Padres Down on the Farm: May 23 (Mears homers in ACL)

The San Diego Padres’ affiliates went 1-4 on Tuesday. 

Here’s a recap of the night’s action.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 11-7 vs Sacramento) (18-30 on the season)

Brett Sullivan – (2-for-4) Home Run (6), 2 RBI

Tirso Ornelas  – (2-for-4) Double, 2 RBI

Jackson Wolf – 2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 0 K (58 pitches, 34 strikes)

The El Paso Chihuahuas fell into a hole early against Sacramento and were unable to fend off the River Cats’ offense, losing by a final score of 11-7. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Jackson Wolf started for the Chihuahuas, but he was ineffective, surrendering five runs over two innings. It’s been a rough last pair of starts for Wolf, who has surrendered twelve runs in his last two starts (six innings). Most notable among the Chihuahuas relievers was the performance of Sean Reynolds, who hurled 2 innings with four strikeouts. 

Offensively, the Chihuahuas were led by homers by Brett Sullivan and Matthew Batten, along with doubles by Graham Pauley and Tirso Ornelas. Pauley was making his first start of the season at second base, which could be a storyline worth monitoring over the next stretch of games, at both the Triple-A and major-league level. Elsewhere on the offense, Mason McCoy and Bryce Johnson also had multi-hit games, with McCoy having a three-hit effort. Despite these contributions from the offense, they would be unable to overcome the deficit, losing their third straight against Sacramento.

San Antonio Missions (Lost 6-0 vs Wind Surge) (20-20 on the season)

Clay Dungan – (2-for-3) 2 Singles, Walk

Cole Cummings – (1-for-4) Double

Robby Snelling – 4 IP, 8 H, 6 R (5 Earned), 2 BB, 4 K (87 pitches, 52 strikes)

The Missions were shut out on Thursday night, mustering only six hits off three pitchers, with only one of those going for extra bases. Robby Snelling started for the Missions and had his toughest start of the season, allowing six runs on eight hits across four innings. While he was throwing 60% of his pitches for strikes, he was allowing a lot of contact in his time on the mound. This marked only the second rough start of the season for the 20-year-old Snelling, who looks to improve in his next start. 

The offense couldn’t do much of anything against the Wind Surge, with Cole Cummings recording their only hit for extra bases with a double in the fourth inning. The team wound up going a paltry 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine runners on base. It was one of those games where the team could not catch a break, one of those that is just baseball. With the loss, the Missions returned to .500 at 20-20. 

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 8-2 vs Lansing)

Tyler Robertson – (1-for-4) Home Run

Ethan Salas – (2-for-4) Run Scored

Miguel Cienfuegos – 5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (87 pitches, 61 strikes)

The TinCaps would drop their Thursday night game against the Lansing Lugnuts by a score of 8-2. Left-hander Miguel Cienfuegos would take the mound for Fort Wayne, hoping for a repeat of his last outing. However, he would have his worst outing of the season, surrendering five runs on nine hits across 5.2 innings. He would only fan two batters in the outing, which continued a trend of up-and-down starts for the 27-year-old southpaw this month.

The TinCaps had a sluggish offensive performance, with Ethan Salas recording a multi-hit game. Salas would also record one of three stolen bases in the game for Fort Wayne, with Homer Bush Jr stealing his 22nd base of the young season. Tyler Robertson would record his fourth homer of the season with a ninth-inning blast, but the TinCaps’ 0-for-7 performance with runners in scoring position would be a main reason for their defeat. 

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 6-5 vs Giants) (20-20 on the season)

Leodalis De Vries – (2-for-5) Double

Romeo Sanabria – (2-for-5) Double, RBI

Sam Whiting – 4 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (73 pitches, 49 strikes)

Lake Elsinore blew a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning as the San Jose Giants would win by a score of 6-5. The Storm received a passable outing by starter Sam Whiting, who went four innings, allowing four runs. Despite this, reliever Harry Gustin would keep the Storm in the game with his best outing of the season, 3.2 innings of shutout baseball. 

The Lake Elsinore offense would make the comeback from the early deficit, with Leo De Vries’ double sparking a three-run rally in the fifth inning. Romeo Sanabria would hit a game-tying double in the seventh, scoring on a balk later in the inning. It continued a hot start to the year for Sanabria, who is now batting .327 on the season with a .972 OPS. In the game, the Storm would go 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, which did not allow them to capitalize on their opportunities for insurance, leading to the final score.

ACL Padres (Won 9-5 vs ACL Royals) (10-5 on the season)

Joshua Mears – (1-for-3) Home Run, 2 RBI

Yendry Rojas – (3-for-4)

Jesus Lopez – 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K

The ACL Padres’ offense came alive early against the ACL Royals, scoring four runs in the first two innings to cruise to a 9-5 win. Joshua Mears, on a rehab assignment from high Single-A, homered in his first at-bat to stake the Padres to a 2-0 lead. Other notables on the offense for the ACL Padres were Yendry Rojas’ three-hit day, and Spence Coffman would draw two walks in the win. 

Padres starter Jesus Lopez would pitch a quality outing for the team, hurling four innings of one-run ball. The 18-year-old would punch out a season-high eight in his four innings, making up 62% of his season’s strikeouts. The Padres pitching staff would record 15 of 27 outs via the strikeout, with Maikel Miralles striking out the side to close out the win. 

Wednesday’s Probable Pitchers:

El Paso: Gabe Mosser (1-2, 8.85 ERA)

San Antonio: Victor Lizarraga (1-2, 3.48 ERA)

Lake Elsinore: TBD

Fort Wayne: Henry Baez (0-2, 4.71 ERA)

ACL: TBD

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.