Padres Minor League Report: El Paso Cruises To Big Win, Storm Lose In Extras On Wild Pitch

Jack Costello crushed two homers to power Fort Wayne, while Kavares Tears launched two for Lake Elsinore and Alex McCoy ripped a three-run double. Clay Dungan’s pair of blasts and Yonathan Perlaza’s four-hit day fueled El Paso’s surge. On the mound, Will Varmette delivered six innings of one-run ball, Harry Gustin debuted with three scoreless, Stephen Jones and Francis Pena stacked zeroes in relief, and Abraham Parra struck out six over five for the Storm.

Padres Transactions

• San Diego Padres recalled 3B Will Wagner from El Paso Chihuahuas.

Dungan’s Two Homers, Seven-Run Seventh Propel El Paso To 16-Run Outburst
Box Score

El Paso jumped on Sacramento immediately. Clay Dungan opened the day with a home run, Tirso Ornelas walked, Yonathan Perlaza singled, and Luis Campusano walked before Nate Mondou lined a two-run single. Mason McCoy’s sacrifice fly capped a four-run first. In the second, Dungan was hit by a pitch, Ornelas drilled a two-run homer, Perlaza singled, and Mondou followed with a two-run shot for an 8-0 cushion.

After Sacramento trimmed the margin in the fourth, the Chihuahuas erupted again in the seventh. Campusano singled, then Rodolfo Durán launched a two-run homer. McCoy and Tim Locastro recorded back-to-back singles, and Dungan crushed a three-run homer. Perlaza doubled, and Campusano delivered a two-run single. The River Cats added runs in the eighth and ninth, but Perlaza answered with a solo homer in the ninth.

Perlaza finished 4-for-5 with a double, a homer, and one RBI, scoring four times. Dungan went 2-for-5 with two homers and four RBI. Mondou was 2-for-5 with four RBI, Durán went 2-for-6 with a homer and two RBI, Campusano added a 2-for-5 day with two RBI, and Ornelas went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI, and two walks.

Starter Logan Gillaspie worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs with three walks and three strikeouts. Francis Pena followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, no walks, and two strikeouts, and Jake Higginbotham recorded two innings with two runs, no walks, and four strikeouts.

Vilar Homers, Karpathios Drives In Two As Missions Fall Short
Box Score

San Antonio’s bats kept chipping away, but a five-run fourth by Amarillo proved the difference in a 5-4 loss at Nelson Wolff Stadium. The Missions struck first in the third when Francisco Acuna singled, stole second, then scored on an Albert Fabian line drive to put San Antonio ahead 1-0. The Sod Poodles responded with their big inning in the fourth and never relinquished the lead.

Anthony Vilar sparked the offense with a solo homer in the sixth, then ignited an eighth-inning push with a walk. After Kai Murphy was hit by a pitch and Eli Wilson laid down a sacrifice bunt, Braedon Karpathios grounded out to second to bring in Vilar and trim the deficit to one. San Antonio had the tying run at third, but the Sod Poodles escaped.

Karpathios finished with two RBI, including an RBI double in the fourth, and Wilson collected two hits, plus the sacrifice bunt. Fabian went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Acuna added a single and a steal.

On the mound, debuting starter Harry Gustin delivered three innings with no runs allowed, giving up two hits, walking two, and striking out two. Stephen Jones followed with 2 1/3 scoreless frames, allowing one hit, walking two, and striking out one. Kevin Kopps was charged with five runs in 2/3 of an inning. Ethan Routzahn tossed a clean seventh, and Misael Tamarez worked a 1-2-3 eighth as the Missions kept the game within reach late, but the big swing never came.

Costello Crushes Two Homers, Varmette Deals As TinCaps Roll In Lake County
Box Score

Fort Wayne set the tone with a four-run second in Lake County. Rosman Verdugo walked, Kai Roberts singled, and Jonathan Vastine reached to load the bases before Zach Evans ripped a two-run double to center. Victor Duarte followed with an RBI single, and Kasen Wells capped the burst with a run-scoring double. Jack Costello added on in the fourth with a solo shot to left.

Starter Will Varmette gave the TinCaps six innings, allowing one run on six hits, three walks, and no strikeouts. Lake County got on the board in the fifth, but Varmette kept the lead intact. The Captains inched closer with single runs in the seventh and eighth, yet Fort Wayne answered late. In the eighth, Verdugo singled and stole second, then Costello unloaded again to left center for a two-run homer. Duarte opened the ninth with a double, and Brendan Durfee lined a two-out single to center to bring him home.

Costello finished 2-for-4 with two homers, three RBIs, and two runs. Roberts collected two hits, Evans doubled in two, Duarte went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Wells added a run-scoring double. Verdugo reached twice on walks, singled, scored twice, and swiped a bag.

Johan Moreno contributed 1 2/3 innings with one run, no walks, and one strikeout, and Eiker Huizi handled the ninth with a scoreless frame. Fort Wayne totaled 11 hits while limiting the Captains to three runs.

Tears Swats Two Homers, McCoy’s 10th-Inning Double Shines As Storm Fall On Wild Pitch
Box Score

Kavares Tears powered Lake Elsinore’s offense in Stockton, launching solo homers in the second and fourth to bookend an early push. In the third, Dylan Grego reached and came around on Carlos Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. Stockton answered with a three-run homer in the third to move in front, and Tears’ second blast tied it 3-3 in the fourth.

Starter Tucker Musgrove set the tone with a scoreless first, striking out two while allowing one hit, no walks, and no runs. Abraham Parra followed and worked five, giving up three runs on three hits, no walks, and six strikeouts.

After a quiet stretch, the Storm threatened in the eighth when Ryan Wideman singled, though he was picked off. In the 10th, zombie runner Jorge Quintana immediately swiped third, Justin DeCriscio stole second, and Grego walked to load the bases after a force at the plate. Alex McCoy delivered the night’s biggest swing, ripping a three-run double to left for a 6-3 advantage.

Stockton opened the bottom half with a single, then plated the zombie runner on a double play. With two outs, a two-run homer tied it, and two more baserunners set the stage for a wild pitch that ended it.

Tears finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, McCoy went 1-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, and Quintana doubled and stole two bases. Wideman was 1-for-4. Igor Gil took the loss after 1 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, two walks, and striking out one.

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