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PCL1 San Antonio Missions

Turning the Tide against a Rival

July 26, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
San Antonio Missions News Release


Not many teams in the Pacific Coast League play better against the Missions than the Iowa Cubs.

It's not that the Cubs have superior talent.

It's just that, on most nights, they tend to take advantage of one or two matchups, all while making a few more plays.

Then again, the prevailing narrative on the rivalry between the two PCL American Conference division leaders might be shifting ever so slightly.

The Missions, playing as the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, dominated the Demonios de Des Moines 9-1 on Thursday night at Wolff Stadium.

With the win, coming before 6,136 fans, the Missions achieved a significant milestone. For the first time in their first Triple-A season, they won a series against the Cubs.

They won two out of three this week against a team that they very well may see in the first round of the playoffs in September.

"I like winning series, obviously," Missions manager Rick Sweet said. "Overall, I thought we played very good baseball. Offensively, I thought we had some good games. Defensively, we made a few mistakes.

"But overall, I thought we played a solid series. Not one we dominated. But, a good series, which is what you want to do when you're going through a long season."

Both teams are expected to undergo potentially significant roster changes before the playoffs start, so the Missions, the leaders in the PCL's American Southern Division, likely didn't do anything in the past three days that would help them psychologically in six weeks.

Nevertheless, the Missions will take two out of three any day, especially since the Cubs won three out of four in Des Moines in late April-early May, and three of five in San Antonio in late June-early July.

Altogether, the Cubs won seven of the first 11 leading into Thursday night, when the Missions responded by hitting four home runs to back the pitching of Bubba Derby.

"They're a pretty good team," Missions shortstop Mauricio Dubon said. "They have a pretty good bullpen. They have a good team all around.

"For us, it was just a matter of putting together some good at bats and pitching (well). Bubba was lights out. Today, everything came together."

Dubon led the way with a solo home run in the first inning, his team-leading 16th of the season. Other homers came off the bats of Hernan Perez, Tuffy Gosewisch and Cory Spangenberg.

Early on, a scary moment unfolded when Derby was on the mound in the first inning and started to feel queasy.

With leadoff man Dixon Machado at the plate, play was delayed for a few moments as Missions coaches joined the team trainer in walking hurriedly out to check on their starting pitcher.

Derby said after the game that "a little nausea" wasn't going to slow him down.

"I felt it about 30 minutes before the game," he said. "Got a little Pepto Bismol in me, and kind of went from there."

As soon as the meeting at the mound ended, Machado roped a single to left field.

But Derby settled himself, inducing a ground ball for a double play and then striking out Johnny Field to end the inning.

By the time he was finished for the evening, he had put on one of his best performances.

Working six innings, Derby gave up five hits and one run. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter.

Derby exited with the Missions leading 9-1. Thus, he earned the victory, improving to 5-6, with his earned run average dropping to 4.87.

"Overall, he's been very solid for us this year," Sweet said. "He's only had one or two outings (when) he hasn't given us five innings. So, he's done a good job."

Sweet said Derby's best opportunity for advancement to the major leagues might be as a long reliever-spot starter.

"We thought he would be perfect in that role,'" Sweet said. "We just haven't been able to, because we haven't had enough starters."

With the Missions traveling to open a three-game road series Friday at Omaha, intrigue is building within the team in regard to the trade deadline.

The parent-club Milwaukee Brewers reportedly are looking for major-league pitching. As a result, other teams are monitoring the Missions for young players to help in a rebuilding effort.

For instance, one report suggests that Brewers are looking at pitchers on the roster of the San Francisco Giants, who are in turn looking at the Missions - perhaps at the 25-year-old Dubon.

Dubon, who is hitting .297 with 16 homers and 46 RBI, said he has heard the rumors.

On one hand, Dubon said he would welcome a chance to play in the major leagues for any organization. But, as he added, "Right now, my main focus is with the Brewers."

PCL standings

American Southern Division - San Antonio 64-40, Round Rock 59-44, New Orleans 54-49, Oklahoma City 48-55.

American Northern Division - Iowa 57-47, Omaha 48-56, Nashville 43-60, Memphis 43-61.

Note: Winners of the American Southern and American Northern divisions meet in the first round of the PCL playoffs.

Coming up

The Missions, who have the best overall record in Triple-A and in the PCL, play road games at the Omaha Storm Chasers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Storm Chasers are affiliated with the Kansas City Royals. The Missions are 9-5 against the Storm Chasers this year.

Losing Travis Shaw

Missions manager Rick Sweet said the Brewers have called up veteran infielder Travis Shaw.

In making the announcement before Thursday's game, Sweet said Shaw deserved the promotion because he had effectively worked out his problems on offense, all while continuing to work hard on his defense.

For instance, Sweet said Shaw never missed optional phases of early work taking ground balls early in the afternoon.

He said Shaw always wanted to be in the lineup and never wanted to come out of a game. Shaw hit .286 with nine home runs and 22 RBI for the Missions.

Playing well against the Cubs

Missions utility man Cory Spangenberg continued to torment the Iowa Cubs. His three-run homer in the fifth inning helped break the game open. For the season, Spangenberg has hit .345 with three doubles, a triple and two home runs against Iowa.

Hurting the Missions

With a 2 for 3 performance, including a double, Trent Giambrone improved his batting average against the Missions to .341. Against the Missions, Giambrone has produced three doubles, three homers and 10 RBI in 12 games.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 26, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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