Jose Azocar had a big night in his return to El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Chihuahuas 10, Albuquerque Isotopes 9 (12 innings)
Key Statistics: RHP Thomas Eshelman (W, 1-1), 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; RF Jose Azocar, 4-for-7, 2B, HR (3), 2 R, 2 RBI; 2B Eguy Rosario, 2-for-5, 2B, HR (17), 2 R, 4 RBI, BB; 3B Connor Hollis, 2-for-5, 2 R, RBI, BB; CF Thomas Milone, 2-for-6, 3B, 2 R, RBI
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas outlasted Albuquerque in a 12-inning marathon as the Isotopes, much like the television franchise they derived their name from, did most of their best work in the first half. Albuquerque rallied to tie the game, took a lead in the 10th, saw that thwarted by Eguy Rosario‘s game-tying sacrifice fly, but rallied to take another lead in the 12th, only to see Rosario send the crowd home happy with his 17th home run of the year, a walk-off, two-run shot. The 22-year-old Rosario is slashing .294/.380/.521 in his first season in El Paso, and becomes increasingly a name to watch after the trade deadline moved him up the organization’s infield depth chart. … The win went to Thomas Eshelman, the Carlsbad native who went from the disappointment of a run-scoring wild pitch to earning his first El Paso victory courtesy of Rosario. Eshelman is 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in nine appearances (seven starts) for the Chihuahuas. … Jose Azocar announced his return to the Chihuahuas after a brief call-up to the Padres in style, contributing a double and a home run as part of a four-hit night. Azocar is batting .291 with three home runs in 55 at-bats for El Paso in between stints with San Diego. … A 12-inning slugfest sure is a memorable way to debut, and after leading the Texas League in batting for much of the season, Connor Hollis played his first game at the Triple-A level, collecting two hits and playing third base. Hollis was batting .324 for San Antonio at the time of his well-earned promotion to El Paso. The former Rays farmhand makes the jump to Triple-A in his first year with the Padres organization after getting just 10 games in the upper minors with his previous organization. … Making the trip with Hollis, Thomas Milone returned to El Paso and announced his presence with a triple. The 27-year-old former Yankees farmhand is now batting .258 with two triples, four doubles, and a home run in 62 at-bats for the Chihuahuas.
Roster Moves: With Milone and Hollis headed west, Jack Stronach and catcher Alison Quintero, who amassed a single plate appearance in nearly a month in El Paso, moved down a level to San Antonio.
Wichita Wind Surge 4, Missions 3 (10 innings)
Key Statistics: LHP Ben Krauth, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K; LF Tirso Ornelas, 3-for-5, 2B, R; 3B Juan Fernandez, 3-for-5, RBI, SB; 2B Ripken Reyes, 2-for-5
Tirso Ornelas has reached base at a .385 clip since the start of June. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Prospect Watch: A late Flying Chanclas rally took the game to extra innings, but San Antonio lost a thriller to the visiting Wind Surge. The comeback took Ben Krauth, who pitched five strong innings, off the hook after his longest outing since signing. Krauth, signed by the Padres on July 9 a few weeks after he was released by the Cleveland organization, enjoyed his best outing in his stint with the Missions, striking out a season-high seven batters. The 28-year-old lefty had spent the first half with the Guardians’ Triple-A affiliate the Columbus Clippers. … Tirso Ornelas barreled home on a wild pitch to score San Antonio’s third run and tie the game. Ornelas also contributed three hits for the Flying Chanclas, including a double. The 22-year-old outfielder from Tijuana is batting .301 with five home runs and a .770 OPS in 302 at-bats for San Antonio in the 2022 season. … Juan Fernandez collected three hits for the second night in a row and the sixth time this season. The natural catcher has been playing a smooth third base, and stole a bag on the basepaths as well, as the 23-year-old Venezuelan works to show his versatility and value to the organization. … Former USD Torero Ripken Reyes smacked a pair of hits to move to 5-for-12 to start August, staying hot after slashing .293/.432/.362 in July. Reyes is the last 30th-round pick in Padres history, as 2019 was the last draft the process was shortened to 20 rounds.
South Bend Cubs 3, TinCaps 1
Key Statistics: RHP Efraín Contreras, 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; LHP Ramon Perez, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; 1B Cole Cummings, 1-for-4, HR (4), R, RBI; 3B Lucas Dunn, 1-for-3, BB
Lucas Dunn was 1-3 on the night. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps drop one at home to their intrastate rivals from South Bend, but the big news for Padres fans was Efraín Contreras returning to the mound to work two scoreless innings in his first start since July 13. Contreras, who had Tommy John surgery back in late 2020, got underway with the TinCaps in May. He’d worked his way up to five inning appearances in early July, but left his last start with the trainer in the third inning. Overall, the stout 22-year-old has thrown 36.1 innings, striking out 43 but allowing a 5.70 ERA in his first season on the 40-player roster. … Ramon Perez continues to be impressive out of the bullpen of late, with the Cuban southpaw delivering four outs of shutout ball to kick off his August after posting a 2.84 in 6.1 innings in July. Perez is 0-4 with a 5.88 ERA for the season. … Fort Wayne’s only extra-base hit was a Cole Cummings solo blast. Cummings, a former UC Santa Barbara Gaucho, is slashing .252/.366/417 in 103 at-bats for the TinCaps since being promoted from Lake Elsinore on June 28. … 2021 eighth-rounder Lucas Dunn contributed a single and a walk tonight. Dunn and has slashed .234/.356/.370 in 184 High-A at-bats since May 31.
Roster Moves: It’s been a busy transaction week for the TinCaps and they weren’t done. After outfielder Albert Fabian and Carlos Luis were added to the roster Wednesday, a pair of relievers made their way to the Summit City Thursday. Right-handers Keegan Collett and, Alan Mundo were promoted from Lake Elsinore. Collett, 24, was 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 45 innings. While the walks were plentiful (31), he struck out a staggering 82 batters. Mundo, 22, had a 5-1 record with a 2.23 in 27 games with the Storm. Opponents hit just .197 against him as the big-bodied 22-year-old posted a strong 68:20 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 48.1 innings.
Visalia Rawhide 10, Storm 4
Key Statistics: RHP Jairo Iriarte 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 K, 2 BB; LHP Danny Denz, 2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K; C Jared Alvarez-Lopez, 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 R; CF Samuel Zavala, 1-for-3, BB; 2B Nerwilian Cedeño, 1-for-4, RBI, BB
Samuel Zavala was recently promoted from the ACL. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: The Rawhide rolled, roped, and branded the Storm in a forgettable part of Lake Elsinore’s trip to Visalia. On the mound, Danny Denz delivered the most effective outing, holding his opponent hitless in two innings, but allowing a run to score due to five walks. Denz, signed after the 2020 draft, is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA for Lake Elsinore in nine appearances. … All the power came courtesy of catcher Jared Alvarez-Lopez, who smacked two doubles to account for every extra-base hit the Storm had. Alvarez-Lopez, a 17th-round pick in 2019, is batting .232 in 207 at-bats for the Storm in 2022 after spending most of 2021 in the desert. … In his second game in full-season ball, Samuel Zavala singled for his first hit with the Storm. Zavala, an 18-year-old outfielder from Venezuela, was batting .345 in 29 at-bats for the ACL Padres at the time of his promotion. … Nerwilian Cedeño added his third hit of the series in a bid to bounce back from a lukewarm July. Cedeño, a 2018 signee out of Rio Tucani, Venezuela, is batting .267 with two home runs in 206 at-bats.
ACL Padres 7, ACL Rangers 5
Key Statistics: LHP Luis Gutierrez, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K; RHP Reinier Parra (S, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; 3B-SS Rosman Verdugo, 1-for-3, HR, R, 4 RBI; DH Juan Murillo, 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI; LF Kai Murphy 2-for-4, R; 1B Griffin Doersching, 2-for-3, R; 2B Ethan Skender, 0-for-3
Juan Murillo has an .820 OPS. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: Luis Gutierrez delivered four shutout innings in his first start since coming stateside last month, allowing only two hits and two walks. The 19-year-old lefty from Cabimas, Venezuela, was a high-profile member of the Padres’ 2019 international free agent class, but developed a case of the yips after signing and struggled to find the plate in the DSL in his 2021 debut. He was more consistent to opening the year back in the DSL to earn his stateside promotion. He has a solid 3.27 ERA across his first 11 innings in the desert despite a 6:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … Reinier Parra picked up his first save of the season, and second of his professional career, with a perfect inning, striking out two. Parra is a 21-year-old righty from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. … Rosman Verdugo got the Padres on the board with a three-run home run in the first inning, then drove in the final insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th. Verdugo, a 17-year-old infielder from Ensenada, is batting .248 but boats an .810 OPS in 133 at-bats in his professional debut, slugging six home runs thus far. … Juan Murillo continues to hit, as the 19-year-old from Cuba delivered his third home run of the season. In 84 at-bats, Murillo is batting .310 with three home runs and 13 RBI, good for an .820 OPS. … Undrafted free agent Kai Murphy made the trek from Arizona State University to the west side of the Valley of the Sun, and is hitting .444 in his first nine professional at-bats after tonight’s 2-for-4 performance. Murphy, son of former Sun Devils and Padres manager Pat Murphy, played outfield and pitched a little in college, though he did not pitch in his final collegiate season. … 2022 eighth-rounder Griffin Doersching had a two-hit night in his professional debut. Doersching, a towering first baseman drafted out of Oklahoma State, hit 15 home runs in 159 at-bats in 2022 for the Cowboys. … For the first time in 2022, Ethan Skender is back on the field as he begins a rehab assignment in the desert. Skender has a career .277/.359/.401 slash line in 491 at-bats in his minor league career, as injuries have limited him to only 139 games played since being drafted in 2016.
