Big Inning Dooms Missions in El Paso

EL PASO--For the second straight night a Missions ninth inning rally fell short as they were unable to overcome a seven run inning in Saturday's 10-9 loss to El Paso at Southwest University Park.
Corbin Burnes start was eerily similar to his previous outing last Monday. Burnes threw 10 of his 11 pitches for strikes in the opening inning, permitting a double to former Mission Ty France.
Last Monday, Burnes had a sharp first inning before allowing seven straight hits and six runs in the second. In Saturday's contest he allowed the first five hitters to reach in the second while struggling to command his fastball, leading to seven runs and a 40-pitch inning.
The big blow in the second inning was a three-run homer off the bat of France, who entered play leading all full-season minor league hitters in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging. France, who ended the night with a .406 batting average, is making a play to become the first full-season minor leaguer to hit .400 since 1999.
Burnes was lifted during the third inning after permitting two more singles a a pair of runs, both of which scored after reliever Danny Coulombe gave up a two-run single to Travis Jankowski, who spent parts of two seasons in a Missions uniform during the Padres affiliation.
In each of the last three games of the current road trip, San Antonio has permitted an inning of at least six runs. The club has allowed 56 total runs in the last six games.
Offensively, David Freitas continued his tear at the plate for the Missions. Freitas slugged a three-run homer in the first inning and later added a single. He joined Trent Grisham as the only Missions to record six straight multi-hit games this season. 
Saturday's game was the eighth one-run decision across the Missions first nine games in August. For the season San Antonio is just 4-16 in one-run road games but they have captured 17 of 22 such contests at Wolff Stadium.
Freitas is 16-for-32 with three homers and four doubles during his multi-hit streak. Since returning from paternity leave he's hitting .464-5-17 while pacing the PCL in hits.
Tyler Saladino homered for the second straight night, giving him 16 on the season with the club and matching his career minor league high.