July 31—MIDLAND — The Midland Rockhounds were looking for their 50th win of the season.
Their opponent, the San Antonio Missions, had other plans.
Taking an early lead, the Missions then fabricated a run late in the contest for a 4-3 victory in Saturday’s Texas League game at Momentum Bank Ballpark.
Going into the evening, the Rockhounds sat atop the Southern Division standings for the second half of the season with an 18-7 record.
San Antonio got off to a fast start in the first inning, scoring two runs on a double to left field from Webster Rivas to take an early lead and finished the opener with a three-run cushion.
Midland cut the deficit, eventually finding a way to tie the game in the fifth inning with a solo homer from Logan Davidson.
The tied ball game quickly perished as the Missions’ Ripken Reyes doubled a line drive into the left field gap, leading to Wyatt Ulrich with the eventual winning run in the seventh.
San Antonio would continue to hold the lead against the Rockhounds’ final three innings.
Midland starter David Leal went through six innings, allowing three earned runs, with two strikeouts.
Michael Danielak (3-1) relieved Leal in the seventh, ending the game.
He struck out two and allowed an earned run to lose his first game of the season.
Danielak’s effort, however, gives the RockHounds a new bullpen heading into the final game of the series.
Manager Bobby Crosby, despite the loss, is still pleased with his team’s efforts this year.
“We play good baseball; we won the first three and lost the last two points with a chance of winning. We’re going to keep doing exactly what we’re doing,” Crosby said.
He is also very comfortable with his team’s position since the All-Star break.
“Guys are playing hard, they’re playing to win. Everyone here has goals for the next level, but they came together for the second half because they want to win together,” Crosby added.
With 45 games left in the regular season, the Rockhounds have prepared well for a playoff run and are looking to start that run when homestand closes at 2 p.m. Sunday.
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