Corpus Christi completed a doubleheader sweep of San Antonio Monday night at Wolff Stadium with a stunning 12-11 comeback victory.The Missions came out swinging in game two against Hooks righty Cionel Pérez. After Perez plunked leadoff man Luis Urías, Fernando Tatis Jr. gave San Antonio a 1-0 lead when he
Corpus Christi completed a doubleheader sweep of San Antonio Monday night at Wolff Stadium with a stunning 12-11 comeback victory.
The Missions came out swinging in game two against Hooks righty Cionel Pérez. After Perez plunked leadoff man Luis Urías, Fernando Tatis Jr. gave San Antonio a 1-0 lead when he ripped a double into left center. Two batters later, Franmil Reyes made the score 2-0 when he scored Tatis Jr. with a single to left. Nick Torres capped the three-run rally later in the frame with a double to left.
With a 3-0 lead and Texas League wins leader Brett Kennedy on the bump, things looked favorable for the home team. However, the Hooks began to chip away at Kennedy in the second when Jason Martin led off the frame with a deep homer to right.
An inning later, Corpus Christi took a 4-3 lead following a three-run rally keyed by a fielding error by Tatis Jr. at short.
Kennedy kept the Hooks off the board in the fourth and then his team rewarded him with a timely rally of their own against Perez. With runners on second and third and two outs, Luis Urias delivered a clutch, go-ahead two-run single to right.
The Missions' lead did not last long, because in the fifth, Dexture McCall tied the game at five when he took Kennedy's 2-2 pitch deep over the wall in right.
In the top of the sixth, Corpus Christi looked in good shape following a two-run double by Kyle Tucker off reliever José Castillo.
Trailing 7-5 in its half of the sixth, San Antonio mounted yet another one of its patented comebacks. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Corpus Christi exchanged reliever Ryan Thompson for Ralph Garza Jr. The move initially looked good when Garza Jr. fanned Tatis Jr and then got traded an out for a run on Josh Naylor's sacrifice fly to right. However, Garza Jr. was not out of trouble as Reyes followed with a three-run homer to right that put San Antonio up 9-7. Two batters later, Nick Torres followed with a two-run blast to right, extending the Mission' lead to four.
Incredibly, despite the rough relief outing, Garza Jr. (1-1) would turn into a winner after the Hooks exploded for a huge inning of their own in the seventh. César Vargas entered for San Antonio and proceeded to alternate walks and strikeouts through the first four batters of the frame. Following a two-run single by Ryne Birk that kept the game alive for Corpus Christi, Vargas was lifted for All-Star reliever Trey Wingenter. The first batter Wingenter (2-1) face was Tucker, who stunned the Wolff crowd when he put the Hooks up for good with a three-run homer to right center.
Nick Hernandez worked a perfect bottom of the seventh to cap the improbable Hooks victory, while notching his first save.
San Antonio (33-29, 74-58) begins an eight-game road trip Tuesday night with the first of four against Midland (29-32, 64-67). First pitch from Security Bank Ballpark is slated for 6:30 PM. Jacob Nix (1-1, 9.18) will get the ball for the Missions in Tuesday's series opener, while the RockHounds counter with fellow righty Grant Holmes (10-12, 4.85).
