Luis Patino was as good as he’s ever been Wednesday.
The 19-year-old right-hander opened high Single-A Lake Elsinore’s 5-0 win with five perfect innings and finished with three hits scattered over a career-high 8 1/3 innings.
Patino didn’t walk a batter, tied a career-high with nine strikeouts and threw 72 of his 94 pitches for strikes.
Patino is ranked No. 4 among Padres prospects and No. 33 overall by MLB.com. He is 6-8 with a 2.63 ERA, 105 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP in 82 innings in the California League. Opponents are hitting .