Padres Minor League Report: Miguel Mendez's Strong Start Drives Missions To Win

Three of the four San Diego Padres affiliates grabbed wins Thursday. Triple-A El Paso's Mason McCoy slugged two homers, but the Chihuahuas fell 10-9. Miguel Mendez tossed five innings, yielding one run on two hits with six strikeouts, as Double-A San Antonio topped Midland 4-1. High-A Fort Wayne belted five home runs in an 8-3 rout of Lake County, with Jake Cunningham hitting two. Low-A Lake Elsinore pounded out 13 hits in an 11-7 road win at Stockton, powered by Bryan Balzer's five innings.

Padres Minor League Transactions

• El Paso Chihuahuas placed LHP Marco Gonzales on the 7-day injured list.
• El Paso Chihuahuas activated C Colton Vincent.
• C Rodolfo Durán roster status changed by El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Padres optioned IF Sung-Mun Song to El Paso Chihuahuas.
• HP Andrew Thurman assigned to El Paso Chihuahuas from San Antonio Missions.
• San Antonio Missions activated RHP Manuel Castro.
• Fort Wayne TinCaps activated LHP C.J. Widger from the 7-day injured list.
• RHP Matthew Watson assigned to Fort Wayne TinCaps from ACL Padres.
• RHP Vicarte Domingo assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from Fort Wayne TinCaps.

McCoy's Two-Homer Night Not Enough In Chihuahuas' Loss

The El Paso Chihuahuas dropped a 10-9 decision to the Round Rock Express despite a pair of home runs from Mason McCoy. After pushing across a run on a Jose Miranda ground ball in the top of the second, McCoy followed with a two-run blast to left that scored Nate Mondou and pushed the lead to 3-0. El Paso extended it to 6-2 in the third on back-to-back run-scoring singles from Mondou and Nick Solak. Round Rock answered with two runs in the second, five more in the third and another two in the fourth for a 9-6 lead.

Solak singled home another run in the fifth, and, after a Round Rock homer in the seventh, McCoy launched his second homer of the night in the eighth, a two-run shot to left-center that pulled the Chihuahuas within one. McCoy finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs, and Solak drove in three runs on two hits.

Griffin Canning, on a rehab assignment from the Padres, took the loss, allowing six runs, two earned, on one hit in 2⅔ innings. He walked four and struck out six, surrendering one home run. Yuki Matsui, also on a rehab assignment, pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.

 

Mendez Dominates As Missions Cruise Past RockHounds

The San Antonio Missions beat the Midland RockHounds 4-1, fueled by a sharp outing from Miguel Mendez and timely hitting across the lineup. Mendez worked five innings and allowed one earned run on two hits, walking two and striking out six to earn the win.

Braedon Karpathios opened the scoring in the second inning with a run-scoring triple to center. In the third, Luis Verdugo doubled, advanced to third, and scored on a Romeo Sanabria sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. Midland pulled within 2-1 in the bottom of the third, but Ethan Salas answered in the fifth with an RBI double to left that plated Luis Verdugo. San Antonio tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when Verdugo lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Ryan Jackson. Salas finished 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI, two walks, and a stolen base. Verdugo went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and scored twice. Jackson added two hits, a walk, a double, two stolen bases, and a run.

Eric Yost closed out the win with four scoreless innings, allowing one hit, walking three, and striking out three to collect the save. San Antonio stole three bases, drew six walks, and stranded 20 runners as a team.

TinCaps Launch Five Homers In Rout Of Captains

The Fort Wayne TinCaps slugged their way to an 8-3 road win over the Lake County Captains, connecting for five home runs, including two from Jake Cunningham. Fort Wayne fell behind 1-0 in the first, but Lamar King Jr. tied the game in the second with a solo shot to left. The Captains regained the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the second, and the score held until the sixth, when Rosman Verdugo and Alex McCoy hit back-to-back solo homers to put the TinCaps ahead 3-2.

Cunningham padded the lead with a solo blast to left-center in the seventh. After Lake County trimmed the gap to 4-3 in the eighth, Fort Wayne blew it open in the ninth. King doubled home Kavares Tears, and Cunningham followed with a three-run homer that scored King and Jack Costello. Cunningham finished 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI. King Jr. went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two RBI, two runs, and a stolen base.

Carson Montgomery made the start and delivered four innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs with three walks and four strikeouts, surrendering two home runs. Tucker Musgrove, in his season debut, Braian Salazar, Kleiber Olmedo, and Igor Gil followed in relief, with Salazar notching the save and Musgrove collecting the win.

Storm Pound Ports Behind 11-Run Attack

Following back-to-back extra-innings losses, the Lake Elsinore Storm topped the Stockton Ports 11-7, erupting for a six-run second inning and collecting 13 hits. Bradley Frye went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Truitt Madonna added two doubles and an RBI. Kerrington Cross finished 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, a walk, and two runs.

Madonna got the Storm on the board in the first with an RBI double that plated Frye. Stockton answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to lead 2-1. Lake Elsinore responded with seven runs in the second. Conner Westenburg drew a bases-loaded walk to score Jose Verdugo, Ryan Wideman doubled home Victor Duarte and Cross, Frye singled in Westenburg and Wideman, and Kale Fountain capped the frame with a two-run homer to left-center that scored Madonna, pushing the lead to 8-2.

Justin DeCriscio drilled a two-run homer in the fifth and Cross followed one out later with a solo shot to make it 11-4.

Bryan Balzer earned the win, working five innings while allowing four earned runs on six hits with two walks, five strikeouts, and one home run. Javier Chacon followed with two innings, striking out six.  

Padres Top-20 Prospect Performance

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

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