Padres Down on the Farm: August 14 (Costello, Durfee shine for Storm)

San Diego Padres farm affiliates went 1-4 on Wednesday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

Photo byEVT Sports

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 8-4 vs Reno) (46-70 on the season)
Brandon Lockridge - 3 for 5, Run Scored
Eguy Rosario - 1 for 4, Home Run
Jared Kollar - 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 3 K (92 pitches, 58 strikes)

In his fourth start with the Chihuahuas, Jared Kollar again pitched into the sixth inning. However, he fell victim to unfortunate batted ball luck in his outing against the Reno Aces, as none of the RBI base hits against him were classified as hard-hit balls. He has upped the usage of his curveball in his last two starts, throwing it the second-most of his offerings in this game (23.9%). Kollar struck out three over 5.2 innings, escaping a first and third jam in the third thanks to a strong throw from Brandon Valenzuela and a heads-up play from Mason McCoy to gun down the second half of a double steal.

The bats swatted ten hits of their own, with Eguy Rosario homering for the sixteenth time this season. Brandon Lockridge continues his strong start to his tenure in El Paso, securing himself a three-hit day from the leadoff spot. Jose Azocar doubled in a run in the game as well, as the team went 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

San Antonio Missions (Lost 5-3 vs Amarillo) (49-59 on the season)
Romeo Sanabria - 2 for 3, RBI Single
Robert Perez Jr - 1 for 3, Home Run
Henry Baez - 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 2 K (90 pitches, 55 strikes)

It was an effectively wild time on the mound for right-hander Henry Baez, as the right-hander fought through 11 baserunners to deliver six innings of one-run baseball. Baez only recorded two strikeouts, but he continued to rack up grounders, as nine of 18 outs came via the ground ball. Relievers Bobby Milacki and David Morgan combined for 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, but the Sod Poodles feasted on the offerings of left-hander Daniel Camarena, who allowed four runs (three earned) in 0.1 innings of relief.

Romeo Sanabria drove in a run for the second consecutive game, this time on an RBI single in the eighth inning. Robert Perez Jr socked his fifth home run of the season in the fifth inning, tying the game at one run apiece at that point in the game. Down 5-2 in the ninth, the Missions scored on a base hit from Ripken Reyes and even loaded the bases with two down for pinch hitter Michael De La Cruz. De La Cruz struck out swinging to end the game.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 5-2 vs Dayton) (45-65 on the season)
Kai Murphy - 2 for 4, Run Scored
Colton Bender - 1 for 4, RBI Single
Eric Yost - 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 1 K (75 pitches, 49 strikes)

Fort Wayne’s bats were held off the board until the ninth inning in their matchup against the Dayton Dragons, as the team was held to two hits through eight innings. The Caps would break through in the bottom of the ninth thanks to RBI singles by Joshua Mears and Colton Bender, but the comeback effort wound up being too little too late.

Eric Yost toed the slab for Fort Wayne and cruised through the first three innings. However, a single and two walks in the fourth loaded the bases with two outs, spelling trouble for the right-hander. It was trouble he didn’t escape unscathed, surrendering a two-out, two-RBI single. Yost allowed another RBI single in the fifth inning but was able to escape a bases-loaded, two-out jam with a timely groundout. Jose Luis Reyes tossed the final four innings for the TinCaps, allowing two runs on two hits, walking and striking out two. Reyes has pitched well in two outings at High-A, both in long relief.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 16-4 vs Inland Empire) (57-51 on the season)
Jack Costello - 3 for 4, Two Doubles, Four RBI
Brendan Durfee - 3 for 4, Double, Two RBI
Javier Chacon - 3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 3 K (69 pitches, 39 strikes)

The power of friendship was the name of the game for the Lake Elsinore Storm against the 66ers as the team pushed across a touchdown in the second inning. The biggest performance came off the bat of 2024 10th-rounder Jack Costello, who drove in four runs on three hits, including two doubles. Costello is slugging .774 in seven games with Lake Elsinore, hitting the ball with authority. 14th-rounder Brendan Durfee notched three hits of his own, driving in two runs. All nine starters reached base at least once, and Leodalis De Vries doubled, tripled, and scored three runs on the night.

Starting pitcher Javier Chacon had a solid outing in his second start of the season, allowing two runs in 3.2 innings. Chacon is still being stretched out as a starter, but the results thus far have been encouraging. Reliever Xavier Ruiz earned the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts, and Kleiber Olmedo earned his first Single-A save with three shutout innings to close out the 16-4 victory at The Diamond.

ACL Padres - No Game

DSL Padres Gold - No Game

DSL Padres Brown (Lost 12-1 vs DSL Rays) (15-37 on the season)
Endy Rios - 1 for 3, Double
Alexander Garcia - 1 for 1, Double
Pedro Martinez - 3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K

In a makeup of their regularly scheduled July 9 game, the Padres Brown were blown out by the DSL Rays by a final score of 12-1. Starter Pedro Martinez allowed three runs in three innings. Martinez surrendered a two-run homer in the first, and a pickoff at first scored the third run of the game for the Rays in the second inning. The game fell out of reach in the fourth and fifth innings as the Rays feasted on the Padres Brown’s relief corps. Cristian Navarro allowed four runs while getting only one out in the fourth inning, and Sebastian Soriano was lit up for five runs on eight hits in 2.1 innings of mop-up duty.

The offense stalled against Rays pitching, managing to amass six hits in seven innings. Endy Rios and Alexander Garcia both doubled, and the team’s lone run came across on a sixth inning wild pitch. The team went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, squandering a seventh inning two-on, no-out situation to close out the 12-1 loss.

Thursday’s Probable Pitchers:
El Paso - Randy Vasquez (0-3, 7.45 ERA)
San Antonio - Ryan Bergert (1-7, 5.68 ERA)
Fort Wayne - Isaiah Lowe (1-1, 2.00 ERA)
Lake Elsinore - TBD
ACL - No Game
DSL Gold - Two Games, Starters TBD
DSL Brown - TBD