Missions 2021 statistical notes on players like Jack Suwinski, Eguy Rosario, Reiss Knehr, Allen Cordoba, Esteury Ruiz

Esteury Ruiz slides into home with the San Antonio Missions' second run of the game in Tuesday's season-opening victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks. - photo by Joe Alexander
Esteury Ruiz slides into home with the Missions’ second run of the game on May 4 in the 2021 season-opening victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks.
Watching the local team’s star players move on is a part of minor league baseball that is fun, gratifying and frustrating.

One example of what the San Antonio Missions lost this season:

– Jack Suwinski led the team in home runs with 15. The 23-year-old outfielder was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization on July 26, so he was the Missions’ leader despite not being with the team for almost the last two months of the season.

More statistical notes:

– Eguy Rosario played more games in a Missions uniform than anyone else this summer at 114. Kyle Overstreet was second at 103.

– Rosario was second on the team in home runs with 12 and second in stolen bases with 30. Rosario was the Missions’ opening day second baseman and was with the team all summer, playing shortstop late in the season.

– Outfielder Esteury Ruiz led the Missions in stolen bases with 36.

– Infielder Allen Cordoba led the Missions in batting average at .299 (not including players who appeared in less than 10 games). Cordoba played in 74 games. He didn’t start playing until June 8.

– CJ Abrams entered the season as the Missions’ most highly regarded prospect. The 20-year-old shortstop was limited to only 42 games due to injuries. He finished second on the team in batting at .296, but went on the injured list for the second time on July 8 and didn’t play again.

– Adrian Martinez (7-3) led Missions pitchers in wins, led their starters in ERA (2.34) and was second in starts (13).

– Reiss Knehr was 6-1 in 11 starts before moving up to pitch for both the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas and San Diego Padres.

– Reliever Carlos Belen led the Missions staff in appearances with 39. Henry Henry (38), Nick Kuzia (37), Jose Quezada (35) and James Reeves (31) all had 30-plus appearances.

Some players were notable for what they did after they moved up.

– Jose Azocar played in 79 games for the Missions, mostly in center field. He batted .276 with nine home runs and six triples. He is batting .324 for El Paso, second on the team, and is currently leading the Triple-A West in triples with seven despite only playing in 37 games at that level so far.

– Robbie Podorsky opened the season with the Missions but never played at Wolff Stadium. After batting .370 in seven road games, the speedy outfielder was promoted to El Paso. He is batting .275 with five home runs in Triple A, but has been limited to 27 games due to injuries.

– Taylor Kohlwey leads El Paso in batting at .339. He was with the Missions on opening day and played in 18 games for San Antonio before moving up.

– Matt Batten is fourth in hitting for El Paso at .301. He was with the Missions on opening day and played in six games before moving up.

– Pitcher Caleb Boushley has made 15 starts with a 3-8 record in El Paso since being called up on June 21. He was 2-3 in eight games with the Missions.

– Knehr has appeared in seven games in El Paso, four as a starter. His role changed after leaving San Antonio, where he was a starter. He was called up to San Diego four times, appearing in eight games and starting twice. He has a 1-0 record and 3.93 ERA with the Padres.

Sod Poodles homer their way past Missions

Allen Cordoba hit a second-inning double that led to the San Antonio Missions' only run on Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Allen Cordoba hit a second-inning double that led to the San Antonio Missions’ only run on Friday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Amarillo Sod Poodles pounded out 16 hits including three home runs to beat the San Antonio Missions 8-1 on Friday at Wolff Stadium.

Amarillo’s Ryder Jones homered in the first inning, Dominic Canzone homered in the second and Dominic Miroglio homered in the eighth.

The Missions only run came in the second inning, when Allen Cordoba doubled and scored on another double by Michael Curry. Cordoba had two of the Missions’ six hits.

Ethan Skender’s walk-off hit, Juan Fernandez’s homer lift Missions to sweep of Sod Poodles

The Missions' Ethan Skender (center) celebrates with teammates after his walk-off hit in Wednesday's second game at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Ethan Skender (center) celebrates with teammates after his walk-off hit in Wednesday’s second game at Wolff Stadium.
Ethan Skender ended a five-hour, 14-inning night of baseball with a walk-off hit to give the San Antonio Missions a doubleheader sweep of the Amarillo Sod Poodles at Wolff Stadium.

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.

The Missions' Ethan Skender (7) gets showered by his teammates after his walk-off hit in Wednesday's second game at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions

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.

Olivier Basabe slides into home on Eguy Rosario's sacrifice fly to score the San Antonio Missions' second run in Wednesday's first game at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Olivier Basabe slides into home on Eguy Rosario’s sacrifice fly to score the Missions’ second run in Wednesday’s first game at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

Esteury Ruiz homer carries Missions past RockHounds, Tyler Viza picks up first win

The San Antonio Missions' Esteury Ruiz watches his fifth-inning home run fly out in left field on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Esteury Ruiz watches his fifth-inning home run fly out in left field.
Esteury Ruiz’s eighth home run of the season lifted the San Antonio Missions to a 4-2 victory over the Midland RockHounds on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.

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.

Allen Cordoba extends hit streak, Michael Curry homers in Missions’ loss to RockHounds

Michael Curry (right) and Allen Cordoba celebrate near home plate after they both scored on Curry's home run on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Michael Curry (right) and Allen Cordoba celebrate near home plate after they both scored on Curry’s second-inning home run.
Michael Curry hit his seventh home run of the season for the San Antonio Missions’ only runs in a 3-2 loss to the Midland RockHounds on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

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.

Allen Cordoba keeps hitting, Missions pitchers dominate Midland

Allen Cordoba dodges a tag attempt by Midland RockHounds catcher JJ Schwarz to score the San Antonio Missions' final run in the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Allen Cordoba dodges a tag attempt by Midland RockHounds catcher JJ Schwarz to score the San Antonio Missions’ final run in the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
Allen Cordoba didn’t just keep his hitting streak alive at 11 games. The San Antonio Missions cleanup hitter drove in the go-ahead run and scored an insurance run in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Midland RockHounds at Wolff Stadium.

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.

Jorge Ona, Augustin Ruiz records hits in their first game at Wolff as Missions fall

Jorge Ona (left) makes a catch in short left field behind San Antonio Missions shortstop Eguy Rosario on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jorge Ona (left) makes a catch in short left field behind Missions shortstop Eguy Rosario on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.
Jorge Ona and Agustin Ruiz are at different stages of their careers, but both played at Wolff Stadium for the first time this season on Tuesday. The San Antonio Missions lost to the Midland RockHounds 9-4.

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.

Missions lose series finale against Hooks; Jose Azocar has 2 hits including homer

Jose Azocar hits his ninth home run of the season for the San Antonio Missions' only run of the game Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jose Azocar hits his ninth home run of the season for the Missions’ only run of the game.
Jose Azocar homered and had two of the San Antonio Missions’ four hits Sunday in a 3-1 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks at Wolff Stadium.

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.

Missions drop series opener against Hooks; Kelvin Melean drives in all three runs

San Antonio second baseman Kelvin Melean doubles in the second inning to drive in the Missions' first run of the game on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio second baseman Kelvin Melean doubles in the second inning to drive in the Missions’ first run of the game.
The Corpus Christi Hooks scored three runs in the top of the third inning and led the rest of the way in a 6-3 victory over the San Antonio Missions on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium in the opener of a six-game series.

The Missions trailed 6-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. They loaded the bases and Kelvin Melean singled in Kyle Overstreet and Allen Cordoba to trim the lead to three runs. That was their final hit.

The Missions’ other run came in the bottom of the fifth when Juan Fernandez doubled and scored on a double by Melean, who drove in all three of the team’s runs on the night.

Missions pitchers Adrian Martinez, Osvaldo Hernandez dominate in sweep of Cardinals

San Antonio Missions right fielder Jack Suwinski had three hits Saturday including his 15th home run of the season. - photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio Missions right fielder Jack Suwinski had three hits Saturday including his 15th home run of the season.
San Antonio Missions pitchers Adrian Martinez and Osvaldo Hernandez started combined shutouts in both halves of a doubleheader Saturday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions won both seven-inning games 2-0.

Jack Suwinski scored three of the Missions’ four runs on the day. He went 3-for-4 in the doubleheader with his team-leading 15th home run, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

The six-game series concludes on Sunday with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch.

FIRST GAME

Martinez (6-3) went six innings in the first game, allowing two hits with three strikeouts. Jose Quezada pitched the seventh for his 10th save of the season

Eguy Rosario led off the bottom of the first inning with his ninth home run. The Missions’ other run also came in the first when Kyle Overstreet drove in Suwinski.

SECOND GAME

Hernandez (3-6) went 5 2/3 innings in the second game, leaving with a 2-0 lead and a runner on second base. Pedro Avila got the final out of the sixth inning and retired the Cardinals in order in the seventh for his second save.

Suwinski hit a solo shot in the second inning. Allen Cordoba doubled in Suwinski in the bottom of the fourth for the second run.