Padres Minor League Report: JP Sears Leads Chihuahuas' Two-Hit Pitching Performance

Jase Bowen powered the El Paso Chihuahuas past the Tacoma Rainiers 4-1, homering and singling behind five sharp innings from JP Sears. Despite Jagger Haynes' quality start, the San Antonio Missions fell 6-2 at home to the Midland RockHounds. Carson Montgomery silenced Beloit, and Zach Evans drove in two late as the Fort Wayne TinCaps prevailed 3-1. Bryan Balzer also turned in a quality start, but the Lake Elsinore Storm lost 4-1 at Inland Empire.

Padres Minor-League Transactions

• Padres selected the contract of C Rodolfo Durán from El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Padres optioned 3B Will Wagner to El Paso Chihuahuas.
• El Paso Chihuahuas activated C Colton Vincent from the Development List.
• El Paso Chihuahuas transferred 2B Nate Mondou to the Development List.

JP Sears, Relievers Combine On Two-Hitter For Chihuahuas

Left-handed starter JP Sears and three relievers combined on a two-hitter, while Jason Bowen hit a two-run homer as the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas shut down the Tacoma Rainiers 4-1 for third straight win.

Sears, who had given up two or more runs in all six of his starts this year for a 7.00 ERA, allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks with a season-high eight strikeouts. Right-handers Garrett Hawkins, Logan Gillaspie and David Morgan combined for four perfect innings of relief, striking out four to complete the stellar game by the pitching staff. Chihuahuas pitchers retired the final 16 batters of the game.

Bowen was in the middle of the Chihuahuas' offense. He led off the bottom of the first with a hard ground single to left, was bunted to second by Samad Taylor and went to third on Will Wagner's fly to right. Pablo Reyes then laid down a bunt toward the third baseman on which no play was made, easily scoring Bowen. The single extended Reyes' on-base streak to all 25 games he has played this season, the fourth-longest active streak in Triple-A. In the second, Anthony Vilar had a two-out single to center and Bowen cranked his eighth homer of the season, a blast to center that made it 3-0.

Tacoma got its lone run in the top of the fourth after a leadoff double, a flyout and a run-scoring grounder that was booted by second baseman Clay Dungan. The only other hit Sears allowed was a game-opening single. El Paso made it 4-1 in the seventh as Vilar and Bowen drew one-out walks and Wagner a two-out walk to load the bases. A wild pitch plated Vilar.

Mason McCoy's career-best 14-game hitting streak came to an end as he went 0-for-2 with a walk and a sac bunt.

Bullpen Falters After Jagger Haynes' Solid Start In Missions' Loss

Despite a good start from left-hander Jagger Haynes, the Double-A San Antonio Missions gave up a decisive four-run seventh inning in a 6-2 loss to the Midland RockHounds.

Haynes, Padres Mission's No. 7 prospect, allowed two runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in six innings. He gave up a run in the first with two outs by issuing two walks sandwiched around a single before giving up an RBI single. The other run came in the third via a single and RBI double to the first two hitters.

The Missions came back in the second. Luis Verdugo singled and Carson Tucker doubled before Kai Murphy's RBI groundout. Ethan Salas then tied it with a sacrifice fly to medium center.

Once Haynes left, the SkyCarp jumped on the Missions' bullpen. Left-hander Omar Cruz gave up a single, a walk and two steals before a go-ahead two-run double that one-hopped the wall in right-center. Right-hander Johan Moreno relieved Cruz, getting a strikeout before hitting the next batter and giving up another two-run double off the wall in left-center for a 6-2 advantage.

The Missions were limited to five hits, including four in six innings off RockHounds left-hander Wei-En Lin, who struck out 10.

Carson Montgomery Stellar Again As TinCaps Edge SkyCarp

Right-hander Carson Montgomery turned in a second straight scoreless outing and Zach Evans hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning as the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps topped the Beloit SkyCarp 3-1.

Evans, who had one RBI in the season's first 18 games before driving in three in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, came up big again in the eighth inning. Tied 1-1, Lamar King Jr. drew a leadoff walk and Jake Cunningham singled to right, with Cunnningham taking second when the throw went to third. Kavares Tears tried a safety squeeze, but his bunt went right back to the pitcher, who threw to first for the out. Evans then grounded a 3-2 pitch up the middle past a drawn-in infield that easily scored both runners to put the TinCaps up 3-1.

Tears doubled in the TinCaps' first run in the bottom of the sixth inning after Beloit took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning.

Meanwhile, Montgomery, the Padres' 11th-round pick in 2023, pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits while walking one and striking out five. Montgomery had a nearly identical outing last week against the South Bend Cubs, going five scoreless. He now hasn't allowed a run in 11⅔ innings, lowering his ERA to 1.64 in five starts.

Left-hander Javier Chacon took over in the sixth and allowed a run on one hit and two walks with a strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning. Right-hander Will Varmette had a run-scoring wild pitch to the first batter he faced, but then combined with left-hander Igor Gil, right-hander Kleiber Olmedo and right-handed closer Clay Edmondson to not allow a hit over the final 3⅔ innings, although each did issue a walk and for striking out a total of six batters. Edmondson notched his sixth save in as many chances and didn't allow a run in his eighth straight game covering 10 innings.

Storm Quieted By 66ers; Bryan Balzer Rebounds After Rough First

Ryan Wideman returned to the starting lineup with a pair of hits, but the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm was stifled by the Inland Empire 66ers 4-1. For Wideman, who didn't start the first two games of the series, it was his 11th multi-hit game of the season. He also walked and scored.

But the rest of the Storm managed just three hits by the three 66ers pitchers, who retired the final eight hitters of the game.

Inland Empire scored twice in the bottom of the first against Storm starter Bryan Balzer, who allowed two singles and a two-out two-run double. Balzer was really good from there, allowing just one more hit and finishing two two walks and five strikeouts in a career-high six innings.

The Storm got its only run in the fourth. Wideman had a leadoff walk, went to second on a groundout and scored on Luke Cantwell's opposite-field single to left to make it 2-1. The 66ers added two insurance runs in the eighth on a walk, a single, a stolen base and a two-run single for a 4-1 lead.

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Kash Mayfield: DNP
2. Ethan Salas: 0-for-3, 1 RBI, 2 K
3. Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP
4. Bradgley Rodriguez: DNP
5. Humberto Cruz: DNP
6. Miguel Mendez: DNP
7. Ty Harvey: DNP
8. Jorge Quintana: 1-for-4
9. Kale Fountain: DNP
10. Ryan Wideman: 2-for-3, BB, R, SB, K
11. Jagger Haynes: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
12. Lamar King Jr.: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB, K
13. Romeo Sanabria: 1-for-4
14. Truitt Madonna: 0-for-4, K
15. Michael Salina: DNP
16. Garrett Hawkins: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, H
17. Kavares Tears: 1-for-4, 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K
18. Deivid Coronil: DNP
19. Francis Pena: DNP
20. Bryan Balzer: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L

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