Padres Minor League Report: Jesus Castro Strikes Out 9 In Storm Shutout

[Steve Drumwright]

 

Jesus A. Castro struck out a career-high nine as Lake Elsinore beat Rancho Cucamonga 4-0. The San Antonio Missions got a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for a 4-3 walk-off victory. The Fort Wayne TinCaps gave up a lated lead for a 4-3 walk-off loss to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The El Paso Chihuahuas gave up seven runs in the sixth inning en route to a 12-4 loss.

Chihuahuas Surrender 7-Spot In Setback To Bees

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Two errors contributed to another huge inning by the opposition as the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas gave up 11 runs over the last four innings in a 12-4 loss to the Salt Lake Bees. The Chihuahuas led 4-2 before coughing up a seven-run sixth inning that featured three consecutive doubles.

Anthony Vilar went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored, while Pablo Reyes extended his on-base streak to 29 games by going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

The Chihuahuas scored all their runs in the fifth inning. Trailing 1-0, Nick Schnell had a leadoff single and Vilar doubled him to third. Jase Bowen plated the first run with a sacrifice fly to tie it. After a strikeout for the second out, Will Wagner hit an opposite-field RBI single to left for a 2-1 lead. Nick Solak walked and Reyes grounded a single to left to bring in Wagner. Reyes and Solak pulled off a double steal, with Solak swiping home to cap the four-run rally.

Salt Lake scored once in the fifth before erupting for seven in the sixth and three in the eighth.

Missions Manufacture Walk-Off Victory Over Wind Surge

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A walk, a steal and two sacrifices, including Francisco Acuna's fly to center field, produced the winning run as the Double-A San Antonio Missions rallied past the Wichita Wind Surge 4-3 for their fifth consecutive victory.

Left-handed starter Jagger Haynes struck out seven in 6⅔ innings, the longest outing by a Missions pitcher this year. Haynes had gone a season-high six innings in each of his last two starts and fell one out shy of his career best, set in 2024 with Lake Elsinore. Haynes gave up three runs on five hits and didn't issue a walk.

Haynes gave up a pair of runs in the top of the third on a homer, but the Missions came back to tie the game in the bottom half. Acuna singled, Carson Tucker had a one-out single and Kair Murphy reached on a throwing error by the catcher to load the bases. Leandro Cedeno hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Acuna and Tucker came home when the catcher threw wildly to second to tie it 2-2.

Wichita took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh on a single off Haynes and three straight walks by Missions right-hander Francis Pena. The Missions tied it in the bottom of the eighth when Kai Murphy doubled, went to third on a groundout and scored on Tirso Ornelas' sac fly to right.

In the bottom of the ninth, Braedon Karpathios walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Kai Roberts, who stole second. Luis Verdugo bunted Roberts to third and Acuna hit his walk-off sac fly to center.

Romeo Sanabria went 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, while Tucker went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

TinCaps Have All The Hits, But Not The Win In Walk-Off Loss

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A standout start by High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps right-hander Maikel Mirrales was undone by a late rally by the host Cedar Rapids Kernels, who earned a 4-3 walk-off victory against closer Clay Edmondson. The TinCaps outhit the Kernels 13-5 and drew seven walks to Cedar Rapids' 1, which led to Fort Wayne stranding 17 runners on base, one shy of a club record.

Miralles went a season-best five innings, allowing two hits on four hits and a walk while striking out six, including the final three batters he faced. Miralles, in fact, set down the final seven Kernels in a row. But he left the game trailing 2-1 after the Kernels scored twice in the second and the TinCaps once in the top of the fifth on a Zach Evans triple and Jack Costello's RBI single.

Fort Wayne grabbed the lead in the top of the eighth as Lamar King Jr. hit his first triple of the season and Alex McCoy cranked his sixth homer of the season, an opposite-field two-run shot to right for a 3-2 edge. The TinCaps had an opportunity to tack on a run in the top of the ninth after Jack Costello had a leadoff double, but the next three batters were retired.

Edmondson entered the game not having allowed a run in 14⅓ innings this season, notching seven saves. An error by Evans, the third baseman, opened the inning and the runner moved to second on a groundout. The next batter hit an RBI double to tie the game. A passed ball by King on a strikeout put runners on the corners, then a sacrifice fly won for the Kernels.

King, Padres Mission's No. 10 prospect, did extend his on-base streak to 24 games, while McCoy—Padres Mission's No. 12 prospect—had his second three-hit game of the year.

Jesus Castro Strikes Out 9 As Storm Blank Quakes

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Right-handed starter Jesus A. Castro struck out a career-high nine and combined with three relievers on a nine-hit shutout as the host Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm blanked the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4-0. It was the second shutout of the season for the Storm, who had a 21-0 win over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on April 9.

The 18-year-old Castro went 5⅔ innings, matching his last outing, giving up seven hits and a walk while surpassing his previous high of eight strikeouts in a game set last year in the Dominican Summer League. He has struck out 16 in his last two games. Castro's nine-strikeout performance came a day after right-hander Winyer Chourio struck out 10 in a 4-3 win over the Quakes.

Right-hander Carson Swilling got four outs, striking out three, while left-hander Joseph Herrera and right-hander Vicarte Domingo each pitched a scoreless inning.

It was a 0-0 game until the Storm scored in the sixth. Luke Cantwell drew a one-out walk and Ryan Wideman singled to center. Ty Harvey grounded to the third base, who got the forceout at second, but an errant throw by the second baseman trying to complete the double play allowed Cantwell to score. In the seventh, the Storm broke it open. With two outs, George Bilecki singled and Dylan Grego and Bradley Frye walked to load the bases. Cantwell lined a single to center to score Bilecki and Grego for a 3-0 lead and Wideman singled to right to bring in Frye for a 4-0 advantage.

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