RockHounds Jump on Missions Early in 8-2 Victory

MIDLAND, Texas (April 18, 2026) — A six-run deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the San Antonio Missions (4-10), who lost 8-2 to the Midland RockHounds (11-3). The RockHounds stole six bags and hammered two homers on the way to their comfortable win.

Midland jumped on Missions starter Luis Gutierrez early. After Francisco Acuña cut down Leo De Vries at the plate for the second out of the first, Brennan Milone still came through with a two-run double to give Midland a quick 2-0 lead.

That advantage became 4-0 in the third when Colby Halter blooped a single over a drawn-in infield. Gutierrez, who had only given up one run in his first two starts, left the game after three innings with those four runs allowed.

Johan Moreno took over in the fourth, and the RockHounds greeted him with solo homers from Ryan Lasko and Josh Kuroda-Grauer. The opposite-field shots made it 6-0 in favor of Midland through four innings.

Midland starter Chen Zhuang used that lead and remained in control for most of the night. He struck out seven in 5.2 scoreless innings. His only trouble came in the sixth, as he left the game with runners at the corners and two away. Blaze Pontes grabbed the ball from him and ended the threat, keeping it 6-0 Midland.

San Antonio’s best moment came in the eighth against former Mission C.D. Pelham. Leandro Cedeño kept a ball fair down the right field line to drive in a pair, and as the play ended, Pelham got thrown out of the game by Caden Gustafson. AJ Causey had to enter suddenly with two away, and Tirso Ornelas chopped a ball 100mph toward third. Luke Mann, into the game as a defensive replacement, went all the way to the outfield grass and made an off-balance throw across the diamond to retire Ornelas and stop the trouble.

After scoring two, San Antonio couldn’t hold that momentum. Midland took advantage of two walks by Sadrac Franco, both of which scored, and jumped right back to an 8-2 lead.

Causey returned for the ninth and worked around a leadoff walk to end the night with a win for the RockHounds.

Up Next:

The Missions and RockHounds conclude their six-game series at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday in Midland. Lefty Jagger Haynes (0-0, 6.75) goes against lefty Wei-En Lin (0-0, 3.27). 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.

***

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.