Padres Minor League Report: Power & Gloves Highlight Farm Despite 0-4 Night

[Brock Beauchamp]

Yonathan Perlaza’s four-RBI eruption couldn’t erase El Paso’s eight-run hole, but the slugger hit his 10th homer and reached 66 RBIs. San Antonio flashed gold-glove leather, turning three double plays behind their pitchers while the lineup scraped together just two singles. Brandon Butterworth opened Fort Wayne’s game with his 10th homer and later singled, yet the TinCaps fell after five shutout bullpen innings. Maikel Miralles spun five scoreless frames for Lake Elsinore before the bullpen faltered; Cobb Hightower plated the lone Storm run and Victor Figueroa doubled late.

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Perlaza’s three-run jolt not enough as Chihuahuas drop opener
Box Score

El Paso’s offense roared to life in the fourth inning, but an eight-run Rainiers inning proved too steep in a 9–5 loss at Cheney Stadium on Friday night.

Trailing 8–0, Brandon Lockridge coaxed a leadoff walk and sped to third on Clay Dungan’s single. Luis Campusano roped a run-scoring double to center, and Yonathan Perlaza followed with the swing of the night—a towering three-run homer to right center for his 10th long ball of the season. Perlaza later added an RBI single in the sixth, finishing 2-for-4 with four runs driven in and raising his season total to 66.

Lockridge reached base three times with a pair of singles and the walk, while Dungan collected a hit, scored twice, and swiped his 18th bag. Campusano’s 15th double pushed his RBI count to 49.

After starter Wes Benjamin (1 2⁄3 IP, five earned) and reliever Manuel Castro were tagged for eight early runs, left-hander Omar Cruz steadied the game. The 25-year-old worked three innings, allowing one run on a single hit and striking out two. Miguel Cienfuegos and Francis Peña each turned in a clean frame with three combined punchouts, and Ron Marinaccio closed with a scoreless eighth.

Despite the bullpen’s five-inning effort that limited Tacoma to one run on two hits, the Chihuahuas could draw no closer after Perlaza’s sixth-inning single. El Paso left only two men aboard all night.

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Defense Turns Three, but Missions’ Bats Silenced in Shutout
Box Score

San Antonio’s gloves were busy Friday night, rolling three double plays, yet the Missions mustered just two hits in a 6-0 loss at Nelson Wolff Stadium.

Right-hander Enmanuel Pinales (5-5) was tagged for six runs over 3 innings, but the bullpen stacked zeros the rest of the way.  J.B. Wendelken scattered two hits across 2 scoreless frames, Ryan Och followed with a shut-down fifth, and both Kevin Kopps and Andrew Moore delivered scoreless innings to keep the game within reach.

The leather work started early.  Second baseman Ripken Reyes initiated twin killings in the second and fourth, and third baseman Devin Ortiz started another in the ninth to erase traffic.

Offensively, San Antonio’s only baserunners came via singles from Ortiz (1-for-2, walk) and Francisco Acuna (1-for-4), two walks by Romeo Sanabria, and a free pass to Ortiz.  Anthony Vilar reached when he was hit by a pitch in the third, but the Missions finished 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position and left five men aboard.

Despite the quiet night, the Missions’ middle infield continued its slick work, while the bullpen lowered its collective ERA.

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Butterworth’s 10th blast sparks early lead, but TinCaps fall 4-2
Box Score

Brandon Butterworth set the tone for Fort Wayne in Friday’s visit to Classic Auto Group Park, launching a leadoff homer to left for his 10th long ball of the season. The second baseman reached base three times, adding a single and a walk.

After Sean Barnett singled and scored on Braedon Karpathios’ two-out hit in the third, Fort Wayne carried a 2-1 edge. Karpathios finished 2-for-4, his fourth-inning RBI giving him 47 on the year, and later stroked his 15th double.

Right-hander Isaiah Lowe worked 3 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs, three earned, on seven hits. A balk with runners at the corners in the second allowed the tying run, and a two-run single later in the frame put the TinCaps behind for good. Misael Tamarez steadied things with 1 1/3 scoreless frames, striking out two. Fernando Sanchez (2 IP, 1 H, 2 K) and Luis Germán (1 IP, 2 K) combined for three shutout innings to keep the club within striking distance.

Fort Wayne put the tying run at the plate in the eighth after Butterworth’s sharp single and Karpathios’ double, but a foul-territory popup ended the threat. The TinCaps were limited to five hits overall and stranded six baserunners in the 4-2 setback, despite a bullpen effort that blanked Lake County over the final four frames.

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Hightower’s late knock can’t rescue Storm after sixth-inning stumble
Box Score

Lake Elsinore rode five sparkling innings from right-hander Maikel Miralles before a rough sixth proved decisive in Friday’s 5-1 setback at The Diamond. Miralles scattered five singles, struck out four, and did not issue a walk, matching the visitors zero for zero through the game’s first five frames.

The Storm bullpen entered the contest still scoreless, but three extra-base hits and a passed ball pushed across three runs in the top of the sixth. An eighth-inning wild pitch and two-run single widened the deficit to 5-0.

Lake Elsinore showed life in its half of the eighth. Kasen Wells drew a one-out walk, and Victor Figueroa ripped a double into the left-field corner, his 17th two-bagger, to put men at second and third.  Shortstop Cobb Hightower followed by lining a single to right that plated Wells and gave the Storm their lone run. Hightower finished 2-for-4 and accounted for the club’s only RBI, while Figueroa, Zach Evans, Carlos Rodriguez, and Wells each chipped in a hit.

Bernard Jose (0-2) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning. Righties Tanner Smith and Kleiber Olmedo steadied the game with a combined 2 1/3 scoreless frames before Adam Conrad surrendered two late insurance runs.

Despite the defeat, Lake Elsinore’s staff punched out 10.

 

Top Prospect Performances

1. Leo De Vries, SS: 0-for-4, K 

2. Ethan Salas, C: Did Not Play 

3. Kash Mayfield, LHP: Did Not Play 

4. Boston Bateman, LHP: Did Not Play 

5. Humberto Cruz, RHP: Did Not Play 

6. Isaiah Lowe, RHP: 3.2 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, K, BB 

7. Cobb Hightower, SS: 2-for-4 

8. Braden Nett, RHP: Did Not Play 

9. Henry Baez, RHP: Did Not Play 

10. Kale Fountain, 1B/DH: 0-for-3, BB, K 

11. Tirso Ornelas — N/A 

12. Kavares Tears, RF: 0-for-3, BB, 3 K 

13. Bradgley Rodriguez, RHP: Did Not Play 

14. Victor Lizarraga, RHP: Did Not Play 

15. Francis Pena, RHP: 1 IP, 2 K 

16. Ryan Bergert — N/A 

17. Romeo Sanabria, 1B: 0-for-2, 2 BB 

18. Omar Cruz, LHP: 3 IP, R, ER, 2 K, 2 BB 

19. Tyson Neighbors, RHP: Did Not Play 

20. Jagger Haynes, LHP: Did Not Play 

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