Staying on the winning track

For the second straight night, a rule in the minor leagues calling for a base runner to start at second base in extra innings very likely kept the Missions and the Fresno Grizzlies from playing until the early morning hours.
Both nights, the Missions and the Grizzlies strung nine zeroes apiece on the scoreboard to force the extras.
A Saturday night game at Wolff Stadium seemed particularly frustrating for the Missions, especially early on.
They were facing a team that had lost seven in a row and a starting pitcher with an earned run average of 8.83 -- and they still couldn't get anything going.
One-hit and shut out by the struggling Grizzlies through nine innings, the Missions fell behind twice in the bonus frames and then rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 12th for a 3-2 victory.
Down to their last out, the Missions tied it on an RBI single from Cory Spangenberg.
After David Freitas drew a walk, pushing Spangenberg to second, a Hernán Pérez RBI single to left field won it for the Missions in front of 4,267 at Wolff Stadium.
Perez, in good spirits later, had a request for reporters covering the game.
"Just put, 'Hernan Perez, 800 minor league hits and first walk-off (game-winning hit)," the 28-year-old veteran from Villa de Cura, Venezuela, said.
Speaking of milestones, the Missions reached a big one as a team. They became the first team in the Pacific Coast League to reach 70 victories this season.  
Through all the roster moves, through the call-ups and trades, and through stretches of pitching woes and mystifying batting slumps, they've won 70 and lost 42 for the best record in the PCL -- and in all of Triple-A.
Asked how many times one of his teams had won 70 in a season by Aug. 3, Missions manager Rick Sweet said he didn't know.
He said he doesn't really look at that kind of thing. But, he did say he likes to win and that winning is mostly a reflection of an attitude fostered by his coaching staff.
Also, it's an indication that the Milwaukee Brewers' administrative hierarchy emphasizes both winning and player development in the minors.
"I think it's important that winning is a factor in how we play, because we are so close to the big leagues," Sweet said. "(Winning) is all that is important in the big leagues.
"If we just shy away from winning and it's insignificant, then (players) are going to go up and it's insignificant (to them).
"It's not a light switch you turn on and off. In the game (in the minor leagues) today, it becomes more important the higher you get. It's something they look at (in evaluations)."
After losing two in a row to Sacramento earlier this week, the Missions have rebounded to win two straight against Fresno for a 3-2 record on the homestand.
The victories also allowed them to maintain a 3 and ½ game lead on the Round Rock Express in the PCL's American Southern Division.
As anyone who has visited the ball park the last few nights will attest, not everything is going well with the Missions.
First of all, their offense is struggling to find itself.
They've scored only eight runs in their last four games. Against Fresno on Friday, they battled to win 1-0 in 10 innings on Blake Allemand's walk-off RBI single.
On Saturday, the Missions needed three extra innings, all started with the mandated man at second, to put three runs on the board.
That seems like an extremely odd way to try and win a pennant.
But it may be that a team now playing without recently departed offensive stars Trent Grisham and Mauricio Dubón likely will need to figure out different ways to win down the stretch.
They've done it the last few nights with a combination of pitching and defense.
On Saturday, starting pitcher Zack Brown enjoyed his best game of the season. He pitched six shutout innings - his first scoreless stint this year - and allowed only four hits.   Brown also walked only one while striking out seven.
Jake Faria and Ray Black, acquired at the trade deadline Wednesday, both looked strong in one inning apiece.
After that, Luke Barker and Deolis Guerra pitched two innings apiece. While both allowed a run, Barker in the 10^th an Guerra in the 12^th, both showed good command and presence.  
Neither walked a batter and both combined for eight strikeouts, including Barker with five.
Also, for the eighth game in a row, the defense played without an error, and for the second straight night, it supplied highlight reel material.
In the fourth inning, for instance, Fresno's Jose Marmolejo drilled a ball into the right field corner. Tyrone Taylor picked it up and fired it on the fly to second base, where a sliding Marmolejo was tagged out.
In the eighth, Missions first baseman David Freitas dove toward the line to glove a hot smash, scrambled to his feet and touched the bag for an unassisted out to end Black's first inning with the Missions.
Afterward, some in the crowd likely looked at a scoreboard showing only four hits and wondered whether the Missions could continue to win this way.
But inside the home team club house, the confidence seemed as high as ever. Asked what he thought about the way the game ended, Brown said he thought it was exciting.
"The guys were battling in the (batters) box all night," he said. "The (pitching) staff was getting us out of the innings late in the game with the guy at second. I mean, you can't say enough about the bullpen arms, to get us out of innings like that."
On better days, the Missions have won with more flair and certainly with more offensive production. During a five-game winning streak through July 30, for instance, they scored 47 runs on 64 hits. Then again, those days may be gone forever.
"Obviously we'd like to score more to put us in better positions late in the game to shut the door," Brown said. "But there is a resiliency with this team. I think that showed tonight."
PCL standings
American Southern Division -- San Antonio 70-42, Round Rock 66-45, New Orleans 59-51, Oklahoma City 51-60.
Pacific Northern Division - Sacramento 61-51, Fresno 53-59, Tacoma 51-60, Reno 51-60.
Lucas Erceg is back
Missions manager Rick Sweet said that Lucas Erceg is "basically back to full speed" and will start Sunday when the Missions and Grizzlies play Game 3 of a four-game series.
In the wake of a hip injury suffered last Sunday in Omaha, Erceg sat out the first three games on the homestand and was used only as a pinch hitter on Friday and Saturday night.
In his one at bat Saturday, he nearly won the game with a line drive that was caught on the run by center fielder AIec Keller for the last out in the bottom of the 10^th.
Tyler Saladino, optioned from the Brewers to Triple-A a few days ago, will arrive on Sunday but won't play until Monday in the series finale against Fresno, Sweet said.
Pitching moves
In a move announced Saturday, the Brewers called up pitcher Aaron Wilkerson and optioned Jay Jackson back to San Antonio.  
Wilkerson pitched a third of an inning in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. He had been scheduled to start for the Missions on Monday. Instead, the Missions will use Corbin Burnes as an opener on Monday for about three innings.
Jackson, a midseason Triple-A all-star, is expected to join the Missions on the road later this week.
The Missions also activated Taylor Williams and Luke Barker. Williams had been in the big leagues with the Brewers since July 24. Barker had been on the injured list.
He pitched the ninth and 10^th innings Saturday night, striking out five. He gave up an unearned run in the 10th on a Raudy Read RBI triple.
Decision due
Sweet said Brewers officials are discussing the next move for pitcher Jimmy Nelson.   He said he thinks Nelson will pitch another game in relief for the Missions but is awaiting a final decision.
Nelson on Friday night enjoyed the most effective outing in his second rehab assignment in Triple-A this season.
Hitting 96 mph on the radar gun, he pitched one inning, retired three straight and struck out the side.
Bullpen departures
Alex Wilson was released Saturday, becoming the latest member of the Missions' bullpen to be let go this week.
Within the past week, the Brewers designated for assignment both Donnie Hart and Jacob Barnes. They also sent Jon Olczak to Double-A Biloxi.
Hart, a former standout at Texas State, has been claimed off waivers by the New York Mets, who optioned him to Syracuse of the Triple-A International League.
Barnes was claimed by the Kansas City Royals and was optioned to the PCL's Omaha Storm Chasers.