SAN ANTONIO – Behind a career-high 10 strikeouts from starter Henry Baez, the San Antonio Missions pulled out a 2-1 win against the Frisco RoughRiders to reclaim a share of the division lead with two games remaining in the first half.
“When Baez’s fastball is playing in the zone, and he’s hitting 96-97-and 98, good luck to hitters,” said Missions manager Luke Montz. “The fastball helped open up that offspeed stuff and kept hitters off balance. His competitive edge on the mound is incomparable to anybody. He is the most competitive kid I have ever seen on the mound. The way he goes about his business, he’s a pro’s pro.”
Baez’s stuff looked as good as it had all season as the right-hander gave up only two hits and one walk across 5.2 innings. In total, Baez collected a season-high14 swings and misses.
The 24-year-old’s sinker sat 94-95 mph for most of the evening, topping out at 98.1 and getting anywhere from 11 to 17 inches of horizontal break. The changeup sat in the mid-80s and showcased good late arm-side fade. The stellar outing lowered his ERA to a league-leading 2.06 on the season. Over his last 38 innings Baez has allowed just three runs.
At the dish, catcher Brandon Valenzuela carried the Missions offense, driving in both runs. In the first, he swatted his team-high 10th home run of the year on a ball he crushed with an exit velocity of 105.3 mph and a 23-degree launch angle. In the bottom of the fifth, he nearly left the yard again, sending a ball to the wall in left-center to yield a sacrifice fly to extend the Missions lead to 2-0.
“The growth of Brandon this year has been huge, from both sides of the plate,” Montz said, “He has shown a lot of growth in managing a pitching staff. Offensively, I have always liked Brandon’s left-handed swing. Tonight, he was dialed in and took good at-bats. It’s hard to leave the yard here, especially with the wind blowing in. He got a good pitch, didn’t try to get too big, and drove the ball out of the ballpark.”
Following Baez’s departure, Missions relief arms Stephen Jones, Ryan Och, Tyson Neighbors, and Manuel Castro combined to allow just one run and strikeout six in their combined 3.1 inning pitched.
The most impressive outing of the bunch came from the recently promoted, Neighbors. The right-hander struck out the side on just 12 pitches in the top of the eighth inning. That included inducing four whiffs on seven swings. Neighbors four-seamer sat 94-96 and topped out at 97. The shape of the four-seamer remains excellent, with his final offering of the night logging 19 inches of induced vertical break. He maxed out at 20 inches iVB, which is elite at the big-league level.
“You saw it tonight from Tyson, how good the big stuff was,” said Montz, “He drove the fastball. You can tell by looking at him that he is all-out when he pitches. He is a guy who is high-strung, gets after it, and mixes and matches. We are really high on him and know if he continues to pitch like he has, he’ll have a ton of success.”
After Castro punched out Frisco’s Abimelec Ortiz to end the game, words appeared to be exchanged between the clubs fighting for a playoff spot, causing tempers to flare and the dugouts to empty as the teams skirmished at home plate.
“This is a playoff atmosphere. These are guys that are competing, they’re getting after it. It was just some chirping there at the end of the game. Some things were said out loud, that don’t need to be said and doesn’t need to happen.” Montz said. “Emotions were real high tonight, you saw it right there. Know we just need to keep going tomorrow.”
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