San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: April 26

Sacramento River Cats 4, Chihuahuas 2 (10 innings)

Key Stats: DH Yonathan Perlaza 2-for-5, 2B; RF Tim Locastro 2-for-2, 2 2B, 2 BB; LHP Omar Cruz 4 IP, H, 4 K, BB, WP; RHP Francis Peña 2 IP, 4 K

Prospect Watch: This game went to the bottom of the eighth scoreless before Luis Campusano came through with a sacrifice fly and Yonathan Perlaza singled in another run. El Paso couldn’t make it hold up though, giving up a pair of unearned runs in the ninth after an Eguy Rosario error on what could have been a game-ending double play. The club then went quietly against Old Friend Joey Lucchesi in the final two frames. … Perlaza also had his league-leading 14th double, fueling a .640 slugging percentage. He edged past Campusano for the team’s OPS lead, with a 1.084 mark, against Campusano’s 1.035. Jordan Lawlar is the only other player still in the PCL with a four-digit OPS. … Lefty Omar Cruz threw four stellar innings, allowing one walk and a single while striking out four. The 26-year-old from Hermosillo, Mexico, had his stellar changeup working all afternoon. He threw it 14 times, getting five whiffs on eight swings, inducing a chase rate of 50%, and allowing just one ball in play – a 65 mph groundout. Cruz also spun his big curve up to 3,000 RPM, controlling it enough to land it for three called strikes in 11 offerings. He has held PCL hitters to a .152 average and one earned run through his first 9.2 innings for the Chihuahuas. … Francis Peña followed him to the mound and dominated for four strikeouts over two perfect innings. The righty pumped his sinker up to 99 mph and got six whiffs on eight swings against his slider (which Statcast is still categorizing as a cutter). Peña, who signed just before his 21st birthday in 2022, has held opponents to two hits in eight innings while striking out 10.

GAME ONE: Amarillo Sod Poodles 6, San Antonio 4 (7 innings)
Key Stats: Moisés Gómez 2-for-2, 2B, HR (4), 2 BB; 2B Anthony Vilar 1-for-3, 2B, BB; 3B Devin Ortiz 1-for-3, 2B, BB; LHP Jackson Wolf 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 6 K, 2 BB

GAME TWO: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, San Antonio 3 (7 innings)
Key Stats: DH Francisco Acuña 2-for-3, HR (5), BB, SB (4); 2B Marcos Castañon 2-for-2, 2 2B; Moisés Gómez 0-for-3, 3 K; RHP Victor Lizarraga 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 K, 3 BB; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez 2 IP, 2 H, 4 K

Prospect Watch: Amarillo swept the double-header, taking advantage of double-digit winds for five homers across the two seven-inning contests. In the opener, the Soddies got to Jackson Wolf in his first substandard outing of the year. Wolf, who entered the game having allowed only two runs over 14 innings, surrendered four in the first two frames before settling in and setting down the final 11 batters he faced. The lefty struck out six, including four while getting seven whiffs on 13 swings over his final two frames. … At the plate, Moisés Gómez had a very Jekyll and Hyde day. In the opener, the big outfielder had a double and homer and drew a pair of walks to push his OPS up over 1.000. In the nightcap, he punched out in three straight plate appearances on a total of 12 pitches. His .567 slugging percentage ranks sixth in the Texas League. … Shockingly, Francisco Acuña is just behind him with a .542 mark after collecting his fifth homer in six games. The 25-year-old shortstop, who started his career in the Pirates system in 2017, has never finished a season with more than six home runs. He’ll look to stay hot when the Missions return to sea level next week. … Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez gave the organization a scare when he left Tuesday’s game with back tightness. But the 21-year-old phenom returned to action in the nightcap and didn’t miss a beat, striking out four. Outside of the five runs he allowed in the contest he had to leave, Rodriguez has given up just one over 9.1 innings on the year while striking out 16 and walking only one.

Lansing Lugnuts 9, TinCaps 7

Key Stats: RHP Isaiah Lowe 3.1 IP, 2 H, R, 4 K, 2 BB, WP, HBP, Balk; RHP Josh Mallitz 1.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, K, 2 BB; SS Brandon Butterworth 2-for-5, SB (4); LF Jacob Campbell 2-for-4; C Brendan Durfee 2-for-5; 3B Rosman Verdugo 1-for-4, SF

Prospect Watch: The TinCaps jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but the offense stalled out and a rough day for the bullpen led to a third straight loss in Lansing. After failing to get through the first inning in each of his last two starts, Isaiah Lowe showed progress in his afternoon start. The righty punched out the first two batters he faced with four whiffs in a quick one-two-three first inning. Things got rockier in the second when a walk, wild pitch and hit batter put two men on with one out, but Lowe, whose fastball got up to 98 as he worked through a four-pitch mix, got out of the frame without damage. He again worked around traffic in the third, leaving two runners on. Having thrown 64 pitches, he came back out for the fourth and gave up a triple on a fly ball that right fielder Braedon Karpathios couldn’t hang onto as he crashed into the wall. Lowe was then charged with a balk before he threw his next pitch to plate the only run he’d surrender on the day before getting a flyball to finish his outing. The 21-year-old is still saddled with a 10.38 ERA on the year, but showed plenty to build on in the outing. … All but one TinCap in the lineup scored or drove in a run on the day, but the club didn’t manage extra-bases among their 10 hits on the day. Brandon Butterworth, hitting leadoff and playing shortstop as Leo De Vries got a normal day off, set the table with a pair of hits and a stolen base. He’s now batting .281 with a solid .361 on-base percentage even though his strikeout rate has jumped from 18% last year to 22% in his first 66 plate appearances of 2025.

Storm 8, Visalia Rawhide 4

Key Stats: CF Kasen Walls 2-for-5, SB (14); DH Lamar King 2-for-4, 2B; LF Alex McCoy 2-for-4, 2B; 3B Zach Evans 1-for-5, SB (3); RHP Bryan Balzer 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 HBP; LHP Bodi Rascon 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 K, BB

Prospect Watch: The Storm sent 10 men to the plate and scored five in the eighth inning to pull ahead and lock up a win Saturday night. As he has for much of the season, center fielder Kasen Wells used his speed to play a key role in the rally, legging out a two-out, run-scoring infield hit and then immediately swiping his league-best 14th base of the year to keep the pressure on Visalia. He then came around to score on a two-run Rawhide error to cap the scoring. Wells, listed at 5-foot-9, has reached base at a .393 clip in his first professional season. He’s posted solid 20% strikeout and 11.1% walk rates, and is doing all he can to take advantage of his speed by putting the ball on the ground more than 50% of the time. … Lamar King had a rough road trip to Fresno, punching out 11 times in 26 trips to the plate, but he’s bounced back nicely at the Diamond this week. The powerful catcher, in the lineup Saturday night as the designated hitter, collected a single, double and walked. He’s only struck out twice in 19 plate appearances while batting .294 in the series. He’s made just over half his starts behind the plate as he continues to reacclimate after being limited to DH and first base last year. …  After getting knocked out in the first inning last week, Bryan Balzer rebounded with four solid innings for the Storm Saturday. The 20-year-old hit the first batter he faced in each of the first three innings, but allowed no other damage in two of them. With the lead man on in the second, he gave up two singles that plated a pair of runs, the only ones that he would allow. He finished the contest with five strikeouts and 10 whiffs has he tossed a career-high 69 pitches. … Bodi Rascon, working his way back from Tommy John surgery in late 2023 that kept him out of action all of last year, turned in four innings in his longest outing since joining the Storm mid-month. The 24-year-old, pitching out of the bullpen to maximize the number of appearances he can get, punched out three and walked only one. He was getting good results in High-A when he went down with his elbow injury two summers ago, so expect him to move up once he’s gotten a bit more work in for Elsinore.