July 22, 2008

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Missions’ first baseman Kyle Blanks, a Paul Bunyan-esque figure standing 6’6” and weighing 270 pounds, had not hit a home run in his last 12 games. He remedied that drought Tuesday night at the expense of the Hooks.

Blanks swatted his 11th homer of the year with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Missions to a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Hooks in the opener of this three-game series at Wolff Municipal Stadium.

Trailing 2-1, the Missions got a leadoff single in the eighth from pinch hitter Drew Macias. Jon Schemmel pinch ran for Macias and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gabe Lopez. Mike Baxter’s ground-ball out moved Schemmel to third.

Chad Huffman was up next and drew a walk on eight pitches from reliever Ryan McKeller, who had kept the Missions off the board in the sixth and seventh. A borderline check-swing and a close call on McKeller’s 3-2 pitch enabled Huffman to reach first.

That brought Blanks to the plate, and he erased his 0-for-3 night with a blast onto the berm in left to give the Missions a 4-2 lead. Blanks last homered as a pinch hitter in a July 6 game at Tulsa.

The Hooks grabbed the lead in the fifth on a two-run single to center by Drew Sutton. Mitch Einertson’s single, a walk by Jose Lopez and a sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Tip Fairchild set the table for Sutton.

The Missions tallied in their half of the fifth on a single by Jose Lobaton, a double by Seth Johnston and an RBI ground-ball out off the bat of Sean Kazmar.

The result spoiled a terrific effort by Fairchild, who retired the first 10 men he faced and carried a no-hitter into the fifth. He allowed a run on two hits and a pair of walks over five innings while notching three strikeouts.

McKeller (3-5) suffered the loss despite pitching well. He was charged with three runs on three hits and a walk during his three frames of work. He also fanned three.

The game was the first for Einertson since he injured his left knee in a game at Frisco June 21. Einertson finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a walk, one steal and an RBI.

Bud Norris (3-3) ascends the hill for Corpus Christi in Wednesday night’s 7:05 start. He’ll be opposed by San Antonio southpaw Steve Garrison (6-5).

-Matt Hicks