Padres Minor League Report: Luis Rengifo Hits First Homer Of 2026 In Chihuahuas Debut

[Steve Drumwright]

 

Wednesday saw the four full-season San Diego Padres affiliates go 1-3, with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas posting the only win, beating Sacramento 6-3, while the Double-A San Antonio Missions falling late to Amarillo 2-1, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps losing to Great Lakes 8-7 and the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm stumbling 11-6.

Padres Minor-League Transactions

• El Paso Chihuahuas placed RHP Logan Gillaspie on the 7-day injured list.
• San Antonio Missions activated C Brendan Durfee from the Development List.

Luis Rengifo Homers In Debut, Matt Waldron Solid As Chihuahuas Win

Luis Rengifo homered and had two hits in his Padres organization debut, while rehabbing Padres right-hander Matt Waldron tossed four innings and Blake Hunt homered as the host Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas beat the Sacramento River Cats 6-3. Padres catcher Luis Campusano, coming back from a broken right big toe, did not play after making his first rehab appearance Tuesday.

Bryce Johnson also had two hits and scored twice for the Chihuahuas, who scored three times in the fifth inning to snap a tie. Rengifo, who was released by the Milwaukee Brewers after a .205/.280/.254 slash line with no homers in 57 games, hit a two-run homer in that fifth inning to make it 6-3. Nick Solak had doubled in Johnson to break the tie. Hunt's homer was a two-run shot in the second inning, his third this year.

Waldron, on the mend from a right brachialis muscle injury, went four innings and gave up eight hits, but only allowed one run with no walks and one strikeout. He threw 60 pitches, including 42 strikes in his fourth rehab appearance. This was his longest outing since going on the 15-day injured list.

Right-handed reliever Trison McKenzie then gave up two runs on a hit and three walks while getting just one out in the fifth. Right-hander Michael Flynn struck out three in 1⅔ shutout innings, right-hander Ethan Routzahn went a perfect 1⅔ innings with one strikeout and right-hander Alek Jacob went 1⅓ for his fifth save this year.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Bryce Johnson	2	2	2	0	2	0
Mason McCoy	2	0	0	0	1	1
Nick Solak	4	1	1	1	0	1
Marcos Castañon	4	0	1	1	0	1
Luis Rengifo	3	1	2	2	1	0
Nick Pratto	4	1	0	0	0	0
Blake Hunt	4	1	1	2	0	1
Nick Schnell	3	0	0	0	1	0
Nate Mondou	3	0	0	0	0	1
Carlos Rodríguez	0	0	0	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Matt Waldron	4	8	1	1	0	1	0
Triston McKenzie	1/3	1	2	2	3	1	0
Michael Flynn	1 2/3	1	0	0	1	3	0
Ethan Routzahn	1 2/3	0	0	0	0	1	0
Alek Jacob	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	1	0

Missions Lose Heartbreaker, Give Up Pair In 9th

Right-handed starter Ian Koenig turned in five shutout innings, but right-handed reliever Tucker Musgrove gave up a pair of runs in the top of the ninth as the host Double-A San Antonio Missions dropped a 2-1 decision to the Amarillo Sod Poodles.

Koenig allowed four hits and two walks while striking out five in his five innings. He has gone five in six of his last eight starts. Right-handers Josh Mallitz, Garrett Hawkins and Clay Edmondson spun scoreless innings to set up Musgrove for the save in the ninth. But Musgrove, Padres Mission's No. 12 prospect, walked the leadoff hitter, threw two wild pitches and walked the next batter before a popup single by a pinch-hitter scored the tying run. A bunt moved runners to second and third before Musgrove was removed in favor of left-hander Harry Gustin. The first batter Gustin faced hit an RBI grounder for the go-ahead run. The 24-year-old Musgrove was making his third appearance for the Missions since being promoted from High-A Fort Wayne.

The Missions' run came in the second as Braedon Karpathios, Padres Mission's No. 9 prospect, hit the first pitch of the inning for his third triple of the season, then scored one out later on Albert Fabian's sacrifice fly to center. In the ninth, the Missions went down 1-2-3.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Carson Tucker	4	0	1	0	0	2
Kai Roberts	3	0	0	0	0	2
Tirso Ornelas	4	0	1	0	0	0
Jake Cunningham	4	0	1	0	0	3
Braedon Karpathios	4	1	1	0	0	2
Francisco Acuna	3	0	1	0	0	0
Albert Fabian	2	0	0	1	0	0
Luis Verdugo	3	0	0	0	0	1
Brendan Durfee	3	0	1	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Ian Koenig	5	4	0	0	2	5	0
Josh Mallitz	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
Garrett Hawkins	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Clay Edmondson	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
Tucker Musgrove	1/3	1	2	2	2	0	0
Harry Gustin	2/3	0	0	0	1	1	0

Kavares Tears Homers Twice, But TinCaps Dropped By Loons

Watch out because Kavares Tears is heating up. The slugging outfielder had his second career multihomer game of his young career, belting a pair of two-run shots, but the host High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps fell to the Great Lakes Loons 8-7.

Tears hit his 10th homer of the season in the first inning, then added his 11th in the third to match his career high of four RBIs, set May 15, when he started to turn his season around. Kasen Wells had a double and two RBIs as part of a two-hit night as the TinCaps finished with seven hits.

While Tears' first homer gave the TinCaps a 2-0 lead, the Loons came back to take the lead with one in the top of the second and a grand slam in the top of the third before Tears' second round-tripper, a 426-foot drive off the batter's eye in center, made it 5-4. But the Loons added three more in the fourth to make it 8-4. The TinCaps made it close as Lamar King Jr., Padres Mission's No. 11 prospect, brought in a run in the seventh on a grounder and Wells doubled home a pair with two outs in the eighth.

TinCaps right-handed starter Winyer Chourio, Padres Mission's No. 20 prospect, walked five while allowing just one hit and giving up four runs in 2⅔ innings. He struck out four in his second start since being promoted to Fort Wayne. After left-hander Javier Chacon gave up four runs in an inning, the rest of the TinCaps' bullpen was nails. Right-hander Daison Acosta didn't yield a hit in 2⅓ innings, striking out two, while right-hander Ryan Och had five punchouts in two scoreless innings and right-hander Igor Gil struck out a pair in a perfect ninth.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Ryan Wideman	4	1	1	0	1	1
Justin DeCriscio	4	1	1	0	0	0
Lamar King Jr.	5	0	0	1	0	1
Kavares Tears	5	2	2	4	0	3
Jack Costello	3	1	1	0	1	0
Zach Evans	4	0	0	0	0	2
Luke Cantwell	4	0	0	0	0	2
Oswaldo Linares	2	1	0	0	2	2
Kasen Wells	4	1	2	2	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Winyer Chourio	2 2/3	1	4	4	5	4	0
Javier Chacon	1	3	4	4	2	0	1
Daison Acosta	2 1/3	0	0	0	0	2	0
Ryan Och	2	2	0	0	2	5	0
Igor Gil	1	0	0	0	0	2	0

Despite Big Start, Storm Overcome By Ports

A five-run fourth inning proved to be the undoing for the host Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm in an 11-6 loss to the Stockton Ports.

Dawson Willis homered and Dylan Grego tripled, but the Storm managed just five hits while drawing eight walks. The Storm scored four runs in the bottom of the first as the first five batters walked to force in two runs, then an RBI groundout and Bradley Frye stole home to make it 4-0. Frye has 18 steals this year. The Ports scored twice in the top of the third, then Willis led off the bottom half with his third homer since being promoted a little more than two weeks ago from the Arizona Complex League, with the Ports then taking the lead for good with five runs in the top of the fourth.

Storm right-handed starter Carlos Medina went three innings, giving up a pair of runs on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. All six Storm pitchers gave up at least one run, with right-hander Jordan Valenzuela striking out three in 1⅓ innings.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Conner Westenburg	4	1	1	1	1	2
Jose Verdugo	4	1	0	0	1	1
Dawson Willis	3	2	1	1	1	0
Bradley Frye	3	1	0	1	1	1
Yoiber Ocopio	3	0	0	1	1	1
Jorge Quintana	3	0	1	1	1	0
Qrey Lott	2	0	0	0	1	1
George Bilecki	1	0	0	0	0	1
Truitt Madonna	4	0	1	0	0	1
Dylan Grego	3	1	1	0	1	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Carlos Medina	3	4	2	2	1	3	0
Brandon Langley	2/3	0	4	4	5	0	0
Rordy Mejia	2/3	2	1	1	1	0	1
Jordan Valenzuela	1 1/3	2	2	2	2	3	0
Sean Barnett	2	1	1	1	3	2	0
Yoesmerli Beltre	1 1/3	1	1	1	0	1	1

Padres Mission's Top 20 Prospect Performance

1. Ethan Salas: DNP
2. Kash Mayfield: DNP
3. Miguel Mendez: DNP
4. Ryan Wideman: 1-for-4, K
5. Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP
6. Jorge Quintana: 1-for-3, 3B
7. Ty Harvey: On injured list
8. Kale Fountain: Injured, out for season
9. Braedon Karpathios: 1-for-4, 3B, 2 K
10. Jagger Haynes: DNP
11. Lamar King Jr.: 0-for-5, K
12. Tucker Musgrove: ⅓ IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB
13. Truitt Madonna: 1-for-4, K
14. Alex McCoy: DNP
15. Jesus Castro: DNP
16. Rosman Verdugo: DNP
17. Garrett Hawkins: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
18. Eric Yost: DNP
19. Michael Salina: DNP
20. Winyer Chourio: 2⅔ IP, 1 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 4 K

View full article