San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: May 3

Chihuahuas 4, Oklahoma City Comets 2

Key Statistics: CF Bryce Johnson 1-for-4, BB: 1B Trenton Brooks 1-for-3, BB; DH Yonathan Perlaza 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI; C Cody Roberts 2-for-4, 2B; 2B Clay Dungan 1-for-2, 2 BB; LHP Kyle Hart 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 5 BB, 4 K; RHP Raul Brito (W, 2-2) 1.1 IP, K; RHP Ron Marinaccio 2 IP, BB, 2 K;  RHP Reiss Knehr (S,5) 1 IP

Prospect Watch: After an ugly loss on Friday, the Chihuahuas bounced back with a solid come-from-behind win on the road against the Dodgers’ top affiliate. Kyle Hart made his first start since being optioned to Triple-A. While only giving up three hits and one earned run, he struggled with his command, walking five and needing 87 pitches to get through four and two-thirds innings. In five starts and 21 innings with the big club, he has a 6.00 ERA. While he was balanced in the use of his five-pitch arsenal, only his (perhaps new) changeup got especially strong results. …  Reiss Knehr worked a perfect inning, needing only eight pitches to record his fifth save. Knehr features a nice mix of a four-seam fastball, sinker, and a cutter which sit 94-95 mph. Except for one bad outing against Las Vegas in early April, he has been solid since assuming the closer role with 13 strikeouts in 10 innings against only three walks. … Former Padres’ top prospect Esteury Ruiz stole two bases against his old organization to give him a PCL-leading 16 in 18 attempts, but he also made an ill-advised decision to attempt a straight steal of home with two outs in the seventh, down by two and was out easily. … Yonathan Perlaza collected a pair of RBIs on a 109.6 mph double to left to extend his team-leading count to 29 in 28 games. The switch-hitting corner outfielder is a veteran of the Chicago Cubs’ system and another player with experience in the KBO.  Perlaza, 26, has a slash line of .348/.397/.557 on the season.

Missions 4, Corpus Christi Hooks 1

Key Statistics:  CF Jackson Merrill 2-for-3, BB; RF Joshua Mears 1-for-3, HR (3), RBI; LF Kai Murphy 0-for-2, 2 BB; LHP Jagger Haynes 4.2 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 9 K; RHP Stephen Jones (W, 1-0) 1.1 IP, 2 K; RHP Manuel Castro (S, 2) 1 IP, R, K

Prospect Watch: First, the important news: Jackson Merrill looked great, reaching base three times with two singles and a walk before being pulled in the top of the eighth inning. Interestingly, while every game Merrill has played in the majors has been in center field, tonight was his first appearance there in the minors. … Jagger Haynes looked great on the mound striking out nine while allowing only two hits over 4.2 innings. Last week, he drew the short straw with two starts in Amarillo, inflating his season ERA to 4.74 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 24.2 innings and 12 walks. While free passes and efficiency remain a concern for the 22-year-old lefty, he issued just one walk and hit one batter while throwing 80 pitches. … With two hits on the night, Devin Ortiz pushed his OPS on the season to .803 to provide the Missions some much-needed offense with their best producer, Romeo Sanabria, on the shelf with an ankle issue.

TinCaps 2, Dayton Dragons 0

Key Statistics: LF Jack Costello 1-for-3, BB; LF Jacob Campbell 2-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI; 1B  Addison Kopack 1-for-4, 3B; RHP Isaiah Lowe (W, 1-2)  5 IP, H, 3 BB, 5 K; LHP Harry Gustin (S, 2) 4 IP, BB, 4 K

Prospect Watch: After giving up nine earned runs in 5.1 innings over his first three starts, the Padres’ top pitching prospect in Fort Wayne has gotten back on track quickly. Isaiah Lowe started to turn the corner in his last outing before dialing it in to deliver five scoreless innings to pick up his first win. The 21-year-old punched out five, though he did walk three as he tossed a season-high 66 pitches. While his velocity tailed off a bit in his final frame, he was able to reach back for 94 mph before unleashing a nasty slider to get a strikeout to finish his outing with the tying runs on base. … Lefty Harry Gustin, 23, got a rare four-inning save as he held the visitors hitless. Gustin, an 18th round draftee in 2023 from the University of Hawaii, had a 2.16 ERA in a brief eight game cameo with the TinCaps last year. This season, in 19.1 innings, he has a 2.33 ERA with 18 strikeouts against 10 walks. … Jacob Campbell‘s two-run home run to left-center in the fourth was all the offense the TinCaps needed. Campbell, 25, who the Padres signed as a minor league free agent in 2022, has caught in the past, but is working exclusively in the outfield corners now. Last year, in 59 games and 266 plate appearances with the Storm, he showed some pop with a .766 OPS, and the organization hopes to get him untracked this year in the Summit City.

Inland Empire 66ers 6, Storm 2

Key Statistics: C Lamar King, Jr. 1-for-4, 2B, RBI; CF Alex McCoy 2-for-4, 2B, RBI; LF Kaden Hollow 1-for-4, 2B; RHP Bryan Balzer (L, 0-2) 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP; RHP Vic Domingo 2 IP, 2 H 3 K

Prospect Watch: The Storm’s three-game  streak came to an end despite a late rally, and Lake Elsinore will attempt to win the series on Sunday.  Bryan Balzer, 20, made his fifth start of the year and continued his up-and-down season. He worked through some traffic to hold Inland scoreless for the first four innings, earning the opportunity to come out for the fifth for the first time this year. After starting the frame with strikeout, he hit a batter and then surrendered singles to five of the next six hitters, finishing the outing charged with four earned runs. He 62% of his 73 pitches were for strikes, he issued a pair of walks, hit two, and uncorked one wild pitch.  Balzer, who was primarily an outfielder and first baseman in high school in Japan, had Tommy John surgery soon after signing with the Padres in 2023, so the learning curve will be substantial in his first full professional season. … Outfielder Alex McCoy helped to carry the offense with a pair of hits that both left the bat over 100 mph. San Diego signed the big man as an undrafted free agent out of Hofstra, where had a .893 OPS for the Pride. He’s collected six extra-base hits, two of them home runs, in his first 15 professional games with the Storm, but also has a 29.4% strikeout rate as he works to get all of his long levers moving toward the ball efficiently.

AZL Rangers 4, AZL Padres 2

Key Statistics: 2B Jake Cronenworth 1-for-3; SS Yimy Tovar 2-for-4; DH Kai Roberts 1-for-2, SB (1); DH Kale Fountain 1-for-1, BB; RHP Kannon Kemp 4 IP, H, 3 R, 5 BB, 2 K; RHP Luis Maracara 3.0 IP, H 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Miguel Valdez (L, 0-1) 1.1 IP, 3 H, R

Prospect Watch: The Arizona Complex League Padres season kicked off with seven players making their U.S. professional debut, but it was Jake Cronenworth beginning his rehab assignment after suffering a broken rib in early April that holds the most immediate promise for the Padres. Cronenworth had a hit in three trips to the plate, made a few plays in the field, and, most importantly, left the game apparently healthy. … Two other players were also on the rehab trail: outfielder Kai Roberts, who suffered a hamstring injury in spring training, and one of the Padres top prospects, Kale Fountain, who had Tommy John surgery last fall. Roberts got the start at designated hitter and had a hit in two trips and swiped a base against former big-leaguer Ty Blach, before giving way to Fountain. Fountain, the Padres’ fifth-round pick last summer out of high school in Nebraska, had a hit and drew a walk in his professional debut. Roberts will look to get some action defensively to prove he’s ready to join Fort Wayne, while Fountain may see some action at first base as he gets up to speed in the desert. … Kannon Kemp, 20, made his long-awaited professional debut with the start, a year after he underwent shoulder surgery. The 6-foot-6 Texan only gave up one hit, but he struggled to find his command, walking five and hitting the first batter of the game. He ultimately settled in and got through four innings of work, and he’ll look to rein in his control through the summer. … Yimy Tovar, a 19-year-old shortstop out of Venezuela, was the offensive star of the game with a pair of hits. Last year in the DSL, he sported a .405 on-base percentage but struggled to make consistent contact with a .230 batting average.