210GAMEDAY.COM | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
The Missions got eight hits including a two-run, seventh-inning homer by Agustin Ruiz. Eguy Rosario had two hits including his 28th double of the season.
Missions starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits and no walks with six strikeouts. Reliever James Reeves pitched the last five outs for the Missions and took the loss.
GAME 2: MISSIONS 5, SOD POODLES 4
Skender singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game, bringing home Kelvin Melean with the winning run in a 5-4 Missions victory.
The Missions’ Allen Cordoba scored a key run in the bottom of the sixth. He stole second and then went all the way around to third and home on two throwing errors on the play. That tied the game 4-4.
GAME 1: MISSIONS 2, SOD POODLES 0
The Missions limited the Sod Poodles to one hit to win the first game 2-0. Juan Fernandez hit his eighth home run of the season and Eguy Rosario’s sacrifice fly scored Olivier Basabe with the other run.
Missions starting pitcher Brandon Komar, who has usually been a reliever this season, went five innings and allowed only one hit and one walk with three strikeouts.
The game was the opener of a seven-game series. The Missions and Sod Poodles have a 5 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.
The Sod Poodles scored single runs in the first and second innings while the Missions committed three errors in the first three innings.
Amarillo got a two-run homer from Dominic Canzone in the fourth inning and a three-run shot from Ryder Jones in the seventh.
The Missions got two hits each from Esteury Ruiz and Ethan Skender. Skender had run-scoring hits in the fifth and ninth innings.
Missions starting pitcher Pedro Avila (0-3) went four innings and took the loss. He allowed five runs (three earned), three hits including one home run, one walk and struck out five.
Missions infielder Kelvin Melean pitched the ninth inning. He retired the Sod Poodles in order with most of his pitches in the mid to high 50s on the radar.
Basabe’s home run came after Dwanya Williams-Sutton led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. That cut into what had been a 4-1 RockHounds lead. Neither team scored again after Basabe’s homer.
Basabe also scored the Missions’ first run of the game. He doubled with one out in the third and scored on a single by Esteury Ruiz.
Missions starting pitcher Jerry Keel worked five innings, allowed four runs and took the loss. Missions relievers Henry Henry, Sam McWilliams and Sam Williams combined for four innings of scoreless relief.
Williams-Sutton has reached base in 16 straight games. Michael Curry had his 16-game on-base streak come to an end.
The Missions are off Monday and begin a six-day, seven-game home series against the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. The series includes a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday.
Ruiz homered in the bottom of the fifth after Augustin Ruiz led off the inning with a single and Chandler Seagle reached base on an error. The three-run blast pushed the Missions in front after the RockHounds had taken a 2-1 lead in the first two innings.
Esteury Ruiz scored the Missions’ first run on a sacrifice fly by Allen Cordoba in the bottom of the first.
Three Missions pitchers combined to hold the RockHounds scoreless over the final seven innings.
Missions starter Tyler Viza picked up his first win since being signed to a minor league contract 10 days earlier by the San Diego Padres – and his first win in affiliated pro baseball since June 20, 2019.
Viza allowed one run in each of the first two innings. He went on to complete six innings and didn’t give up any more runs. The 6-foot-3 right-hander allowed four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
Tom Cosgrove pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Carlos Belen pitched the ninth inning for his second save of the season.
The Missions’ Michael Curry walked in the fourth inning to extend his on-base streak to 16 games.
Skender made a quick impact with an RBI triple in his second at-bat at Wolff Stadium. His big hit was part of a 3-run fourth-inning rally by the Missions in a 3-1 victory over the Midland RockHounds.
Skender, who was the designated hitter, also had a double later in the game.
The 24-year-old infielder was batting .258 with two home runs in 60 games in Class A Fort Wayne before moving up to the Double-A Missions.
Eguy Rosario got a leadoff walk to start the bottom half of the fourth inning. He scored on a double by Michael Curry for the first run of the game. Olivier Basabe’s sacrifice bunt brought in Curry from third to make it 2-0. Skender’s triple drove in Juan Fernandez, who had followed Curry’s hit with a single.
Missions starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez pitched five scoreless innings to get the win.
The RockHounds’ scored their only run in the top of the seventh. Missions closer Jose Quezada pitched the ninth inning for his 14th save of the season and second of the current series against Midland.
The Missions’ Allen Cordoba, who entered Friday with a 12-game hitting streak, went 0-for-4 and saw his streak end.
Curry homered in the second inning with Allen Cordoba on base. Cordoba led off the bottom of the inning with a single, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. It is the longest streak of any Missions player this season.
Cordoba and Curry had two hits each, accounting for four of the Missions’ five hits on the night.
The RockHounds scored all three of their runs off Missions starting pitcher Moises Lugo. Missions relievers Sam Williams, Jordan Humphreys and Carlos Belen pitched two scoreless innings each.
Cordoba doubled in the bottom of the third inning to score Eguy Rosario and give the Missions a 2-1 lead.
Cordoba doubled in the eighth and scored on a hit by Michael Curry to extend the Missions’ lead to two runs.
Cordoba is batting .305 on the season and .377 in the month of August. He has nine RBIs during his hitting streak.
Esteury Ruiz scored the Missions’ first run. He led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, stole second and went to third on an error on the steal, and scored on a wild pitch.
Five Missions pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and allowed only two hits. Starter Pedro Avila couldn’t get the win because he only went 4.0 innings, but he allowed just the one run with two hits while striking out five.
Sam McWilliams, the first pitcher out of the Missions’ bullpen, went two scoreless innings and got the win. Nick Kuzia and Tom Cosgrove pitched one scoreless inning each. Jose Quezada pitched the ninth inning and earned his 13th save of the season.
Ona is on the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster and saw action with the Padres last summer. He joined the Missions last week as part of a rehab assignment.
Ruiz moved up to Double-A for the first time in his career when he was promoted from Class A Fort Wayne to the Missions on Aug. 10, at the beginning of the Missions’ recent 12-game road trip.
Ruiz batted second and played right field on Monday. He had two hits, walked twice and scored twice.
Ona played left field and had two hits and an RBI. He left the game after grounding out in the eighth inning.
The Missions had a rough defensive night with four errors and got behind the RockHounds 9-0.
Ruiz scored the Missions’ first run in the bottom of the sixth, coming home on a wild pitch. The Missions got two runs in the eighth when Kelvin Melean scored on a wild pitch and Ruiz scored on Ona’s ground out.
Juan Fernandez scored the Missions’ final run when he hit his seventh home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth.
Missions third baseman Allen Cordoba had a hit to extend his current hitting streak to 10 games. He is batting .300 on the season.
The Hooks won five of six games in the series. The Missions are off Monday and play their next 12 games on the road. The next home game at Wolff Stadium is Tuesday, Aug. 24.
Azocar hit his ninth home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth for the Missions’ only run of the game. Allen Cordoba had the Missions’ other two hits.
Hooks leadoff man Corey Julks started off the game with his third home run of the series. Corpus Christi added a second run in the top of the first and scored an insurance run in the eighth.
Missions starting pitcher Pedro Avila went 2 2/3 innings and allowed two runs to take the loss. He gave up five hits including Julks’ homer, walked two and struck out three.
The Missions got some strong work from their bullpen. Joe Beimel pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, James Reeves went 2.0 scoreless innings and Jose Quezada pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
