San Diego Padres affiliates went 2-1 on Sunday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 6-2 vs Salt Lake) (59-85 on the season)
Eguy Rosario – 2-for-3, Home Run
Luis Campusano – 1-for-4, Double
Matt Waldron – 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K (79 pitches – 52 strikes)

A record was tied on Sunday afternoon in El Paso, as Eguy Rosario hit his 48th career home run with the Chihuahuas, tying original Chihuahua Cody Decker for the team record. Luis Campusano broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with a double to score Brett Sullivan, and Brandon Valenzuela drove in another run to extend the lead to 3-1. Connor Hollis reached base on a fielding error that allowed Campusano to score. Rosario had the team’s lone multi-hit performance, and Brett Sullivan reached base twice via hit and walk.

Matt Waldron took the mound and tossed five strong innings, allowing only one run and striking out four. Waldron has made three starts with the Chihuahuas since being optioned, and while he has pitched well after a brief rest period, it is unknown whether he will return to the Majors this season. Ethan Routzahn fired off another scoreless appearance, his fourth in five outings in September, and Jayvien Sandridge recorded two crucial outs in the seventh. Routzahn and Sandridge are Rule 5 eligible this offseason, and with their surging stock, the Padres may be in a bind with the pair in the offseason.

San Antonio Missions (Won 9-5 vs Springfield) (62-74 on the season)
Kai Murphy – 1-for-3, Three RBI
Marcos Castanon – 2-for-4, RBI
Daniel Camarena – 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (57 pitches, 34 strikes)

In their season finale, San Antonio got a strong start from San Diego native Daniel Camarena, and the offense had a field day against Cardinals pitching. Camarena pitched 4.1 innings, allowing only one hit and two walks while punching out three. The left-hander made appearances at every stateside Padres affiliate this season and may be in line for a return to the organization in 2025. Miguel Cienfuegos relieved Camarena and tossed 2.2 innings of long relief. While it was not a clean outing for Cienfuegos, as he allowed five runs on seven hits, the lead was never snatched from the Missions’ hands.

San Antonio’s offense came to play, posting eleven hits and placing nine in the run column. Ripken Reyes and Marcos Castanon each had two hits, with Castanon hitting an RBI double. Five members of the Missions’ lineup drove in runs, with Kai Murphy driving in three runs on a double and groundout. Lucas Dunn had two hits coming off the bench, including a triple, as the team finished 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, putting a tidy bow on their season in winning fashion.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 10-8 vs Modesto) (0-1 in California League Championship Series)
Brandon Butterworth – 3-for-4, Three-RBI Triple
Lamar King Jr – 1-for-4, Home Run, Two RBI, Two Runs Scored
Javier Chacon – 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K (61 pitches – 38 strikes)

The Storm began the final push for the California League Championship against the Modesto Nuts. It truly was a playoff environment at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore, as the Storm erased an early 4-0 deficit to nearly secure a win. Javier Chacon started for Lake Elsinore but faced heavy base traffic across 3.1 innings, leaving with the bases loaded in the fourth down by four. Despite the deficit, the Storm thundered back onto the game on a pair of two-run home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, with one coming from Sean Barnett and another from Lamar King Jr. Alejandro Lugo tossed 3.2 innings of long relief, but allowed a two-run home run to Charlie Pagliarini to put Modesto up 6-4 in the seventh. Even this deficit was not too much for the Storm’s lineup, as Kai Roberts hit an RBI double to bring Lake Elsinore within one. Luis German faltered in the eighth, allowing Modesto to stretch their lead back to two before Xavier Ruiz closed out the inning.

Trailing by two in the bottom of the eighth, Brendan Durfee was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, and Lamar King Jr worked a walk before Braedon Karpathios was also walked to load the bases. Modesto summoned Brock Moore out of their bullpen to extinguish the threat, and it looked to be working as Moore punched out Ryan Jackson and Sean Barnett. Brandon Butterworth was all that stood between a Modesto lead going into the ninth and a game-changing hit. Butterworth was down 1-2 before taking a ball and fouling off the fifth pitch he faced. On the 3-2 pitch, Butterworth swung and lined an outside fastball down the right field line, clearing the bases and giving Lake Elsinore an 8-7 lead going into the final inning of play.

Xavier Ruiz returned to the mound for the ninth, but a leadoff walk was followed by a triple to tie the game at eight runs apiece. Ruiz loaded the bases on a walk and hit a batter but was able to induce a forceout at home for out number one. Repeating the formula looked to be what came next, as Carter Dorighi hit a sharp grounder to Jack Costello at first. Costello got the out at first and threw home to cut down the runner, but his throw sailed wide and into the dugout, giving Modesto a 10-8 lead. Trailing by two, Storm batters aimed to tie the game against 2024 Mariners’ third-rounder Hunter Cranton. Jack Costello, Brendan Durfee, and Lamar King Jr all drove line drives and fly balls off the Nuts’ closer, but all three batted balls landed in fielders’ gloves, closing out a wild 10-8 series-opening loss for the Storm, who aim to extend the series in Modesto on Tuesday.

No Games on Monday

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.