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



Friday, April 22, 2011

Game 14: Corpus Christi Hooks (Dallas Keuchel) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Miguel De Los Santos)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (5-8 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi Hooks (5-8 3 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Starting Pitchers: Miguel De Los Santos (0-1 10.38 ERA)... Dallas Keuchel (1-0 1.29 ERA)


What to Watch for on the Mound: The Riders and Corpus Chrisit play the 2nd game in a 4 game series and the two teams send pitchers going in opposite directions to the mound... Miguel De Los Santos started out his 1st start dominantly before having a 4th inning and he was eventually pulled with 2 outs in the 5th inning. In his 2nd start, he walked 5 batters and gave up 2 hits in 4 innings. He did strikeout 5, but also gave up 6 runs (1 without him on the mound). Now De Los Santos carries a 0-1 record with a 10.38 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP into his 3rd start of the year. He has struck out 13 batters in 8 2/3 innings pitched and has given up 6 hits. Fortunately for De Los Santos, the team he is facing is a team that won't walk a lot, so this is a start that could set up very well for him to pitch dominantly.... On the other end, you have Dallas Keuchel, a 23 year old southpaw from Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2 starts, Keuchel has given up 2 earned runs, 9 hits, and hasn't issued a walk in 14 innings pitched. He also has struck out 8 batters and has gotten 25 groundouts to just 4 flyouts over the 2 starts. In his last start, Keuchel allowed only 4 hits and 1 run in 8 innings while he got 19 strikeouts (5) or groundouts (14) out of the possible 24 outs. It should also be noted, that Keuchel made his AA debut against Frisco last year and in 2 starts against them held Frisco to 5 runs in 13 1/3 innings pitched (3.37 ERA), while he struck out 11 batters and gave up 5 walks.

Offensive Struggles: In the Riders 5-2 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks, Frisco continued to struggle at the plate, accumulating just 6 hits, all singles, and 1 walk in the game. As a team, the Riders have now walked 12 times in their last 7 games and 3 times in their last 3 games, spanning 29 innings. They have also scored 6 runs in those 3 games/29 innings, which include 2 losses.

Double B-s Are Cold: Engel Beltre and Michael Bianucci started the season on a tear. Through the team's first 6 games, Beltre batted .238, but had a .333 OBP and .619 SLG% (.952 OPS) thanks in part to a double and 2 triples in 24 plate appearances. Michael Bianucci was hitting a staggering .333 with a 1.125 SLG% and 1.510 OPS after his first 26 plate appearances thanks to 4 homeruns and 5 total extra base hits. The team averaged 5.83 runs per game over the first 6 games with Bianucci batting 4th, Butler batting 3rd, and Beltre batting 2nd. Since then, however, Engel Beltre has gone into a tail spin with 0 extra base hits and Bianucci has hit 1 extra base hit (a homerun) over his last 30 plate appearances. Bianucci is batting .200 over that span.

Engel Beltre
Batting #1: 7 for 30 .233/.281/.233/.514 7 singles 2 walks 1 steal
Batting #2: 5 for 21 .238/.333/.619/.952 2 singles, 1 double, 2 triples, 1 walk, 1 steal
Batting #3: 1 for 4 .250/.250/.250/.500 1 single 0 walks 1 steal

Michael Bianucci
Batting #3: 4 for 22 .182/.308/.182/.490 4 singles, 4 walks, 1 steal
Batting #4: 9 for 27 .333/.400/1.148/.1.548 3 singles, 1 double, 5 homeruns, 3 walks

Tommy Mendonca Continues to Roll: With another 2 for 4 day and a RBI, Tommy Mendonca is now 10 for his last 20 with 5 RBI during the time. He is now tied with Bianucci for the team lead in RBIs with 11 and has his season average up to .319 with a .934 OPS. He has struggled against left handers this season, however, with a .154 batting average (2 for 13).

Speaking of RBIs: With a double in the top of the 3rd to score Jimmy Paredes, J.D. Martinez extended his RBI streak to 9 games. The RBI was his 19th of the season in his 13th game and the 2 doubles in the game were his 6th and 7th of the year. 

Ross Seaton's Performance: When Ross Seaton was pulled after 7 innings he had a streak of 13 Riders hitters in a row retired. The 2008 3rd round pick came in with a 12.86 ERA, but left the outing with a 7.71 ERA after giving up 2 earned runs in 7 innings. He walked only 1 batter, allowed only 4 hits, and struck out 3 batters in the game.

Barnes Reel and Bad Luck for Guilder Rodriguez: Speaking as someone who grew up in St. Louis, Brandon Barnes, the Corpus Christi Hook's centerfielder, certainly brought back images of Jim Edmonds in the game on Thursday when he hit an opposite field homerun in the 2nd inning to put the Hooks on top 1-0 at the time. Then later in the bottom of the 5th, he robbed Guilder Rodriguez of what would have been easily a double with a diving catch in left centerfield. Twice in the game Guilder Rodriguez hit flie balls that probably went at least 370, maybe 380 feet, and were caught. For someone without a lot of power, the two hits were as well as I've seen him hit balls and with no avail as both were caught by Barnes.

Around the Ranger's System:

Round Rock (AAA) pounded out 15 hits in a 6-3 victory over Oklahoma City. Joey Butler went 2 for 5 with a double at the plate. Chad Tracy reached base 3 times with a 1 for 3 day and 2 walks. The Express went 6 for 13 with RISP in the game. Derek Hankins got the win after going 7 innings, and he gave up 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and struck out 4. Yhency Brazoban got his 1st save of the season with 2 scoreless innings.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) gave up 5 runs in the 5th inning and lost 6-2 to the Kinston Indians. Barret Loux got the loss as he went 4+ innings, gave up 3 runs (2 earned), walked 2 batters, and struck out 5. He gave up 5 hits in the game as well and all were singles. Michael Olt went 0 for 3 with a sacrifice fly in the game. Ryan Strausborger led the Pelicans with 2 hits (in 3 at bats) in the game. He had a double, RBI, run, and a walk. Myrtle Beach hitters went 1 for 9 with RISP in the game.

Hickory (low-A) took both games of a doubleheader against Hagerstown. They won the first game 8-5 and the second game 7-6 with 2 runs in the top of the 7th inning. Tomas Telis went 2 for 4 with a homerun in the first game and added another RBI in the 2nd game despite an 0 for 4 game. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 3 with a 2 out RBI in the 1st game, and then went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI, and 2 runs in the 2nd game. Jonathan Roof went 1 for 2 with a double, 2 RBI, a walk, and 2 runs in the 1st game and went 1 for 3 with a RBI in the 2nd game. Justin Grimm got the win in game 1, but gave up 5 walks, 4 hits, and 5 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings in game one. He also struck out 5 batters. Zach Osborne got his first save of the year in the first game. Matt Thompson got the start in the second game and gave up 1 hit, 6 walks, and 5 runs (4 earned) in 3 1/3 innings while he struck out 5 batters. Randol Rojas got the win in the 2nd game after giving up 1 unearned run in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Joseph Van Meter got his 1st save of the year to close out game 2.

Minor League Performance of the Night

On most nights Yasmani Grandal's (Bakersfield Blaze- Cincinnati Reds high-A affiliate) 4 for 4 night with a double, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 5 times reached base, and 3 run game would be the performance of the night, let alone of his own league. But on Thursday, Kent Walton of the Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics high-A affiliate) outdid even Grandal's night by hitting for the first cycle of 2011. Walton went 4 for 5 at the plate in a 13-10 win over the lancaster JetHawks with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Walton flew out in the 2nd, before he hit a 2-run homerun in the 4th, a single in the 6th, a double in the 8th, and a leadoff triple to start the top of the 9th. Stockton scored 6 times in the top of the 8th thanks in part to a grand slam by Max Stassi, which gave them a 13-7 lead at the time. Lancaster scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th, but couldn't come back to defeat Stockton.

As always...

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

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