{"id":150767,"date":"2025-07-04T06:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T06:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/150767\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T06:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T06:41:12","slug":"padres-down-on-the-farm-july-3-mendezs-9-ks-in-fw-lockridge-homers-for-el-paso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/150767\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres Down on the Farm: July 3 (Mendez’s 9 K’s in FW\/Lockridge homers for El Paso)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Credit: EVT Sports (Farm Report)<\/p>\n

Padres minor league affiliates went 2-1 on Thursday, with a game being suspended due to rain<\/p>\n

Here is our daily recap of games played<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won 7-4 ) (44-40 on the season)<\/p>\n

Nate Mondou<\/a> \u2013 2-for-4, RBI, 2 RBI Singles<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Brandon Lockridge<\/a> \u2013 1-for-4, HR, BB<\/p>\n

Wes Benjamin<\/a> \u2013 4.o IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K (85 pitches \u2013 53 strikes)<\/p>\n

The Chihuahuas faced Ryan Feltner<\/a>, making the final start of his rehab assignment for Colorado. El Paso jumped on him early, drawing two quick walks and scoring on a liner up the middle off Nate Mondou\u2019s bat. For Mondou, it wouldn\u2019t be his only RBI knock of the game. Before Feltner exited, Brandon Lockridge tagged him with an Albuquerque-air-aided homer that just snuck out over the left-center gap.<\/p>\n

Bye bye baseballBrandon Lockridge has his first Triple A homerun with the Chihuahuas pic.twitter.com\/RAKSzarJLU<\/a>\u2014 El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) July 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Wes Benjamin made the start for El Paso and started strong, retiring the first five batters he faced. He allowed a homer to Braxton Fulford<\/a>, but turned in a solid four-inning outing. Francis Pe\u00f1a relieved him in the fifth and fanned four of the nine batters faced. However, a homer from Aaron Schunk<\/a> and a throwing error by Luis Campusano<\/a> allowed Albuquerque to tie it at 4 in the sixth.<\/p>\n

El Paso retook the lead in the seventh, thanks to an impressive two-out rally. Clay Dungan<\/a>, Luis Campusano, Yonathan Perlaza<\/a>, and Nate Mondou all piled on singles to take a 6-4 lead back. Then, a throwing error behind the plate allowed Perlaza to come in and score the seventh run.\u00a0 Afterwards, Alek Jacob<\/a> and Jose Espada<\/a> turned in scoreless holds, and Sean Reynolds<\/a> locked down the save. The trio combined for seven strikeouts across the three innings.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Antonio Missions (Game Suspended, Corpus Christi leading 2-0 through 5) (43-34 on the season)<\/p>\n

Wyatt Hoffman<\/a> \u2013 1-for-1<\/p>\n

Romeo Sanabria<\/a> \u2013 1-for-2<\/p>\n

Jagger Haynes<\/a> \u2013 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 6 K (90 pitches \u2013 50 strikes)<\/p>\n

The Missions and Hooks were only able to complete four and a half innings before the weather took its course. The steady Jagger Haynes made his 16th start of the season and collected a pair of strikeouts in the first. The scoring came in the fourth inning, as a leadoff single proved costly when Garret Guillemette<\/a> homered in the following at-bat. Miraculously, Haynes\u2019s five walks didn\u2019t come back to haunt him on the scoreboard. The Hooks failed to capitalize on two innings in which he walked a pair of batters.<\/p>\n

Marcos Casta\u00f1on<\/a> and Romeo Sanabria each collected singles in the second inning, but San Antonio failed to score. Wyatt Hoffman\u2019s liner up the middle served as the Missions third hit before the game was suspended.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 2-0 vs. Lansing) (39-38 on the season)<\/p>\n

Jack Costello<\/a> \u2013 3-for-4, Double<\/p>\n

Leo De Vries<\/a> \u2013 1-for-4, RBI Double<\/p>\n

Miguel Mendez<\/a> \u2013 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K (89 pitches \u2013 57 strikes)<\/p>\n

After leading off the contest with two walks, Mendez turned in his best start of the season. He finished with nine strikeouts\u2014 five coming on the slider, three on the fastball, and one on the changeup. Mendez retired eight straight batters after allowing a double in the second inning, dominating all day with high-voltage stuff. Mendez sat 97-98 on his fastball and 86-89 on his slider. He lowered his ERA to 1.87\u00a0 on the season, moving into the top 10 in the Midwest League in ERA (min. 30 IP).<\/p>\n

Leo De Vries continued a strong week of play, getting the TinCaps on the board with an RBI double in the first. Working a 3-1 count, De Vries got a cookie of a 74 MPH curveball and powered it off the wall in right field. Brandon Butterworth<\/a> also continued recent success, following up yesterday\u2019s home run with a double today. Afterwards, Ryan Jackson<\/a> plated Butterworth on a single in the fifth, scoring the TinCaps\u2019 second run of the game.<\/p>\n

Leo De Vries doing Leo De Vries things pic.twitter.com\/HDgD03z4Kd<\/a>\u2014 Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) July 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Jack Costello was the standout offensively, collecting three hits in four at-bats. Costello singled to left twice and lined a double the other way to cap off his performance. Although he didn\u2019t come around to score, Costello put together a tough, eight-pitch at-bat before hitting his double. Lastly, the Fort Wayne bullpen work was superb, as Bodi Rascon<\/a> and Cole Palpham were able to secure the win for Mendez. Rascon pitched two innings and Palpham recorded the save, with neither allowing a hit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 7-1 to Inland Empire) (35-42 on the season)<\/p>\n

Zach Evans<\/a> \u2013 2-for-2, RBI Single, BB<\/p>\n

Victor Figueroa<\/a> \u2013 1-for-3, Double, Run Scored<\/p>\n

Boston Bateman<\/a> \u2013 4.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (92 pitches \u2013 62 strikes)<\/p>\n

Bateman\u2019s 13th start of the year got off to a wild start in the first inning. He struck out Johan Macias<\/a>\u00a0before allowing back-to-back hits that plated the game\u2019s first run. Afterwards, third baseman Zach Evans caught Jorge Ruiz<\/a> in a rundown between third and home, with Lamar King<\/a> Jr. eventually chasing him down for the out. Four pitches later, and Colin Summerhill<\/a> singled to center, but a great throw by Ryan Wilson<\/a> in center gunned down Harold Coll<\/a> at third to end the inning. Bateman finished the night with five strikeouts<\/p>\n

Zach Evans and Ryan Wilson made a couple of incredible plays to limit the damage to one run in the first frame!!!#EmbraceTheStorm<\/a>?\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/d73dhsXdTf<\/a>\u2014 Lake Elsinore Storm (@Storm_Baseball) July 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Zach Evans scored the only run for the Storm on a single past the first baseman that plated Victor Figueroa. Evans put together a solid night at the dish, collecting two hits and a walk. After that, Lake Elsinore\u2019s offense faltered, striking out nine AND COUNTING times as a unit. The wheels fell off in the fifth, as Adam Conrad<\/a> allowed back-to-back two-out singles that plated four total runs. Inland Empire added a run on a groundout in the sixth and scored two more in the seventh. The inning was highlighted by a wild triple by Harold Coll to center field.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

ACL Padres (Lost 13-4 vs. ACL Mariners) (10-34 on the season)<\/p>\n

Kale Fountain<\/a> \u2013 0-for-1, 3 BB, Run Scored<\/p>\n

Luis De Leon<\/a> 0-for-1, 3 BB, Run Scored<\/p>\n

Adan Moreno<\/a> \u2013 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K<\/p>\n

The ACL Padres were only able to string together four total hits, with none of them for extra bases. However, the group was able to work a whopping 10 walks in the contest, with Kale Fountain and Luis De Leon combining for six of them. On the mound, Adan Moreno was sharp in his three frames of work, with the exception of a home run allowed to Dustin Crenshaw<\/a> on the second at-bat of the game. Meanwhile, the ACL Mariners broke through against Winyer Chourio<\/a> and Ruben Salinas<\/a>, who combined to allow 10 of the 13 runs scored. The duo struggled to miss bats, striking out just one of the 12 batters they faced.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

DSL Padres Gold (Won 7-5 vs. DSL Tampa Bay) (13-9 on the season)<\/p>\n

Moises Valdez<\/a> \u2013 4-for-5, Double, 2 Runs Scored<\/p>\n

Fabian Alcantara<\/a> \u2013 1-for-4, Two-Run Single<\/p>\n

Jesus Castro<\/a> \u2013 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 6 K<\/p>\n

Moises Valdez created tons of traffic on the basepaths, hitting safely four times coming around to score twice. He led off the contest with a double and went the opposite way twice to right field for singles. Starter Jesus Castro racked up six strikeouts, including two in the the fourth inning, as he punched out Aaron Pinero<\/a> to end his day. Costly errors by Eduarlin Tejeda<\/a> and Jose Verdugo<\/a> limited Castro from a cleaner outing, but the right-hander managed to allow just one run on four hits. Favian Alcantara came up big in the eighth, knocking the go-ahead hit with two on and two out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

DSL Padres Brown (Lost 8-7 vs. DSL Orioles Orange) (13-9 on the season)<\/p>\n

Cristian Benavides<\/a> \u2013 1-for-3, RBI Double, Run Scored<\/p>\n

Darian Castillo<\/a> \u2013 2-for-3, 2 Walks, Run Scored<\/p>\n

Wilfred Paca<\/a> \u2013 3.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K<\/p>\n

Wilfred Paca struggled to work efficiently, failing to record a clean inning. He was ambushed early after retiring the leadoff man, giving up a double and single to score the game\u2019s first run. Meanwhile, Darian Castillo had an ethical day at the dish, reaching four times, proving to be a tough out all game. Castillo has been enjoying a strong start to the year, batting .341 with an OPS over .800. Down 7-1, the DSL Padres rallied for a six-run inning, compiling three walks, three singles, and a double to tie the game. Ultimately, a wild pitch by Randoll Cruz<\/a> in the bottom of the ninth allowed the DSL Orioles to walk it off, 8-7.<\/p>\n

\"Willy<\/p>\n

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a combination of around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X, and daily newsletters on the TikTok platform. Willy passionately studies Journalism at San Dieguito Academy, and is working to become billingual in Spanish to assist in communicating with Latin-born players and coaches.<\/p>\n

\t\tContinue Reading<\/p>\n

\t