Padres Down on the Farm: May 18 (Mazara homers for EP/Missions throw another combined no-hitter/Dunn 3 hits for LE)
MiLB
The San Diego Padres’ affiliates went 3-1 on Wednesday.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 9-1) (21-17 on the season)
Pedro Avila – 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 SO
Nomar Mazara – (2-for-4) 2B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBIs, BB, SO
Taylor Kohlwey – (2-for-3) 2B, 2 RBIs, BB
Luis Campusano – (1-for-2) 3 R, 3 BB, SO
This Triple-A team is loaded with MLB-ready talent. In fact, nine of the 16 players who played today for the El Paso Chihuahuas have already appeared in the MLB. One of those being Pedro Avila. He worked four clean innings against the Dodger’s Triple-A affiliate. In the fifth inning, he got into some hot water. A hit batter and a fielding error allowed one runner to score and another to advance to third. With that in mind, Jose Castillo came in to finish off the inning. That would serve as the only run against the Chihuahuas.
The bats got going in the fourth inning. C.J Abrams and Luis Campusano started the inning out with a pair of singles. Nomar Mazara and Taylor Kohlwey followed that up with a pair of doubles to score three total runs. Mazara was far from done. In the sixth inning, he would hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the season.
Nomar Mazara (@NomarMzra26) left no doubt!
417 Feet | 105.7 MPH Exit Velo | 29 degree Launch Angle#FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/1aKcrkoBnk
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) May 19, 2022
The last bit of action came in the seventh inning when the Chihuahuas showed an incredible amount of plate discipline. They recorded six walks in that inning alone. They scored four runs from those six walks, along with a single.
San Antonio Missions (Won 4-0) (17-18 on the season)
Ryan Lillie – 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Michel Baez – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
Osvaldo Hernandez – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
Mason Fox – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
The four San Antonio Mission pitchers threw a combined no-hitter. Sound familiar? It should because they just threw a no-hitter three days prior. This no-hitter featured a different crop of pitchers. Ryan Lillie a former 5th-round pick for the Miami Marlins. Michel Baez a rehabbing pitcher who has reached the MLB. Osvaldo Hernandez a fringe top 30 prospect who is struggling. And last but not least, Mason Fox, a 21st-round pick by the San Diego Padres back in 2018.
Lillie started the game for the Missions. He quickly ended any perfect game hopes when he walked the second batter. That would be his only blip of the day. He cruised through his four innings of work while striking out four batters. After throwing just 56 pitches, his night was done, but that was by design. Lillie isn’t a traditional starter and hasn’t been since 2019.
Two No-Hitters in three games for the San Antonio Missions! @LillieRyan27, @BaezCruz1, @osvaldopadres98, and Mason Fox toss the 16th 9.0 inning no-no in Missions history!#unbelievable @Padres @MiLB @MLB pic.twitter.com/bMzwQWxPsq
— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) May 19, 2022
After Lillie was done, Baez took over. He was flat-out dominant, striking out five of the seven batters he encountered. Hernandez and Fox finished out the last three innings, only walking one batter and not recording a strikeout.
The offense scored four runs on the day. In the second inning, Esteury Ruiz hit a bases-clearing triple. Then in the sixth inning, Yorman Rodriguez singled to score Connor Kaiser.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 9-0) (14-21 on the season)
Jackson Wolf – 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 4 BB, 7 SO
Sam Keating – 2.0 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 3 SO
Matthew Acosta – (2-for-3)
Angel Solarte – (1-for-3) SO
While the Missions had a super memorable game, the Fort Wayne TinCaps had a game they wished they could forget.
In the second inning, Wolf found himself in a bases-loaded jam with one out. He was able to get out of the inning with just one run allowed. In the next inning, Colt Keith of the West Michigan Whitecaps singled to start the inning. Keith then stole second, then swiped third on a passed ball, eventually scoring on a wild pitch.
The true pain came in the eighth inning. Seth Mayberry got a quick out to start the inning. He proceeded to walk the next two batters and hit another to load the bases. The next batter up hit a two-run single. This spelled the end of the game for Mayberry but not the end for his stat sheet. He was still responsible for the runners on second and third. Another singled gave him his third earned run in just 0.2 innings pitched.
While the pitching struggled, the offense had no response. They managed just four base runners all game. In the eighth inning, they had hope of avoiding a shutout. They recorded back-to-back singles with no outs. A pitcher balk then moved both runners into scoring position. The next three batters all went down with swinging strikeouts.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 10-7) (20-15 on the season)
Bodi Rascon – 3.0 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 5 SO
Cole Cummings – (2-for-4) HR, 2 R, 4 RBIs, 2 BB
Marcos Castanon – (2-for-4) HR, R, 2 RBI, BB
Lucas Dunn – (3-for-4) 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBIs, BB, 2 SO
The Lake Elsinore Storm wasted no time with their offense. Lucas Dunn doubled in the first two innings. The next two batters, Cole Cummings and Albert Fabian singled to score two runs. With one runner still on, Marcos Castanon launched a two-run homer to give the Storm a quick four-run lead. The Visalia Rawhide quickly responded with two runs of their own, both unearned due to two errors.
In a bit of back-and-forth, Storm had yet another big inning, quickly recording two walks which set up Cummings for a three-run home run to make it a 7-2 game in the top of the second inning.
After that point, the bats went quiet for Storm. They loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning but failed to produce any runs. Meanwhile, Visalia was slowly working their way back. By the bottom of the eighth inning, the game was tied at seven apiece.
In the top of the ninth, Lake Elsinore delivered the fatal blow. Once again, they loaded the bases, but this time they didn’t leave empty-handed. Kervin Perchado hit a sacrifice fly to score one run. Then Lucan Dunn hit his second double of the game to score two more. That gave them a 10-7 lead, and Alan Mundo was able to close out the bottom of the ninth.
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Thursday’s Probable Starters
El Paso – TBD
Fort Wayne – Noel Vela (1-0 0.34 ERA)
San Antonio – TBD
Lake Elsinore – 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.