SAN ANTONIO — After being shut out in four of their first five games out of the All-Star break, San Antonio snapped a 20-inning scoreless streak when Romeo Sanabria launched a home run to right-center to put the Flying Chanclas on the board in the second. Unfortunately, San Antonio managed just two more hits Thursday night and fell to the RockHounds, 2-1.
Enmanuel Pinales had one of his best outings of the year for San Antonio. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
“If you are involved in this game long enough, you are going to go through a bunch of different stretches in your career, and this is one of them,” said San Antonio manager Luke Montz.
“A lot of things run through your head, but in the end, it’s about making sure the energy is good, the work ethic is there, and it is. We are staying level-headed, it’s not fun, and these guys know it, but the locker room is still good.
“This is what baseball is all about: you need to find ways and keep competing, and when we come out of it, we are going to be in a good spot.”
Despite the offensive struggles, San Antonio got a quality outing from right-hander Enmanuel Pinales, who threw five shutout innings, only allowing a pair of singles while striking out four. Improbably, it was the fifth time Pinales has faced Midland in 12 Texas League appearances this year. After the RockHounds pounded him for 12 runs across 4.1 innings in a mid-May series, he has held them to only one run in 14.1 innings in his last three opportunities.
“He’s got to throw the baseball in the zone early and get ahead at this level, as compared to High-A,” said Montz. “If you fall behind in counts and the hitters have an idea that a fastball is coming, that doesn’t work.
“Tonight, he was throwing breaking balls over the plate early in the count and mixing his pitches. When he does that, it’s going to be good.”
In the sixth inning, the wheels came off for the home team. Reliever Andrew Moore replaced Pinales, and after striking out the first batter, walked the next, and then gave up back-to-back singles including one off his left to tie the game.
Moore then struck out his second batter of the inning, before another walk to load the bases. Montz then brought Jake Higginbotham, who issued another walk to push across the go-ahead run. The San Antonio staff didn’t allow any other walks through the rest of the game.
Romeo Sanabria hit San Antonio’s first home run at home since July 2. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
The Flying Chanclas’ had a chance to even it or pull ahead in the bottom of the sixth, when they had runners on second and third, but Devin Ortiz struck out to end the threat.
Sanabria’s home run was the first at home for San Antonio since July 2. After carrying the offense in April and May, Sanabria slumped badly in June with an OPS of .497 before rebounding this month with a slash line of .317/.349/.500 as he tries to find the balance between trying to hit for more power without sacrificing his elite contact skills.
“Romeo can hit the ball anywhere on the field,” said Montz. “Slowly, he’s trying to add a little more power by maybe becoming more aggressive in certain counts, and we are starting to see that.
“He has great bat-to-ball skills, and if he starts losing a few more baseballs, who knows how loud it can be.”
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