Padres Down on the Farm: April 13 (Bergert pitches well again/Doersching 3 hits)

The San Diego Padres’ farm affiliates had a fairly successful day today, going 3-1 overall.

Here’s a recap of the night’s action:

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 8-2 to Sacramento)

Graham Pauley – (1-for-4) Run Scored
Clay Dungan – (1-for-2 ) Double, RBI, 2 BB
Randy Vasquez – 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K

The Chihuahuas had a rough game offensively, scoring only two runs and recording six hits as a team. Despite four of their six hits going for extra bases, the team was unable to capitalize with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-14 in those scenarios. El Paso would score first on a sacrifice fly by Nate Mondou, but Sacramento would tie the game with a sac fly of their own. The Chihuahuas would score again in the second with a sacrifice fly by Clay Dungan to make it 2-1. However, the River Cats would score seven unanswered runs, led by two RBI’s apiece for Heliot Ramos and Casey Schmitt.

Chihuahuas starter Randy Vasquez allowed three runs in four innings, pitching out of trouble in each of his innings. The River Cats would put the game out of reach against El Paso reliever Sean Reynolds, bringing four runs across the plate against him. The rough start to the season for Reynolds continued, as he’s posted a 9.95 ERA thus far in the season.

Sacramento pitching held the Chihuahuas off the board for 5 ⅓ innings in relief of starter Spencer Howard, and the River Cats cruised to an 8-2 win against El Paso.

San Antonio Missions (Won 4-3 vs NW Arkansas)

Jakob Marsee – (1-for-4) Double, Run Scored
Nathan Martorella – (1-for-4) RBI Single
Ryan Bergert – 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 K (68 Pitches – 50 Strikes)

The Missions entered their game, having lost two in a row, and their starting pitching continued to show out. Ryan Bergert tossed four innings and punched out eight batters, with no free passes allowed. Bergert threw plenty of strikes across his outing, only throwing 18 balls to 50 strikes thrown. Relievers Reggie Lawson, Jason Blanchard, and Jayvien Sandridge combined to strike out ten batters over the remaining five innings of the game.

The Missions offense did not get many hits in the game, totaling five over 8 ⅓ innings. However, they were able to capitalize on miscues by the Naturals. A fielding error by pitcher Chandler Champlain in the first inning led to the Missions’ first run of the game. In the third, a pair of extra base hits by Naturals batters flipped the score to 2-1, but the Missions would answer back in the bottom of the inning. Ray-Patrick Didder would score on a balk with runners on the corners to tie the game, and with the trailing runner now in scoring position, Nathan Martorella drove in Ripken Reyes to make it a 3-2 Missions lead. The Naturals tied the game at three with an RBI groundout against Reggie Lawson, and the game would remain tied into the bottom of the ninth. Connor Hollis would hit a one-out triple, and after a walk, Hollis would score on a wild pitch to win the game for the Missions with a 4-3 final score.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 4-3 & 3-0 vs Captains)

Game 1 Notables:

Tyler Robertson – (3-for-4) Double, Walk-off RBI Single
Devin Ortiz – (2-for-3) 2 Doubles, RBI
Dylan Lesko – 3.0 IP, H, R, 4 BB, 4 K

In their first game of two in Fort Wayne, the TinCaps fell behind early against the Captains after an Alex Mooney home run off Dylan Lesko put Lake County up 1-0 in the second inning. Outside of the homer, Lesko had an impressive outing, striking out four in three innings. His command was still something of a concern, walking four and throwing 31 balls in 65 pitches.

The TinCaps would tie the game with a Devin Ortiz double off Captains hurler Parker Messick. The game would remain tied after the starters exited the game. In the sixth, the Captains would take the lead against TinCaps reliever Will Geerdes, scoring on a two-run homer by C.J. Kayfus. With the score at 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the TinCaps rallied with a Jarryd Dale triple-scoring Ortiz. After a walk putting runners on the corners with one out, Homer Bush Jr would single to tie the game, and after stealing second to put runners on second and third, Tyler Robertson capped off a 3-for-4 day with a walk-off single going into the nightcap.

Game 2 Notables

Griffin Doersching – (3-for-3) HR, Double, 2 RBI
Kai Murphy – (2-for-3) Run
Tyler Robertson – (1-for-3) Double, RBI
Henry Baez – 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K (63 Pitches – 38 Strikes)

In their nightcap against the Lake County Captains, Fort Wayne shut out the visiting team by a final score of 3-0. Henry Baez took the hill for the TinCaps and delivered four shutout frames with two strikeouts against three walks. The TinCaps relief corps finished off the shutout, with Josh Gonzalez recording the win with 1 ⅓ innings of shutout relief, allowing two walks and two strikeouts. Ethan Routzahn recorded his first save of the season for Fort Wayne, striking out one and walking one to secure the win.

On the offensive side of the ball, the TinCaps were led by slugger Griffin Doersching, whose three-hit effort led the way. Doersching and Tyler Robertson, fresh off his three-hit game, doubled in runs in the bottom of the first inning to make it a 2-0 lead for the home team. The TinCaps would be held off the board by Captain starter Austin Peterson after this, with the score remaining 2-0 after five innings. The final run of the game would cross in the bottom of the sixth, with Griffin Doersching’s third home run of the season making the final score 3-0. The TinCaps look to make it a winning streak tomorrow.

Lake Elsinore Storm (3-4)

The Storm’s regularly scheduled game in Modesto against the Nuts was postponed to April 14 as a result of what was referred to as “wet grounds.”

The game will be played as a doubleheader this Sunday in Modesto.

Sunday’s Probable Pitchers:

El Paso – TBD
San Antonio – Victor Lizarraga (0-0, -.– ERA)
Fort Wayne – TBD
Lake Elsinore – 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.