Padres Down on the Farm: May 12 (Abrams homers again in EP/Waldron & Vela dazzle on mound/Acosta 2 homers for LE)
Credit: MiLB TV
The San Diego Padres affiliates went 3-1 on Thursday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 11-4 vs. Sacramento) (19-14 on the season)
Aaron Leasher: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, BB, 2 K (68 pitches, 43 strikes)
C.J. Abrams: (3-for-5), HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, SB
Luis Campusano: (2-for-5), 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
Nomar Mazara: (3-for-4), 2 R, BB
El Paso received an offensive explosion, scoring 11 runs on 15 hits, while six Chihuahuas’ had multiple hits on Thursday. C.J. Abrams continued his rampage on Triple-A pitching, producing three hits. He also hit his third home run in two nights, hitting a two-run shot in the second.
Oppo Taco for @CJAbrams01!!
His 3rd HR in 7 Triple-A ABs
Entering last night Abrams had 5 career HRs#FearTheEars | #TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/yQV1tSKOWE— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) May 13, 2022
Abrams was not the only player on fire, as Nomar Mazara also produced three hits, bumping his OPS to 1.000. Luis Campusano doubled, scored two runs, and drove in a pair as he strives to make his way back to the Padres clubhouse. Sacramento took an early lead, scoring three runs off starting pitcher Aaron Leasher. Leasher did not give up any runs in his next three innings of work, which meant that El Paso led when he left the game. Abrams extended the El Paso lead with a bases-loaded single before two more runs came across on an error. El Paso put the finishing touches on their win with a three spot in the eighth, as Campusano doubled home a pair, before recent trade acquisition Brent Rooker scored Campusano to finish the night.
San Antonio Missions (Won 2-1 vs. Arkansas in 10 innings) (13-17 on the season)
Matt Waldron: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K (87 pitches, 57 strikes)
Esteury Ruiz: (3-for-4), RBI, SB
Connor Kaiser: (1-for-2), R, BB, K
Alek Jacob: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (28 pitches, 19 strikes)
San Antonio won a low-scoring affair, as Jorge Oña scored on a wild pitch to walk off the Arkansas Travelers. It was a stellar performance from starter Matt Waldron, who worked six fantastic frames. He gave up just two hits, both of which were singles, and one walk while striking out six batters. Waldron was in complete control, ending his game with back-to-back strikeouts, keeping the terrible San Antonio offense in the game.
Esteury Ruiz had three of the four Missions hits, including a clutch two-out eighth-inning single to put San Antonio up by a run. Connor Kaiser slugged a double in the eighth, which proved to be the only hit that the Missions had besides the three by Ruiz. Angel Felipe blew the save in the ninth, as Jack Larsen singled home a run, but Tom Cosgrove came up huge in the tenth. Cosgrove struck out the side, including the last out with the bases loaded. The strikeout came on a 3-2 count when Kaden Polcovich took a strike, leading to his ejection between innings. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a wild pitch scored Oña, pushing the Missions to a wild win.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 5-0 vs. South Bend) (13-17 on the season)
Noel Vela: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K (97 pitches, 62 strikes)
Corey Rosier: (1-for-3), HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, K
Robert Hassell III: (1-for-2), R, 2 BB, 2 SB
Brandon Valenzuela: (1-for-3), RBI, BB
The TinCaps rode another spectacular pitching performance from Noel Vela, who pitched six scoreless innings. Vela lowered his ERA to a minuscule 0.34 with the performance. He allowed just four hits while walking just one, showing great control. His game only got stronger as the game went on, as he struck out the side in his final inning of work. He finished with eight on the day, as he thoroughly baffled the Cubs lineup.
Fort Wayne did not have much offense, but they managed to produce enough. They picked up just five hits, but three consecutive walks, a wild pitch, a single, and an RBI groundout meant the TinCaps pushed three runs across in the third. Corey Rosier hit his third home run of the season, hitting a two-out, two-run shot to extend the lead to five. Both teams combined for just two hits across the final five innings of the game, as the bullpens were solid.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 6-5 to San Jose) (18-12 on the season)
Jairo Iriarte: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K (78 pitches, 50 strikes)
Matthew Acosta: (2-for-5), 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 K
Justin Farmer: (1-for-2), 2B, 2 BB, K
Cole Cummings: (1-for-3), 2 R, BB, K
The Storm lost a frustrating game, as San Jose scored five runs in the final two innings. They only picked up one run off of starter Jairo Iriarte, who worked 5.2 solid frames. Matthew Acosta homered twice, but it was not enough, as the rest of the Lake Elsinore lineup could not provide much support. Matthew Swilley gave up three runs while recording just two outs, and Alan Mundo surrendered two more runs to pick up the loss. The Storm did not show much plate discipline, as they struck out 16 times. They also went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, as they could not take advantage of their opportunities.
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Friday’s Probables
El Paso: Pedro Avila (0-1, 5.06 ERA)
San Antonio: TBD
Fort Wayne: Efrain Contreras (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Lake Elsinore: TBD
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.