Padres Down on the Farm: May 8 (Hassell 2 hits for FW/Knehr solid for EP/Gasser 6 shutout innings)
Credit: MiLB
Only the El Paso Chihuahuas came away victorious on Sunday, with the three lowest affiliates all dropping their contests.
Reiss Knehr and Robert Gasser, two of the Padres’ top pitching prospects, both turned in quality starts. With runs hard to come by on Sunday, just Taylor Kohley and Robert Hassell III stood amongst the hitters.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 10-2) (17-13 on the season)
Taylor Kohley- 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Eguy Rosario– 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Reiss Knehr- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Ian Krol– 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Eight runs in the sixth inning and a fantastic start from Reiss Knehr led the El Paso Chihuahuas to a 10-2 win Sunday. El Paso got it started early with two runs in the top of the first inning when Aderlin Rodriguez doubled home a run before Brett Sullivan walked with the bases loaded. Knehr was cruising until the fifth, when he allowed a solo home run to make it a one-run game. Then, the Chihuahuas exploded for eight runs. An error and a wild pitch aided what could have just been a couple of runs.
All 8 strikeouts for the @Padres 8th Ranked Prospect Reiss Knehr today in Sugar Land!
The 8 Ks are a season-high for an El Paso pitcher @MLBPipeline | #FearTheEars pic.twitter.com/m5ig362rme— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) May 8, 2022
San Antonio Missions (Lost 9-6) (11-16 on the season)
Esteury Ruiz– 0-for-2, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Jorge Oña– 1-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI
Nolan Watson– 2 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Kevin Kopps– .1 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Four late runs sunk the San Antonio Mission in a 9-6 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks. Jorge Oña doubled home two runs and then scored a hit from Juan Fernandez in the first inning to give San Antonio the early lead. The Hooks responded with four runs in the third inning, but San Antonio rallied to tie it up in the next half. After falling behind again, the Mission regained the lead in the sixth inning on a sac fly off the bat of Domingo Leyba. The Missions failed to score again, which opened the door for Tom Cosgrove to surrender the lead and Kevin Kopps to take the loss. Yorman Rodriguez and Korry Howell walked to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, but to no avail.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 4-3) (12-15 on the season)
Robert Hassell III- 2-for-5, 2 K
Joshua Mears– 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
Robert Gasser- 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 6 K, 3 BB
Ryan Och– .2 IP, 4 ER, 0 H, 5 BB, 2 K
Four runs in the ninth wasted a shutout performance from Robert Gasser in a 4-3 loss for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Fort Wayne took an early lead with two runs in the second inning when Angel Solarte doubled home Carlos Rodriguez and Basabe singled in Solarte. After Gasser pitched six shutout innings, Edwuin Bencomo and Felix Minjarez each threw scoreless innings. When jack Stronach doubled a run home in the eighth inning, the game felt locked up, handing the ball to strikeout machine Ryan Och. Every batter he faced failed to put the ball in play, recording two strikeouts, but walking five batters before being pulled. Sam Keating entered up 3-2 with the bases loaded and two outs, but an Alex hall single scored the tying and winning runs for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 11-7) (17-10 on the season)
Cole Cummings– 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Max Ferguson– 0-for-1, 1 R, 4 BB
Jesus Gonzalez– 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 K, 2 BB
Matthew Swilley- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB
Four early errors dug the Lake Elsinore Storm too big of a hole in an 11-7 loss to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. The first five batters reached against Storm starter Jesus Gonzalez. Some errors later in his outing extended innings and pushed him out of the game in the fourth inning with five earned runs attached to his line. Trailing 8-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Lake Elsinore put up five runs to creep back in, but those runs were quickly lost. Carlos Luis made a throwing error to start the inning, and two unearned runs scored for the Quakes, and the Storm never got back in it.
That’s one way to get back into a ball game. A 5-run 4th inning gets us within 2!
BB, HBP, 1B, BB, 1B, BB, HBP, BB pic.twitter.com/QzAmEGpkV0
— Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) May 9, 2022
All four Padres affiliates are off Monday, and neither of them announced their starter for Tuesday.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”