TL San Antonio Missions

10th Inning Homer Highlights 4 RBI Night for Ben Ruta During Missions Victory

August 14, 2021 - Texas League (TL)
San Antonio Missions News Release


SAN ANTONIO - The Missions needed 10 innings against the Midland RockHounds Saturday night to claim the victory. Ben Ruta and Juan Fernandez hit back-to-back home runs in the 10th inning to win the game for the Missions by a final score of 7-4.

After a scoreless first inning, the Missions offense scored a run on two hits in the second inning. Allen Cordoba, after recording four hits last night, singled to start the inning. Kyle Overstreet followed with a single of his own. A groundout from Michael Curry advanced both runners into scoring position. Ben Ruta scored Cordoba on a groundout to shortstop. The Missions took an early 1-0 lead.

Pedro Avila was the starting pitcher for the San Antonio Missions. He put together one of his strongest outings of the season. The right-hander pitched four shutout innings while allowing one hit, two walks, and striking out two batters. Sam McWilliams took over in the top of the fifth inning.

McWilliams joined the Missions prior to Saturday night's game. Adrian Martinez was called up to Triple-A El Paso while McWilliams was transferred from El Paso. In his first inning with the Missions, he allowed a lead-off double to Edwin Diaz. A wild pitch moved Diaz to third base. Kyle McCann tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

After being held scoreless since the first inning, the Missions offense woke up and scored three runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead. With two outs in the inning, Cordoba was hit by a pitch. Overstreet kept the inning alive with a single. Curry put the Missions ahead with an RBI single. Olivier Basabe came in to pinch-run for Overstreet once he got to second base. Basabe scored on an RBI single from Ruta. Lastly, Curry came around to score on an infield single from Juan Fernandez. San Antonio took a 4-1 advantage.

The RockHounds cut into the deficit by adding two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The inning started with a walk and an RBI double. A second walk led to a mound visit. After recording out number one, McWilliams hit a batter to load the bases. Henry Henry replaced McWilliams on the mound. Henry struck out the first batter he faced, but walked the next batter to make it a 4-3 ballgame. With the bases still loaded, Henry recorded the final out of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Henry Henry pitched out of a jam to keep the Missions lead. After allowing a single and a double, Midland had runners on second and third with one out. Henry recorded a pop out and a fly out to strand both runners.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Missions had a chance to add an insurance run. Curry drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. After a fly ball, Curry advanced to third on a wild pitch. Fernandez drew a one-out walk. The Missions attempted to score on a squeeze play with Kelvin Melean laying down a bunt. Curry was tagged out at home on the play.

Nick Kuzia came on in the ninth for the save attempt. Unfortunately, it would result in a blown save. The inning started with a single and two walks. Midland tied the game on a ground ball double play. It was 4-4 heading into the 10th inning.

In the top of the 10th inning, Olivier Basabe was the designated runner at second base. He moved to third base after a fly ball out. Ben Ruta regained the lead for the Missions with a two-run go-ahead homer over the right field wall. Fernandez hit a solo homer to go back-to-back with Ruta and make it a 7-4 game.

Post-Game Notes

With the win, San Antonio improves to 41-47 on the season

Eguy Rosario (#17 Padres Prospect): 1-4, BB, CS

Esteury Ruiz (#30 Padres prospect): 0-6, K

Before the game, Adrian Martinez was called up to Triple-A El Paso

4th extra-innings win of the season

The San Antonio Missions will wrap-up their six-game series with the Midland RockHounds on Sunday, August 15th. Left-hander Osvaldo Hernandez (3-7, 5.11) is scheduled to pitch for the Missions. Right-hander Kyle Friedrichs (3-3, 4.35) is scheduled to pitch for the RockHounds. First pitch will be at 2:00 p.m.

The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. This is the 115th professional season for the San Antonio Missions. Tickets are on sale now at the Wolff Stadium Box Office or online at samissions.com. Season seat memberships are available now by calling 210-675-PARK (7275).

Check out the San Antonio Missions Statistics



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