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



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Game 51: Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez) @ Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Will Smith)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Arvest Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (26-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-21 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 4-6
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 1-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 65-66
Record Since 2004 on June 1st: 4-2 with a rain out, day off, and double-header

Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (2-0 2.01 ERA) is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 1 career start against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals... Will Smith (3-6 4.63 ERA) is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA and 2.20 WHIP in 2 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders.

What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Martin Perez out to the mound for his 11th start of the season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Will Smith out to the mound for his 10th start of the season in a battle of southpaws... For the 3rd time in 4 starts, Martin Perez gave up 0 earned runs in a start in his last outing. Perez went up against Smith last Thursday and gave up 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts over 7 shutout innings en route to his second victory of the 2011 season. Dating back to the 2010 season, Martin Perez is 3-0 in his last 11 starts and Frisco is 8-3 during those 11 starts. Martin Perez is 1-0 with a 1.41 ERA during his 6 starts on the road this season and is coming off a month where he went 1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in 5 starts. On the season, Perez has given up 42 hits and 25 walks with 53 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings pitched. Perez is 2nd in AA in ERA this season and ranks 17th in ERA among all minor league pitchers this season... Will Smith pitched well in his last start against Frisco when he gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. He took the loss in the effort, however, to drop him to 3-5 on the season. Smith has gone at least 6 innings and given up 2 or fewer runs in 4 of his last 6 starts after getting off to a bad start this year. On the season, Smith has given up 65 hits and walked 13 batters with 23 strikeouts over 46 2/3 innings. He is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA at home this season in 5 starts. Left handed batters are hitting .349 against him, while right handed hitters are batting .344 against him. Will Smith went 2-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 5 starts in the month of May.

Frisco Can't Finish Off Sweep of Tulsa: Tulsa scored early and often on Monday evening and finished off winning 7-2 over Frisco. Tulsa finished with 4 players with a multi hit game, including leadoff man Tim Wheeler who had 3 singles in his first 3 at bats, which all came by the 4th inning. Christian Friedrich had a terrific performance on the hill as well, as he gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 7 innings with 5 strikeouts.

Brandon Webb Struggles In First Start Back: 2006 NL Cy Young Award Winner Brandon Webb gave up 8 hits and 5 runs over 3 1/3 innings in his first pro start since 2009. His line wasn't the only thing that struggled, however, as his velocity was down into the low to mid 80s. He threw some good sinkers, but the command and velocity were not up to par, which is likely to be expected after having shoulder surgery. The 3 time NL All-Star ended up with a total line of: 3 1/3 IP 8 H 5 R/ER 2 BB 2 K 1 HBP 77 pitches-47 strikes and 3 GB-2 FB.

Another Day In the Life of #12: Leonys Martin continued his tear against AA pitching as he went 2 for 4 with a single, homerun, and 2 runs scored against Tulsa on Monday. His homerun, a solo shot, came in the 9th inning with the team down 7-1, but it did make a splash on the box score and in the pool zone at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Martin had a multi hit game for the 3rd time in 4 games and reached base twice for the 6th time in 7 games, including 5 games in a row. He also scored a run for the 5th game in a row and 6th time in 7 games. Over the last 5 games, Martin has now scored 9 runs, hit 3 extra base hits, driven in 2 runs, and walked 4 times. His batting line on the season is: .353/.438/.588/1.026.

Jose Ruiz Reaches Base, Doesn't Drive in Run: One of the more interesting lines of the series with Tulsa was Jose Ruiz's two days against the Drillers on Saturday and Sunday. Ruiz went 0 for 8 in those 2 games, but drove home 3 runs in the 2 games. On Monday, Ruiz reached base for the first time this season against Tulsa, but did not drive in a run. He finished the 3 game set 0 for 11 with a walk and 3 RBI thanks to 2 sacrifice flies and a RBI groundout.

Team Leaders in the Month of May: 
AVG: Martin (.353)
HR: Bianucci and Mendonca (5)
RBI: Bianucci and Greene (17)
R: Rodriguez (18)
SB: Martin (8)
XBH: Bianucci (12)
OPS: Martin (1.026)
W: Miller (4)
SV: Castillo and Hamburger (3)
K: Perez (29)
ERA: Perez (1.47)
WHIP: Brigham (1.21)
Games: Snyder (12)

Unsung Player in May: Guilder Rodriguez does not have the best power on the team, in fact he's hit 1 homerun in his professional career, which came for Frisco in 2009. But, he made up for the lack of power in May with more walks (16) than strikeouts (12) and got on base at a .375 clip, which was the 3rd highest on the team behind Martin (.438) and Davis Stoneburner (.380). Rodriguez also led the team in runs scored with 18 and stole 4 bases, which were the 2nd most on the team. He's currently tied with Martin for the team lead in steals with 8.

Last Year on this Date: Frisco had the day off.

Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Pedro Martinez struck out 10 or more batters in 8 consecutive starts for the Boston Red Sox from August 19th through September 27th in 1999. He also did it in 7 consecutive starts earlier in the same year from April 15th through May 18th.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 1-2

Round Rock (AAA) fell to the Oklahoma City Redhawks 7-5 after giving up 5 runs in the 5th inning. Round Rock starter Neil Ramirez started and came out after giving up 1 hit and 2 walks over 3 shutout innings after he took a comeback hit off of his throwing arm. Per the Round Rock website, his status is to be determined. Former Rider Chad Tracy went 2 for 3 with a double, 2 RBI, and  walk for Round Rock. Chris Davis went 1 for 5, but did not hit a homerun, as his hit was a double. Julio Borbon, who rehabbed with Frisco on Monday, went 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 steals in his rehab for the Express. Matt Kata and Taylor Teagarden each added 2 hits in the game for Round Rock. Reliever Mark Hamburger took the loss for Round Rock after giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs over 2 innings of relief. Zach Phillips gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, and a wild pitch over 3 innings of relief.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) scored 2 runs in the 1st inning and it was all they needed as they defeated the Frederick Keys 2-1 on the road. Robbie Ross started for Myrtle Beach and turned in a terrific performance. Ross gave up just 3 hits and 1 unearned run over 8 innings with 7 strikeouts and no walks. He induced 13 groundball outs in the start to 2 flyball outs. 20 of the 28 batters he faced either struck out or grounded out. Ryan Kelly pitched the 9th inning for his 7th save of the year. Offense was tough to come by for both sides, but it was Zach Zaneski's 2 RBI single, which decided the difference. Zaneski finished with 2 hits in the game for the Pelicans, as did Jared Prince. Jared Bolden had a hit in 4 at bats. Jared Hoying walked twice at the top of the order. Mike Olt and Ryan Strausborger finished 0 for 7 with a walk and run.

Hickory (Low-A) lost to the West Virginia Power 3-2 on Monday on the road. Luke Jackson took the mound for Hickory and gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. Ben Rowen pitched 3 shutout innings of relief with 1 hit and 1 walk given up to 3 strikeouts. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 3 at the plate with a hit by pitch and a run scored. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 4 at the plate for Hickory. Josh Richmond went 1 for 3 with a walk, while Jonathan Roof added a 1 for 3 day with a double for the Crawdads. Teodoro Martinez had 2 walks and a sacrifice groundout, so he did not have an official at bat in the game.

Minor League Performance of the Day

On Tuesday a Frisco pitcher takes home the Minor League Performance of the Day here, but it isn't a pitcher that pitches for the Frisco RoughRiders. Frisco, Texas native Red Patterson had a career performance on Tuesday and he still couldn't take home the victory in his start. In fact, his team didn't even win the game. Pitching for the Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodger's Low-A team), the 24 year old right hander gave up just 2 hits and struck out 10 over 9 shutout innings against the Burlington Bees and the Loons lost 1-0 in 10 innings. On the season, Patterson has given up 45 hits and 14 walks over 60 2/3 innings with 59 strikeouts. He is 4-3 with a 2.87 ERA over 11 starts. Red Patterson was drafted in the 29th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2010 MLB draft out of Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

As always...

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