Month: June 2023

Newcomers Jared Kollar, Kervin Pichardo carry Missions past RoughRiders

Kervin Pichardo put the Missions in front 3-0 with his second home run of the season. The San Antonio Missions beat the Frisco RoughRiders 10-3 on Friday, July 30, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Kervin Pichardo put the Missions in front 3-0 with his second home run of the season.
Jared Kollar pitched in his very first game in a San Antonio Missions uniform on Friday night at Wolff Stadium.

Outfielder Kervin Pichardo was a much more experienced member of the team, playing in his ninth game with the Missions.

The young twosome helped the Missions build an early 4-0 lead on the way to beating the Frisco RoughRiders 10-3.

Pichardo hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning and the Missions led the rest of the way.

Kollar held Frisco scoreless the first four innings. He was one out away from being in a position to get a win before giving up two runs in the top of the fifth and being replaced.

Pichardo finished the game with three hits including a double and had six RBIs and one run.

Juan Fernandez had three hits including a double, one walk and scored twice. Michael De La Cruz and Brandon Valenzuela both had two hits. Valenzuela was in only his third game since being promoted to Double-A and those were his first two hits with the Missions.

Relief pitcher Justin Lopez took over for Kollar and went 2 1/3 innings. He earned the win and allowed one run, two hits and one walk with one strikeout. James Bourque pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Jason Blanchard a scoreless ninth to finish off the game.

Jared Kollar held Frisco scoreless through the first four innings. The San Antonio Missions beat the Frisco RoughRiders 10-3 on Friday, July 30, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jared Kollar held Frisco scoreless through the first four innings.

Ray-Patrick Didder has key hit as Missions rally past RoughRiders; Blake Cederlind wins in San Antonio debut

Ray-Patrick Didder's two-run single in the sixth inning put the Missions in front for good. The San Antonio Missions beat the Frisco RoughRiders 3-2 on Thursday, June 29, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ray-Patrick Didder’s two-run single in the sixth inning put the Missions in front for good.
Ray-Patrick Didder drove in two crucial runs in the San Antonio Missions’ 3-2 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

Didder’s two-run single was part of a three-run Missions rally in the sixth inning. His hit brought in Michael De La Cruz with the go-ahead run and Juan Fernandez with a run that gave the Missions a 3-1 cushion they would need.

Daniel Johnson led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. He advanced to second when De La Cruz walked, then scored the Missions’ first run on a hit by Fernandez to tie the game 1-1.

Frisco took the first lead of the game with a run in the top of the third inning. After the Missions went ahead 3-1 in the sixth inning, the Rough Riders made it close with a run in the top of the ninth.

Relief pitcher Blake Cederlind made his San Antonio Missions debut and got the win. He pitched the top of the sixth inning and allowed no runs, one hit, two walks and two strikeouts.

Missions starter Daniel Camarena had a strong outing but got no decision. He went five innings and allowed one run on three hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Jose Quezada pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings for the Missions. Alek Jacob pitched the ninth inning, allowed one run, and got his fifth save of the season.

Justin Farmer also made his Missions debut and played in right field.

Daniel Johnson led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and scored the Missions' first run later in the inning. The San Antonio Missions beat the Frisco RoughRiders 3-2 on Thursday, June 29, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Daniel Johnson led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and scored the Missions’ first run later in the inning.

Missions fall to RoughRiders; Brandon Valenzuela, Raul Brito make Double-A debuts

Relief pitcher Raul Brito made his Missions debut after being promoted from Fort Wayne. The Frisco RoughRiders beat the San Antonio Missions 4-2 on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Relief pitcher Raul Brito made his Missions debut and threw two scoreless innings after being promoted from Fort Wayne.
The San Antonio Missions managed only four hits in a 4-2 loss to the Frisco RoughRiders on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.

Two players made their Missions debuts at a time when the rosters are being shuffled.

Raul Brito is a right-handed pitcher who was promoted from the Class A Fort Wayne TinCaps. He pitched the sixth and seventh innings without allowing a run and gave up two hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Brandon Valenzuela is a catcher also promoted from Fort Wayne. He was in Wednesday’s lineup as a designated hitter. The 22-year-old switch-hitter went 0-for-2 with a walk. He reached base in the third inning on an error on a ball hit to third. He walked in the sixth and grounded out to second in the eighth.

Juan Fernandez had two of the Missions’ four hits.

Ray-Patrick Didder had an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning to drive in Ripken Reyes with the Missions’ first run.

Ripken Reyes led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single and eventually scored the Mission’ second run on a ground ball by Cole Cummings.

Missions starting pitcher Efrain Contreras took the loss. He went five innings and gave up two runs – both in the first inning and only one earned. He allowed a total of five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

The Missions lost some familiar players on their roster to promotions to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas:

– Outfielder Tirso Ornelas. He batted .273 with 9 home runs and 46 RBIs in 67 games with the Missions this season.

– Right-handed pitcher Nick Hernandez. He had a 3-1 record and 3.18 ERA in 24 relief appearances with 43 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.

– Left-handed pitcher Aaron Leasher. He had a 1-0 record and 0.73 ERA in 10 relief appearances with 9 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings.

– Right-handed pitcher Nolan Watson. He had a 3-3 record, 4.08 ERA in 14 games, 12 starts.

Brandon Valenzuela made his Missions debut and got on base twice via an error and a walk. The Frisco RoughRiders beat the San Antonio Missions 4-2 on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Brandon Valenzuela made his Missions debut and got on base twice via an error and a walk.

Missions roster gets makeover as baseball draft looms

Chandler Seagle. The Midland RockHounds beat the San Antonio Missions 10-8 on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio Missions catcher Chandler Seagle.
The San Antonio Missions lost four players over the weekend – at least temporarily – and added reinforcements as the San Diego Padres rebalance their minor league rosters with the baseball draft now less than two weeks away.

On Sunday, the Missions placed pitchers Brian Gonzalez and Michel Baez on the 7-day injured list, pitcher Jose Espada on the temporarily inactive list and catcher Chandler Seagle on the 7-day injured list.

Michel Baez. The San Antonio Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 4-3 in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Michel Baez – Missions
– Baez had a 3-0 record and 6.28 ERA in 12 relief appearances with the Missions. Earlier in the season he made seven relief appearances with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.


Brian Gonzalez of the San Antonio Missions and San Diego Padres organization pitching against Monclova of the Mexican league in an exhibition game on Saturday, May 1, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Brian Gonzalez – Missions
– Gonzalez appeared in six games with the Missions and made three starts. He had a 6.14 ERA and 2-0 record.


San Antonio reliever Jose Espada pitched four innings and held Frisco hitless and scoreless over that stretch in the RockHounds' 8-1 victory over the Missions on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jose Espada – Missions
– Espada pitched in 19 games for the Missions and made five starts. He had a 0-2 record with a 3.27 ERA.

– Seagle went on the injured list retroactive to June 24. He was in his third season with the Missions. He was batting .206 this season with one home run and 13 RBIs in 40 games.

The Missions added five players who should be with them for their six-game series against the Frisco RoughRiders, which opens Wednesday night at Wolff Stadium.

Pitchers Raul Brito, Jared Kollar, catcher Brandon Valenzuela and outfielder Justin Farmer were promoted from the High Class A Fort Wayne TinCaps. Pitcher Blake Cederlind moved up from the Arizona Complex league. All of the new Missions pitchers are right-handers.

– Cederlind had a 1-1 record and a 13.50 ERA in seven relief appearances this summer in Arizona.

– Brito had a 2-0 record with one save and 2.45 ERA in 10 relief appearances at Fort Wayne.

– Kollar had a 5-0 record and one save with a 1.67 ERA in nine appearances including seven starts at Fort Wayne.

– Valenzuela batted .279 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 39 games for Fort Wayne. He is listed as the No. 29 prospect in the Padres organization (via MLB.com).

– Farmer batted .233 with three home runs and 28 RBIs in 64 games for Fort Wayne.

The baseball draft is Sunday, July 9 – Tuesday, July 11. The first round will be televised on ESPN and MLB Network at 6 p.m. (Central time) on July 9. The remaining rounds will be on MLB Network.

RockHounds win pitcher’s duel with Missions

Missions pitcher Bobby Milacki tosses the ball to first baseman Cole Cummings after fielding the ball on the right side of the infield. The Midland RockHounds beat the San Antonio Missions 2-1 on Saturday, June 24, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions pitcher Bobby Milacki tosses the ball to first baseman Cole Cummings after fielding the ball on the right side of the infield.
The Midland RockHounds beat the San Antonio Missions 2-1 Saturday at Wolff Stadium on a night when all the scoring happened in the ninth inning.

Midland’s Drew Swift had a two-run double in the top of the ninth.

Ripken Reyes scored the Missions’ only run in the bottom of the ninth. Reyes led off with a single, went to third on a Tirso Ornelas single and scored on a wild pitch.

San Antonio starting pitcher Jose Espada went four shutout innings and allowed two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Reliever Bobby Milacki pitched three scoreless innings and didn’t allow a hit or a walk with two strikeouts.

Kevin Kopps pitched the final two innings for the Missions and took the loss.

Midland starter Ryan Cusick pitched seven shutout innings and allowed two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

Tirso Ornelas drives in Jake Perez with winning run in Missions’ walk-off victory over RockHounds

The Missions celebrate their victory after Tirso Ornelas (second from right) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. The San Antonio Missions beat the Midland RockHounds 4-3 on a walk-off single by Tirso Ornelas in the ninth inning on Friday, June 23, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions celebrate their victory after Tirso Ornelas (second from right) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After going scoreless for the first six innings, the San Antonio Missions rallied to beat the Midland RockHounds 4-3 on Friday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions scored three times in the seventh to tie the game 3-3. They ended it in the bottom of the ninth. Jake Perez led off the ninth with a bunt single, went to second when Ripken Reyes was hit by a pitch and scored on a walk-off single to right field by Tirso Ornelas.

Ornelas had a run-scoring hit to tie the game in the seventh inning along with the game-winner in the ninth.

Midland took the lead by scoring twice in the first inning and once in the third. San Antonio relievers combined to pitch four scoreless innings to allow the Missions to get back in the game. Nick Hernandez pitched 1 2/3 scoreless, followed by Aaron Leasher going one inning. Jose Quezada pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and got the win.

Missions starter Daniel Camarena pitched five innings and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

The Missions bats came alive in the seventh inning with RBI singles by Juan Fernandez, Reyes and Ornelas.

Fernandez came in at catcher to start the third inning, replacing Chandler Seagle. Missions catcher Yorman Rodriguez is on the seven-day injured list, so if Seagle goes out with an injury, that would leave Fernandez and Michael De La Cruz to handle that position.

RockHounds’ home runs sink Missions

Pedro Castellanos had an RBI double in the fourth inning, went to third base on an error and scored on a passed ball. The Midland RockHounds beat the San Antonio Missions 10-8 on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Pedro Castellanos had an RBI double in the fourth inning, went to third base on an error and scored on a passed ball.
The Midland RockHounds hit three home runs to beat the San Antonio Missions 10-8 on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

Shane McGuire, Greg Deichmann and Lawrence Butler hit home runs for Midland. The RockHounds took the lead for good with four runs in the top of the seventh inning.

The Missions had 11 hits including two each from Ripken Reyes, Cole Cummings, Pedro Castellanos and Chandler Seagle. Castellanos and Seagle each had a double.

Efrain Contreras leads combined shutout, Tirso Ornelas homers as Missions clinch first-half title

Tirso Ornelas celebrates his third-inning home run. The San Antonio Missions beat the Midland RockHounds 5-0 on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at Wolff Stadium to clinch the first half Texas League South Division title. - photo by Joe Alexander
Tirso Ornelas celebrates his third-inning home run.
The San Antonio Missions combined shutout pitching with a rare Wolff Stadium home run to beat the Midland RockHounds 5-0 Wednesday and clinch the first-half Texas League South Division.

The Missions announced they will host Game 2 of the first round of the Texas League playoffs on Sept. 21 at Wolff Stadium.

San Antonio won five of its last seven games on the way to clinching first-half title. The Missions hit home runs in every game of that stretch. They kept it going Wednesday when Tirso Ornelas hit a two-run homer in the third inning to put the Missions up 3-0.

Missions starting pitcher Efrain Contreras combined with Kevin Kopps, Alek Jacob and Nick Hernandez to hold the RockHounds scoreless. Contreras pitched five innings and allowed three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts to earn the win. Missions pitchers finished with 15 strikeouts.

RockHounds ride big inning past Missions; Chandler Seagle homers, doubles

Chandler Seagle celebrates as he rounds the bases for his second-inning home run. The Midland RockHounds beat the San Antonio Missions 7-4 on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Chandler Seagle celebrates as he rounds the bases for his second-inning home run.
The Midland RockHounds scored five runs in the first inning on the way to beating the San Antonio Missions 7-4 on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.

The RockHounds had three hits and two walks in the first inning. The big blow was a three-run homer by Lazaro Armenteros.

The Missions’ scoring all came in the bottom of the second inning. Daniel Johnson and Juan Fernandez started the rally with a single and a walk, respectively. Chandler Seagle hit his first home run of the season. His two-run blast cut Midland’s lead to 5-4, but the Missions never scored again.

Seagle added a double in the fifth inning. He finished the night with two extra-base hits, two RBIs and a run scored. The Missions catcher also threw out two base runners trying to steal.

Seagle didn’t put up big offensive numbers early in the season but has been hot over his last eight games. He is hitting .358 over that stretch (11-of-31) with three doubles, a triple and a home run. He has raised his batting average 47 points in eight games.

Fernandez had two hits in the game, including a double, a scored once.

Though it was a tough night for some of the Missions pitchers, Jose Quezada and Justin Lopez had solid efforts without giving up any runs. Quezada was the first reliever in for the Missions and went 2 1/3 innings and allowed one hit with no walks and one strikeout. Lopez went two innings and allowed one hit, two walks and one strikeout.

Wichita holds off Missions; Pedro Castellanos, Ray-Patrick Didder homer; Chandler Seagle 4 hits

Chandler Seagle congratulates Ray-Patrick Didder after Didder's ninth-inning home run. The Wichita Wind Surge beat the San Antonio Missions 8-7 on Sunday, June 11, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Chandler Seagle congratulates Ray-Patrick Didder after Didder’s ninth-inning home run.
The San Antonio Missions had a big game at the plate and still came up short on a warm afternoon when the ball was flying out of Wolff Stadium.

The Wichita Wind Surge beat the Missions 8-7 despite 14 San Antonio hits including home runs by Pedro Castellanos and Ray-Patrick Didder. Missions catcher Chandler Seagle had a career-high four hits including his first triple.

Wichita’s Alerick Soularie hit two home runs – a solo shot in the second inning and a three-run homer in the sixth.

Castellanos hit his sixth home run in the season with one on in the seventh inning. Didder hit his first of the season with one on in the bottom of the ninth to get the Missions within one run.

Seagle singled in the second inning in his first at-bat. He tripled in the fourth inning and singled again in the sixth. Seagle’s final-at bat was an RBI single in the eighth that closed Wichita’s lead to 7-5.