SAN ANTONIO – Despite the “Christmas in July” promotion that was running at Nelson Wolff Stadium, Santa did not visit the Missions as they lost their fifth straight game, 8-6.

San Antonio was on the verge of ending their losing streak with two outs in the ninth, when Midland’s Drew Swift lined a game-tying single to left field. The Missions were unable to score in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.

The RockHounds put five runs on the board in the top of the 10th to seemingly put the game out of reach, but the home team didn’t go down without a fight.

Jagger Haynes threw five strong innings. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)

Marcos Castañon opened the frame with a double to drive in the Manfred Man. The RockHounds got the next two batters before Francisco Acuña blasted a two-run homer for his first hit of the series to cut the lead to 8-6.

Romeo Sanabria followed with a deep drive that was caught a step in front of the right field wall to end the frame.

“It could have been the easiest three outs in the game, just swing and miss, and whatever, but I think you do see the fight in this club,” said Missions’ manager Luke Montz.

“We want the win, and close doesn’t count, but I do think the tenth inning was an example of the fight that is with this team.  We are going to compete, and it speaks volumes for our team.”

San Antonio got a solid pitching performance from starter Jagger Haynes, who threw five innings and gave up two earned runs while striking out outs.

The 22-year-old lefty’s problems came – as they have all year – because of struggles with command. Haynes escaped trouble after walking the first batter of the game when he promptly picked the runner off first. But after he also opened the second inning with a free pass, one-time Padres farmhand Junior Perez, who also hit a bases-clearing triple in the tenth inning, blasted a two-run homer.

Haynes settled down after that and got through five without allowing any more damage, but he exited with his pitch count already up to 75.

“Jagger is starting to learn not only the art of pitching, but his strengths and how to pitch to them,” said Montz. “He’s coming into the dugout now between innings and breaking down what he is doing right and how he could be better.  He wasn’t doing that at the beginning of the season.

“As a former catcher who was always trying to get my pitchers to throw pitches with conviction, that is what you are starting to see with him. He’s learning sequences and getting guys out.”

Romeo Sanabria used his legs to help the Missions on Saturday. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)

Still down 2-0 in the sixth, the Missions rallied to put three on the board by forcing the issue on the basepaths. Anthony Vilar led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. With two outs, he aggressively broke for third on a pitch in the dirt, then came home when Midland catcher Cole Conn rushed the throw and tossed down the line. Sanabria followed with a single for his lone hit of the night. When the pitcher ignored him at first, the big man – certainly not known for his speed – stole his third base of the season to put himself in scoring position for Albert Fabian. Fabian lined a single to right on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to tie the game, then took an extra base of his own on a poor throw home.

Devin Ortiz, the sixth batter of the inning, made the RockHounds pay again when he tomahawked a ball into right field to plate Fabian and give the Missions the lead.

The Missions got strong relief performances from Stephen Jones and Tyson Neighbors. Neighbors, who threw an inning and two-thirds and has yet to allow a run in 11.2 innings and seven appearances in July.  Six of his seven appearances have been for more than one inning.

“The Padres have a guy named Robert Suarez who is doing pretty well in the closer’s role, so when Tyson gets up to the major leagues, they are going to expect him to pitch, take a seat, and get back up,” said Montz.

“The eighth or ninth innings in Double-A could be the sixth and seventh in the big leagues, and he will be ready.

NOTES: Perez and Euribiel Angeles have both had a solid series against their former organization-mates. Perez, now 24 and in his second year at Double-A, originally signed with the Padres in 2017 and showed an intriguing blend of power and speed in the desert in 2019. He was traded to Oakland for Jorge Mateo in 2020. He’s hit .226 with a sub-.400 slugging percentage in over 2,100 plate appearances since. Angeles, 23, won the Cal League batting title in 2021 with Lake Elsinore, and was traded for Sean Manaea the next spring. He has a .759 OPS in his second pass at the Texas League this year. … Midland will look to get their second-half record above .500 when they go for the series sweep on Sunday.