Mendez Launches into Double-A But 11Ks Not Enough as Cardinals Fly Away from Chanclas
TL San Antonio Missions

Mendez Launches into Double-A But 11Ks Not Enough as Cardinals Fly Away from Chanclas

Published on August 8, 2025 under Texas League (TL)
San Antonio Missions News Release


SAN ANTONIO - 98°F was the Thursday high at Wolff Stadium but it could easily be mistaken for the velocity of Miguel Mendez's explosive fastball. The young right-hander making his Double-A debut made it look easy, tossing six frames of one-hit baseball and striking out 11 batters, the most for any San Antonio hurler this year. Unfortunately, the bullpen and bats did not equal the performance of the starter as the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio (16-20, 55-50) fell to the Springfield Cardinals (23-13, 66-39) by a score of 6-2.

If San Antonio fans are not familiar with Mendez, they should be now. Called up from High-A Fort Wayne on August 1, the No. 4 Padres prospect brings a resume that includes being named Midwest League Pitcher of the Month for July, where he was 3-1 across four starts while only allowing ten hits and no runs. Nothing changed except the uniform for Mendez, who sparkled for the Flying Chanclas. The right hander allowed two runs, both unearned, on one hit and 11 strikeouts.

Mendez ran into his first form of trouble in the fourth inning, allowing two to reach. Noah Mendlinger led off the inning with a single before a walk to Joshua Baez with one away put two Cardinals on base. Mendez struck out Dakota Harris swinging and on the same play, catcher Oswaldo Linares attempted to back pick Baez at first. A close play ensued, and after Baez was called safe, Manager Luke Montz was tossed for arguing the call. Mendez finished the inning and kept the game scoreless.

After Mendez's second time striking out the side in the fifth inning, trouble returned in the sixth, but this time it resulted in Springfield opening the scoring. The young Flying Chanclas hurler walked Chase Davis to begin the inning. Then, after a Mendlinger flyout provided San Antonio with the first out, Leonardo Bernal hit a ground ball on a hop that Mendez leapt in the air to snag. After coming down, he rushed the throw to first and the ball trickled out of play. Bernal advanced to second while Davis circled the bases and scored to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Cardinals.

With the Cardinals still threatening, Baez reached on a walk. The next batter, Harris, knocked a ground ball for an infield hit to load the bases. Then Harris got caught in a run down while trying to steal second base, but Bernal was able to come around to score and the inning closed with a 2-0 Springfield lead.

The inning would end as Mendez's last on the day before Austin Krob took over things for the Flying Chanclas in the seventh. The San Antonio southpaw entered and despite a two-out walk to Graysen Tarlow, tossed a clean inning to hold Springfield at two runs. Things took a turn in the eighth inning as Krob began his second inning of work. An immediate double by Davis was met with a wild pitch to push him to third. As the count ran full to Mendlinger, Krob plunked him to put Cards on the corners. Bernal knocked a fly ball to right field deep enough to bring Davis home and make the game 3-0 Springfield. A heads up play by Linares picked off Mendlinger at first to put two away, but Krob's second pitch to Baez landed over the right field wall for a solo home run to increase the Flying Chanclas deficit to 4-0. After walking the next batter, Krob handed the keys of the game to Ethan Routzahn.

With a runner on and the game still in the seventh, Routzahn gave up a two-run homer to Ramon Mendoza. The second Springfield round tripper made it a 6-0 ball game.

In the bottom half of the eighth inning, a series of events led to the Flying Chanclas scoring their first runs of the evening to avoid the shutout. Ortiz got plunked as the first batter of the inning. Moisés Gómez followed up with a single to put two San Antonio runners on. Later with one down, a passed ball advanced both men to put two Flying Chanclas in scoring position. Romeo Sanabria drove in the first San Antonio run after lifting a ball in foul territory near the Springfield bullpen that Harris made the play on, but a tagging Ortiz crossed home to make the game 6-1. Gómez tagged from second on the same play and moved to third before Marcos Castañon hit a line drive single to right field to score him and make it a 6-2 game in favor of Springfield.

The Flying Chanclas went down in order as Leonardo Tavares closed the book on San Antonio and finalized a 6-2 Springfield victory.

UP NEXT:

The Missions continue their six-game series against the Springfield Cardinals Friday evening. First Pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eric Yost (1-0, 1.42) makes his second start for San Antonio while Springfield counters with Southpaw Brycen Mautz (4-2, 3.22). Tomorrow's game features a Flying Chanclas Soccer Jersey Giveaway presented by Circle K. The first 2,000 fans through the gates will score a Flying Chanclas soccer jersey giveaway, a part of the Missions crossover collection. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com. Tickets are available at samissions.com or by calling 210-675-7275.

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Texas League Stories from August 8, 2025


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