Chihuahuas 3, Oklahoma City Comets 2
Key Stats: LF Bryce Johnson 2-for-4, SB (4); RF Yonathan Perlaza 1-for-3, SB (3), OF Assist; CF Forrest Wall 2-for-4; LHP Austin Davis 2 IP, 3 K; RHP Sean Reynolds 2 IP, BB; RHP Francis Peña 2 IP, 2 H, ER, K, 2 BB; RHP Reiss Knehr (S, 6) IP, 2 K, BB
Sean Reynolds is working back from his foot injury. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: With Stephen Kolek dealing in the big leagues, the Chihuahuas turned to Johnny Allstaff on Sunday afternoon as six pitchers combined to keep the Comets in check for just two runs. It was a quite a strange day for Austin Davis, who pitched his way to the big leagues last year. The lefty served as the opener and tossed two perfect innings with three strikeouts in his best outing of the year. After the game, however, the 32-year-old was released. Davis opted for minor league free agency over the winter, but when he didn’t get a better offer, he re-signed a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp. With the organization’s bullpen depth, he was among the first players sent out to minor league camp in March. … Rehabbing big-leaguer Sean Reynolds worked a pair of scoreless innings in relief as well, dialing his fastball up to 97 but struggling with location on it. While the big righty allowed just one walk, only 10 of his 21 pitches caught the zone. With Reynolds spraying a bit, OKC hitters didn’t expand, only swinging at two of his pitches outside the zone. Reynolds is likely to complete his rehab assignment at any time. … Righty Reiss Knehr picked up the save for the second consecutive day. The 28-year-old, working back-to-back games for the first time all year, struck out two. After missing the entire 2024 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery in August, 2023, the long-time starter and swing man has stepped into the closer role quite effectively. … The Chihuahuas were held scoreless through seven, but rallied after a Comets fielding error to open the eighth. Bryce Johnson singled to plate the first run, then stole second and was able to score from there on a Yonathan Perlaza single. Johnson, in the lineup in left field, had a pair of hits on the day and has a strong .358/.460/.491 line in 14 games since the Padres reacquired him.
Roster Move: Outfielder Tim Locastro, who joined El Paso on April 20 and performed well in 12 games, went back on the injured list prior to Sunday’s game. No corresponding move was immediately announced.
Missions 5, Corpus Christi Hooks 4
Key Stats: CF Kai Murphy 2-for-4, SB (2); DH Jackson Merrill 0-for-3, HBP; C Brandon Valenzuela 2-for-4; 1B Romeo Sanabria 1-for-4; 3B Devin Ortiz 1-for-3, HR (2); RHP Henry Baez 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 K, BB; RHP Jose Espada 2 IP, H, 3 K; RHP Bradgley Rodriguez (W, 1-0) 1.1 IP
Henry Baez delivers for the Missions. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Prospect Watch: In the lineup for the first time in over a week, Romeo Sanabria lined a game-tying single to right in the ninth inning then advanced all the way to third base when the ball went under the outfielder’s glove and rolled to the wall. The big first baseman then scored the winning run on Moisés Gómez‘s second sacrifice fly of the game, giving the Missions a split of the series. Sanabria, who was dealing with an ankle issue, finished the day 1-for-4 in the cleanup spot. … Jackson Merrill started the game at designated hitter the day after playing center field for the Missions. He went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts and was hit on the front foot by a pitch. He showed no ill effects while running the bases and is expected to join the Padres in New York on Monday. … Devin Ortiz gave San Antonio their first lead of the game with a booming home run down the left field line, his second round-tripper of the year. The 26-year-old from New Jersey is off to a strong start, batting .316/.377/.453 in his first taste of Double-A after posting a .664 OPS in Fort Wayne last year. … Coming off his best start of the year in the series opener, Henry Baez allowed just one run through the first four innings on Sunday. But after the Missions put up a three-spot to give him a lead, he allowed back-to-back doubles and a walk to open the fifth and exited without recording another out. The 22-year-old only threw 67 pitches, but he had given up seven hits and worked with traffic on the bases in all but one inning. While his ERA sits at 4.05 through his first six starts and 26.2 innings, the underlying numbers are all more positive. … Bradgley Rodriguez came on with two outs and a runner on first and proceeded to record the final four outs of the game on a total of seven pitches. It was the first outing of the year without a strikeout for the 20-year-old, but he lowered his average against to a paltry .167.
Dayton Dragons 2, TinCaps 0
Key Stats: Eric Yost 7 IP, 6 H, ER, 11 K; SS Leo De Vries 1-for-3, BB, E (8); DH Sean Barnett 2-for-3, BB; LF Jake Snider 2-for-4
Eric Yost’s sweeper has emerged as a real weapon. (Photo: Fort Wayne TinCaps)
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position as they were shutout and snapped a six game winning streak. The off day for the offense made a tough-luck loser out of Eric Yost, who had a stellar game. The 22-year-old righty allowed just one run over seven innings that matched his career high. He punched out a career-best 11 batters without issuing a walk. Originally a 17th-round pick out of Northeastern University in 2023, Yost has worked to build up his fastball while putting hitters away with a sweeper that has the potential to be an above-average big league pitch. His 1.93 ERA is good for eighth in the Midwest League through his first five starts and he’s posted a strong 26:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 23.1 innings. … Leo De Vries reached base two more times with a single and walk and now sports a .400 on-base percentage to complement his league-best .593 slugging percentage. Things on the defensive side haven’t come quite as easily. De Vries was charged with his eighth error of the year when he airmailed a throw on the back end of what could have been a double-play ball in the fourth inning, though there was dissatisfaction from the TinCaps that the Dayton runner made no attempt to get out of the way after he was out. De Vries continues to show strong tools in the field, but his internal clock and feel for game situations have pushed him into some clumsy plays with the glove and careless throws in the early going. … Sean Barnett had two more hits from the designated hitter spot and is now 5-for-12 since his promotion from Lake Elsinore. The St. Louis native, who the Padres drafted out of Division II Wingate University in the 11th round last summer, sports a .299/.382/.467 line through his first 123 professional plate appearances.
Storm 9, Inland Empire 8
Key Stats: CF Kasen Wells 2-for-5, 3 R; SS Cobb Hightower 1-for-4, BB; 1B Lamar King Jr. 1-for-3, BB; DH Kavares Tears 1-for-4, HR (2); PH Ryan Jackson 0-for-0 BB, R; RHP Luis Patiño IP, 0 H, 2 R (0 ER), 3 BB, K; LHP Luis Gutierrez 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 K, BB
Cobb Hightower has looked comfortable in his first professional series. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Prospect Watch: It wasn’t pretty as Lake Elsinore committed four errors, issued nine walks, and needed a brutal miscall by the base umpire in the bottom of the ninth inning, but they walked off with a 9-8 victory to claim a series win and send the 66ers into the Cal League cellar. … When Luis Patiño made his last appearance for the Storm, they were a High-A affiliate and he was a 19-year-old phenom who had just appeared in the All-Star Futures Game and had a career 2.35 ERA. Now 25-years-old, twice designated for assignment, and working back from Tommy John surgery, Patiño returned to the Diamond for his first outing of 2025. He worked around a pair of walks to throw a scoreless first inning, but an error and another walk to open the second pushed him to his pitch count for the day. Patiño, who had surgery last April 30, will be brought along slowly as he builds up. Since starting the 2022 season with an oblique injury, the Colombian righty, who was part of the Padres 2016 international free agent class, has posted a 5.12 ERA in 31 Triple-A outings and a disastrous 8.25 mark in 24 big league innings. … Ryan Jackson was scheduled for a day off, but came on with one out in the ninth and drew a five-pitch walk to extend his on-base streak to 28 games stretching back to last season. He has a stunning 28.8% walk rate this year, fueling a .496 on-base percentage that ranks second on the circuit. … Cobb Hightower collected his first professional hit and then had a great at-bat in the ninth. He went ahead in the count 3-1 by laying off two inside pitches before getting rung up erroneously on an appeal of a check swing to fill the count. The 20-year-old then took a ball just below the outside corner to walk and bring the Storm’s most productive batter, Lamar King Jr., to the plate. One out later, Hightower was on second base when Zach Evans hit a bases-loaded chopper to the hole. Shortstop John Wimmer decided to try to get Hightower at third, but he outran the throw and dove in safely as the winning run came across the plate. … Outfielder Alex McCoy exited the game in the fifth inning when he collided with the first baseman on an infield single and landed hard on his left knee. He walked off under his own power, but was clearly sore.
