San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: June 29

Chihuahuas 9, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 3

Key Stats: LHP Omar Cruz 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB; RHP Francis Peña IP, K; RHP Alek Jacob IP, 2 K; RHP Jose Espada IP, H, 2 K; RHP Eduarniel Núñez IP, 2 K; C Luis Campusano 1-for-2, 2B, 3 BB; RF Yonathan Perlaza 1-for-3, 3B, 2 BB; 2B Clay Dungan 1-for-5, HR (10), 3 RBI

Prospect Watch: El Paso cruised to victory and took five of six over the Astros’ top affiliate. Lefty Omar Cruz turned in his best start in a month, going five innings for just the second time all year and allowing three earned runs. The 26-year-old, who somewhat surprisingly opened the year in the big league bullpen, had a 2.66 ERA for El Paso through the end of May, but has struggled badly in June. Sunday wasn’t enough to drop his ERA below nine for the month. Cruz will look to get back on track to earn a return trip to San Diego before the end of the year. … Francis Peña delivered another scoreless inning, striking out one of the three batters he faced despite topping out at only 96 mph on the day. The righty has thrown 11 innings without allowing a run in his last eight appearances, giving up only three hits. … The trio of Alek Jacob, Jose Espada, and Eduarniel Núñez each followed with a scoreless inning and two strikeouts apiece. Núñez overwhelmed Sugar Land batters, averaging 100 mph with eight fastballs while landing seven of his 13 pitches in the zone. His slider, ripping in at 90 and topping out at almost 3,000 rpm, complemented it well. He has pitched seven games since joining El Paso, striking out 11 while allowing just one hit over 7.1 innings. … As they have so often this year, Luis Campusano and Yonathan Perlaza led the Chihuahuas offense, combining to reach base seven times in 10 plate appearances. Campusano had a double and drew three walks and has now reached base in seven straight games. In 13 contests since he was sent back to El Paso, he has posted a 1.018 OPS.

Midland RockHounds 2, Missions 1

Key Stats: SS Francisco Acuña 1-for-1, HR (7); SS Ripken Reyes 1-for-2, HBP; C Anthony Vilar 1-for-3, BB; RHP Braden Nett 5.1 IP, 5 H, ER, 3 K, 4 BB; RHP Jose Geraldo 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER, K, BB, HBP

Prospect Watch: The Missions dropped a pitchers’ duel when the RockHounds came through with a two-out, RBI double in the seventh inning to claim a 2-1 win. The loss squandered another strong outing for Braden Nett, who allowed just one earned run over 5.1 innings. The hard-throwing righty walked the first two batters he faced and the final two to come to the plate against him, scattering five hits in between. He labored through 81 pitches – 51 for strikes – on a balmy day in West Texas, dealing with traffic in every inning. He limited the damage by striking out five and inducing six ground ball outs. While Nett issued as many walks as he had in his other four June starts combined, he still capped a stellar month with a 1.61 ERA and 31 strikeouts against eight free passes in 28 innings. … The Missions got their only run of the game on a one-out homer from Francisco Acuña in the first inning. The blast was the 25-year-old infielder’s seventh of the year, setting a new career high. Unfortunately, in the bottom of the frame, while planting to make a throw to get an out at first base, Acuña’s knee buckled and he collapsed in obvious pain. He was on the ground for nearly five minutes before a cart took him off the field. The shortstop has already been to the plate 277 times this year, more than in any of his first seven campaigns in the Pirates organization. All of us at MadFriars hope for the best for Acuña as we wait for an update on his status.

TinCaps 8, Great Lakes Loons 7

Key Stats: 3B Ryan Jackson 1-for-3, BB; SS Leo De Vries 0-for-2, 2 BB, CS (6); DH Rosman Verdugo 0-for-1, 3 BB; CF Kai Roberts 0-for-1, 2 BB, K; LF Jacob Campbell 1-for-3; LHP Luis Gutierrez 5 IP, 4 H, ER, 4 K, 3 BB, WP; RHP Sean Barnett 0.0 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, HBP; RHP Cole Paplham 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K, 2 BB

Prospect Watch: The TinCaps only managed three hits on the day, but they took advantage of 10 walks and some good situational hitting to put up eight runs and take the series against the Dodgers’ High-A affiliate. Rosman Verdugo led the walk parade, drawing three free passes in a game for the fifth time in his last 23 contests. The third baseman is now fifth on the circuit with 48 walks on the year. While he has only hit .194 in June, he’s cut his strikeout rate below 30 percent and is reaching base at a .426 clip. … Ryan Jackson reached base two more times with a single and a walk. The 23-year-old infielder, who was at third base Sunday, was second in on-base percentage in the Cal League before his promotion. Since arriving in Fort Wayne, he is actually getting on base even more often, posting a stellar .478 mark in his first 10 games. He’s drawn nine walks against five strikeouts in 43 plate appearances with the TinCaps. … Lefty Luis Gutierrez threw five innings of one-run ball to pick up his first victory with the TinCaps. The 21-year-old, one of several unheralded pitchers in the organization to take a major step forward this year, is still figuring out how best to deploy his wicked changeup to get strikeouts, but the 2019 international free agent is getting plenty of weak contact. In three appearances since his promotion from Lake Elsinore, Gutierrez has allowed three earned runs in 12.2 innings. After issuing six walks in his first outing of the year in April, he has walked only 20 in 59.2 innings. … Sean Barnett‘s introduction to pitching took another rough turn on Sunday as he gave up four runs without retiring a batter. While he’s throwing in the upper-90s and flashes a nasty slider, he has walked 10 and hit two batters in just 6.1 innings of work across eight innings. High-A batters are hitting .355 against him.

Modesto Nuts 5, Storm 4

Key Stats: RHP Bryan Balzer 0.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 K, BB; RHP Will Varmette 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, HBP; LHP Braian Salazar 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 3 BB; DH Kavares Tears 2-for-5, 2 K; 1B Lamar King 1-for-4, CS (1); RF Victor Figueroa 1-for-4; C Colton Vincent 1-for-2, BB, 2 RBI

Prospect Watch: The Storm rallied for two in the eighth and nearly got a game-tying home run from Victor Figueroa in the ninth, but fell just short and had to settle for a series split against Modesto. Righty Bryan Balzer returned to the mound for the first time in five weeks after dealing with minor arm discomfort. The Padres took extra caution with the 20-year-old, who is two years removed from Tommy John surgery, but were happy with the way he worked through his build-up. Balzer threw 26 pitches while recording only two outs, both by way of the strikeout. He also gave up three hits and a walk. While he is showing off intriguing stuff, Balzer’s ERA now sits at 7.12 on the year. … Balzer gave way to Will Varmette with the bases loaded, but Varmette stranded them all to set the tone for a strong outing. The 22-year-old, who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023, set down 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, getting a pair of strikeouts. Modesto got to him in the fifth inning when the first three hitters all were credited with singles before he hit a batter and walked one to force in a pair of runs. The Alabama native has made strides with his command this year, walking 10.4% of the batters he has faced, but that has come at the expense of a strikeout rate that is down nearly a third from last year. … Figueroa, who already had five extra-base hits in four games against the Nuts, crushed a first pitch fastball off the tall wall in right field, coming about four feet from tying the came. The big 21-year-old had to settle for a single because the ball came back off the wall so quickly. He owns a .901 OPS in 32 games since arriving in the Cal League. … Kavares Tears, working out of the leadoff spot for the second straight game, was the only Storm batter to collect two hits on the day. The 21-year-old has struggled to a .155 average this month, but has increased his walk rate and is still making loud contact when he makes contact. … Yimy Tovar had a hit and a walk in five trips to the plate in his eighth game since joining the Storm from Arizona. The 19-year-old, who has been at both second base and shortstop, spent his first two seasons in the organization in the DSL, but he has impressed in his first stateside campaign. After hitting .305/.354/.398 in the desert, he’s off to a 9-for-22 start with three doubles in his first taste of full-season ball.