The San Antonio Missions’ Drew Smyly pitches against the Omaha Storm Chasers on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe AlexanderDrew Smyly pitched in his first home game with the San Antonio Missions on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.
The former Texas Rangers starter threw five innings to get the win. He allowed two runs, including a solo home run in the second inning, on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
The Missions beat the Omaha Storm Chasers 9-2. Cory Spangenberg and Travis Shaw both hit home runs. Spangenberg finished with three hits and five RBIs.
Thursday’s game was Smyly’s second start for the Missions. On July 7 in New Orleans, in his first appearance after signing a minor-league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, Smyly went four innings and gave up one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. He did not get a decision.
The 6-foot-3 left-hander had a 1-5 record and 8.42 ERA in 13 games with the Rangers this season being released.
The San Antonio Missions’ Blake Allemand hit his second home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the seventh inning. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe San Antonio Missions hit four home runs including back-to-back shots by Mauricio Dubon and Cory Spangenberg to beat the Iowa Cubs 10-2 Sunday at Wolff Stadium.
Iowa scored one run in the top of the first to lead briefly but only scored one run the rest of the way.
Missions starting pitcher Thomas Jankins, who picked up the win, also drove in San Antonio’s first run with a line drive to left in the third inning. Jankins and Trent Grisham scored later in the inning and the Missions had all the runs it turned out they needed.
Lucas Erceg hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run blast in the fourth to make it 5-2.
Dubon hit his 12th home run of the season and Spangenberg hit his seventh back-to-back in the fifth inning.
Blake Allemand added his second home run of the season in the seventh inning.
The Missions finished with 11 hits.
Jankins (8-2) pitched six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
Jon Olczak, who was activated off the injured list earlier in the day, pitched two innings and Donnie Hart pitched the ninth to finish the game for the Missions.
The San Antonio Missions’ Lucas Erceg hit his 11th home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a two-run shot in the fourth inning. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe San Antonio Missions’ Mauricio Dubon hit his 12th home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the fifth inning. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe San Antonio Missions’ Cory Spangenberg hit his seventh home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the fifth inning. – photo by Joe Alexander
Missions shortstop Mauricio Dubon hits a second-inning home run Monday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe San Antonio Missions won their fifth straight and 10th of the last 14 games with Monday’s 8-4 victory over the Reno Aces at Wolff Stadium.
Mauricio Dubon had three hits including his 10th home run of the season.
Missions starting pitcher Zack Brown (2-4) got the win and also hit an RBI double and walked. Brown pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs. He gave up six hits, struck out five and walked three.
In addition to his home run, Dubon had a single and a double. It was his fifth straight game with multiple hits. During that stretch he has raised his batting average from .290 to .312.
The Missions took control of the game with three runs in the second inning and four runs in the third.
All the Missions’ damage in the second inning came with two outs. Lucas Erceg started the rally with his seventh double of the season. Brown doubled down the first base line to score Erceg. Dubon’s homer with Brown on gave the Missions a 4-1 lead.
The Missions’ half of the third inning included a sacrifice fly by Erceg and a two-RBI single by Dubon. Dubon had four RBIs in the game and now has 36 for the season.
David Freitas drove in three runs for the Missions with a fifth-inning double on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe AlexanderDavid Freita had a three-RBI double and a solo home run as the San Antonio Missions beat the Reno Aces 8-3 Sunday at Wolff Stadium.
Nate Orf drove in the Missions’ first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Orf was one of three Missions to score when Freitas doubled with the bases loaded later in the inning to give the Missions a 4-2 lead.
Michael O’Neill had an RBI double and scored on a single by Mauricio Dubon as the Missions added two more runs in the sixth to make it 6-2.
Freitas hit his fourth home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the seventh and make it 7-2.
Orf doubled in O’Neill in the bottom of the eighth for the Missions’ final run.
The Aces scored the first two runs of the game on solo home runs by Abraham Almonte in the third and fifth innings.
Missions starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson (6-1) went five innings and got the win. He gave up the two home runs to Almonte – the only runs Wilkerson has allowed in home games at Wolff this season.
Travis Shaw batting for the Missions at Wolff Stadium in his final game before returning to the Brewers. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe San Antonio Missions beat the Omaha Storm Chasers 8-3 Sunday at Wolff Stadium to earn a split of the four-game series.
The game marked the final appearance in a Missions uniform for the Milwaukee Brewers’ Travis Shaw. He was rehabbing from an injury.
Shaw was 1-of-2 and walked while batting second as the designated hitter. Shaw played in 10 games with San Antonio and batted .235 with one home run.
David Freitas, Troy Stokes Jr. and Jake Hager had two RBIs each for the Missions on Sunday.
Missions starting pitcher Thomas Jankins (4-2) got the win. He went five innings and gave up two earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Roster moves
Missions right-handed pitcher Jacob Barnes was called up by the Brewers.
Missions right-handed pitcher Taylor Williams was called up by the Brewers.
Catcher Jacob Nottingham has been optioned from the Brewers back to the Missions.
The Missions’ Troy Stokes Jr. touches the plate after hitting the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning against the Redbirds on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe AlexanderTroy Stokes Jr. hit his third home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning as the San Antonio Missions rallied past the Memphis Redbirds 6-4 Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Stokes’ homer broke a 4-4 tie and put the Missions in front for good.
Cory Spangenberg gave the Missions an insurance run in the eighth inning when he scored from second on a Redbirds throwing error.
Missions reliever Donnie Hart pitched the final out of the game for his second save of the season.
Missions reliever Donnie Hart came on in the ninth inning to get the save Saturday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Jake Hager (right) and Jacob Nottingham celebrate after Hager’s walk-off hit. – photo by Joe AlexanderTwice in three days, Jake Hager stepped up to the plate with the game on the line.
Both times Hager came through with a hit that gave the San Antonio Missions a victory.
After producing a walk-off hit on Sunday at Wolff Stadium, Hager did it again Tuesday night.
This time Hager’s single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Missions a 1-0 victory over the New Orleans Baby Cakes.
Under the extra-innings rule, the Missions started the bottom of the 10th with Cory Spangenberg on second base. Nate Orf had a bunt single to advance Spangenberg to third. Jacob Nottingham got an intentional walk to load the bases.
That brought Hager to the plate. He responded with his 12th RBI of the season.
The Missions used five pitchers to combine for the 10-inning shutout. Aaron Wilkerson started and pitched five innings. Alex Wilson (1-0) pitched the top of the 10th inning and got the win. The Missions got the final two outs in the top of the 10th with a double play.
Cory Spangenberg
Jake Hager
Cory Spangenberg
Jake Hager
Jake Hager
Jake Hager
Missions shortstop Mauricio Dubon turns a double play that ended the top of the 10th inning and kept the game scoreless. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Jake Hager drills a game-ending single to center against the Express. – photo by Joe AlexanderJake Hager’s clutch hit brought a sudden end to a game that started two days before.
Hager drove in Cory Spangenberg with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the San Antonio Missions’ 10-9 victory over the Round Rock Express on Sunday at Wolff Stadium.
The game was a continuation of the game suspended Friday night due to weather.
The game resumed Sunday with the Express leading 6-1 in the fourth inning. The Missions scored five runs in the fourth to tie it 6-6.
The Express took a 9-6 lead with three runs in the top of the sixth. The Missions cut it to 9-7 with a run in the bottom of the sixth.
The Missions came back for good with a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth. Mauricio Dubon led off the inning and eventually scored to cut it to 9-8. Spangenberg doubled to drive in Keston Hiura to tie it.
And at long last, Hager’s line drive single to center scored Spangenberg to end the game.
The resumed game was played as the first game of a doubleheader. The Missions won the second game 6-1.
David Freitas, like all the Missions’ catchers, also plays first base. – photo by Joe AlexanderAmong the oddities on the roster of the Triple-A San Antonio Missions:
There is currently only one active player on the roster listed as an outfielder and there are four players listed as catchers.
Tyrone Taylor was the Missions’ only active outfielder on Sunday. And he didn’t start in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Oklahoma City Dodgers at Wolff Stadium.
Corey Ray and Troy Stokes Jr. are listed on the roster as outfielders, but are both currently on the injured list. Ray was the Missions’ main center fielder to start the season. Taylor played primarily in right, but had been playing center with Ray out.
Sunday’s starting outfielders on Sunday were Jake Hager in left, Cory Spangenberg in center and Nate Orf in right. All three are listed on the roster as infielders.
Spangenberg has seen action all over the field this season. He has played first base, third base, shortstop, left field and now center field.
While the Missions are short on players listed as outfielders, they have four active players listed as catchers: Skyler Ewing, David Freitas, Tuffy Gosewisch and Jacob Nottingham. All four got into the game on Sunday. All four have also gotten work as first basemen this season.
Twice during Sunday’s game, three of them batted in a row and the other was coaching first base. The Missions use a player as a first base coach, so that part of the equation wasn’t unusual.
Freitas was the No. 7 batter in the order on Sunday and played first base. Nottingham was No. 8 in the order and played catcher.
In the fifth inning, after Freitas and Nottingham batted, Gosewisch went to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Ewing was coaching first base.
In the seventh inning, after Freitas and Nottingham batted, Ewing went to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Gosewisch was coaching first base.
Relief pitcher Miguel Sanchez got the win as three Missions pitchers combined for a shutout in a 6-0 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe San Antonio Missions shut out the Oklahoma City Dodgers for the second time in the last three games with a 6-0 victory Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
It was the sixth straight win for the Missions, including the first four games of the current series.
Missions reliever Miguel Sanchez (1-2) entered the game in the fifth inning and pitched 2 1/3 innings to earn the win.
Missions starter Corbin Burnes went 4 2/3 innings, leaving the game one out short of having a chance for the win. He allowed three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Jon Olczak pitched the last two innings.
San Antonio left fielder Cory Spangenberg hit his second home run of the season in the fourth inning.
Mauricio Dubon, Keston Hiura and David Freitas had three hits each for the Missions. Spangenberg, Nate Orf and Jacob Nottingham had two hits each as the Missions finished with 15 hits.
