Padres Down on the Farm: June 28 (EP’s Rosario 5 RBI’s/Contreras solid for SA/Zavala walk-off for LE)
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes 11-8) (33-43 on the season)
Anderson Espinoza: 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K (91 pitches, 60 strikes)
Eguy Rosario: (2-for-4), R, 2B, 5 RBI, BB
Matthew Batten: (3-for-4), 4 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Jantzen Witte: (1-for-5), R, HR, 4 RBI
Kevin Plawecki: (3-for-5), 2 R, 2B
El Paso started with a bang on Wednesday with a leadoff home run from Matthew Batten, his ninth of the season. After getting nothing in the second, the Chihuahuas loaded the bases in the third inning for Eguy Rosario, who walked to make it 2-0. Jantzen Witte followed with a grand slam to open the game up.
The week of Witte continues!
The reigning PCL Player of the Week hits another GRAND SLAM#FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/j1D33vAZPB
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) June 29, 2023
Anderson Espinoza was dealing most of the evening, striking out four in six innings. A pair of sac flies in the fourth and fifth innings made it 6-2. El Paso got three more runs in the sixth inning, including a two-run single from Rosario. Michael Toglia homered in the bottom half to cut it back to 9-4. Rosario doubled in two more in the eighth inning, finishing with five RBI on the night. With two outs in the ninth, Toglia cleared the bases with his second home run before Brian Serven flied out to end the game.
San Antonio Missions (Lost to the Frisco Roughriders 4-2) (37-33 on the season)
Efrain Contreras: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 7 K (80 pitches, 53 strikes)
Ripken Reyes: (1-for-3), R
Ray-Patrick Didder: (1-for-3), 2B, RBI
A wild first inning on Wednesday on allowed the Roughriders to scored two quick runs. After Luisangel Acuna reached via error and Evan Carter walked, the pair of Rangers’ top prospects pulled off a successful double steal. A wild pitch and a double later in the inning would bring them in to give Frisco a 2-0 lead. The Missions got one run back in the second inning when Ray-Patrick Didder doubled in Michael De La Cruz.
Missions’ starter Efrain Contreras settled down after the first inning, throwing four straight scoreless frames to keep San Antonio in the game. He was replaced by Raul Brito, who threw a pair of scoreless innings, striking out three. Frisco extended its lead to 3-1 in the top of the eighth inning with back-to-back, two-out doubles from Nick Tanielu and Josh Hatcher. Carter scored again in the ninth inning on a double from Thomas Saggese to make it 4-1.
Ripken Reyes led off the bottom half of the ninth with a bloop single to right field. After a walk to Daniel Johnson and a wild pitch, Cole Cummings grounded out to first base, scoring Reyes. Another wild pitch allowed Johnson to advance to third. The rally ended there, however, as San Antonio dropped its third straight contest.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Off today) (34-35 on the season)
Game postponed today vs Lake County Captains due to poor air quality and will be made up on Friday as part of a doubleheader.
Tonight’s game between the @TinCaps has been postponed following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts regarding hazardous air quality conditions in Eastlake.
🗞️ https://t.co/wlPJfmw0My pic.twitter.com/b7zEUgUjlQ
— Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) June 28, 2023
Lake Elsinore Storm (Defeated the Inland Empire 66ers 5-4) (33-35 on the season)
Jagger Haynes: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K (45 pitches, 30 strikes)
Kai Murphy: (1-for-5), R, HR, 2 RBI
Samuel Zavala: (2-for-3), 2B, RBI, 2 BB
Oswaldo Linares: (1-for-2), 2 R, 2 BB
After two scoreless innings, Mike Peabody led off the third inning with an infield single before advancing to second on a bunt. Following a wild pitch, Nelson Rada singled through left side of the infield to score Peabody. Storm starter Jagger Haynes would leave the game with a blister injury. Nick Thwaits came in, and after getting a fly out, the reliever allowed a double and a single as Inland Empire took a 3-0 lead. After a walk to Braedon Karpathios, Kai Murphy responded with a two-run blast in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2.
Kai Murphy launches his third home run of the season over the right field wall to put two runs on the board!#StormTheLake pic.twitter.com/ZEJ2rdszYF
— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) June 29, 2023
The 66ers extended its lead 4-2 with a sac fly in the fifth inning. The following inning, Rosman Verdugo doubled in Griffin Doersching. The Storm would then tie the game in the seventh. After a pair of walks and a ground out, Ethan Salas flied out to center field, scoring Oswaldo Linares. With two outs in the ninth, Linares got on via a single. Samuel Zavala would double to center as Linares would come all the way around to score to win it.
Linares bounds homeward as Samuel Zavala sends the dogs home happy!!#StormWin #Walkoff pic.twitter.com/U8CK6fGvkU
— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) June 29, 2023
DSL Padres Brown (Off today) (8-8 on the season)
Will play DSL Orioles Orange (12-5) tomorrow at 8:00 am PST.
DSL Padres Gold (Off today) (10-6 on the season)
Will play DSL Blue Jays (7-9) tomorrow at 8:00 am PST.
ACL Padres (Lost to the ACL Angels 11-10) (9-10 on the season)
Jose Luis Reyes: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 9 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 3 K
Yendry Rojas: (1-for-2), 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Estuar Suero: (1-for-3), 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Daniel Montesino: (2-for-3), 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, HBP
Juan Murillo: (1-for-3), R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
Thursday’s Probables:
El Paso: TBD
San Antonio: Daniel Camarena (1-3, 8.27 ERA, 27 K)
Fort Wayne: Adam Mazur (3-0, 1.72 ERA, 38 K)
Lake Elsinore: TBD
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.