Big Comeback Falls Short for Missions Against Cardinals

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Aug. 28, 2026) — An 8-0 deficit proved to be too much for the San Antonio Missions (23-32) to overcome as the Springfield Cardinals (37-18) claimed their tenth straight victory by a score of 10-6. The Missions scored six unanswered runs after falling behind early, but two late tallies for the Cardinals on a Won-Bin Cho single gave Springfield the cushion they needed.

Abraham Parra made his Double-A debut on the mound for the Missions, but his debut didn’t last past the first inning. The Cardinals tagged him for five runs on five hits as Parra recorded just two outs. Sadrac Franco entered to end the frame, but the end of the first inning came with a 5-0 Springfield lead.

Springfield made it 8-0 off Franco and then Francis Peña thanks to homers from Cho and Josiah Ragsdale, but from there, San Antonio made it interesting.

Cardinals starter Braden Davis had cruised through four scoreless innings before he walked three straight batters to begin the fifth. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Oswaldo Linares roped his first hit of the season with the Missions down the left field line to drive in a pair. Kai Roberts followed by shooting a two-run single up the middle, suddenly slicing Springfield’s lead in half.

Davis remained out there to start the sixth, where Jack Costello doubled to reahc scoring position. While Davis left, another run got charged to him when Luis Verdugo poked an RBI single to right field, making it 8-5 Cardinals. Linares nearly made it even closer with a hard-hit grounder towards short, but the ball hit Verdugo running to third, so the inning ended abruptly.

Harry Gustin dominated the mound in his relief outing, striking out four in two clean innings. This allowed Costello to cut the Springfield lead to 8-6 with a solo homer off Domenic Picone leading off the eighth.

With just a two-run lead, the Cardinals provided one more offensive push in the eighth. Igor Gil faced Cho with the bases loaded and two away needing one more out to get to the ninth, but Cho banged a liner off the wall, driving in two and giving the Cardinals the insurance they needed as Jack Findlay came on for the ninth and cleaned things up with a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Up Next:

The Missions continue their six-game series against the Springfield Cardinals Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com.

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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 more than 120 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.