Baez a Buzzsaw but Offensive Woes Continue in 1-0 Shutout Loss to Midland 

SAN ANTONIO (July 22, 2025) – The throne of Henry Baez sat in the center of the Wolff Stadium diamond Tuesday night, but the right-hander's heroics could not overcome a struggling San Antonio offense as the San Antonio Missions (11-11, 50-41) suffered a 1-0 loss to the Midland RockHounds (9-13, 48-43). Brayan Buelvas’s late RBI single proved to be all Midland needed to snatch the win.

For the fifth time this season, Baez climbed the hill as San Antonio’s starter against Midland. The Texas League Pitcher of the Month for June looked to build off two preceding road assignments in which he notched 10 strikeouts through 11 scoreless frames. In his first outing after the All-Star Break, Baez began the game by sending the first ten RockHounds on an inevitable crash course for the Midland bench. Four of the ten were retired via strikeout before Brennan Milone erased the zero in the Midland hit column with a one-out single in the top of the fourth. Baez remained in control for the fifth, sitting down his last three batters in order before his outing was finished. Baez finished the day striking out the four RockHounds, allowing the one Milone single, walking one, and bringing his scoreless streak to 16 IP.

After having their first five batters sat down by Midland starter Kyle Robinson, the Missions bats cracked the first hit of the game in the second when Albert Fabian lined a two-out single to center field. Fabian then moved to second after Marcos Castañon walked but the Missions offense was muzzled.

Despite Fabian picking up another two-out single in the fourth for the Missions' second hit, the game remained scoreless as a Castañon leadoff walk marked the dawn of the bottom half of the fifth. Kai Murphy would follow up with a walk of his own to force Midland into their bullpen. With Colin Peluse now on the mound for Midland, Wyatt Hoffman welcomed the right-hander with a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. The flames of a Missions threat were extinguished by Peluse, however, and the game moved to the sixth still scoreless.

J.B. Wendelken received the keys to the mound upon Baez’s departure and the veteran right-hander took notes from San Antonio’s starter, dominating the sixth and seventh inning. Wendelken allowed one hit across the two frames while compiling three Midland strikeouts.

Once again, the Missions’ offense would come close to breaking through in both the bottom half of the sixth and seventh innings, but they could not capitalize on their chances, and the shutout of both teams held.

Ryan Och was the next man to hear his named called out of the Missions ‘pen. The left-handed hurler took the mound for the eighth. Och walked the first batter he faced, Luke Mann. A Clark Elliott flyout separated a wild pitch to Buelvas, which allowed Mann to trek to third. Two pitches later, Buelvas singled home Mann to open the scoring and give Midland a 1-0 lead. Och earned the penultimate out of the inning before manager Luke Montz decided to bring in Kevin Kopps to get the final out of the inning.

Kopps remained on the hill for the ninth, getting all three outs on consecutive ground outs and sending the 1-0 game into the hands of the Missions’ offense.

Shohei Tomioka retired San Antonio in order and finalized the 1-0 Midland shutout. The Missions’ bats finished the game leaving ten runners on base and have now been shut out in three out of four games after coming back from the All-Star Break.

UP NEXT:

Game two of the Missions six-game series against the Midland RockHounds resumes Wednesday night at Wolff Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. San Antonio sends right-hander Jared Kollar (0-3, 6.66) to the bump while Midland counters with southpaw Gage Jump (5-2, 2.06). Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com. Tickets are available at samissions.com or by calling 210-675-7275.

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The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The Missions were established in 1888 and have brought affordable family fun to the Alamo City for 123 seasons. The 13-time Texas League champions play their home games at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. For more information and tickets, call 210-675-7275 or visit samissions.com.