Ward Walks Off RockHounds in 10
Nelson Ward's walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th lifted San Antonio to a 3-2 win over Midland in front of 5,683 Friday night at Wolff Stadium.
The Missions, desperate to snap a season-high, five-game home losing streak, sent the right man to the hill Friday evening. Right-hander Bryan Rodriguez, who had allowed two runs or less in four of his first five starts of the season, was sharp again. Rodriguez surrendered just one run on five hits in his six plus innings. Midland's lone run came in the fifth courtesy of a J.P. Sportman RBI double to shallow left.
San Antonio grabbed a quick lead in the first against righty Joel Seddon with a two-out rally. Auston Bousfield singled, moved to third on a Nick Torres single and then raced home on a Seddon wild pitch.
The Missions upped its lead to two in the bottom of the third when Nick Schulz singled home Bousfield.
Rafael De Paula relieved Rodriguez early in the seventh and got the club out of the inning.
Newcomer Kyle McGrath looked poised to do the same in the eighth, quickly fanning the first two batters he faced. However, the third batter of the inning, Ryon Healy, tied the game at two with a deep homer over the berm in left. It was Healy's eighth dinger of the season.
McGrath returned for the ninth and worked a clean frame. The lefty nearly became a winner when his offense loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. San Antonio failed to capitalize as right-hander Kris Hall (0-1) got Taylor Lindsey to bounce out to short.
However, after right-hander Adam Cimber (1-1) put up a zero in the top of the 10th, Ward ended the contest in the bottom half when he took Hall's 1-2 pitch over the wall in right. It was the Missions' first walk-off victory of 2016.
San Antonio (11-23) continues its four-game game series with Midland (20-14) Saturday on Superhero Night at Wolff Stadium. The Missions will be wearing special superhero themed jerseys that will be auctioned off with all the proceeds going to the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Michael Kelly will take the hill for the Missions in his Double-A debut. Midland counters with fellow righty Chris Jensen (2-3, 6.23).
Notes: The San Diego Padres announced several moves Friday affecting the Missions' roster. RHPs Seth
Rosin and Fabio Castillo (3-4, 4.38) were transferred from San Antonio to Triple-A El Paso. Rosin had arrived from EP on Thursday when he replaced RHP Johnny Hellweg (Extended Spring). Replacing the two hurlers on the Missions' roster were Kelly and McGrath. In six starts for the Storm this season, Kelly was 1-3 with a 5.83 ERA and a K:BB ratio of 25:12 over 29.1 innings. McGrath, who made one appearance for San Antonio in 2015, was having a tremendous season in the California League. In 11 appearances out of the pen, McGrath did not allow an earned run, while putting up an impressive K:BB ratio of 26:1 over 17.1 innings.