Month: June 2021

CJ Abrams hurt as Missions lose 8th straight

San Antonio Missions shortstop CJ Abrams is helped off the field in the ninth inning Wednesday night, June 30, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions shortstop CJ Abrams is helped off the field in the ninth inning Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.
San Antonio Missions star CJ Abrams left Wednesday’s game in the top of the ninth inning as the team lost to the Corpus Christi Hooks 4-0 at Wolff Stadium.

Abrams is one of the top prospects in the San Diego Padres organization. The 20-year-old shortstop collided with second baseman Eguy Rosario on a ground ball up the middle. Abrams was not putting any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the field.

The Missions’ offense managed only two hits on the night. It was the eighth-straight loss for the Missions, who were swept in their recent six-game road series against the Frisco RoughRiders.

There were some positive signs from the San Antonio pitching. Starter Aaron Leasher (4-3) took the loss, but pitched five innings and allowed one run on six hits with five strikeouts.

Former big league pitcher Joe Beimel made his season debut, going one scoreless inning in relief in the eighth. Beimel last pitched in the majors with the Seattle Mariners in 2015.

Joe Beimel made his season debut on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, with the San Antonio Missions at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Joe Beimel made his season debut on Wednesday with the Missions at Wolff Stadium.

Missions center fielder Jose Azocar photo gallery

Jose Azocar of the San Antonio Missions points to a teammate after scoring against the Midland RockHounds on June 11, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jose Azocar of the Missions points to a teammate after scoring against Midland on June 11, at Wolff Stadium.
Jose Azocar has settled into his spot as the San Antonio Missions’ leadoff hitter and center fielder.

The 25-year-old from Venezuela is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, batting 12-of-28 (.429) during that stretch including a home run Thursday night in Frisco.

Azocar is batting .276 on the season and has a .361 on-base percentage with three home runs, 18 RBIs and 21 walks in 44 games.

He was signed as a free agent to a minor league contract by the San Diego Padres in November 2020 after being in the Detroit Tigers Organization.

Flying Chanclas’ home series against Brazos Valley

Kolby Lunsford from O'Connor High School and A&M-Kingsville was the starting pitcher for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio on Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Kolby Lunsford from O’Connor High School and A&M-Kingsville was the starting pitcher for the Flying Chanclas on Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium.
The Flying Chanclas de San Antonio have the best record in the Texas Collegiate League at 12-3.

The Chanclas, who are part of the San Antonio Missions organization, are currently playing a five-game homestand at Wolff Stadium.

The Brazos Valley Bombers beat the Chanclas 6-4 on Tuesday. The Chanclas and Bombers play again tonight and Thursday. The Chanclas continue the homestand with Friday and Saturday games against the Baton Rouge Rougarou.

San Antonio Missions starting pitcher Caleb Boushley photo gallery

Caleb Boushley made eight starts for the San Antonio Missions this season before being called up to Triple-A. - photo by Joe Alexander
Caleb Boushley made eight starts for the Missions this season before being called up to Triple-A.
Caleb Boushley earned the win for the El Paso Chihuahuas on Wednesday in his first start in Triple-A.

Boushley opened the season with the San Antonio Missions and was with the team until being promoted to Triple-A this week.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander made eight starts for the Missions and recorded a 2-3 record and 3.79 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings.

Boushley picked in the 33rd round of the 2017 draft by the San Diego Padres.

UTSA’s Chris Shull plays in San Antonio in summer league

UTSA's Chris Shull playing for the Brazos Valley Bombers against the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Chris Shull playing for the Brazos Valley Bombers against the Flying Chanclas on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.
UTSA’s Chris Shull was in action for the Brazos Valley Bombers on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium in Texas Collegiate League action.

Shull played left field and had two hits and two runs as the Bombers beat the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio 6-4.

The 6-foot right-hander from MacArthur High School is listed as a pitcher on both the UTSA and Bombers rosters. He is batting .375 in five Bombers games. He also pitched in three games in relief and has not allowed in a run in 4 1/3 innings while striking out seven.

Missions reliever Jose Quezada photo gallery

San Antonio Missions closer Jose Quezada pitching against the Frisco RoughRiders on May 23, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions closer Jose Quezada pitching against the Frisco RoughRiders on May 23 at Wolff Stadium.
San Antonio Missions relief pitcher Jose Quezada was the team’s primary closer when he was promoted to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas on Monday.

Quezada recorded eight saves in 15 appearances with the Missions this season. He had a 3.93 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 18.1 innings.

The 5-foot-9 right-hander from Mexico was a 10th-round pick by the San Diego Padres in the 2018 draft out of Texas Tech.

Missions infielder Kyle Overstreet photo gallery

Kyle Overstreet playing first base for the San Antonio Missions against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Kyle Overstreet playing first base for the Missions against Northwest Arkansas on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Kyle Overstreet is in his third season playing Double-A baseball and his second stint with the San Antonio Missions.

Listed as a catcher on MILB.com, Overstreet has played mostly first base this season and has also seen action at third base and designated hitter. He is batting .267 with 22 RBIs, two home runs and six doubles in 38 games. He had hits in three of last four games in the Missions’ recent home series against Northwest Arkansas.

He batted .272 with nine home runs for the Missions in 2018 and .259 with seven home runs for Amarillo in 2019.

Overstreet was a 14th-round draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 2015 as a college player out of Alabama.

Missions split series with Naturals

CJ Abrams doubled for the Missions' only extra-base hit of the game and drove in one of the team's two runs. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the Missions 8-2 on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
CJ Abrams doubled for the Missions’ only extra-base hit of the game and drove in one of the team’s two runs. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the Missions 8-2 on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 8-2 on Sunday at Wolff Stadium.

The teams split the six-game series 3-3.

The Missions managed only four hits Sunday. CJ Abrams had an RBI double and Kyle Overstreet had an RBI single. Jose Azocar and Allen Cordoba both singled and scored.

Missions starting pitcher Reggie Lawson left the game with two outs in the first and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. Dylan Rheault finished the first inning and took care of the second.

Adrian Martinez took over on the mound in the third inning and pitched five innings. He allowed three runs on seven hits. Martinez has been a starter for most of the season but has come on in relief in all three of Martinez’s starts.

Missions outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who is out on the injured list, worked as the first base coach for part of the game.

The Missions are off on Monday and open a six-game road series against the Frisco RoughRiders on Tuesday. Frisco leads the Double-A Central League South Division with the Missions in second place.

Jack Suwinski, Missions rally past Naturals

San Antonio Missions left fielder Jack Suwinski drove in two runs including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-5 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions left fielder Jack Suwinski drove in two runs including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-5 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Jack Suwinski had three hits and drove in San Antonio’s first and last runs of the game as the Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 6-5 on Saturday night at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions wore uniforms commemorating the San Antonio Black Aces of the Negro Leagues.

Northwest Arkansas led 3-0 in the middle of the sixth inning and 5-3 in the middle of the seventh. The Missions did all their scoring in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings with three runs in each frame.

Suwinski drove in Eguy Rosario with the Missions’ first run in the bottom of the sixth. Dwanya Williams-Sutton drove in Kyle Overstreet and Suwinski later in the inning to tie the game 3-3.

A Naturals error in the bottom of the seventh allowed Rosario to reach base and Chandler Seagle to score. Overstreet singled in Rosario from second to tie the game 5-5. Chris Givin pinch ran for Overstreet and Suwinski drove him in.

Suwinski’s game-winning double was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Missions, who finished with nine hits.

Reliever Nick Kuzia entered the game in the seventh. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings and got his first win of the season in 10 relief appearances. Jose Quezada pitched the ninth inning and picked up his eighth save of the season.

The Missions have won their last two games and seven of their last nine. The six-game Missions-Naturals series concludes Sunday with a 2:05 p.m. start.

CJ Abrams, Aaron Leasher help Missions get back on track to beat Naturals

San Antonio Missions shortstop CJ Abrams had four hits against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio Missions shortstop CJ Abrams had four hits against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Friday at Wolff Stadium.
The San Antonio Missions combined strong starting pitching from Aaron Leasher with 17 hits to beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 14-6 on Friday at Wolff Stadium.

Leasher (4-2) pitched 5.0 innings. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out five to earn the win.

Highly regarded San Diego Padres prospect CJ Abrams led the Missions on offense with four hits, including two doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored.

Dwanya Williams-Sutton, in his second game with the Missions, had four hits and an RBI and scored three runs. Those were his first hits and first runs scored above the Class A level.

Eguy Rosario had two hits, including his second triple of the season, and three RBIs. He is batting .333 (12-of-36) in the current homestand.

Chandler Seagle had two hits, both doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored.

The Missions had been on a hot streak before losing the previous two games against the Naturals. The six-game series continues Saturday night and concludes with a 2:05 p.m. game Sunday.