TL1 San Antonio Missions

Making a Run

Published on June 11, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
San Antonio Missions News Release


If the Missions are going to secure an automatic playoff spot from the first half of the season, they will have to finish strong. Down five games with 14 to play until the mid-point, San Antonio got what it needed Wednesday night, riding the arm of Mat Latos to an 8-4 victory over Frisco.

In the meantime, Corpus Christi took care of division-leading Midland 8-1, to help the Missions gain a crucial game in the standings.

Latos (3-0) was not as dominant as he had been in past starts, but continued to impress nonetheless. He allowed a single run on six hits and two walks, striking out three, while touching 96 miles-per-hour on the Wolff Stadium radar gun. He picked up his third straight victory, moving to 3-0 with a 0.79 ERA through his first four starts with the Missions.

"He wasn't at his absolute sharpest, but he threw a couple good pitches when he had to," said skipper Terry Kennedy of his budding ace's performance. "If a starter gives up one run every five or six innings, we'll take it."

The Missions used a two-out error by 'Riders shortstop Marcus Lemon to push across a run in the opening frame. Craig Cooper and Lance Zawadzki followed with singles to give the home side the early 1-0 lead. It marked the fifth time in the Missions' last eight games, the 11th in their last 17, and 30th in time in 57 games overall this year that they have scored in the first inning. Despite the quick starts, however, San Antonio has gone just 17-13 in those games, including Wednesday night's win.

The Missions carried a 2-0 lead into the fourth, where they opened the frame with four straight hits to break the game open. Kellen Kulbacki singled, Brian Joynt doubled, and Michael Collins and Jesus Lopez followed with RBI singles. Luis Durango moved Collins and Lopez over with a sacrifice bunt, and Cedric Hunter followed with an RBI single, plating Collins and moving Lopez to third. Eric Sogard's sacrifice fly plated Lopez with the fourth and final run of the inning to stretch the lead to 6-0.

Sogard was the engine driving the offense, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a sacrifice fly, three runs scored and an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games, and is batting .405 (17-for-42) with eight walks, two doubles, a home run, 13 runs scored and three RBI over the stretch. He also logged his sixth multi-hit game during the span, and his 15th of the season.

"He's the kind of hitter who's not afraid to get to two strikes," said Kennedy of Sogard.

The RoughRiders made a game of it in the seventh, scoring three times to close the gap to 6-4. Mitch Moreland drove in his second RBI of the game on a two-out, RBI single, and Chad Tracy followed with a rocket over the left field wall off reliever Brandon Gomes. Tracy, who hit the ball hard into the wind in center for outs in each of his first three at-bats, turned one around to his pull side in left, easily clearing the chain-link fence over the wall.

The Missions tacked on single runs in the seventh and eighth innings on sloppy plays by Frisco to put the game out of reach. Sogard scored after a throwing error on a fielder's choice in the seventh, and Jesus Lopez came home from third on a wild pitch in the eighth to round out the scoring.

Missions reliever John Hudgins tossed two perfect innings to earn his first save of the year. He struck out Moreland, who finished the night 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, to end the game in style.

WP: Latos (3-0); LP: Ballard (0-3); S: Hudgins (1); HR: Tracy (9)

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Texas League Stories from June 11, 2009


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