SAN ANTONIO, Texas — One night after being shut out by the Springfield Cardinals, the San Antonio Missions responded with a 2-0 win before 5,783 fans at Wolff Stadium on Saturday night, evening the series at a game apiece.
Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (L, 7-2) and Missions LHP Jerry Keel (W, 1-0) dueled back and forth with scoreless work through the first two frames, before San Antonio (28-21) swung in front in the bottom of the third. With two down, 2B Luis Urias extended the inning with a double to right field. SS Jose Rondon then placed a two-out RBI single up the middle, bringing in Urias for the 1-0 lead.
Flaherty came right out and retired the first two in the fourth inning as well, but the Missions again rallied with two away. This time it was a single from LF Alberth Martinez to keep the inning alive. C Stephen McGee followed with an RBI double inside the left field line, bringing in Martinez from first base and doubling the San Antonio advantage to 2-0.
That was all Flaherty would surrender through his six innings, allowing just the two runs on five hits and no walks while striking out seven. It marked his eighth quality start through his first 10 outings this season.
However, Keel kept the two-run lead intact through 6.2 scoreless innings, keeping the Cardinals (25-22) off the board in his Double-A debut. RHP Aroni Nina followed Keel with the final out in the seventh, before RHP Eric Yardley and LHP Brad Wieck (S, 1) both contributed a scoreless inning apiece, closing the 2-0 shutout win for San Antonio.
The Cardinals close the road trip in San Antonio on Sunday at 5:05pm.
