Padres Minor League Report: Ethan Salas Goes Deep For 7th Time As Missions Prevail

Ethan Salas crushed a two-run homer and Jagger Haynes spun six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts as the Double-A San Antonio Missions edged the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-2. Ryan Wideman went 3-for-5 with a homer in the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm's 7-6 walk-off win, capped by Jorge Quintana's RBI single. Nick Solak's homer wasn't enough in the Triple-A San Antonio Missions' 5-3 loss. Jake Cunningham homered twice, but the Fort Wayne TinCaps fell 5-2.

Padres Minor-League Transactions

• Lake Elsinore Storm placed C Ty Harvey on the 7-day injured list.
• C Alcides Hernandez assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from ACL Padres.
• IF Yimy Tovar assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from ACL Padres.

Nick Solak Stays Hot, But Chihuahuas Bow To Isotopes

Nick Solak homered for the third time in four games, but the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas fell to the host Albuquerque Isotopes 5-3. The Isotopes scored all of their runs in the second inning.

Solak had his third straight two-hit game and fifth in eight games. He hit his homer, a two-out solo shot, in the top of the first inning for his fifth of the season. He was the only Chihuahua with more than one hit.

After Solak's homer and the Isotopes' five-run outburst, the Chihuahuas continued to chip away in the fourth inning. Jase Bowen had a leadoff double and went to third on Solak's flyout to center. Will Wagner then hit a two-out single to plate Bowen. Mason McCoy walked and Nate Mondou singled to right to score Wagner and make it a 5-3 game.

Chihuahuas left-handed starter Fernando Sanchez, in his third Triple-A start, gave up all five runs in five innings, allowing six hits and five runs with seven strikeouts. Right-hander Sean Boyle pitched three scoreless innings, with no walks, three hits and two strikeouts.

El Paso's Marcos Castanon went 0-for-4 to snap his 10-game hitting streak.

Ethan Salas' HR, Jagger Haynes' 6 Shutout Innings Spark Missions

Ethan Salas smashed his seventh homer of the season and left-handed starter Jagger Haynes struck out seven over six shutout innings as the host Double-A San Antonio Missions edged the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-2. The game was called after eight innings due to thunderstorms.

Haynes, Padres Mission's No. 11 prospect, yielded just four hits while walking three. His seven strikeouts matched a season high accomplished two starts ago. This was his first scoreless outing of the season. Haynes also picked two runners off first.

It was a 0-0 game entering the bottom of the sixth. Kai Roberts drew a leadoff walk and, one out later, Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, crushed the first pitch he saw deep over the right-field wall for his seventh homer of the year and fourth in May.

With Haynes out of the game, Corpus Christi scored in the top of the seventh off left-hander Harry Gustin. But the Missions got that run back in the bottom half when Braedon Karpathios doubled to right, went to third on Ryan Jackson's sacrifice bunt and easily scored on Albert Fabian's sac fly to center for a 3-1 lead. The Hooks took advantage of three walks by right-hander Sadrac Franco to score in the top of the eighth, but right-hander Josh Mallitz earned his first save of the season by retiring the only batter he faced.

Jake Cunningham Goes Deep Twice, But TinCaps Fall To Cubs

Despite a pair of home runs by Jake Cunningham, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps dropped a 5-2 decision to the host South Bend Cubs.

Cunningham hit solo homers in the second and ninth innings, giving him nine for the season. He also hit two homers on April 19 vs. Lake County, the only two multihomer games for the TinCaps this season. Cunningham, who also walked, is tied with Alex McCoy for the team lead.

Lamar King Jr., Padres Mission's No. 10 prospect, also had two of the TinCaps' seven hits, including a double, for his 10th multihit game of the season.

TinCaps right-handed starter Matthew Watson went five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with no walks and a strikeout. The bullpen of right-hander Isaiah Lowe, left-hander Igor Gil and left-hander Braian Salazar combined for the final three innings, giving up just one run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

South Bend scored twice in the first, another in the second and one more in each of the fifth and eighth innings.

Yimy Tovar Helps Storm Walk Off 66ers In Season Debut

Newcomer Yimy Tovar singled home the tying and scored the winner when Jorge Quintana grounded a single past the second baseman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the host Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm pulled out a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Inland Empire 66ers.

Tovar, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, a steal and a run scored, was called up before the game from the Arizona Complex League, where he had a .345/.406/.527 slash line in 16 games with a homer, 11 RBIs and nine steals. The 20-year-old middle infielder actually played in eight games for the Storm last year with a .409/.435/.545 slash line, but was back in the ACL to begin 2026.

Ryan Wideman, Padres Mission's No. 5 prospect, went 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Quintana and Conner Westenburg each had two hits. Kerrington Cross scored twice without recording a hit, but he did walk once.

Wideman's homer leading off the bottom of the third cut the Storm's deficit to 2-1 and he had an RBI single to tie the game as part of a three-run fourth, which included a two-run error, that made it 4-2. The 66ers scored three of their own in the fifth to go up 5-4. In the seventh, the Storm tied it on Tovar's single to center that scored Cross, who had reached on an error. But the 66ers countered once again with a run in the top of the eighth to tie it.

In the bottom of the ninth, Cross again reached on an error. A two-out balk put Cross at second and Tovar lined an opposite-field single to right to score Cross and tie the game. Tovar stole second and Quintana, Padres Mission's No. 6 prospect, sent his walk-off single up the middle.

Storm right-handed starter Winyer Chourio allowed two runs in four innings on three hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

Top 20 Prospect Performance

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

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