Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium (San Antonio, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (22-18 5 games back in the Texas League South)... San Antonio Missions (27-13 1st place in the Texas League South)
Streak: Won 4 in a row
Last 10: 9-1
Series Record: 5-5-1
Record against San Antonio: 4-4
All time Record against San Antonio: 114-111
Record Since 2004 on May 20th: 4-2
Starting Pitchers: Richard Bleier (0-0 3.07 ERA)... Anthony Bass (5-2 3.78 ERA)
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Richard Bleier to the mound for his 3rd start of the season and 4th appearance, while the Missions send Anthony Bass to the mound for the 9th time this season... Richard Bleier received a no decision in his last outing after giving a solid, but not great performance. Bleier gave up 9 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings with a strikeout against the Corpus Christi Hooks last Sunday in a loss to the Hooks. He did not issue a walk in the start. Bleier faced San Antonio in his first outing of the year when he relieved the rehab tandem of Neftali Feliz and Scott Feldman. Bleier gave up 3 hits and 1 walk over 3 2/3 shutout innings. This will be Bleier's 9th start and 10th appearance against the Missions. He is 1-4 with a 5.84 ERA in the previous 9 appearances/8 starts before tonight. He has given up 58 hits in 44 2/3 innings against the Missions in his career... Outside of a couple rougher outings, Anthony Bass has put together a nice year so far this season. In his last outing, Bass gave up 3 hits, 4 walks, and a run over 6 innings against the Corpus Christi Hooks and earned his 5th win of the season, which is tied for 2nd in the Texas League behind Stephen Dodson's 6 wins out of relief for the Tulsa Drillers. One of the two rougher outings for Bass, however, came against Frisco on May 3rd when he received his 2nd loss of the season. Bass gave up 8 hits and 5 runs over 7 innings with 9 strikeouts. This will be Bass's 3rd start of the season against Frisco. He gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and a run over 6 innings in the other start against the RoughRiders. On the season, Bass has given up 43 hits and 13 walks with 40 strikeouts over 47 2/3 innings.
Frisco Picks Up First Sweep: Frisco came back from down 4-0 after 2 innings against the Midland Rockhounds to defeat them 7-4 and pick up their first sweep of the 2011 season. A 5 run third inning pulled the Riders ahead 5-4 and runs in the 5th and 8th inning sealed the victory. It pulled the Riders to 10 games over .500 in the month of May (14-4) and marked their 4th series victory in a row. Frisco had been 0-3 when going for the sweep this season prior to yesterday's win.
Chris Mobley Struggles in First Start Since 2004: I don't think the expectations for Chris Mobley were for him to go 5 innings when the team entered Thursday's game, however, Mobley struggled to get through the 2nd inning anyways. He gave up 5 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs (all earned) over 2 innings with 1 strikeout. He struggled to throw strikes and when he did, they were usually hit somewhere well.
Pitch Count by Inning (Strikes/Pitches)
1- 14/24
2- 14/33
Bullpen Key: While usual reliever Mobley struggled, the rest of the bullpen work was outstanding. Adalberto Flores pitched 3 shutout innings to earn his 1st win of the year. Flores gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 4 batters. Ramon Aguero pitched 2 shutout innings himself and gave up 0 hits and 1 walk to get his 3rd hold. Fabio Castillo earned his first save with 2 shutout innings of relief as he gave up 1 hit, 1 walk, and struck out 1 batter.
Hamilton Finishes Up Frisco Rehab: Josh Hamilton's rehab is not fully complete as he will play 3 games for the Round Rock Express over the weekend, but his rehab with the Riders is finished after 2 games and 2 wins. Hamilton went 0 for 3 with a walk, RBI, and 2 runs on Thursday. Frisco definitely benefited from the major leaguers being in town as well, as attendance was outstanding for both games that Hamilton was in town.
Offense Solid: The Riders offense managed 7 hits and 6 walks on Thursday and scored 7 runs. Guilder Rodriguez had the lone extra base hit, a triple. Five different Riders (Hamilton, Renny Osuna, Jonathan Greene, Jose Ruiz, and Rodriguez) drove in a run in the game as well.
Big Series Coming Up: When Frisco went to San Antonio the last time, the Riders were a meager 6-10 and were 3-9 in their last 12 games, while the Missions were 10-6 and 9-4 in their last 13 games. The two teams were on opposite end of the spectrums. Frisco then lost 3 of 4 to the Missions and seemed to have been sent into oblivion, especially as they entered May 7 games behind the Missions and in last place in the South. Frisco, however, enters San Antonio this time having won 14 of their last 18 games and are currently half of a game behind Tulsa for the 2nd best record in the Texas League. They remain 5 games back from the Missions in the South division, but a series win this weekend could be big for Frisco. A series loss, however, could be big for the Missions as well, as they would get even more room between them and the next closest team.
Keeping the Mission's Bats Cooled Down: After batting .315/.397/.569/.966 as a team in the month of April, the San Antonio Missions are "only" batting .266/.363/.459/.822 as a team in the month of May. The task for Frisco pitchers will be to do what they've done to the Missions in the 8 games they've faced them this season. San Antonio is batting just .203 with a team OPS of .694 against Frisco pitchers this season in the 8 games. They have "only" hit 26 extra base hits in the 8 games against Frisco as well. It sounds even more impressive when you consider that the Corpus Christi Hooks have done the next best job against the Missions hitters and they still have an .881 OPS against the Hooks this season.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco defeated the Midland Rockhounds on the road 4-2 as Blake Beavan started and picked up his 6th win. Beavan gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 8 innings with 2 strikeouts. Cody Eppley picked up his first save with a scoreless 9th inning of relief. Matt Lawson provided most of the offense with a 3 for 5 day and 2 RBI. Joey Butled doubled and drove in the other 2 runs in the game. James Tomlin finished with 2 hits, while Butler, Renny Osuna, Andy Jenkins, Elio Sarmiento, and Guilder Rodriguez each had a hit a piece.
Yesterday's Answer to the Question of the Day: Brooks Robinson
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 3-1
Round Rock (AAA) scored 5 runs in the 2nd inning and 3 in the 4th to win 8-3 over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Scott Feldman started on rehab for Round Rock and gave up 8 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings with 3 strikeouts and 0 walks. He got his 2nd win on rehab so far. Chad Tracy provided the power for the Express lineup as he went 2 for 4 with 2 homeruns and drove in 4 runs. Esteban German went 4 for 5 with 2 RBI at the top of the order. Michael Kirkman and Ryan Tucker pitched the final 3 innings of shutout ball for Round Rock.
Myrtle Beach (high-A) got another great starting pitching outing and defeated the Winston-Salem Dash 3-1. Barret Loux took the mound for Myrtle Beach and gave up 4 hits, 2 walks, and a run over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts. Joseph Ortiz pitched the final 3 innings for his 3rd save of the season. The 20 year old southpaw's ERA is now down to 1.29. Zach Zaneski went 2 for 3 with 2 homeruns and 2 RBI at the plate for the Pelicans. Ryan Strausborger went 1 for 3 with a sac fly RBI as well. Mike Olt went 0 for 3 with a walk for Myrtle Beach.
Hickory (low-A) tied the game 2-2 in the 8th inning, but lost 3-2 in 11 innings to the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Nick Tepesch started for Hickory and gave up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 6 innings with 3 strikeouts. Ben Henry and Jimmy Reyes pitched 3 innings of shutout relief before Ryan Rodebaugh gave up a homerun to Ryan Fisher in the 11th inning in his second inning of work. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 4 with 2 walks at the for Hickory. Tomas Telis, Andrew Clark, and Josh Richmond each had 2 hits in the game. Jake Skole went 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Minor League Performance of the Day
While his teammate Desmond Jennings steals the show often, Leslie Anderson had what was probably a career night. The Durham Bull's first baseman went 4 for 5 with 2 homeruns, 6 RBI, 2 runs, and 10 total bases in Durham's 12-6 victory over the Louisville Bats. Desmond Jennings went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a homerun, RBI, 3 runs, and a stolen base in the same game as well. Anderson, a 29 year old first baseman who defected from Cuba before the 2010 season, has struggled in AAA this season for Durham. Through Thursday's game Anderson is batting just .239 with 4 homeruns in 138 at bats and has an OPS of .649. Last season, Anderson batted .302 with an .801 OPS between high-A, AA, and AAA. He signed with the Rays on March 11, 2010, for $3.75 million over 4 seasons.
As always...
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