TL1 San Antonio Missions

San Antonio Missions Game Notes: August 16 vs. Northwest Arkansas (7:05 PM CST)

Published on August 16, 2014 under Texas League (TL1)
San Antonio Missions News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME: Tonight is the middle game of a three-game series between the San Antonio Missions and the North- west Arkansas Naturals at Wolff Stadium. This will be the final regular season series between the clubs. San Antonio (24-30, 60-64) enters play tied for third in the South Division, second-half standings, seven games behind both Frisco (31-23, 71-52) and Midland (31-23, 69-55). Northwest Arkansas (26-27, 51-72) enters Saturday second in the North, six games behind Arkansas (32-21, 66-57). Tonight the Missions will try to snap three-game losing skids both overall and against the Naturals.

PITCHING MATCHUP: On the hill for San Antonio tonight is right-hander James Needy, who will be making his 23rd start of the season. The 23-year-old hurler took the loss in his last outing on August 10 at Northwest Arkansas after allowing three runs on six hits and four walks over six innings. The loss snapped a career-best, eight-game win streak, during which Needy was 3rd in the TL in ERA (2.37) and innings pitched (102.1), T-4th in wins, 5th in OPP AVG (.241), 6th in WHIP and 7th in strikeouts (78). For the season, Needy is 8-4 with a 2.85 ERA (4th in TL) and a K:BB ratio of 92:45 over 129.1 innings. Needy has been terrific in his 10 games (nine starts) at the Wolff this season, going 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA. The San Diego, CA native has fanned 43 batters against just 18 walks over 57 innings at home in 2014. The hometown Padres drafted James in the 6th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Santana High School in Santee, CA. Needy has been named TL Pitcher of the Week twice this season, most recently for July 28-August 3 when he tossed the first seven innings of San Antonio's combined no-hitter at Corpus Christi on July 30. The Naturals will counter with fellow righty Matt Murray, who beat the Missions in his last outing on August 10 at Arvest Ballpark after allowing just one run on five hits and no walks, while striking out three over five innings. In 24 games (six starts) for Northwest Arkansas this year, Murray is 1-4 with a 4.30 ERA (47 K's in 52.1 IP).

LAST GAME: San Antonio's valiant comeback attempt fell short as they fell to Northwest Arkansas, 6-4 in Friday night's series opener at Wolff Stadium. The Naturals opened scoring in the second against Missions' starter Leonel Campos courtesy of Angel Franco's run-producing groundout. An inning later Hunter Dozier pushed the Northwest Arkansas lead to three with a two-run double to left center. Campos (1-5) ran into more trouble in the fifth when former big leaguer Mitch Maier drilled a two-run homer to right. In the top of the sixth, the Naturals upped their lead to 6-0 after Mark Threlkeld dashed home from third on reliever Matt Branham's wild pitch. The six runs were more than plenty for winning starter Andy Ferguson, who allowed just two hits and two walks, while striking out a career-high, tying nine over six shutout innings. Ferguson (11-9) fanned nine in a game in August of 2012 while with Wilmington of the Carolina League. The Missions finally got on the board in the seventh on Lee Orr's sacrifice fly to center off reliever Noel Arguelles. In the bottom of the eighth, San Antonio made things very interesting when Casey McElroy's two-out, three-run homer to right cut their deficit to 6-4. However, Mark Peterson, who replaced Arguelles after the McElroy dinger, made sure the Missions did not get any closer, as he retired the final four batters for his third save of the season.

HOMER HAPPY: San Antonio has hit 102 homers in 2014, which is the 4th most at the Double-A level. The Missions have out-homered their opponents by 32 this season and have a 43-23 edge at the Wolff. San Antonio leads the Texas League in homers by four (Frisco/Midland). They have not led the TL in the category since 1992 when they hit 92. Last season, the Missions had just 73 homers through August 15.

GET TO 4: Four runs have been the magic number for San Antonio this season. When scoring four or more runs in a game, the Missions are 47-18. When they have failed to reach four, San Antonio is just 13-46. The trend has not held the last two nights though, as the Missions have dropped games in which they've scored 6 and 4 runs.

PLENTY OF K'S: San Antonio pitching leads the Texas League in strikeouts this season with 1023. Since the beginning of July, the Missions have fanned a Double-A high 365 batters (8.7 per game). In August, there's been a spike in the total strikeout numbers. San Antonio and their opponents have combined to average 18 strikeouts a game during the month (235 in 13 games).

HOME COOKING: As is usually the case, San Antonio pitching is once again racking up big numbers at the Wolff. In 60 home games this season, Missions' pitching is 31-30 with a 2.92 ERA and a K:BB ratio of 552:161 over 574 innings. San Antonio starters have benefitted the most from the Wolff Stadium environment, pitching to a 2.88 ERA compared to their 4.22 ERA on the road.

EXTRA-INNING PAIN: Thursday night's loss dropped San Antonio's extra-inning record to 6-18. It's the first time since 2005 (Frisco) that a TL club has played in as many as 20 extra-inning contests. The 24 extra-inning games is tied for the 4th most in MILB since 2005 (Toledo, 29 in 2005).

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