Padres Down on the Farm: May 14 (Aderlin Rodriguez homers twice for EP/Esteury Ruiz 3 hits for SA/Baez pitches for LE)

San Diego Padres affiliates went 1-3 on Saturday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 9-6 vs Sacramento) (20-15 on the season)

SP Reiss Knehr: 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 5 K, 5 BB

RP Jose Castillo: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K

RP Yusmeiro Petit: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 1 BB

RP Travis Bergen: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB, W (2-0)

1B Aderlin Rodriguez: 3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR

DH Shogo Akiyama: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR

LF Brent Rooker: 2-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR (walk off)

There were a lot of fireworks for the fans in Saturday’s back and forth game. The teams combined for five home runs, capped by a walk-off three-run home run by Brent Rooker. Aderlin Rodriguez continued his monster start to the year, hitting his eighth and ninth home runs, and his RBI total is up to 35 in only 31 games. Newly signed Shogo Akiyama checked in as the backend of a two-home run second inning.

Reiss Knehr was roughed up a bit in his four and third innings. It is never an easy task to pitch in the hitting paradise that is El Paso, but issuing five free passes seemed to do him in. To his credit, he kept the Chihuahuas in the game, leaving in a 5-4 El Paso deficit. Tayler Scott allowed an unearned run on a wild pitch that extended the River Cats’ lead to 6-4. Scoreless outings by Jose Castillo and Yumeiro Petit set the stage for El Paso to tie the game at 6-6 in the eighth inning, on another pair of home runs from Aderlin Rodriguez, and this time Matthew Batten. The game remained tied at six until Brent Rooker belted a hanging breaking ball over the left-field fence for the walk-off 9-6 victory.

.@Brent_Rooker12 calls game#FearTheEars | #WalkOffHR | @MiLB pic.twitter.com/Q9WrvXwo5N

— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) May 15, 2022

Neither team has announced their starting pitchers for tomorrow’s meeting. They have alternated wins so far in the series. El Paso will look for the series win in the sixth and final game of the matchup.

San Antonio Missions Lost 6-2 vs. Arkansas (14-18 on the season)

SP Thomas Eshelman: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, L (1-2)

RP Mason Fox: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R

LF Korry Howell: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB, SB

3B Connor Hollis: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 R, 2B

CF Esteury Ruiz: 3-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 SB

Thomas Eshelman pitched reasonably well to begin the game, inducing a lot of weak grounders against the Travelers. Both pitchers worked clean frames until the fourth inning when Arkansas scored three times, and San Antonio answered with a single run in the bottom half. Arkansas would score once more before Eshelman gave way to Ryan Lillie. Lillie was cruising through his outing before Jake Scheiner took him deep to right-center for a two-run opposite-field home run, extending the lead to 6-1. The Missions would add a second run on an Esteury Ruiz sacrifice fly but could not muster any further offense as they dropped the fifth game of the six-game set with Arkansas.

The Missions are looking for the series win tomorrow but have yet to announce their starting pitcher for tomorrow’s game vs. Stephen Kolek (1-1, 3.00 ERA), who will take the hill for Arkansas.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 11-7 vs. Wisconsin) (13-19 on the season)

SP Brandon Komar: 2.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 K, 1 BB, L (0-2)

SS Jarryd Dale: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, 2B

RF Angel Solarte: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 R

CF Robert Hassell III: 1-for-5, 1 R

In last night’s win for South Bend, Yohendrick Pinango hit two home runs in consecutive at-bats. He wasted no time extending his home run streak to three. His first-inning home run was sent 104 mph over the right-field fence, giving South Bend the early lead 1-0.

Brandon Komar shook off the solo shot to work a clean 1.1 innings until the Cubs’ offense erupted for five in the bottom of the third, chasing him from the game. Edwuin Bencomo fared a bit better, only giving up two in his outing, keeping the lead from laffer range at 8-0.

Chicago Cubs’ ninth-ranked prospect DJ Herz was on the bump for South Bend. He was solid in his outing, blanking the TinCaps before a fourth-inning rally that cut the lead to 8-5. The TinCaps were as close as 8-7 before the bullpen coughed up three additional runs to end the game 11-7.

The TinCaps continue to scuffle early in the season as they are currently cellar dwellers in the Eastern Division. They dropped their second consecutive game and eighth in their previous ten matchups. They will look to turn things around tomorrow in the rubber match against the South Bend Cubs, with Gasser taking the ball for Fort Wayne (1-3, 3.55 ERA) vs. Nahas (1-0, 5.4 ERA).

[wpedon id=”49075″ align=”right”]

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 10-5 vs. San Jose) (18-13 on the season)

1B Cole Cummings: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB

LF Albert Fabian: 1-for-4, 3 RBI, HR

2B Marcos Castonon: 2-for-4 1 R, 3 RBI, 1BB, 2B

SP Victor Lizarraga: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 4 BB

RP Michel Baez: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 1 BB

Both teams got out to fast starts this evening. Lake Elsinore brought five runs home in their half of the first, on the strength of a two-RBI single from Marcos Castanon and a three-run home run drilled to center field by Albert Fabian. San Jose would answer with three of their own in the bottom half of the first against Storm starting pitcher Victor Lizarraga. Lizarraga would settle in after the shaky first inning to give Lake Elsinore a scoreless two and a third. Michel Baez worked a scoreless inning and two-thirds in his third appearance since being activated. He looked good in his outing, working quickly and only needing 13 pitches to get his five batters.

By the time Baez was relieved from duty, the Storm had extended the lead to 7-3. However, the bullpen could not keep the San Jose bats quiet.

Alexuan Vega allowed the most damage, allowing four runs on the strength of two two-run home runs. It was Yerry Landinez who would be tagged with the loss when Vaun Brown took him deep for his second home run of the evening, sending the Giants home happy walk-off winners 8-7.

The loss pushes the Storm’s losing streak to four. They will look to get back in the winner’s bracket in tomorrow’s series finale with San Jose. The starter for the Storm is TBD, and San Jose will send out Mason Black (0-1, 2.28).

James Kenyon

San Diego born and raised. Padres and Everton supporter… yes I’m a masochist. I’m a sports junkie with a love of stories. Hopefully we can learn a few things together on this adventure.