Missions Lose 3-2 on Walk-off Winner in 10th for Drillers
Tulsa, Oklahoma
The San Antonio Missions are the last affiliate still in action for the San Diego Padres.
The team came back from a 2-0 deficit in their series against the Corpus Christie Hooks last week to advance to the Texas League Championship.
In this series, they will face the Tulsa Drillers who are the Los Angeles Dodgers Double-A affiliate. Tulsa won the second half of the season by going 40-29 and are full of young talented players. The series should be exciting and Tuesday was an early indication of how close these teams will battle each game.
A wild pitch got the Drillers on the board in the first, but Michel Baez settled down to pitch very well for San Antonio. He went 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on one hit and four walks. The big right handed struck out seven on the night as the velocity in his fastball has returned. The pitch count got to Baez as he battled some mechanical issues throughout the night.
Hudson Potts got San Antonio back to even in the second as he hit a homer opposite field that was very impressive to see. Potts ended up 2-for-4 on the night and has shown the ability to step up when the game is on the line. He has a very bright future. Despite a slow start in San Antonio, Potts seems to have adjusted well.
The Missions had a lead in the game as a soft groundout off the bat of Austin Allen scored Josh Naylor from third base. The score was 2-1 in the fourth and the Missions had a lead in game one of the series. Perhpas nerves kicked in a bit, but Baez battled with consistency in the bottom of the fourth. He walked two in the inning, including the leadoff hitter. Baez also threw a wild pitch and hit a batter with the bases loaded to force in the tying run. It was not a great inning for him, but he did get out of the jam.
With the score tied at two, the game turned into a pitchers duel. Ronald Bolanos, Jason Jester, David Bednar and Eric Yardley all had scoreless appearances for the Missions. San Antonio pitchers struck out 13 batters on the night. The issue for the team was that the Missions’ offense left 13 men on base. They just could not get the timely hit.
The Driller got three hits off of Travis Radke in the 10th. Keibert Ruiz singled in the winning run with one out in the inning. The lefty took the loss for the Missions an a game that was a tough way to begin a series.
Hudson Potts– (2-4) HR, RBI, Run, K
Josh Naylor– (2-4) Run, SB
Buddy Reed– (0-4) BB, CS
Kyle Overstreet– (2-4) K
Michel Baez– 5.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K (94 pitches- 56 strikes)
Games two of the series is Wednesday at 5:05 PM
Emmanuel Ramirez is set to take the mound for the Missions.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.