Keston Hiura leads Missions’ longball barrage

Keston Hiura celebrates with his teammates at the plate after hitting a grand slam in the second inning on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Keston Hiura (18) celebrates with his teammates at the plate after hitting a grand slam in the second inning on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
Keston Hiura continued to pile up big at-bats since returning to the San Antonio Missions.

In the eight games since being optioned down from the Milwaukee Brewers, Hiura has added four home runs, 11 RBIs and hit 11-of-34 (.324).

That includes two home runs and five RBIs Thursday night as the Missions pounded the Tacoma Rainiers 15-1 at Wolff Stadium.

Both of Hiura’s homers came off Rainiers starting pitcher Justus Sheffield. Hiura hit a solo shot in the first inning in his first at-bat. He added a grand slam in the second inning. That boosted his team-leading home run total to 15 for the season.

Hiura had plenty of help in the hitting department as the Missions spent a big part of their night celebrating at the plate.

Tyler Saladino hit his 13th home run of the season, a leadoff shot in the second inning.

Mauricio Dubon hit a two-run homer in the third inning.

Lucas Erceg added a three-run homer in the seventh inning.

The Missions finished with 15 hits including doubles by Dubon and Troy Stokes Jr.

Missions starting pitcher Burch Smith (4-3) went five innings to get the win. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out 10 batters with two walks.

Missions split series with Storm Chasers; Brewers announce roster moves

Travis Shaw batting for the San Antonio Missions on Sunday at Wolff Stadium in his final game before returning to the Milwaukee Brewers. - photo by Joe Alexander
Travis Shaw batting for the Missions at Wolff Stadium in his final game before returning to the Brewers. – photo by Joe Alexander
The 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.

Missions’ Tyler Saladino blasts Redbirds again

Tyler Saladino hits a seventh-inning home run in the Missions' 4-0 victory over the Memphis Redbirds on Monday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Tyler Saladino hits a seventh-inning home run in the Missions’ 4-0 victory over the Redbirds. – photo by Joe Alexander
Tyler Saladino and the San Antonio Missions made life miserable for the Memphis Redbirds over the last five games.

Saladino had a two-run pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning Monday as the Missions beat the Redbirds 4-0 at Wolff Stadium to complete a sweep of their series.

In the five games against the Redbirds, Saladino batted .643 (9-of-14) with five runs scored, two home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs. He has nine home runs and 23 extra-base hits on the season.

Jake Hager and Tuffy Gosewisch drove in the other two runs Monday.

Missions reliever Taylor Williams (1-0) pitched the fifth and six innings and got the win. He allowed no runs and two hits with two strikeouts. Burch Smith was the starter and did not get a decision. Smith went four scoreless innings and allowed two hits with six strikeouts and four walks.

Lucas Erceg, Tyler Saladino homer as Missions pound Redbirds

The Missions' Tyler Saladino watches his three-run homer sail over the right-field fence in the sixth inning against the Redbirds on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Tyler Saladino watches his three-run homer sail over the right-field fence in the sixth inning against the Redbirds on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions lashed out 15 hits including two home runs in a 9-3 victory over the Memphis Redbirds on Sunday at Wolff Stadium.

Lucas Erceg hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-out solo shot in the second inning.

Tyler Saladino hit his eighth homer of the season with two runners on base in the sixth inning.

Erceg, Saladino and Blake Allemand had two hits each for the Missions.

Missions starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson (2-0) went six innings for the win. He allowed one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

It was the fifth straight win for the Missions, including the first four games of the current series against the Redbirds. The teams conclude their series with an early game Monday at 11:05 a.m.

Jake Hager’s walk-off hit gives Missions dramatic win over Express

The Missions' Jake Hager drills a game-ending single to center against the Round Rock Express on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Jake Hager drills a game-ending single to center against the Express. – photo by Joe Alexander
Jake 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.

Missions fall to Dodgers in series finale

Oklahoma City's Matt Beaty (right) is greeted at the plate after hitting a third-inning home run against San Antonio on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Oklahoma City’s Matt Beaty (right) is greated at the plate after hitting a third-inning home run. – photo by Joe Alexander
Oklahoma City’s Matt Beaty hit a three-run homer in the third inning and the Dodgers beat the San Antonio Missions 4-1 Sunday at Wolff Stadium.

The meeting was the finale of a five-game series and snapped the Missions’ six-game win streak.

Dodgers starting pitcher Daniel Corcino (2-1) pitched 5 1/3 innings for the win. Missions starter Thomas Jankins (1-1) pitched five innings, gave up the homer to Beaty, and took the loss.

Sounds win series finale against Missions

Lucas Erceg had two hits including a two-run homer. The Sounds beat the Missions 10-5 Monday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Lucas Erceg had two hits including a two-run homer. The Sounds beat the Missions 10-5 Monday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Nashville Sounds had 10 hits including four home runs to beat the San Antonio Missions 10-5 on Monday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions play their next seven games on the road beginning Tuesday night against the Memphis Redbirds.

Willie Calhoun, Jett Bandy, Hunter Cole and Matt Davidson homered for the Sounds.

The Missions had 15 hits. Tyrone Taylor had four hits, one RBI and one run scored. Lucas Erceg had two hits including his third home run of the season.

Keston Hiura had a double and a triple. Corey Ray also had two hits.

Tyler Saladino powers Missions past Sounds

Tyler Saladino is congratulated by third base coach Ned Yost IV as Saladino rounds the bases after hitting his second home run of the game Saturday against the Sounds at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Tyler Saladino is congratulated by third base coach Ned Yost IV as Saladino rounds the bases after hitting his second home run of the game Saturday against the Sounds at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
Tyler Saladino hit two home runs as the San Antonio Missions beat the Nashville Sounds 5-3 Saturday night at Wolff Stadium.

On Friday night, Saladino hit an inside-the-park home run.

One night later, he powered two long balls over the left-field fence.

Saladino hit a two-run homer with Cory Spangenberg on base in the second inning. Saladino hit a solo shot in the seventh inning.

The Missions scored two more runs on a two-run double by Keston Hiura in the seventh inning to take a 5-1 lead.

The Sounds also got two home runs: from Andy Ibanez in the top of the second inning and from Adam Moore in the eighth.

Missions starting pitcher Burch Smith earned his first win of the season. He went six innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Missions fall to Sounds despite three home runs; Tyler Saladino hits inside-the-parker

The Missions' Tyler Saladino hit an inside-the-park home run against the Sounds on Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Tyler Saladino hit an inside-the-park home run against the Sounds on Friday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

The San Antonio Missions got home runs Keston Hiura, Tyler Saladino and Tyrone Taylor but lost to the Memphis Sounds 7-3 Friday at Wolff Stadium.

Saladino hit an inside-the-park homer in the seventh inning, beating a tag in a close play at the plate, to give the Missions a 2-0 lead.

Hiura homered in the fourth for the first run of the game.

Taylor added his third home run of the season in the ninth.

The Sounds scored all seven of their runs in the eighth inning off Missions relief pitchers.

Missions starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Flying Chanclas fall to Redbirds

Lucas Erceg dives into home in the second inning with the Flying Chanclas' first run of the game. - photo by Joe Alexander
Lucas Erceg dives into home in the second inning with the Flying Chanclas’ first run of the game. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions, playing as the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, fell to the Memphis Redbirds 6-3 Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions won the previous two games in the series with ninth-inning rallies.

The Missions briefly led after scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. Nate Orf had an RBI double, Cory Spangenberg had an RBI single and Jacob Nottingham had an RBI double.

The Redbirds tied it 3-3 with a run in the top of the third and took the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh.