Preparing for a division leader

The Missions' six-game winning streak had been snapped. Their hopes of completing a rare, five-game home sweep against the Oklahoma City Dodgers were dashed.
Not to worry.
Missions manager Rick Sweet already had a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers in his rear-view mirror and was moving on with plans for four games in four days on the road against the Iowa Cubs.
The battle between Pacific Coast League division leaders will commence Monday night in Des Moines.
As for the Missions' efforts against the Dodgers in a five-game series, Sweet offered no complaints.
"Anytime you take four of five in a series, you're very, very happy," the 30-year veteran minor league manager said. "You don't sweep a team five games very often. I don't know that I've ever had that more than once or twice.
"I thought overall, we played very well. I'm very pleased to win four of five."
The Missions had to make a lineup change Sunday morning after one-time Milwaukee Brewers ace pitcher Jimmy Nelson left San Antonio to return to Houston, where his wife was in labor.
The couple announced on Sunday morning via Nelson's Twitter feed the birth of twin girls, Riley James and Naomi Lynn.
A few hours later, Dodgers right-hander Daniel Corcino out-dueled Thomas Jankins of the Missions to help the visitors avert the sweep.
Matt Beaty's two-out, three-run homer off Jankins in the third inning proved to be the difference in the game for the Dodgers.
"Today was a big win, obviously," Dodgers manager Travis Barbary said. "Getting beat in the first four games of the series was tough. We've been scuffling to score runs. But we had a nice meeting this morning, just talking about grinding out at bats.
"I felt like we did a better job of that today."
Corcino (2-1) was tough in earning the victory, working 5.1 innings and allowing only a run on three hits against a team that had been batting .297 during the winning streak.
But Barbary also had a hand in the victory.
He came out to the field to visit with umpires in the bottom of the first after one umpire ruled that leadoff man Nate Orf's high fly ball over the foul pole in left field was a home run.
After Barbary visited the field, the umpires conferred with each other and over-ruled the call, bringing Orf back to the plate, where he flied out to center.
Barbary said he thought the ball was foul all along.
"It started way foul and the wind just started blowing it back," he said. "But, I thought it was an obvious foul ball and asked them to get together and talk about it. They did, and I felt like they got it right."
After the home run was erased, Corcino settled into a groove.
He didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning. He didn't allow a run until the sixth.
Following Corcino's departure, Barbary turned it over to the bullpen, which gave up only one hit over the final 3.2 innings.
Sweet shrugged off the loss as one of those days in baseball.
"We didn't play a bad game," he said. "They just played better than us."
On Saturday, the series finale between the PCL's American Southern Division foes took on some sizzle when the Brewers announced that Nelson would get his first rehabilitation start.
Nelson was set to throw 75-80 pitches.
But Sweet said he knew even earlier last week that the plans could change.
When he got a text on Sunday morning, he went ahead and gave the start to 23-year-old Jankins, who was promoted from Double-A on April 19.
Two days later, Jankins picked up the victory in his first Triple-A start, pitching one-hit, scoreless ball for five innings in a 6-0 decision at Nashville.
Sunday didn't go as well. Starting instead of working in a bullpen assignment, as planned, Jankins (1-1) gave up all four runs on five hits in five innings.
Standings watch
Even after the loss, the Missions (14-9) remain as the leader in the PCL's American Southern Division, followed by New Orleans (13-10), Round Rock (13-10) and Oklahoma City (8-15).
Iowa (14-9) leads the PCL's American Northern Division.
High praise
Dodgers' first-year manager Travis Barbary said the Missions do lots of things well on a baseball field.
"They swing the bats," Barbary said. "They run the bases. They have a real good pitching staff. They're a tough team.
"We knew coming in, it would be tough. They put it on us in the first four games. We wanted to get out of here with a win today, and, fortunately, we did."
San Antonio is 7-3 against Oklahoma City this season.
Stokes sidelined
Missions outfielder Troy Stokes Jr. was placed on the 7-day injured list retroactive to April 26 with cramping in the area of his hamstrings.
"If we were in the big leagues, he'd probably play," Sweet said. "But we're not. I want to get him 100 percent."
Stokes, the Brewers' 13^th-rated prospect, has sat out the team's last three games. He had also sat out a two-week stretch with tightness in his left latissimus dorsi.
Nelson's rehab
Nelson's rehabilitation schedule has been put on hold. "He's in Houston right now," Sweet said. "When they get that figured out, they'll let us know."
Nelson's daughters were born a month early, weighing in at three pounds and 10 ounces each. Nelson hasn't pitched in the big leagues since September 2017.