Padres Down on the Farm: August 22 (Salas heating up in FW/Mosser dominant for EP)

San Diego Padres farm affiliates went 0-4 on Thursday.

Here is a recap of the day’s events.

Photo byEVT Sports

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 2-1 vs Oklahoma City) (46-77 on the season)
Eguy Rosario - 1 for 3, Home Run
Brett Sullivan - 1 for 4, Double
Gabe Mosser - 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K (94 pitches, 56 strikes)

Chihuahuas starter Gabe Mosser twirled an absolute gem against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball. Mosser leaned heavily on his sinker, tossing the pitch 49% of the time to generate weak contact from OKC batters. Mosser’s offerings were successful in whiffs as well, as 25% of swings against the right-hander were whiffs, while 30% of swings resulted in foul balls, a testament to Mosser’s arsenal giving opposing batters conniptions.

While the Chihuahuas were unable to generate much offensively, two of their three hits went for extra bases. Eguy Rosario connected on his 17th home run of the season in the fifth inning off OKC starter Landon Knack. Brett Sullivan also slugged an extra-base hit of his own, hitting his 22nd double of the season in the sixth inning against former Friar Brent Honeywell. The Chihuahuas had a chance to go ahead in the same sixth inning but stranded runners on the corners with two outs.

Austin Davis entered for the Chihuahuas in the bottom of the ninth and, with one out, allowed a single and a walk to put two on with one down. On a 1-1 sinker inside to right fielder Drew Avans, the left-handed hitting Avans lined a single to center field, setting up a play at the plate. Alan Trejo rounded third base, with the OKC Baseball Club opting to test the arm of Brandon Lockridge. Lockridge’s throw was too far up the first base line, and Trejo scored standing, walking off the visiting Chihuahuas by a 2-1 final score.

San Antonio Missions (Lost 5-4 vs Frisco) (53-62 on the season)
Cole Cummings - 1 for 2, Double, Two Runs Scored
Connor Hollis - 2 for 4, Three RBI
Miguel Cienfuegos - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K (91 pitches, 51 strikes)

One night after facing Rangers top prospect Kumar Rocker, the Missions were in for yet another metaphorical boss battle, this time against former Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom. The Missions, however, did not tremble at the sight of the right-hander, as Cole Cummings led off with a double and came around to score on a single from Connor Hollis, as Hollis was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. The early run support helped starter Miguel Cienfuegos after one inning, but the RoughRiders offense roughed up the Missions’ southpaw over the ensuing three innings. Cienfuegos was charged with four runs (three of which were earned) across five innings of work, striking out four. However, Cienfuegos surrendered two home runs in his outing, an issue that has been at the root of struggles for the 27-year-old left-hander this season. The Missions’ bullpen pitched well in relief, as Raul Brito allowed a run in 1.1 innings, and Bradgley Rodriguez bounced back from a difficult outing on August 18 with 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out two.

The Missions’ bats came alive in the late innings, as Connor Hollis yet again singled to drive in runs, this time driving in two in the sixth inning. The CC connection at the top of the lineup was the spark of the offense, as Cole Cummings drove in a run of his own in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring Lucas Dunn from third base. While the team as a whole walked four times, the three through nine hitters in the lineup went 1 for 23, compared to Hollis and Cummings’ combined 3 for 6. The Missions’ stranding of four runners and 14 total strikeouts did not help their efforts in the loss.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost 6-4 vs Peoria in 10 innings) (45-72 on the season)
Ethan Salas - 2 for 5, Double, Run Scored
Tyler Robertson - 2 for 5, Game-Tying RBI Single
Enmanuel Pinales - 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K (86 pitches, 52 strikes)

In a game that was never really out of reach, the TinCaps fought back from an early 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead before losing in 10 innings. Ethan Salas hit yet another double; stop us if you’ve heard that before. Over just the last calendar week, Salas is hitting .357 with five doubles; half of his hits in the last week have been two-baggers! Tyler Robertson and Devin Ortiz also posted multi-hit games, with Robertson tying the game in the eighth inning on an RBI single. Colton Bender had a tough time behind the plate against the Chiefs, allowing four stolen bases in five attempts, but made up for it with his bat in the eighth, giving his team a 4-3 lead with an RBI infield single.

Enmanuel Pinales appeared to be back in his early season form, striking out seven in five innings of work. While Pinales allowed three runs, two of those were unearned, and the right-hander limited base traffic, retiring nine consecutive batters to end his outing. Dwayne Matos pitched two scoreless innings directly in relief of Pinales, striking out one. With the Missions up by one, Will Geerdes took the mound for the eighth, but after a throwing error from third baseman Rosman Verdugo, Geerdes faced a first-and-third, one-out jam. Chiefs center fielder Won-Bin Cho tied the game with a sacrifice fly, knotting the teams up at 4-4. Joan Gonzalez came on in the tenth for the TinCaps and promptly struck out Darlin Moquete, who had walked off the TinCaps in their last game. However, in a case of bitter deja vu, the next batter, catcher Leonardo Bernal, turned on a Gonzalez fastball to left-center. The ball came to land on the grass beyond the left-center field wall, and what looked like a promising comeback became a crushing walk-off loss for the visiting Fort Wayne TinCaps.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 9-2 vs Rancho Cucamonga) (61-54 on the season)
Lamar King Jr - 1 for 3, RBI Double
Kai Roberts - 2 for 4, Triple, Run Scored
Maikel Miralles - 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (72 pitches, 51 strikes)

In yet another matchup between two teams named after geological happenings, there was yet another seismic offensive performance. However, it was a six-run outpour against the Storm’s pitching that led to the Padres’ affiliate losing 9-2. Starter Maikel Miralles was brilliant for the Storm, tossing five shutout innings with five punchouts. Miralles has settled into a groove, as he has only allowed one earned run in his last two starts (0.90 ERA). If Lake Elsinore has plans for a deep California League playoff run, Miralles’ emergence will certainly help the team.
The Lake Elsinore relief corps was a complete one-eighty in terms of performance in Thursday’s game, however. Left-hander Braian Salazar tossed a scoreless sixth, but was ambushed in the seventh inning, loading the bases before walking in a run with one out. Departing with the bases loaded, the inning snowballed on new Storm reliever Bernard Jose. An error on a fielder’s choice scored two runs, and after a groundout and single, the inning ended with Lake Elsinore now trailing 6-0.

The Storm fought back, with Kai Roberts hitting a one-out triple before a walk to Jack Costello. Brendan Durfee scored Roberts on a sac fly before Lamar King Jr roped his sixth double at Single-A down the left field line, scoring Costello from first. The tying run came to the on-deck circle, but the rally ended on a timely groundout induced off the bat of Brandon Butterworth. The game was blown out of reach in the eighth, as Rancho Cucamonga scored three runs off Jose, highlighted by a home run off the bat of Zyhir Hope. While Bernard Jose allowed five runs in 1.2 innings, only two were earned. Despite the nature of the runs, the bullpen implosion cost the Storm big time, as the team lost 9-2.

Friday’s Probable Pitchers:
El Paso - Carl Edwards Jr.(1-2, 4.76 ERA)
San Antonio - Sam Whiting (0-1, 3.68 ERA)
Fort Wayne - Jagger Haynes (2-5, 4.15 ERA)
Lake Elsinore - TBD
ACL - No Game
DSL Gold - No Game
DSL Brown - No Game