Padres Minor League Report: Ethan Salas Heads To Philly With 3-Hit Game

[Steve Drumwright]

 

 

The four full-season San Diego Padres affiliates split their four games as the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas lost 10-5, the Double-A San Antonio Missions held on for an 8-7 win over Midland, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps topped West Michigan 6-3 and the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm were walked off by Rancho Cucamonga 5-4.

Padres Minor-League Transactions

• San Diego Padres signed free-agent LF Dustin Harris to a minor-league contract and assigned him to El Paso Chihuahuas.

Too Many Walks By Chihuahuas Pitchers Fuel Comets

Despite five players having multihit games, the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas gave up three first-inning runs and couldn't recover en route to a 10-5 loss to the host Oklahoma City Comets. The Chihuahuas outhit the Comets 14-13, but El Paso pitchers issued 10 walks. Padres catcher Freddy Fermin, on a rehab assignment, did not play.

Nick Pratto went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, including a homer, and walked twice, while Clay Dungan, Nate Mondou, Mason McCoy and Nick Solak—the top four hitters in the lineup—each had two hits. Dungan scored twice, while McCoy had an RBI and Mondou scored once. Pratto's outburst came after an 0-for-4, four-strikeout game.

Chihuahuas right-handed starter Miguel Cienfuegos allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 2⅓ innings. Right-hander Johan Moreno gave up three runs in 1⅔ innings with four punchouts. Right-handers Andrew Moore (one inning) and Logan Gillaspie (1⅓ innings) each gave up a run, while right-hander Justin Yeager yielded a pair of runs in the eighth inning.

The Comets scored three in the bottom of the first off Cienfuegos, two on a Jack Suwinski double, then Pratto hit his eighth homer of the season and third since signing with the Padres a month ago Friday. The Comets pulled away with four runs in the fifth, another in the sixth and two more in the seventh after McCoy singled home a run in the top of the seventh. The Chihuahuas made it more respectable with a three-run ninth inning, with Pratto singling home a pair of runs and Blake Hunt another.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Clay Dungan	4	2	2	0	1	1
Nate Mondou	4	1	2	0	0	1
Mason McCoy	5	0	2	1	0	1
Nick Solak	4	0	2	0	1	0
Nick Schnell	4	1	0	0	1	2
Nick Pratto	3	1	3	3	2	0
Blake Hunt	5	0	1	1	0	2
Romeo Sanabria	5	0	1	0	0	0
Bryce Johnson	5	0	1	0	0	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Miguel Cienfuegos	2 1/3	4	3	2	3	4	0
Johan Moreno	1 2/3	2	3	3	1	4	0
Andrew Moore	1	1	1	1	3	0	0
Logan Gillaspie	1 1/3	2	1	1	2	2	1
Justin Yeager	1 2/3	4	2	2	1	1	1

Ethan Salas Sparks Missions As Eric Yost Fans 7

Ethan Salas went 3-for-4 in his final game before heading to Philadelphia for Sunday's Futures Game, while right-handed starter Eric Yost punched out seven in five innings as the Double-A San Antonio Missions held off a late flurry by the Midland RockHounds for an 8-7 triumph. Salas is Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect.

Wyatt Hoffman had a homer among his two hits, two RBIs and a run scored and Jake Cunningham a pair of hits, an RBI and two runs scored for the Missions, who had a 6-1 after the top of the seventh. Cunningham and Albert Fabian drove in runs in the top of the first off former Padres prospect Henry Baez, with the RockHounds getting one back in the bottom half. Hoffman then hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot and his first since 2024, with one out in the fourth and Brendan Durfee had an RBI single in the sixth to put the Missions up 4-1. In the seventh, Kai Roberts squeezed home a run and Hoffman singled in another to boost the lead to 6-1.

But old friend Leo De Vries, the Padres' top prospect last season before being traded in the Mason Miller deal with the A's, hit a three-run homer, his 11th, to bring the RockHounds within 6-4. Ornelas opened the lead up a bit with an RBI double, his 22nd, to plate Salas and scored on a wild pitch for an 8-4 advantage. De Vries capped a three-run seventh with an RBI double to trim the Missions' lead to 8-7.

Yost gave up six hits and one run with four walks and those seven punchouts in five innings. Right-handers Josh Mallitz (1⅔ innings) and Ryan Och (two-thirds) each gave up three runs. Right-hander Sadrac Franco, who surrendered the double to De Vries, got his second save of the season by notching the final four outs, including a perfect ninth.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Ryan Jackson	5	1	1	0	0	1
Ethan Salas	4	1	3	0	1	0
Tirso Ornelas	4	1	1	1	1	1
Jake Cunningham	5	2	2	1	0	1
Albert Fabian	5	0	1	1	0	1
Francisco Acuna	2	2	0	0	3	1
Kai Roberts	2	0	0	1	1	1
Wyatt Hoffman	5	1	2	2	0	1
Brendan Durfee	4	0	1	1	0	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Eric Yost	5	6	1	1	4	7	0
Josh Mallitz	1 2/3	2	3	3	1	1	1
Ryan Och	2/3	3	3	3	1	0	0
Sadrac Franco	1 2/3	1	0	0	1	1	0

Alex McCoy, Abraham Parra Help TinCaps Break Losing Streak At 4

Alex McCoy drove in three runs, Justin DeCriscio and Ryan Wideman each went 3-for-5 and right-handed starter Abraham Parra spun five innings of one-run ball as the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-3 triumph over the host West Michigan Whitecaps.

Luke Cantwell hit an insurance solo homer in the seventh inning as the TinCaps, blanked twice during this miniskid, busted out for 16 hits and drew five walks. Cantwell and Kerrington Cross each had a pair of hits.

Parra, filling the Friday starter role usually occupied by Kash Mayfield who is slated to pitch in Sunday's Futures Game, allowed five hits and a run over five innings with two walks and two strikeouts. Left-hander Igor Gil followed with 2⅔ innings in which he gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Right-hander Clark Candiotti, in his second appearance since coming down from Double-A San Antonio, went the final 1⅓ shutout innings for his second career save, both coming this year.

But it was the offense's night. The top two hitters in the lineup, DeCriscio and Wideman (Padres Mission's No. 4 prospect), got on base six times. McCoy, the No. 3 hitter and Padres Mission's No. 14 prospect, capitalized on the runners on base. McCoy's Midwest League-leading 23rd double plated DeCriscio in the first inning and followed Zach Evans' RBI single in the second with a two-run single to make it 4-0. After a Parra wild pitch sent in a run in the bottom of the fourth, singled home Kavares Tears to put the lead at 5-1. The Whitecaps scored again in the sixth, but Cantwell countered with his third homer with the TinCaps and fifth of the season.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Justin DeCriscio	5	1	3	0	0	2
Ryan Wideman	5	0	3	0	0	0
Alex McCoy	5	0	2	3	0	0
Kavares Tears	5	1	1	0	0	2
Rosman Verdugo	5	0	1	0	0	2
Luke Cantwell	2	2	2	1	3	0
Kasen Wells	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jack Costello	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kerrington Cross	4	1	2	0	1	1
Carlos Rodriguez	3	1	1	1	1	2
Zach Evans	4	0	1	1	0	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Abraham Parra	5	5	1	1	2	2	0
Igor Gil	2 2/3	2	2	1	2	3	0
Clark Candiotti	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	1	0

Kruz Schoolcraft Stellar, But Storm Can't Hold Lead

Just a few days shy of the one-year anniversary of when he was drafted, left-handed starter Kruz Schoolcraft turned in one of the better starts of his first full season, but the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm watched a 4-1 lead disappear in a 5-4 walk-off loss to the host Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. The Quakes won in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run bloop single with none out.

Schoolcraft, Padres Mission's No. 5 prospect, went a season-high 5⅓ innings, allowing just one run on five hits, walking a pair and striking out three. Schoolcraft has gone at least five innings in five of his last six starts.

Bradley Frye had two hits and George Bilecki drove in a pair of runs for the Storm. Bilecki's RBIs came on a fourth-inning double that put the Storm up 2-1. Frye singled home a run in the fifth and Jose Verdugo added a sacrifice fly in the fifth, giving the Storm a 4-1 lead. But the Quakes scored once in the seventh and once in the eight before walking it off in the ninth.

Right-hander Rordy Mejia allowed one unearned run in 1⅔ innings, right-hander Yoesmerli Beltre one run in one inning and right-hander Carson Swilling two runs without retiring any of the four batters he faced. Swilling walked the leadoff hitter, an error on a bunt put two runners on, a hit by pitch loaded the bases before the winning single.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Yimy Tovar	4	0	1	0	1	2
Jorge Quintana	4	1	1	0	1	2
Bradley Frye	5	1	2	0	0	3
Yoiber Ocopio	3	1	0	0	1	2
Dawson Willis	1	0	0	0	0	1
George Bilecki	3	1	1	2	1	1
Jose Verdugo	3	0	1	1	0	0
Truitt Madonna	3	0	0	0	1	2
Dylan Grego	4	0	0	0	0	2
Qrey Lott	3	0	0	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Kruz Schoolcraft	5 1/3	5	1	1	2	3	0
Rordy Mejia	1 2/3	2	1	0	1	1	0
Yoesmerli Beltre	1	2	1	1	0	3	0
Carson Swilling	0	1	2	1	1	0	0

Padres Mission's Top 20 Prospect Performance

1. Ethan Salas: 3-for-4, 2B
2. Kash Mayfield: DNP
3. Miguel Mendez: DNP
4. Ryan Wideman: 3-for-5
5. Kruz Schoolcraft: 5⅓ IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
6. Jorge Quintana: 1-for-4, 2 K
7. Ty Harvey: On injured list
8. Kale Fountain: Injured, out for season
9. Braedon Karpathios: DNP
10. Jagger Haynes: DNP
11. Lamar King Jr.: DNP
12. Tucker Musgrove: DNP
13. Truitt Madonna: 0-for-3, 2 K
14. Alex McCoy: 2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI
15. Jesus Castro: DNP
16. Rosman Verdugo: 1-for-5, 2 K
17. Garrett Hawkins: DNP
18. Eric Yost: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K
19. Michael Salina: DNP
20. Winyer Chourio: DNP

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