Wilkerson's Effort Not Enough As Missions Drop Series Opener

SAN ANTONIO - A seven-run eighth inning undid the San Antonio Missions as they dropped their series opener against the Nashville Sounds 7-3 Friday night at Wolff Stadium.
Nashville sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth inning in the largest single-inning run yield of the season by the Missions. Missions reliever Jay Jackson retired the first two batters of the inning before he was pulled and things unraveled. Nashville's Nolan Fontana got the two-out rally started with a ground rule double and the exclamation point was Matt Davidson's three run opposite-field shot.
Through seven innings it had been a pitcher's duel, primarily between starters San Antonio's Aaron Wilkerson and Nashville's Richelson Peña. Wilkerson kept the Sounds hitters off balance all night long as he induced soft fly ball after soft fly ball. When all was said and done he got Nashville to fly out 10 times en route to 6 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. The Sounds mustered just two hits off the right-hander.
Keston Hiura muscled out his third blast of the season in the fourth inning while Tyler Saladino went with the unconventional inside-the-park home run in the seventh. Saladino ripped a shot to the alley in right center field and caused a collision between center fielder Zack Granite and right fielder Carlos Tocci. Saladino was able to elude the tag of catcher Jett Bandy and touch home plate to complete the inside-the-park home run.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday night at Wolff Stadium. Right-hander Burch Smith is scheduled to start for the Missions while right-hander Phillips Valdez is set to take the mound for the Sounds.
Post-Game Notes
-With the loss the Missions fall to 5-4 on the season.
-Tyler Saladino's inside the park home run was first by a Missions player since Josh Naylor did so exactly one year ago on April 12, 2018 against Arkansas.
-The Missions dropped back-to-back games for the first time in 2019
2019 is the 118th season of baseball in San Antonio and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Single game tickets are on sale now at the Wolff Stadium Box Office or online at samissions.com. Season seat memberships are available now by calling 210-675-PARK (7275).