dodgers 7-3
CJ Abrams continued his domination tonight for the rookie league Friars, he went 2-for-4 driving in one of the teams only two runs and crossing the plate for the second. In 23 at-bats he is now rocking a .522 batting average with 12 hits and 18 total bases. However, with just two RBI, it is slightly concerning that he is 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. However, with such a small sample size, it really is too soon to be having serious concerns.
Fourth-round pick Matt Brash opened up the game for AZL Padres 1 and put up a scoreless inning allowing a single hit while striking out two.
Frank Lopez, an 18-year-old righty out of Venezuela took on a bulk of the pitching load as he went five innings allowing five hits, two earned runs, one walk while striking out four.
Padres AZL 2 had a much more interesting night as they took on AZL Dodgers Mota. Both teams put up eight hits, but Padres rookie pitching was able to hold the Dodgers team to fewer runs in the outing. The Padres just simply created more opportunities for the team to cross home plate.
The Padres second squad was able to work up 13 at-bats in which runners were in position to score versus the Dodgers three. Although the Dodgers were more efficient going 2-for-3 with RISP, the Padres’ extra opportunities paid off as the went 4-for-13 to score seven runs.
18-year-old Carlos Guarantee put up his first start of the young AZL season, he went two innings allowing just one run on three hits but did not allow a walk while working two strikeouts.
Ethan Skender, 28th round draft pick (2016), got the game going quickly for the Padres with a leadoff home run while in an 0-2 count. The 22-year-old hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the second, this one a three-run shot to blow the game open giving the Padres 2 a 6-1 lead.
Padres 1 CJ Abrams: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Padres 2 Jose Garcia: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K WIN
Padres 1 Frank Lopez: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Padres 2 Ethan Skender: 2-for-4, 2 H, 4 RBI, 1 K
Tomorrow’s Probables
El Paso (47-28) Robert Stock (3-0, 3.33 ERA) vs Tacoma (35-41) TBD
Amarillo (35-39) Night Off
Lake Elsinore (38-34) Elliot Ashbeck (3-0, 2.11 ERA) vs Rancho Cucamonga (42-30) TBD
Tri-City (4-6) Jason Blanchard (0-0, 27.00 ERA) vs Eugene (6-4) Chris Allen (0-0, 3.00)
DSL Padres (9-10) TBD vs DSL Orioles 1 (10-9) TBD
AZL Padres 1 (3-2) TBD vs AZL Dodgers Mota (4-2) TBD
AZL Padres 2 (2-3) TBD vs AZL Dodgers Lasorda (3-3) TBD
Derek is a 22-year-old out of Lemon Grove, California. A burning passion for San Diego sports led him to pursue an opportunity to write and share about what’s going on with the teams in America’s Finest City. A young and aspiring sports journalist looking to grow his knowledge and expand his experience at any opportunity.