Coming up short once again

The crowd was clearly ready to rock.  
Paying customers at Wolff Stadium turned out to celebrate with the Missions, who emerged from their clubhouse Thursday night wearing the bright uniform colors of the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.
It seemed like a perfect night to party.
In the end, the New Orleans Baby Cakes spoiled it all, winning 5-3 in 10 innings, all while handing the Missions a season-high seventh straight loss.
Playing as their alter ego on the first night of a four-game homestand, the Missions/Chanclas had their chances to win at the end.
But in keeping with recent events in a late-summer swoon, the breaks went against them, and they came up short -- again.
"That's baseball for you," Chanclas outfielder Tyrone Taylor said. "You never know what's going to happen in this sport. We go out there and we compete every single night, and sometimes you lose.
"We've been on a tough little skid here. We had a tough road trip (through Albuquerque and El Paso). But, hopefully, we bounce back here pretty soon."
If not, the Round Rock Express could run away with a division title in the Pacific Coast League.
As of now, Round Rock leads San Antonio by 1 and ½ games and New Orleans by 6 and ½ in the PCL's American Southern Division with a little more than two weeks to play.
In the eighth inning, Taylor ripped a solo home run to left off Tyler Stevens to tie the game, 3-3.
With the score still deadlocked in the bottom of the ninth, the Chanclas had a great opportunity, but somehow let it get away from them.
Troy Stokes, Jr., drew a leadoff walk, but, curiously, that's when things started to get really strange in a bad way for the home team.
First, a sacrifice bunt attempt by Nate Orf, one that looked perfectly-placed, hit the lip of the grass and bounced foul off to the right side.
Next, Orf struck out and Cory Spangenberg popped up, bringing RBI machine Tyler Saladino to the plate.
As usual, Saladino did his job. He smoked a line drive to the left side - but it traveled directly into shortstop Eddy Alvarez's glove for the third out.
Missions manager Rick Sweet brushed off a question later about why his team can't catch a break lately.
"We're not playing very good baseball," Sweet said. "And when you don't play very good baseball, things go against you, like the bunt.
"Orf lays down a perfect bunt, and it hits the corner of the grass and kicks foul. So, I mean, when you see stuff like that, you just go, 'What else can go wrong?'
"And it's tough. But then we (also) made mistakes. You know, (we had) the ball that we threw away (in the 10^th inning). And we didn't swing the bats as well. They did a good job against us.
"You know, when we hit, we don't pitch. And when we pitch, we don't hit. We got to do this ourselves. We got to get out of this ourselves."
In the top of the 10^th inning, Cakes' placement runner Jesus Sanchez raced around from second to score on a play that started with Magneuris Sierra smashing a line drive off Chanclas relief pitcher Angel Perdomo.
Perdomo picked up the ball and threw it wildy to first base. As it skipped past first baseman David Freitas, Sanchez scored, and Sierra advanced all the way to third.
Eddy Alvarez drove in the final run of the game with a double into the corner off Jay Jackson.
PCL standings
American Southern Division -- Round Rock 73-48, San Antonio 72-50, New Orleans 66-54, 57-64.
American Northern Division - Iowa 66-56, Memphis 56-66, Nashville 54-66, Omaha 52-70.
Note: American Southern and American Northern division winners will meet in the first round of the playoffs. PCL teams play a 140-game schedule through Sept. 2.
Hot in the clubhouse
The Missions voiced concerns after the game about a clubhouse that isn't cool. Fans are situated throughout the team's quarters. "The (air conditioning) doesn't cover this clubhouse," Missions manager Rick Sweet said in his office after the game. "Without the fans and stuff, we'd be in deep trouble."
Notable
Tyrone Taylor went 2 for 4 and drove in two runs. David Freitas extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Zack Brown struck out seven to tie a season high. Brent Suter, in a rehab effort, pitched 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings in relief.
Brewers evaluating Miller
Manager Rick Sweet said the Missions are expected to have veteran pitcher Shelby Miller on the roster for at least two more starts.
He'll make his third start for the Missions Friday night against the Baby Cakes. Beyond Friday, it's uncertain when he'll pitch again.
Asked whether Miller might continue to play with the Missions beyond his fourth start, Sweet said he didn't know.
Miller, formerly a player in the Cardinals, Braves, Diamondbacks and Rangers organizations, is being evaluated by the parent-club Brewers after signing a minor league deal in July.
Two new faces
Former major leaguers Tyler Austin and Jung Ho Kang were on the field during pre-game drills, but their names are not yet on the Missions' roster.
Austin, 27, has played in 192 games in the majors, suiting up for both the Twins and, most recently, the Giants.
The 32-year-old Kang, from South Korea, has played in 297 major league games. He hit 21 home runs in 2016 with the Pirates.