Graham Pauley hits a home run in the eighth inning to give the Missions a 6-5 lead.The San Antonio Missions hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to escape with a 7-6 victory over the Springfield Cardinals on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Graham Pauley’s third hit of the night was a solo home run that put the Missions in front 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth. Nathan Martorella followed with another homer, giving the Missions a 7-5 lead and an insurance run they would need.
The Cardinals scored a run in the ninth to make it closer.
The Missions scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead. Springfield bounced back with a run in the top of the eighth to tie it 5-5.
The Missions’ seventh-inning rally included a two-run homer by Michael De La Cruz and an RBI sacrifice bunt by Ripken Reyes that scored Cole Cummings.
San Antonio starting pitcher Jairo Iriarte didn’t get a decision but had a solid outing. He went five innings and allowed three runs, three hits, two walks and struck out nine batters.
Jason Blanchard pitched two innings in relief, Lake Bachar worked the eighth inning and got the win and Efrain Contreras handled the ninth inning to pick up his fourth save.
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Graham Pauley – Missions
Graham Pauley – Missions
Graham Pauley – Missions
Jairo Iriarte – Missions
Jairo Iriarte – Missions
Jason Blanchard – Missions
Lake Bachar – Missions
Michael De La Cruz – Missions
Nathan Martorella – Missions
Nathan Martorella – Missions
Ripken Reyes – Missions
Nathan Martorella celebrates his eighth-inning home run that gave the Missions a 7-5 lead.
Missions reliever Justin Lopez was the winning pitcher.Ryan Bergert and two San Antonio Missions relievers combined to blank the Midland RockHounds 1-0 on Friday at Wolff Stadium.
Bergert went 5 2/3 innings and allowed two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. He didn’t get a decision in a game that didn’t have a run scored until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Justin Lopez took over on the mound for Bergert and went 2 1/3 innings to earn the win. He didn’t allow a hit or walk and struck out two.
Efrain Contreras pitched the top of the ninth inning to get the save.
Marcos Castanon scored the only run of the game. He led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, advanced to third on a hit by Connor Hollis and came home on a sacrifice fly by Juan Zabala.
Friday marked the first game back in the Missions lineup for Hollis, who was activated earlier in the day after being placed on the injured list on July 3.
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 – Missions
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Raul Brito – Missions
Brandon Valenzuela made his Missions debut and got on base twice via an error and a walk.
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.
Ripken Reyes bunts for a run-scoring hit in the fifth-inning.None of the San Antonio Missions’ run-scoring at-bats were extra-base hits on Friday night.
Instead they piled up 12 hits – including five in the pivotal four-run fifth inning – to beat the Wichita Wind Surge 5-4 at Wolff Stadium.
The Missions’ runs in the inning scored on an RBI single by Chandler Seagle, an RBI bunt single by Ripken Reyes, an RBI single by Tirso Ornelas and a sacrifice fly by Yorman Rodriguez. Ray-Patrick doubled in the frame and later scored, but didn’t drive in a run with his hit.
Wichita, on the other hand, did all its scoring on home runs. Seth Gray had a three-run homer in the second inning and Yunior Severino had a solo shot in the eighth.
Missions starting pitcher Efrain Contreras had a strong night other than Gray’s home run. Contreras pitched six innings to get the win. He allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Missions reliever Lake Bachar pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up one run on Severino’s homer. That was the only hit given up by Bachar, who struck out one batters. Missions closer Nick Hernandez went to the mound with two outs in the eighth inning and got the last four outs. Hernandez struck out three batters and earned his sixth save of the season.
The Missions’ first run of the game came when Reyes led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, went to third on a Rodriguez single and scored on a ground out by Daniel Johnson.
Reyes finished with four hits including a double and scored twice. Cole Cummings had two hits and scored once. Didder had two hits including his double and scored once.
Chandler Seagle – Missions
Chandler Seagle – Missions
Cole Cummings – Missions
Chandler Seagle – Missions
Cole Cummings – Missions
Daniel Johnson – Missions
Daniel Johnson – Missions
Daniel Johnson – Missions
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Lake Bachar – Missions
Luke Montz – Missions
Michael De La Cruz – Missions
Michael De La Cruz – Missions
Nick Hernandez – Missions
Ray-Patrick Didder – Missions
Ray-Patrick Didder – Missions
Tirso Ornelas – Missions
Tirso Ornelas – Missions
Tirso Ornelas – Missions
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Winning pitcher Efrain Contreras walks off the mound after getting a strikeout to finish the top of the sixth inning.
Starting pitcher Efrain Contreras walks off the field after pitching six innings on a humid night at Wolff Stadium.San Antonio Missions pitcher Efrain Contreras turned his seventh start of the season into his first win on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.
Contreras (1-4) pitched six scoreless innings and allowed three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts as the Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-1.
It was Contreras’ longest outing of the season. The 23-year-old right-hander improved his season ERA from 6.50 to 4.88.
The win was a long time coming for Contreras. His last win before Thursday night was in Class A ball on Aug. 27, 2019. He went 6-6 that season.
Contreras didn’t play in 2020 because of the covid season. He had Tommy John surgery in late 2020 and missed all of the 2021 season. Last summer he was 0-5 with a 5.74 ERA in 17 starts in High-A.
Fernandez had a hit and a single. He has three hits and two RBIs so far in the series and is batting .373 for the season – the only Missions player batting better than .300. He finished the month of April with an eight-game hitting streak before going hitless in three road games last week.
The Missions recorded two runs in the first inning when Ripken Reyes scored on a wild pitch and Daniel Johnson had a sacrifice fly to bring in Pedro Castellanos. Fernandez singled to center to drive in Reyes in the fifth.
Reyes put himself in scoring position twice with a triple in the first inning and a double in the fifth.
Corpus Christi made it close by loading the bases and scoring a run in the eighth inning and putting two runners on base in the ninth. Missions reliever Lake Bachar got the final two outs for his second save of the season.
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Efrain Contreras – Missions
Ripken Reyes – Missions
Ripken Reyes – Missions
Ripken Reyes – Missions
Ripken Reyes – Missions
Connor Hollis – Missions
Daniel Johnson – Missions
Daniel Johnson – Missions
Juan Fernandez – Missions
Juan Fernandez – Missions
Lake Bachar – Missions
Pedro Castellanos – Missions
Tirso Ornelas – Missions
Ripken Reyes tripled in the first inning and scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch.
The Missions’ Pedro Contreras hits a grand slam in the second inning.
Pedro Castellanos – grand slam
Pedro Castellanos – grand slam
Pedro Castellanos – grand slam
The San Antonio Missions’ Luis Aviles Jr. came through with a two-run double in the second inning.
And then, Pedro Castellanos hit his fourth home run of the season, a grand slam later in the same inning.
And then, Missions starter Efrain Contreras pitched five no-hit innings.
And then, the Missions were on their way to a 7-0 lead after seven innings on Saturday night at Wolff Stadium.
And then, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals rallied… and rallied… and rallied.
The Naturals scored three runs in the eighth, four in the ninth, and outscored the Missions 4-3 in three extra innings for an 11-10 victory. Northwest Arkansas scored the go-ahead run on an RBI double by Jose Briceno in the top of the 12th inning.
Contreras, who is rebuilding his career after an injury wiped out his 2021 season, had his best outing of the season in his fifth start and was in line for a win when he left the game. The 23-year-old right-hander pitched five full innings and struck out six batters and had three walks.
Castellanos finished the game with two hits and five RBIs.
Missions catcher Michael De La Cruz had two hits and scored twice.
Juan Fernandez had only one plate appearance but extended his hitting streak to seven games. He entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 11th inning and produced an RBI single.
Missions starter Efrain Contreras left the game with a 7-0 lead after pitching five no-hit innings.Luis Aviles Jr. hit a two-run double to help the Missions score seven runs in the second inning.Ray-Patrick Didder made his San Antonio Missions debut and played center field.
Evan Mendoza drove in the Missions’ only run in the fourth inning.The Frisco RoughRiders beat the San Antonio Missions 7-1 on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.
Daniel Johnson scored the Missions’ only run in the fourth inning. He led off with a walk, advanced when Tirso Ornelas followed with a walk and came home on a line-drive single by Evan Mendoza.
Korry Howell, a top San Diego Padres prospect, had two hits. Howell is 4-of-8 in the first two games of the Missions’ six-game homestand.
San Antonio starting pitcher Efrain Contreras left the game with two outs in the second inning after giving up five walks to the eight batters he faced. He allowed two runs on two hits with no strikeouts.
The Missions used four relievers. The last two, Nick Hernandez and Jose Quezada, pitched two scoreless innings each. Hernandez struck out six batters and Quezada struck out three.
