Padres Minor League Report: Storm Walk It Off Again On Kerrington Cross Homer

[Steve Drumwright]

 

Kerrington Cross belted a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to lift the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm past the Inland Empire 66ers 5-4. Ethan Salas went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in Double-A San Antonio's loss, while Triple-A El Paso was overwhelmed early and High-A Fort Wayne belted a trio of homers and also lost.

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Early Isotopes Blitz Too Much For Chihuahuas To Overcome

Jase Bowen and Carlos Rodriguez each went 3-for-5, but the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas were overwhelmed by an early onslaught as the Albuquerque Isotopes won 12-7. The Isotopes scored in each of the first five innings, including a five-run fourth inning, and finished the game with nine walks and 11 hits.

Clay Dungan and Victor Duarte homered for the Chihuahuas, with Dungan's two-run blast in the sixth inning going 458 feet, the second-longest by the Chihuahuas this year (Bowen, 462 feet).

Chihuahuas right-handed starter Evan Fitterer, who entered the game unscored upon in his last nine innings, gave up five runs (four earned) in three innings on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Left-hander Miguel Cienfuegos followed by allowing all five runs in the fourth inning on five hits, a walk and no strikeouts. The five-run outburst was the 32nd time the Chihuahuas have allowed four or more runs in an inning this year.

Bowen had his fifth triple this season, tied for second-most in the Pacific Coast League, while Rodriguez matched his season high for hits in a game.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Samad Taylor	3	0	0	0	2	1
Carlos Rodríguez	5	1	3	1	0	0
Pablo Reyes	5	1	1	0	0	1
Jase Bowen	5	1	3	1	0	2
Will Wagner	5	0	1	1	0	1
Nick Schnell	4	0	0	1	0	0
Marcos Castañon	3	2	1	0	1	1
Clay Dungan	3	1	1	2	1	0
Victor Duarte	3	1	2	1	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Evan Fitterer (L)	3	5	5	4	4	2	0
Miguel Cienfuegos	1	5	5	5	1	0	0
Misael Tamarez	1	1	2	2	3	0	0
Justin Yeager	2	0	0	0	1	2	0
Alek Jacob	1	0	0	0	0	1	0

Ethan Salas Has 3 Hits, But Missions Fall Shots Against Hooks

Ethan Salas went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, but the host Double-A San Antonio Missions dropped an 8-5 decision to the Corpus Christi Hooks. Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, also scored a run as he raised his batting average to .315 with his fourth three-hit game of the season and ninth of his career.

Francisco Acuna hit a two-run homer for the Missions, his third of the season.

Missions right-handed starter Victor Lizarraga struggled with his control. In 3⅔ innings, Lizarraga gave up six runs (four earned) in five hits and four walks while striking out five. It was the third time in 10 starts he walked at least four.

After the Hooks scored twice in the top of the first, the Missions tied it in the bottom of the third. Kai Murphy had a leadoff single and Salas rifled his ninth double of the season over the center fielder's head, scoring Murphy. Salas came around on Tirso Ornelas' one-out single. But the Hooks regained control with a four-run fifth inning and two more in the seventh. Acuna drilled his two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh.

The Missions put together a rally in the ninth. Ryan Jackson was hit by a pitch and Luis Verdugo walked. With one out, Murphy reached on a fielder's choice, with an error on the second baseman loading the bases. Salas hit a sacrifice fly to left and pinch-hitter Albert Fabian walked to load the bases again, but Ornelas grounded out to end the game.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Ethan Salas	4	1	3	2	0	0
Kai Roberts	4	0	0	0	0	2
Albert Fabian	0	0	0	0	1	0
Carson Tucker	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tirso Ornelas	4	0	1	1	1	1
Braedon Karpathios	3	0	0	0	1	0
Romeo Sanabria	4	0	0	0	0	1
Ryan Jackson	3	1	1	0	0	1
Luis Verdugo	2	1	0	0	2	1
Francisco Acuna	4	1	1	2	0	1
Kai Murphy	4	1	1	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Victor Lizarraga (L)	3 2/3	5	6	4	4	5	1
Omar Cruz	2	1	0	0	1	2	0
Johan Moreno	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Francis Peña	2	2	2	2	1	3	0
Andrew Moore	1	1	0	0	0	2	0

TinCaps Launch 3 Homers, But Streaking South Bend Prevails

Jake Cunningham hit his team-leading 10th homer of the season, one of three solo shots by the TinCaps, but High-A Fort Wayne suffered a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the red-hot host South Bend Cubs. The Cubs have won eight straight and 11 of their last 12.

Carlos Rodriguez and Rosman Verdugo also went deep for the TinCaps. Cunningham homered in the top of the second—his third in three games in this series and fifth in nine games in South Bend this year—Rodriguez hit his fourth in the fifth inning and Verdugo added his eighth in the sixth inning.

TinCaps right-handed starter Carson Montgomery opened with four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. That is when Montgomery hit the leadoff batter, walked a pair, had a wild pitch and allowed a double steal before being lifted with the bases loaded and one out. Right-handed reliever Kleiber Olmedo wasn't able to escape the jam, allowing a walk and a three-run double to the next two hitters for a 4-2 South Bend lead. After Verdugo's homer made it 4-3 in the top of the sixth, South Bend scored in the bottom half to reclaim a two-run lead.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Justin DeCriscio	3	0	1	0	0	0
Rosman Verdugo	4	1	1	1	0	1
Lamar King Jr.	4	0	0	0	0	1
Alex McCoy	4	0	1	0	0	1
Jake Cunningham	4	1	1	1	0	2
Carlos Rodriguez	4	1	1	1	0	1
Jack Costello	2	0	0	0	1	1
Jonathan Vastine	3	0	0	0	0	2
Zach Evans	3	0	1	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Carson Montgomery (L)	4 1/3	2	3	3	5	4	0
Kleiber Olmedo	2/3	1	1	1	1	1	0
Javier Chacon	2	2	1	1	0	4	0
Tucker Musgrove	1	1	1	1	0	3	1

Kerrington Cross' Walk-Off Homer Caps Late Storm Comeback

Kerrington Cross drilled a solo walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as the host Lake Elsinore Storm scored all of their runs in the final three innings for a comeback win over the Inland Empire 66ers. The Storm were down 3-0 entering the seventh, then scored once in that inning and three times in the eighth before needing Cross' dramatic blow to win it. It was the second walk-off win in three games for the Storm.

Cross and Yoiber Ocopio each had two hits, with Cross scoring twice and Ocopio driving in a run and scoring once.

Storm right-handed starter Bryan Balzer turned in a nice outing, matching his career and season high by going 6⅓ innings, allowing three runs (two earned) with two walks and punching out six. He did give up a pair of homers in the five hits he allowed. Right-hander Carson Swilling went 1⅔ scoreless innings, striking out three, while right-hander Will Koger pitched the ninth, allowing a run and striking out two.

Inland Empire held a 3-0 lead when the Storm began its comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Ocopio had a leadoff single, went to second on a groundout and to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Dylan Grego's single to right to make it 3-1. In the eighth, Cross got things started with a leadoff single, Jose Verdugo was hit by a pitch and, after a wild pitch, Truitt Madonna walked to load the bases. Another wild pitch made it 3-2 and, one out later, Ocopio hit a sacrifice fly to tie it. George Bilecki then lined a single to the right-field corner to plate Madonna with the go-ahead run and a 4-3 Storm lead.

However, the 66ers scored in the top of the ninth on a walk and a pair of singles. But Cross sent everyone home happy when he launched a 2-0 pitch for his fifth homer of the season.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Ryan Wideman	5	0	1	0	0	1
Kerrington Cross	5	2	2	1	0	1
Jose Verdugo	3	1	1	0	0	0
Truitt Madonna	3	1	0	0	1	0
Yimy Tovar	4	0	0	0	0	1
Yoiber Ocopio	3	1	2	1	0	0
George Bilecki	3	0	1	1	1	0
Dylan Grego	3	0	1	1	1	0
Conner Westenburg	4	0	1	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Bryan Balzer	6 1/3	5	3	2	2	6	2
Carson Swilling	1 2/3	1	0	0	1	3	0
Will Koger (W)	1	2	1	1	1	2	0

Top 20 Prospect Performance

1. Ethan Salas: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB
2. Kash Mayfield: DNP
3. Miguel Mendez: DNP
4. Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP
5. Ryan Wideman: 1-for-5, K
6. Jorge Quintana: DNP
7. Ty Harvey: On injured list
8. Kale Fountain: Injured, out for season
9. Braedon Karpathios: 0-for-3, BB
10. Lamar King Jr.: 0-for-4, K
11. Jagger Haynes: DNP
12. Alex McCoy: 1-for-4, 2B, K
13. Truitt Madonna: 0-for-3, BB
14. Tucker Musgrove: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 K, HR
15. Garrett Hawkins: DNP
16. Michael Salina: DNP
17. Eric Yost: DNP
18. Rosman Verdugo: 1-for-4, HR, RBI, K
19. Bryan Balzer: 6⅓ IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 HR
20. Deivid Coronil: DNP

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