Padres Down on the Farm: May 13 (Gore pitches well/Esteury Ruiz with 4 hits)
Chihuahuas
The San Diego Padres affiliates went 1-3 on Thursday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 5-3 to Albuquerque) (3-3 on the season)
MacKenzie Gore – 6.0 IP, eight hits, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
Gosuke Katoh – (2-4) 1 RBI
Luis Campusano – (1-3) 1 BB
Nick Tanielu – (1-3) 1 RBI, 1 BB
The pride of the Padres farm system, MacKenzie Gore, took the mound for the Chihuahuas today. The biggest question around Gore has been his command which had plagued him in spring training and his last start. Only twice this game, he found himself with three balls in the count. Attacking the zone helped limit the walks but allowed the Isotopes to get eight hits and three runs off him. As the top-rated pitching prospect in baseball, its good to see him work on his issues.
When you end your home debut retiring 7 in a row and striking out the side 😤@Mgore181 | @MLBPipeline pic.twitter.com/uudxu6ouTk
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) May 14, 2021
The native San Diegan Gosuke Katoh had the hot bat in this game. His double in the fifth inning scored one and put runners in scoring position. In the 7th, he would single and help contribute to the two runs scored that inning. The back half of the lineup would ultimately be the producers in this game, with all four RBIs coming from the fifth spot or lower.
San Antonio Missions (Lost 9-7 to Midland) (4-5 on the season)
Osvaldo Hernandez – 3.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Esteury Ruiz – (4-4) 3B, 2 RBIs
Jose Azocar – (3-5) K
Chris Given – (1-3) 2B, 2 RBIs
After being held to minimal offensive production, the Missions stepped it up. The problem was that most of the production came from the bottom of the order. Right now, Esteury Ruiz is enjoying his best offensive season to date. His four hits led the team and resulted in two RBIs and one run. After the top of the fourth, the Missions had the game tied at three. In the top of the 7th, the offense got going again. A fatal mistake allowed CJ Abrams to reach base instead of being the second out of the inning. After that, they would get three this and a sac-fly to put up three runs.
When Fred Schlichtholtz came into pitch, Midland’s offense got going. In 1.2 innings pitched, he would give up six runs. A combination of bad command and hittable pitches allowed Midland to get six hits. That run would be enough to squash any potential comeback by the Missions.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 8-2 to Lake County) (3-5 on the season)
Edgar Martinez – 3.1 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Ethan Skender – (2-2)
Kelvin Melean – (1-4)
Jawuan Harris – (0-4) 4 Ks
Harris has been one of the top batters on the TinCaps this season. He brings a lot of patience that allows him to get a lot of walks and hits. This game, that approach wasn’t there, with four strikeouts, and never saw more than four pitches in an at-bat. The TinCap’s only offense came in the 8th inning. Ethan Skender singled and scored on an Adam Kerner double, who scored later in the inning. As a team, they only had five hits all game. That type of production simply won’t win games.
The pitching didn’t fare any better. They seemed to be throwing batting practice with the seventeen hits given up. It wasn’t just one or two pitchers that struggled. All three pitchers gave up at least four hits and two runs. Victor Nova was the villain for the pitching. He finished the game a triple shy of the cycle.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 3-0 to Inland Empire) (6-3 on the season)
Dwayne Matos – 5.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 4 SO
Robert Hassell III – (1-4)
Euribiel Angeles – (1-4)
Jack Stronach – (0-2) BB
Matos pitched a great game. He had Inland Empire being aggressive and failing to make solid contact. At just 20 years old, he has shown an ability to pitch in the zone. In 45.2 innings in 2019, he walked just six batters. This season he is yet to walk a batter. The 6th inning is when it all fell apart. Ramon Perez came in to relieve Matos, and it didn’t go well. He would give up five walks in the inning. He could have gotten out of the inning unscathed, but Euribiel had an error that allowed two runs to score.
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The Padres No. 4 prospect Robert Hassell III continues to impress. He has hit in all but two of the games in this young season. His one hit this game was one of the two hits the team managed to get. As a team, Storm struck out eight times and only walked once. This was the first shutout against an offense that has been rather hot. They had scored at least seven runs in all but one of their game previous to this. Their offense should be able to bounce back given their history.
Friday’s probable pitchers
El Paso- Brett Kennedy (0-1 15.00 ERA)
Missions – Aaron Leasher (0-0 0.00ERA)
TinCaps – TBD
Storm – TBD
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.