Author: Joe Alexander

Missions third baseman, outfielder Allen Cordoba: a first look

San Antonio Missions third baseman Allen Cordoba playing in his season debut on Saturday, June 12, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio Missions third baseman Allen Cordoba playing in his season debut on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Allen Cordoba played in 100 games for the San Diego Padres in 2017.

He spent 2018 and 2019 in the Class A Cal League and didn’t see action during 2020 when covid wiped out the minor league season.

Saturday night, Cordoba made his 2021 season debut and played above Class A for the first time in four seasons when he was in uniform for the San Antonio Missions.

Cordoba was in the lineup again for the Missions on Sunday afternoon, both games as the starting third baseman. Cordoba had two walks on Saturday and recorded his first two hits of the season, including a double, on Sunday.

Cordoba is a 25-year-old infielder/outfielder from Panama. He is listed at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, but looks bigger than that in person. He made his minor league debut in rookie league in 2013. He batted .301 with five home runs in the Cal League in 2019.

His 2017 season with the Padres, when he batted .208 with four home runs as a 21-year-old, was the only time he has spent in the majors.

Saturday night

Sunday afternoon

Jack Suwinski hits two more homers as Missions take 5 of 6 from Midland

Jack Suwinski hits his ninth home run of the season in the second inning on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. He homered again in the eighth inning. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jack Suwinski hits his ninth home run of the season in the second inning on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. He homered again in the eighth inning.
Right field at Wolff Stadium has historically been a place where most long fly balls die at the warning track.

That hasn’t stopped Jack Suwinski. The San Antonio Missions’ left-handed outfielder hit his ninth and 10th home runs of the season on Sunday in a 12-6 victory over the Midland RockHounds.

Suwinski hit his eighth homer of the season on Saturday night. All three weekend home runs soared out over right field.

Suwinski went 3-for-5 on Sunday and scored three times. The 22-year-old, who is playing his first season above Class A, batted 9-of-22 (.409) in the six-game home series against Midland as the Missions won five of the six games.

Missions third baseman Allen Cordoba, who made his season debut on Saturday, recorded his first two hits of the season including a double on Sunday.

The Missions’ CJ Abrams had three hits, two RBIs and two runs, and Jose Azocar and Michael Curry both had two hits.

Starting pitcher Reiss Knehr went five innings, giving up two runs in the first and holding Midland scoreless the next four innings to get the win (5-1). He allowed four hits and two walks and struck out six.

Missions left fielder Esteury Ruiz left the game in the top of the third. He was shaking his hand after sliding into second base in the bottom of the second.

Kyle Overstreet, who left Friday’s game after being hit in the face by a pitch, was not in the Missions’ lineup for the second day in a row.

Missions pitching stifles Midland, Jack Suwinski hits 8th homer

San Antonio Missions outfielder Jack Suwinski homered in the seventh inning of Saturday's victory over the Midland RockHounds at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions outfielder Jack Suwinski homered in the seventh inning of Saturday’s victory over the Midland RockHounds at Wolff Stadium.
San Antonio Missions pitchers extended their scoreless streak to 15 innings on Saturday.

After blanking the Midland RockHounds over the final five innings Friday, the Missions’ Aaron Leasher, Nick Kuzia and Jose Quezada threw a combined shutout in Saturday’s 2-0 victory at Wolff Stadium.

Leasher was the starter and improved his record to 3-2 by going 6.0 innings and allowing only one hit and one walk with four strikeouts. Kuzia went the next two innings and struck out four batters with no hits. Quezada pitched the ninth and earned his seventh save.

The Missions didn’t have a lot of offense with four hits, but some batters who have been hot lately came through again. Juan Fernandez, who homered and tripled on Friday, tripled again in the bottom of the fifth and scored on Brad Zunica’s double. Jack Suwinski hit his eighth homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh.

Allen Cordoba, who played with the San Diego Padres in 2017, made his season debut. He played third base and went 0-for-2 with two walks.

The Missions have won six of their last seven games. Their current six-game home series against Midland concludes on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.

San Antonio Missions starter Aaron Leasher pitched six innings and got the win in Saturday's victory over the Midland RockHounds at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions starter Aaron Leasher pitched six innings and got the win in Saturday’s victory over Midland.
The Missions' Juan Fernandez slides into third with a triple in front of San Antonio manager Phillip Wellman and the Missions' bullpen pitchers in Saturday's victory over the Midland RockHounds at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Juan Fernandez slides into third with a triple in front of San Antonio manager Phillip Wellman and the Missions’ bullpen pitchers

Eguy Rosario, Juan Fernandez homer as Missions blast Midland

Eguy Rosario hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, when the San Antonio Missions scored six runs to take a 6-3 lead over the Midland RockHounds on Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Eguy Rosario watches his two-run homer fly out in the sixth inning, when the Missions scored six runs to take a 6-3 lead over the RockHounds on Friday at Wolff Stadium.
The San Antonio Missions had two big innings that both included home runs as they beat the Midland RockHounds 13-3 Friday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions went hitless and scoreless the first five innings. They came alive in a big way when they scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The rally included a two-run homer from Eguy Rosario.

Juan Fernandez, who tripled during the sixth-inning rally, lashed a two-run homer two innings later as the Missions scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth. Both Rosario’s and Fernandez’s homers went out in left field.

The Missions finished with 11 hits. Taylor Kohlwey, Rosario, Jack Suwinski and Fernandez had two hits each. Rosario and Fernandez both had three RBIs.

Missions starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez went five innings. He didn’t get a decision, but kept the game within striking range and left with Midland leading 3-0. Reliever Carlos Belen recorded two scoreless innings and got his first win of the season.

The Missions have won five of their last six games and 11 of their last 16.

Juan Fernandez hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning of the San Antonio Missions' 13-3 victory over the Midland RockHounds on Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Juan Fernandez hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning of the Missions’ 13-3 victory over Midland on Friday at Wolff Stadium.

Missions back on track against Midland

San Antonio Missions starting pitcher Caleb Boushley held the Midland RockHounds scoreless through the first five innings on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions starting pitcher Caleb Boushley held Midland scoreless through the first five innings on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.
The San Antonio Missions won for the fourth time in the last five games with a 5-4 victory over the Midland RockHounds on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions had been hot at the plate for most of the last two weeks. After having a rough all-around night on Wednesday, they piled up 11 hits on Thursday. Jose Azocar, Kyle Overstreet and Eguy Rosario had two hits each.

Missions starting pitcher Caleb Boushley held the RockHounds scoreless the first five innings and got the win (2-2). He left the game with one out and two runners on in the sixth. Both runners scored and Boushley ended the night with two earned runs on six hits, three walks and eight strikeouts. Jose Quezada pitched the final inning for his sixth save of the season.

The Missions scored a run in the bottom of the first inning and led the rest of the way. Taylor Kohlwey’s sacrifice fly brought in Azocar, who led off the first with a single.

The Missions got a long two-run single from Overstreet that scored Chandler Seagle and CJ Abrams in the fifth inning. Esteury Ruiz’s ground ball through the middle drove in Rosario in the sixth.

Jack Suwinski cracked his fourth triple of the season in the eighth inning and scored the Missions’ final run on Ruiz’s bunt.

Olympian Nick Allen facing Missions at Wolff Stadium

Nick Allen, a member of the U.S. Olympic baseball team, playing for the Midland RockHounds against the San Antonio Missions on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Nick Allen, a member of the U.S. Olympic baseball team, playing for the Midland RockHounds against the Missions on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.
Nick Allen was playing second base at Wolff Stadium on Wednesday night, just four days after helping Team USA clinch a spot in the Olympics.

Allen was a starting shortstop and played in all four Team USA games in the Olympic qualifying tournament that concluded over the weekend.

The No. 3 Oakland A’s prospect is now with the Double-A Midland RockHounds, who are playing a six-game series through Sunday against the San Antonio Missions. Allen was the leadoff batter and had a single, walk, stolen base and run scored on Wednesday.

Allen is listed as a shortstop by the A’s system. The 22-year-old is batting .270 in 19 games with Midland in his first season above Class A. He was a third-round draft pick by the A’s in 2017 as a high school player in San Diego.

Padres prospect Reggie Lawson makes season debut in Missions loss

San Diego Padres pitching prospect Reggie Lawson saw his first action of the season when he started for the San Antonio Missions on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.

The Midland RockHounds won 9-1, ending the Missions’ win streak at three games.

Lawson had Tommy John surgery early in 2020 and was still on the injured list when the 2021 season opened. He was 3-1 in six games in Double-A in 2019.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander is listed as the No. 7 prospect in the Padres organization according to MLB.com. Now 23 years old, he is the third highest pitcher among Padres prospects. Lawson was the No. 71 overall pick by the Padres in the 2016 draft.

Lawson pitched a scoreless first inning on Wednesday. It appeared he was scheduled to pitch the first two innings, but he left with one out in the second.

He finished with 1 1/3 innings, four runs, one earned, three hits, one walk and no strikeouts. The Missions committed three errors while he was in the game, including a pickoff throw to second base that went into the outfield.

Oakland A’s prospect Logan Davidson

Midland RockHounds infielder and Oakland A's prospect Logan Davidson playing against the San Antonio Missions on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Oakland A’s prospect Logan Davidson playing against the Missions on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.
Logan Davidson was a first-round draft pick two years out of Clemson. The Oakland A’s took Davidson with the No. 29 overall pick in 2019.

Two years later, the 6-foot-3 infielder is suiting up for the Double-A Midland RockHounds, who are playing a six-game series against the San Antonio Missions this week at Wolff Stadium.

Davidson was at third base on Tuesday night and had two hits and two RBIs in the opening game of the series. A switch hitter, he is batting .216 through 31 games this season.

He is listed as the No. 5 prospect in the A’s organization as a shortstop, according to MLB.com

Oakland A’s prospects on MLB.com

Missions stay hot by beating RockHounds in series opener

The San Antonio Missions' Esteury Ruiz is safe at home to score on a single by Chandler Seagle in the third inning. The Missions beat the Midland RockHounds 4-2 Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Esteury Ruiz is safe at home to score on a single by Chandler Seagle in the third inning.
The San Antonio Missions won their third game in a row and fifth in the last seven on Tuesday night at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions pounded out nine hits and got a quality start from pitcher Reiss Knehr to beat the Midland RockHounds 4-2 in the opener of a six-game series.

Knehr pitched six innings and allowed two runs on three hits to earn the win (4-1). Nick Kuzia pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Jose Quezada pitched the ninth inning to pick up his fifth save of the season.

The Missions scored twice in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run double by Eguy Rosario and led the rest of the way.

UTSA baseball player Joshua Lamb season wrapup

Joshua Lamb playing for UTSA against Rice on April 23, 2021, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander
Joshua Lamb playing for UTSA against Rice on April 23 at Roadrunner Field.
Joshua Lamb was listed as a redshirt junior for the 2021 season and received his UTSA degree this spring.

The 6-foot shortstop from Nederland, Texas, played all 48 games this season. He batted .324 with five home runs and 39 RBIs. He was second on the team in doubles with 14.