San Diego Padres Minor League Report: August 24

Two wins, including a walk-off walk in San Antonio, helped the farm to a winning day.  Luis Campusano hit another homer, and big games from Tirso Ornelas and Jackson Merrill propelled their respective clubs to victory.

Oklahoma City Dodgers 13, Chihuahuas 8

Key Stats: RHP Matt Waldron (L, 2-5) 2.1 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K; RHP Michel Baez IP, 2 H; LF Matt Beaty 2-for-4, R; 3B Eguy Rosario 2-for-4, HR (21), 2 RBI; DH Luis Campusano 1-for-3, HR (14), 3 RBI, 2 BB; C Cam Gallagher 1-for-3, HR (1), RBI

Prospect Watch: The Dodgers were up 12-1 after five innings. El Paso attempted to make things interesting by scoring five times in the ninth, but it was too little, too late. … Luis Campusano started at designated hitter and had the big blast in that five-run ninth inning.  He hit a two-out, three-run home run to give El Paso the faintest pulse. It was the second consecutive game in which Campusano has homered. He has connected on three homers in the last week and five in August. In contrast, it took him until June 28 to hit his fifth home run of the season. … After being the first player in El Paso history to have a 20/20 season, third baseman Eguy Rosario hit his 21^st home run of the season.  Similar to Campusano, Rosario got off to a slow start.  He hit just four home runs during the first two months of 2022 before turning it on and hitting 17 since June 8.  … Catcher Cam Gallagher hit his first home run since joining the Padres organization. He was acquired at the trade deadline from Kansas City in exchange for Brent Rooker.  The former second-round pick has never been a power hitter; his homer Wednesday was just his third home run of the season.  Gallagher was brought in for depth behind the plate; he is generally regarded as a plus-defender.

Missions 11, Midland RockHounds 10 (10 innings)

Key Stats: LHP Noel Vela 2 IP, ER, 5 BB, K; LF Tirso Ornelas 3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R; 2B Domingo Leyba 1-for-4, HR (10),  2 R, RBI, 2 BB; DH Kelvin Melean 2-for-5, 3B, R, 2 RBI, SB (1); CF Joshua Mears 1-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, BB, 2 K, SB (1); SS Connor Kaiser 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB

Prospect Watch: The Missions were down 9-5 in the sixth and 10-7 in the seventh but battled back to notch the win in extra innings.  Center fielder Joshua Mears has arrived in San Antonio. The powerful outfielder tattooed a ball for his first Double-A homer — his 18th of the season overall.  He made contact once through his first seven plate appearances with San Antonio (1-for-6, 5 K, BB).  Very few people in all of baseball can hit a ball harder and farther than Joshua Mears, but as we have mentioned, he will need to make more consistent contact to allow his immense power to play. … Tirso Ornelas had a three-hit game that included a pair of doubles. The 22-year-old right fielder raised his batting average to .290, representing a career-high to this point. The Tijuana native has always shown a good approach at the plate, but he has yet to break out with consistent home run power. 2022 is his fifth professional season, and he has yet to reach double-digit home run totals.  While it seems Tirso has been here forever, he is still younger than the Padres’ 8^th-10^th round picks from this year’s draft.  …  The good news is left-handed pitcher Noel Vela did not allow a hit; the bad news was he walked five in two innings.  One of the Midwest League strikeout leaders at the time of his promotion, he has struck out 11 in 11.1 innings since joining the Missions.  The problem is he has now walked 12. Vela had control issues in Fort Wayne, but his stuff might be among of the best in the system when he is on.

The TinCaps were rained out.  They will play a doubleheader Thursday against Great Lakes.

Storm 4, Inland Empire 66ers 2

Key Stats: LHP Jesus Gonzalez (W, 7-6) 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 5 K; LHP Ryan Och 2.2 IP, H, BB, 4 K; RF Jakob Marsee 2-for-3, SB (2), R, 2 BB; SS Jackson Merrill 3-for-5, 2 R, 3B; 3B Marcos Castanon 1-for-2, HR (21), 2 RBI, 3 BB

Prospect Watch: After missing over two months on the IL, left-hander Ryan Och hads finally come back healthy and was dominating.  Tonight, Och was asked to go three innings.  He retired the first two batters in the ninth before hitting a batter and then walking a batter.  He was shaking his arm on that last pitch and was removed from the game. Och has struck out 50 in 28.1 innings this year between Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore. … Playing in just his second game of full-season ball, outfielder Jakob Marsee hit in the lead-off spot and reached base four times.  He had two hits, two walks, and stole a base — his second in as many nights. The Padres selected Marsee in the seventh round. The former Central Michigan star was batting .212/.447/.303 in the ACL before his promotion. … It seems like every writer at MadFriars has to echo the statement at least once a week: Marcos Castañon is good at baseball.  Castañon hit his 21st home run of the season and drew three walks. With a pair of RBI, Castañon now has 80 on the season.  Castañon is quietly playing at his best with runners in scoring position.  With a runner on second this year, Castañon is hitting .351/.500/622 on the season. … Shortstop Jackson Merrill moved down to second in the order and delivered a three-hit game – all singles – and scored a pair of runs. Merrill, 19, saw his 10-game hitting streak end on Tuesday night with an 0-for-5 night. Wednesday marked Merrill’s fourth three-hit game of August. The former first-rounder is hitting .316/.381/.487 this month.