SAN ANTONIO — The Missions lost their fourth straight 8-4 at home Friday, falling to 1-6 since the All-Star break.
The baseball gods seemed to be smiling on the Missions as they cruised into the sixth inning.
Víctor Lizarraga threw five strong innings on Friday. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
In the second inning, a pair of lucky bounces around the first base bag that turned into back-to-back RBI hits as the Missions put three runs on the board to equal their total from their previous six games. On the mound, Victor Lizarraga had only allowed a run and had squeezed out of a tight jam in the fourth inning. Romeo Sanabria added a deep sacrifice fly to right field to put San Antonio up 4-to-1.
“It sure looked that way,” said Luke Montz, on whether he thought the Missions’ luck was beginning to change. “If you play, watch, or cover this game long enough, you need those breaks when things are going like this.
“Things start to click, we put a couple of runs on the board, and then the sixth and eighth innings come along, and the outcome was what it was.”
In the top of the sixth, Kevin Kopps replaced Lizarraga and proceeded to hit the first two batters he faced, then issued a wild pitch to advance the runners. A fielder’s choice brought home one run, but on a single to center, Kai Murphy made one of the better throws of the year to cut down the runner at the plate and keep the Missions up by two.
That quickly changed when another Midland single brought in a second run and cut San Antonio’s lead to one. Montz went to J.B. Wendelken, who got the third out of the inning with the Missions’ lead intact.
The wheels came off for Wendelken in the eighth. He gave up a walk and a double to open the frame. One out later, a two-run single put the RockHounds ahead. The big righty walked the bases loaded before being replaced by Ryan Och, who allowed a bases-clearing double to one-time Padres farmhand Euribiel Angeles to put Midland up 8 to 4.
San Antonio’s offense is attempting to dig itself out of a bad stretch. Across 24 games in the second half, the club is hitting .215 with 78 runs scored, both the lowest in the Texas League. Coming into the game, they were hitting just .188 with runners in scoring position since just missing a first-half playoff spot, though they did manage to go 2-for-6 in those situations Friday.
In contrast, the pitching staff leads the Texas League in strikeouts with 917, and ranks second in all of Double-A baseball.
The highlight of the evening was Lizarraga’s five-inning start, his longest since June 7. The San Diego native had a brutal start to the year, pitching to a 10.43 ERA in April, and went into his final start of May with a mark still above nine. But he has bounced back nicely, pitching to a 2.23 ERA and 28 strikeouts over his last 32.3 innings.
“Shock the world, Lizzy is not going to throw 97 by you,” said Montz in praise of the 21-year-old right-hander. “He has to move and sink the baseball, go up and down, and keep the batter off balance. He’s corrected some of the things he was doing wrong early on and has pitched well.
“One thing we always know about him is that he is going to compete to the fullest anytime he steps out on the mound.”
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