Tag: Juan Fernandez

Efrain Contreras earns first win, Juan Fernandez, Ripken Reyes have key hits as Missions beat Hooks

Starting pitcher Efrain Contreras walks off the field after pitching six innings on a humid night at Wolff Stadium. The San Antonio Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-1 on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
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.

Ripken Reyes tripled in the first inning and scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch. The San Antonio Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-1 on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ripken Reyes tripled in the first inning and scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch.

Strong pitching, timely hits help Missions split pair with Hooks

Missions catcher Michael De La Cruz catches a pop-up behind home plate. The San Antonio Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 5-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions catcher Michael De La Cruz catches a pop-up behind home plate.
The San Antonio Missions had an early three-run inning to beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 5-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.

The Hooks won the first game 5-2 on the strength of 10 hits including two extra-base hits.

The Missions played as the visiting team in the second game, which was a makeup of a rainout earlier in the season in Corpus Christi. The Missions took the lead in the second inning with an RBI single to left by Jorge Ona, an RBI single to center by Brantley Bell and an RBI sacrifice bunt by Ripken Reyes.

Michael De La Cruz added a run-scoring double in the sixth and Juan Fernandez had an RBI single in the seventh. De La Cruz, Fernandez, Bell and Jorge Ona all had two hits in the game.

Three Missions relievers combined to hold the Hooks hitless over the final four innings after Corpus Christi took a 1-0 lead in the first. Seth Mayberry, the first reliever in the game, went two innings, struck out four batters and earned his second win of the season.

Starter Jose Espada allowed two hits and one run with no walks and three strikeouts. Relievers Jared Koenig and Nick Hernandez pitched one inning each.

Juan Fernandez had an RBI single to center in the seventh inning and is batting .382 on the season. The San Antonio Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 5-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Juan Fernandez had an RBI single to center in the seventh inning and is batting .382 on the season.

Naturals use big inning to sink Missions; Juan Fernandez has another big day at the plate

Juan Fernandez had three hits including this two-run single in the seventh inning. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 6-3 on Sunday, April 30, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Juan Fernandez had three hits including this two-run single in the seventh inning.
Northwest Arkansas pounded out six runs in the second inning and rolled to a 6-3 victory over the San Antonio Missions on Sunday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions’ Juan Fernandez had three hits and extended his hitting streak to eight games. He has a .487 batting average and 1.155 OPS with eight RBIs in 10 games.

Fernandez scored the Missions’ first run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly. He added a two-run single in the seventh for the rest of the Missions’ scoring.

San Antonio starter Daniel Camarena made his season debut with the Missions and pitched one scoreless inning. The 30-year-old left-hander did not allow a hit, walked two and struck out two. Camarena pitched in six games with the San Diego Padres in 2021.

Missions reliever Henry Henry was tagged for all six runs. He gave up three hits and two walks and hit two batters in 2/3 of an inning as he struggled with his control.

Three San Antonio relievers – Nolan Watson, Alek Jacob and Kevin Kopps – combined to hold Northwest Arkansas scoreless over the final seven innings.

Daniel Camarena started on the mound in his Missions debut. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 6-3 on Sunday, April 30, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Daniel Camarena started on the mound in his Missions debut.

Missions start strong behind Efrain Contreras’ pitching, Pedro Castellanos’ slam before falling to Naturals

The Missions' Pedro Contreras hits a grand slam in the second inning. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 11-10 in 12 innings on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Pedro Contreras hits a grand slam in the second inning.

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. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 11-10 in 12 innings on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
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. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 11-10 in 12 innings on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
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. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 11-10 in 12 innings on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ray-Patrick Didder made his San Antonio Missions debut and played center field.

Daniel Johnson, Luis Aviles Jr. homer as Missions beat Naturals

Luis Aviles Jr. homered in the second inning. The San Antonio Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-1 on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Luis Aviles Jr. homered in the second inning.

Daniel Johnson hit a two-run homer in the third inning. The San Antonio Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-1 on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Daniel Johnson hit a two-run homer in the third inning.
Luis Aviles Jr. hit his first home run of the season and Daniel Johnson hit his second to give the San Antonio Missions more runs than they needed to beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-1 on Thursday night at Wolff Stadium.

Aviles hit a solo shot in the second inning. Johnson added a two-run homer in the third inning.

The Missions also got some offense from some of their veteran players. Tirso Ornelas had two hits and an RBI. Juan Fernandez doubled for the third night in a row and scored a run. Fernandez has a five-game hitting streak and is batting .452 in nine games.

Missions starting pitcher Duncan Snider went 4 1/3 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits and five walks with five strikeouts.

CD Pelham, the first receiver out of the Missions’ bullpen, got the last two outs of the fifth inning to earn his first win of the season. He allowed one hit and struck out one.

Missions relievers Nick Hernandez, Jose Espada and Jared Koenig combined to pitch the last four scoreless innings to hold down the win.

Jackson Wolf’s pitching, Michael De La Cruz’s homer power Missions past NW Arkansas

Michael De La Cruz celebrates his fifth-inning home run. The San Antonio Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 10-2 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Michael De La Cruz celebrates his fifth-inning home run.
San Diego Padres prospect Jackson Wolf struck out a season-high 10 batters and switch-hitting catcher Michael De La Cruz hit his second home run as the San Antonio Missions beat up Northwest Arkansas 10-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Wolff Stadium.

Wolf, the only Missions starter to earn a win in the first 16 games of the season, ran his record to 2-2. The 6-foot-7 left-hander pitched five complete innings, allowed one run on four hits with one walk and double-digit strikeouts.

De La Cruz hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning. He finished with three hits, four RBIs and two runs scored.

The Missions piled up 11 hits. Ripken Reyes, another switch-hitter, had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run. Pedro Castellanos had two hits and an RBI and was hit by a pitch. Juan Fernandez had two hits, doubled for the second game in a row, had one RBI and scored twice.

Missions reliever Kevin Kopps pitched the final three scoreless innings for his first save of the season. The former University of Arkansas pitcher allowed one hit with no walks and struck out four.

Starting pitcher Jackson Wolff went five innings and got the win. The San Antonio Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 10-2 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Starting pitcher Jackson Wolff went five innings and got the win. The San Antonio Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 10-2 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

Missions’ Nolan Watson has second straight strong start

Missions starter Nolan Watson pitched five strong innings. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the San Antonio Missions 8-3 on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions starter Nolan Watson pitched five innings.
San Antonio Missions Missions starting pitcher Nolan Watson gave up a run for the first time this season.

And he took the loss Tuesday at Wolff Stadium as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals beat the Missions 8-3.

But Watson pitched five full innings for the second straight start and has a stellar 0.64 ERA after pitching in four games this season.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander allowed two runs on Tuesday, only one earned, on five hits and no walks with one strikeout. He threw five scoreless innings in his previous outing.

The Naturals are the Double-A farm club of the Kansas City Royals. The 26-year-old Watson was originally picked by the Royals in the first round of the 2015 draft.

Missions reliever Edwuin Bencomo looks like he is finding his groove. He has appeared in six games this season and has not allowed a run in his last four. He pitched the final 1 1/3 innings on Tuesday and allowed one hit with one strikeout and no walks.

The Missions had 10 hits in the game but didn’t put much together until they scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning. Tirso Ornelas and Juan Fernandez each put up two hits, including a double, with one run and one RBI. Daniel Johnson had a hit and drove in the Missions’ other run.

The Naturals scored first with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. Northwest Arkansas took control with five runs in the top of the eighth.

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

Ethan Skender a hit in Missions debut in win over RockHounds

Ethan Skender had two hits including an RBI triple in his San Antonio Missions debut on Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ethan Skender had two hits including an RBI triple in his Missions debut.
Ethan Skender joined the San Antonio Missions on Friday after being promoted by the San Diego Padres.

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.

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.