Romeo Sanabria’s Walk-Off Single Completes Missions’ Improbable Ninth-Inning Rally

SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 18, 2026) — Down 5-2 with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of ninth inning, four consecutive San Antonio Missions (21-25) fought off two-strike pitches to mount an epic comeback win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (18-28), capped by Romeo Sanabria’s walk-off single. Alex McCoy’s two-run single and Tirso Ornelas’s game-tying base hit set up Sanabria for yet another magical moment at The Wolff.

Southpaw starter Fernando Sanchez started off the night with three quick outs in the opening frame after allowing a leadoff single to Luke Pelzer. Naturals starter Grant Gambrell responded by retiring the Missions leadoff order, forcing Sanchez into trouble in his next turn.

Daniel Vazquez, Omar Hernandez and Colton Becker teamed up for a trifecta of singles for the first run of the night before Justin Johnson capped off the second inning with his three-run shot over the right center field wall to make it a 4-0 lead for the Naturals.

Sanchez was able to settle back down in third for a 1-2-3 inning and managed to escape danger in the fourth stanza with the bases loaded. After striking out Johnson, the lefty grounded Pelzer into a double play to keep the Northwest Arkansas lead from inflating.

Gambrell kept rolling against the Missions’ offense in the third and fourth frames, and he dodged danger in the fifth after Albert Fabian doubled and Justin DeCriscio singled to put runners at the corners with one way, but Brendan Durfee grounded into a double play that put out the potential rally.

San Antonio finally managed to create some offense in the sixth stanza against Beck Way in his Major League rehab assignment. Tirso Ornelas sent a frozen rope that bounced off the right field wall to score Alex McCoy from second base after advancing off a wild pitch and base hit. Romeo Sanabria followed with a line drive to center field to advance Ornelas into third base and Fabian capitalized with a hard-hit grounder to send in Ornelas for a second run before the end of the inning to only cut down the Naturals’ lead to 4-2.

Johnson scored again for the Naturals in their following offensive turn, crossing the plate off a Spencer Nivens RBI single to extend the Northwest Arkansas lead to 5-2 after his leadoff base hit and stolen base put him in advantageous position to advance to third off a groundout and score.

After the Missions order were set down in the seventh and eighth frames, the squad seemed to be down but not out.

Fabian and Luis Verdugo began the clutch rally with a double and a single against Augusto Mendieta, but Mendieta responded with two crucial strikeouts of DeCriscio and Durfee. Braedon Karpathios remained cool and collected at the plate for a walk to fill the house on Mendieta with two outs. McCoy looped a ball between third and short to score Fabian and Verdugo for the Missions to only trail by one.

Zachary Cawyer took over for Mendieta looking for a save but failed to put out the fuse as Ornelas smacked a ball into right field to send in a pinch-running Kai Roberts to tie up the game 5-5, setting up Sanabria for a golden opportunity for a crack at a walk-off win. Sanabria seized the opportunity, sending a line drive to left field to snag his second walk-off hit of the season for San Antonio as the Missions emerged victorious in their come from behind 6-5 win.

Up Next:

The Missions and Naturals continue their six-game series Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. It's a paw-some night at the park! Dogs get in free, so bring your best friend along for the game. All pets must be leashed at all times, and please clean up after your pup. Let's play ball - and fetch! The first 250 fans through the gates will receive a dog bandana courtesy of Jon Wayne Service Company! 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 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.