San Antonio, TX - It took four hours and forty two minutes to finish, but when the dust settled, the San Antonio Missions beat Springfield 3-2 in 14 innings to salvage a game in the three-game set at Wolff Stadium.

Casey Kelly made the start for San Antonio against Carlos Martinez looking to bounce back from a sub-par outing last time out for the Cardinals.

After a forty five minute delay to the start of the game, the Missions would be the first to strike as they got a two-out RBI single by Nate Freiman to score Rymer Liriano to make it 1-0 in the first inning.

The scores stayed that way as both starters exited the game after five innings of work. Martinez allowed a run on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Kelly allowed just a double and a walk with four strikeouts.

The Cardinals had a great scoring chance in the 6th with runners on the corners and one out, but lacked the clutch hit. San Antonio stranded the bases loaded in the 6th as Justin Wright struck a batter out and got a ground out to end the inning.

In the 7th, Xavier Scruggs tied the game with a solo homer to right field.

Deryk Hooker entered in the bottom of the 7th and allowed three straight base runners with one out. Jonathan Galvez then lined a single to left to score one and give the Missions a 2-1 lead before Hooker retired the next two batters.

In the 9th, the Cardinals loaded the bases on a single, a hit by pitch and one out walk. Greg Garcia came to the plate and delivered an RBI ground out to tie the game 2-2.

Springfield went into extra innings for the fourth time in seven games. Both teams exchanged zeroes for the next few innings even as San Antonio had the bases loaded in the 12th with two out, but Freiman flied to shallow center.

The Cardinals had a chance to take their first lead of the game in the 14th as Vance Albitz walked to lead-off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Audry Perez came up and singled to right, but Albitz was thrown out at home.

In the bottom of the 14th inning, the Missions loaded the bases on two singles and an intentional walk before Robert Lara, a pitcher, pinch hit and lined a single to right to win the game and salvage a game from Springfield in the three-game series.

The Cardinals will begin a three-game series with the Corpus Christi Hooks Saturday night at 6:05pm. Springfield will have Seth Maness on the mound against Rob Rassmussen of the Hooks.

Springfield will return to Hammons Field Wednesday, August 15th for a six-game homestand beginning with three against San Antonio. Great tickets are still available, so visit the Hammons Field Ticket Office, go online at springfieldcardinals.com or call (417) 863-2143.

Escape to Cardinals Baseball!