Welcome to "Chatter from the Pressbox", the website dedicated to the Pressbox of the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

Today's Matchups Around the Ranger's System

Today's (5/20) Match-Ups Around the Ranger's System

Round Rock: Martin Perez (3-3 5.27) vs. Fresno Grizzlies: Andrew Kown (3-1 2.61) @ 1:00 PM CT

Myrtle Beach: Kyle Hendricks (1-4 2.91) @ Wilmington Blue Rocks: Sugar Ray Marimon (3-0 2.65) @ 12:30 PM CT

Hickory : Santo Perez (2-2 6.19) @ Asheville Tourists: Daniel Winkler (4-2 6.06) @ 1:05 PM CT



Monday, April 18, 2011

Game 11: Frisco RoughRiders (Wilfredo Boscan) @ Arkansas Travelers (Garrett Richards)

Time: 11:00 AM CT
Location: Dickey-Stephens Park (Little Rock, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (4-6 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Arkansas Travelers (5-5 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10 games: 4-6
Starting Pitchers: Wilfredo Boscan (1-1 10.50 ERA)... Garrett Richards (1-0 6.00 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: Both starting pitchers are facing the opposing team for the second straight time and are facing each other for a second consecutive time... Wilfredo Boscan took the loss last time out when the Travelers pummeled him and the Riders on "get away day". Boscan gave up 6 hits and 5 runs in 1+ innings pitched. He did not strike a batter out and allowed 2 walks. Boscan got out of moderate trouble in the 1st inning, but gave up 3 straight singles to open up the 2nd inning. A walk, grand slam (by Mike Trout), and a double later and Boscan was out of the game. Boscan pitched solidly in his first start though, as he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk in 5 innings. This will be his first AA road start of the season... Garrett Richards, the Angel's #7 prospect according to Baseball America, got his first win in his last start, despite giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. He struck out 6 batters, allowed 3 walks, and 4 hits in the start. Despite a 6.00 ERA, opponents are hitting .219 against Richards and he has averaged 10 strikeouts per 9 innings. Surprisingly, it has been control that has been the issue for Richards, who has walked 7 batters in the 9 innings pitched. Last season he had 43 walks in 143 innings pitched (2.71 BB/9) between low-A and high-A.

Middle of the Order Attack: In the Rider's 8-5 loss on Sunday, the middle of the order provided plenty of fuel for an offensive attack. The 2-5 hitters,Davis Stoneburner, Michael Bianucci, Tommy Mendonca, and Jonathan Greene, combined to go 9 for 17 with a double, a homerun, 4 RBI, and 3 walks. Unfortunately, the rest of the team combined to go 3 for 24 in the game, including a 1 for 6 game from leadoff hitter and top prospect Engel Beltre.


First Homerun: After hitting 16 homeruns in 403 at bats for Bakersfield last season, Davis Stoneburner was probably getting tired of seeing the 0 next to homeruns for Frisco. He had gone homerless in his first 62 at bats for Frisco before knocking a 1st inning homerun to left field on Sunday. The homer gave Frisco an early 2-0 lead, which wouldn't last.

Struggles with RISP: Riders players had plenty of opportunities to drive in runners who were in scoring position on Sunday. Unfortunately, they weren't able to do it that often. Frisco as a team went 2 for 17 with RISP.

Getting Knocked Around: Carlos Pimentel is probably getting tired of seeing the Arkansas Travelers hitters. Fortunately for him, he won't see them for a while. Pimentel has made both of his starts against Arkansas and has given up 14 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings. The baserunners have resulted in a 3.00 WHIP early on and a 15 ERA. Travelers hitters are batting .467 against him with 6 extra base hits in 6 innings.

An Unlikely Source: The Arkansas Travelers hitters had 12 hits in the game on Sunday and most people would think #2 prospect Mike Trout would be doing the damage. Trout went only 1 for 5 in the game with a strikeout. Instead Arkansas got a large portion of it's offense from catcher Orlando Mercado who went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles. Mercado has started 5 games, 2 against Frisco and 3 against Midland. Against Frisco, Mercado is 6 for 8 with 2 doubles and a homerun. Against Midland, he is 2 for 13 with a RBI.

Second Chances are Nice: Fabio Castillo is a good reliever, but his debut in the 2011 season was about as ugly as an appearance can get. In just 1/3 of an inning he gave up 5 hits, 6 runs, and 2 walks without recording a strikeout. His second appearance was much better as Castillo gave up 1 hit and no runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched. He did not walk or strikeout a batter. He's also only 22 years old and had just been activated from the DL.

Battle Continues: Both Frisco and the Jacksonville Suns went another game without an unearned run, so we will wait at least another day before one of the two teams gives in (or gives up).

New Additions: In an effort to make the site better, three more pages have been added to this blog. One is the Riders transactions, where you can track to see where certain players have been promoted/demoted/placed on DL/etc. from the Riders. The other two are pages that will keep track of how the Riders players do against certain teams throughout the year. It's something that you won't find tracked on minor league websites, so this way you can see how players do against teams in their league.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) blew a 5-0 lead in the 6th inning, but defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs in 10 innings 6-5. Chad Tracy went 3 for 5 at the plate with a homerun and 3 RBI. Former Rider Craig Gentry went 1 for 4 with a stolen base, while Joey Butler went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Taylor Teagarden reached base twice with a single and a walk. Seth McClung pitched 4 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts, while Zach Phillips blew his first save of the season, but was picked up by Cody Eppley who pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 3 batters.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) got a good start out of 21 year old southpaw Robbie Ross and defeated Lynchburg 8-2. Ross pitched 6 scoreless innings, as he allowed 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4. Michael Olt continues to mash at the plate, as he went 2 for 5 with a homerun and 2 RBI. He's batting .424 with an .848 Slugging%. Catcher Zach Zaneski went 3 for 5 at the plate with a homerun and 3 RBI as well. Kennil Gomez struck out the side in a scoreless 9th inning.

Hickory (low-A) defeated Kannapolis 12-3 to take 2 out of 3 in the series. Every hitter on the team had a RBI in the game as the offense had 12 hits and walked 8 times. Jake Skole went 1 for 5 at the plate with a walk and 1 RBI. Tomas Telis chipped in 2 hits in 5 at bats, including a double and 1 RBI. Kellen Deglan had a team high 3 RBIs in the game on a single and a sacrifice fly. Randol Rojas got the victory in the game as he pitched 4 innings of relief in the game. He struck out 5 batters and allowed 1 unearned run.

Minor League Performance of the Night: 
The Lexington Legends (low-A affiliate of the Houston Astros) came into Sunday's game (#11 of the season), averaging 5.5 runs per game on offense. On Sunday, the team totaled 18 runs on 20 hits. The big reason for that can be found in the middle of their order, where Chris Wallace and Telvin Nash could be found as the #3 and 4 hitters on Sunday. Whatever one did, the other tried to outdue and on Sunday they both hit 3 homeruns a piece, both went 5 for 6, both scored 4 runs, and both were a triple from the cycle. Unfortunately for Nash, he was the one that was hitting behind Wallace, so while Wallace accumulated 9 RBI, Nash only got to drive in 4 runs, 3 of those were of course himself. In total, the 2-4 hitters had 15 of the 18 RBI and 12 of the 18 runs scored. The Houston Astro's 1st round pick in 2009, Jiovanni Mier, was the #2 hitter in the game.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
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