Padres Minor League Report: Fountain, Mendez, and Campusano Lead The Charge In Depleted Farm

[Brock Beauchamp]

There are so many things to talk about after the trade deadline, but we're going to stick purely to the game action in this piece.

Kale Fountain swiped two bags and scored twice to pace Lake Elsinore’s win, while Luis Campusano plated two runs for El Paso. Miguel Mendez delivered six dominant innings for Fort Wayne, fanning seven and allowing no earned runs. Despite a lopsided loss, Marcos Castañon doubled and scored twice for San Antonio. Rosman Verdugo reached base three times for the TinCaps, and Vicarte Domingo recorded a two-inning save for the Storm.

Benjamin cruises, Campusano sparks offense, but Chihuahuas stumble late
Box Score

Wes Benjamin kept El Paso in command for seven innings, limiting the damage to one run on four hits while striking out six. The left-hander walked two and exited with a 2-1 lead after the offense scored two in the fifth.

That inning began with Rodolfo Durán’s single, followed by Forrest Wall being hit by a pitch. With two outs, Luis Campusano lined a single through the middle, driving in both runners. Nate Mondou then recorded his third hit of the night, an RBI single to right, pushing his season total to 47 RBI. Yonathan Perlaza provided late insurance in the ninth, lacing a run-scoring single to left that brought home Wall for a 2-0 lead.

The advantage slipped away in the bottom half of the eighth. Harold Chirino entered and yielded five runs on four hits and a walk, taking the loss and a blown save after recording just two outs. Jason Blanchard allowed an inherited runner to score before escaping the frame, and El Paso never recovered.

Wall reached base three times—one hit and two hit-by-pitches—and scored twice. Durán collected two singles and also crossed the plate twice, while Mason McCoy added a pair of hits. The Chihuahuas finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position but did flash the leather, turning a McCoy-to-Clay Dungan-to-Mondou double play and catching a baserunner stealing.

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Castañon’s extra-base pop, bullpen rebound in Missions’ 12-3 loss
Box Score

San Antonio took a seven-run punch in the second inning at Riders Field, yet several Missions found ways to stand out. Marcos Castañon opened the fifth with his 21st double of the season, moved to third on a walk to Kai Murphy, and crossed the plate when Wyatt Hoffman grounded into a run-scoring double play. Castañon later drew a walk in the seventh and scored again on Devin Ortiz’s force-play RBI, giving the infielder two runs, a double, and a free pass on the night.

Albert Fabian supplied the other run, racing home after Hoffman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Francisco Acuna lined his 13th double, Anthony Vilar collected two singles, and Murphy reached twice with a single and a walk, matching Castañon for the club lead in times on base.

Victor Lizarraga (2-8) was tagged for 10 runs over two innings. Stephen Jones surrendered two more in the third, but the bullpen stoped the bleeding after that. Kevin Kopps worked two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, Andrew Moore followed with 1 2/3 shutout frames and four punchouts, and Ryan Och closed the night by retiring all four batters he faced across 1 1/3 innings.

The Missions finished with six hits and three walks but went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stranding six.

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Mendez dazzles over six, Verdugo reaches three times as TinCaps edged late
Box Score

Miguel Mendez continued his dominant High-A season, scattering two hits across six innings and striking out seven, yet Fort Wayne fell 2-0 at Parkview Field. The right-hander (7-3, 1.32 ERA) did not allow an earned run; the visitors scratched across an unearned tally in the second when a passed ball and subsequent wild pitch opened the scoring.

Rosman Verdugo set the tone at the plate, reaching base three times. The second baseman singled in the third, drew a two-out walk in the first, and was plunked during an eighth-inning rally that ultimately fizzled. Jack Costello provided the TinCaps’ only other knock, a seventh-inning single that moved him into scoring position before a groundout ended the threat. Despite drawing four walks and absorbing two hit-by-pitches, Fort Wayne finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.

After Mendez exited, Fernando Sanchez handled the seventh and eighth. The righty worked 2 innings but surrendered an insurance run on two late hits. Ruben Galindo fired a perfect ninth to keep the deficit at two.

Defensively, catcher Oswaldo Linares erased a pair of attempted basestealers and teamed with Ryan Jackson and Jack Costello on a third-inning caught stealing that helped Mendez work around traffic. Jackson also reached base twice, drawing a walk and wearing a pitch, while Kai Roberts coaxed a free pass of his own.

The TinCaps will look to spark the offense tomorrow, but Thursday night belonged to their pitching staff, which allowed just four hits in the setback.

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Fountain’s speed and bullpen lock down lift Storm to 3-1 victory
Box Score

Kale Fountain set the tone on the bases, and a trio of Lake Elsinore arms made the lead stand as the Storm edged past Inland Empire, 3-1, Thursday night at The Diamond.

Fountain coaxed a walk to open the second, swiped second, and scored when Alex McCoy drilled a ground-ball single through the right side. The designated hitter was back at it in the seventh, drawing another free pass, stealing his second bag of the night, and sprinting home on B.Y. Choi’s line single to center that put the Storm in front for good. Lake Elsinore added insurance in the eighth when Kasen Wells walked, stole his 28th base, took third on a balk, and dashed home on a wild pitch.

Fountain reached three times, scored twice, and now owns six steals, while Choi, McCoy, and Zach Evans each chipped in a hit. Evans also walked and swiped his 14th bag, and McCoy nabbed his fifth.

Right-hander Braian Salazar scattered three hits over 3 1/3 innings, his lone run coming on a wild pitch in the second. Bernard Jose (2-2) followed with 3 2/3 dominant, hitless frames, punching out five to earn the win. Vicarte Domingo needed just 18 pitches to handle the final two innings, collecting his fourth save.

The defense helped early, with Yendry Rojas, Chase Valentine, and Choi turning a 4-6-3 double play to erase a first-inning threat and keep the Storm rolling toward the finish line.

Padres Transactions

• Padres designated LF Trenton Brooks for assignment.
• LHP JP Sears roster status changed by Padres.
• LHP Nestor Cortes roster status changed by Padres.
• Padres designated C Martín Maldonado for assignment.
• 1B Ryan O'Hearn roster status changed by Padres.
• C Freddy Fermin roster status changed by Padres.
• Athletics traded RHP Mason Miller and LHP JP Sears to Padres for RHP Henry Baez, RHP Eduarniel Núñez, SS Leo De Vries and RHP Braden Nett.
• RHP Mason Miller roster status changed by Padres.
• RF Ramón Laureano roster status changed by Padres.
• Milwaukee Brewers traded LHP Nestor Cortes, SS Jorge Quintana and cash to Padres for LF Brandon Lockridge.
• Baltimore Orioles traded 1B Ryan O'Hearn, RF Ramón Laureano and cash to Padres for LHP Boston Bateman, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, SS Brandon Butterworth, SS Cobb Hightower and 1B Victor Figueroa.
• Kansas City Royals traded C Freddy Fermin to Padres for RHP Ryan Bergert and RHP Stephen Kolek.
• Athletics traded RHP Mason Miller and LHP JP Sears to Padres for RHP Henry Baez, RHP Eduarniel Núñez, SS Leo De Vries and RHP Braden Nett.
• Padres optioned 3B Will Wagner to El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Baltimore Orioles traded 1B Ryan O'Hearn, RF Ramón Laureano and cash to Padres for LHP Boston Bateman, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, SS Brandon Butterworth, SS Cobb Hightower and 1B Victor Figueroa.
• Toronto Blue Jays traded 3B Will Wagner to Padres for C Brandon Valenzuela.
• Baltimore Orioles traded 1B Ryan O'Hearn, RF Ramón Laureano and cash to Padres for LHP Boston Bateman, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, SS Brandon Butterworth, SS Cobb Hightower and 1B Victor Figueroa.
• Milwaukee Brewers traded LHP Nestor Cortes, SS Jorge Quintana and cash to Padres for LF Brandon Lockridge.

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