Padres Minor League Report: Ethan Salas Goes Deep For First Time At Triple-A

[Steve Drumwright]

 

Friday saw the San Diego Padres' four full-season affiliates go 3-1 with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas stopping Reno 8-6, the Double-A San Antonio Missions striking late for a 6-2 win over Springfield, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps getting drubbed by West Michigan 14-4 and the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm pulling out a 10-8 win over Ontario.

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.

Ethan Salas Drills First Triple-A Homer In Chihuahuas' Victory

Top prospect Ethan Salas hit his first Triple-A homer, a three-run blast, as the El Paso Chihuahuas scored eight runs in the first three innings for an 8-6 victory over the host Reno Aces.

Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, had two hits and a walk, going deep in his seventh game since being promoted from Double-A San Antonio, where he hit seven homers. His eight homers this year are one shy of the nine he hit in his debut season of 2023. Salas' three-run homer came during a five-run third inning and was pulled down the right-field line, hitting a 1-2 pitch of right-hander Ashton Izzi.

Marcos Castanon (two RBIs) and Clay Dungan also homered for the Chihuahuas, while Carlos Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with a run scored.

After the Aces jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Castanon hit a one-out two-run homer and Dungan a two-out solo shot to go ahead 3-2 in the second. Dustin Harris, who was released by the Padres from Triple-A on Wednesday and re-signed Friday, and Rodriguez began the third with a single, then Rodolfo Duran singled home Harris. That put two runners on for Salas, who cranked his homer to make it 7-2. Will Wagner doubled, Castano singled and Nick Pratto hit a sacrifice fly to make it 8-2, capping the five-run surge.

Chihuahuas right-handed starter Sean Boyle allowed three runs in 4⅔ innings on three hits, including a homer, and four walks with three strikeouts. Right-hander J.P. France, who was released from Triple-A by the Houston Astros, made his Chihuahuas debut by retiring the only batter he faced. Left-hander JP Sears, back in Triple-A following his demotion from the Padres, then gave up three runs in two-third of an inning. Right-hander Alek Jacob picked up his seventh save of the season.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Bryce Johnson	4	0	1	0	1	1
Dustin Harris	5	1	1	0	0	0
Carlos Rodríguez	5	1	3	0	0	0
Rodolfo Durán	5	1	2	1	0	1
Ethan Salas	4	2	2	3	1	0
Will Wagner	3	1	1	0	1	0
Marcos Castañon	5	1	2	2	0	1
Mason McCoy	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Pratto	4	0	1	1	0	1
Clay Dungan	5	1	1	1	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Sean Boyle	4 2/3	3	3	3	4	3	1
J.P. France	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	0
JP Sears	2/3	2	3	3	1	2	0
Ty Adcock	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	3	0
Hans Crouse	1	1	0	0	1	2	0
Alek Jacob	1	1	0	0	0	0	0

Braedon Karpathios Sparks 4-Run Eighth With Go-Ahead Double

 

Braedon Karpathios had the first of three RBI doubles to snap a tie during a four-run eighth inning as the host San Antonio Missions rallied for a 6-2 win over the Springfield Cardinals.

Karpathios, Padres Mission's No. 12 prospect, had a pair of RBI doubles as well as a walk and scored a run, while Albert Fabian also had two hits and drove in a run.

Missions right-handed starter Eric Yost went six-plus innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits, including a homer, and three walks while striking out six. Right-hander Tucker Musgrove came on with the bases loaded in the seventh and hit a batter with one out to tie the game 2-2, then got a groundout and his second strikeout to end the inning. Right-hander Josh Mallitz tossed two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out two, and earned the win.

In the eighth, Jake Cunningham walked and went to second on a wild pitch before scoring on Karpathios' go-ahead double that one-hopped the wall down the right-field line. After a groundout moved Karpathios to third, he scored on Fabian's single to center. Luis Verdugo and Wyatt Hoffman then had back-to-back RBI doubles to put the Missions up 6-2.

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

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Eric Yost	6	5	2	1	3	6	1
Tucker Musgrove	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Josh Mallitz	2	0	0	0	1	2	0

TinCaps Get Hammered By Whitecaps

 

Three pitchers gave up four earned runs as the host High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps allowed 16 hits and seven walks in a 14-4 loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps.

Luke Cantwell drove in a pair of runs, while Ryan Wideman (Padres Mission's No. 4 prospect) and Justin DeCriscio each had two hits, with Wideman driving in a run and DeCriscio scoring twice.

TinCaps right-handed starter Mikael Miralles went four innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. After left-hander Braian Salazar pitched a scoreless fifth, right-handers Will Koger (no outs recorded) and Nick Falter (two innings) each allowed four runs, while right-hander Will Varmette gave up a run in the ninth.

West Michigan scored twice in the first, once in the second and twice in the fourth to go up 5-1, then opened it up with five in the sixth. The TinCaps scored three in the seventh to pull within 11-4.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Justin DeCriscio	5	2	2	0	0	2
Ryan Wideman	5	0	2	1	0	0
Kerrington Cross	3	0	0	0	1	3
Luke Cantwell	3	0	1	2	1	1
Lamar King Jr.	4	0	1	0	0	1
Carlos Rodriguez	4	0	0	0	0	0
Bradley Frye	4	1	2	0	0	2
Conner Westenburg	4	0	0	0	0	2
Kasen Wells	3	1	0	1	1	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Maikel Miralles	4	7	5	4	2	2	0
Braian Salazar	1	1	0	0	0	2	0
Will Koger	0	0	4	4	3	0	0
Nick Falter	2	4	4	4	2	1	1
Will Varmette	2	4	1	1	0	2	0

Ty Harvey's 5 RBIs, Contributions From Draftees Power Storm

Once down 6-0, the host Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm put together a late surge, including scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth, for a 10-8 victory over the Ontario Tower Buzzers. Nu'u Contrades, the sixth-round draft pick in his third pro game, scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and Ty Harvey, Padres Mission's No. 7 prospect, had a sacrifice fly for the insurance run.
https://padresmission.com/san-diego-padres-top-prospect-rankings/ty-harvey-r138/

Harvey had two hits and drove in five runs, while Dawson Willis homered off the scoreboard, Yimy Tovar had two hits and scored twice and Dylan Grego had a pair of hits for the Storm. Contrades walked twice and scored twice, while fourth-round pick Alex Conover scored three times. The Storm stole six bases, two by Conover.

Storm left-hander Adler Cecil, making his first home start and second appearance, was pitching about 20 minutes away from where he went to high school at Temecula Valley. But it didn't go well as he coughed up six runs (five earned) on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts in 2⅔ innings. Right-hander Florangel Vasquez, just promoted from the Arizona Complex League after striking out 42 in 30⅓ innings, went 2⅓ shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Left-hander Ryan Reed, last year's 15th-round draft pick, appeared in his first Storm game of the season after two outings last year, going two scoreless innings, while Brandon Langley finished up the final two innings, giving up two runs.

The Storm trailed 6-0 after a five-run top of the third by the Tower Buzzers, then made it 6-3 in the bottom half on Harvey's two-run single and Jose Verdugo's sac fly. Willis got the comeback in full swing when he blasted an opposite-field solo homer, his fourth, off the scoreboard in right-center, then Qrey Lott made it 6-5 with a run-scoring groundout. Harvey had another big hit in the seventh, a go-ahead two-run opposite-field double off the tall wall in right field and Verdugo added an RBI single. The Tower Buzzers tied it up in the top of the eighth, yet the Storm came right back in the bottom of the inning. Contrades led off the eighth with a walk, Conover was hit by a pitch and two wild pitches brought in Contrades with the go-ahead run and put Conover on third. After a strikeout and a pitching change, Harvey hit a sac fly to center that brought in Conover.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Nu'u Contrades	3	2	0	0	2	1
Alex Conover	2	3	1	0	0	0
Yimy Tovar	4	2	2	0	1	1
Ty Harvey	4	1	2	5	0	1
Dawson Willis	5	1	1	1	0	3
Jose Verdugo	3	0	1	2	0	0
Truitt Madonna	2	1	1	0	2	1
Dylan Grego	4	0	2	0	0	2
Qrey Lott	4	0	0	1	0	2

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Adler Cecil	2 2/3	3	6	5	4	6	1
Florangel Vasquez	2 1/3	2	0	0	2	2	0
Ryan Reed	2	1	0	0	1	1	0
Brandon Langley	2	3	2	2	2	2	0

Padres Mission's Top 20 Prospect Performance

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

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