Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (33-26 7 games back in the Texas League South)... San Antonio Missions (40-19 1st place Texas League South)
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Series record: 8-7-1
2011 record against San Antonio: 6-9
All-Time record against San Antonio: 116-116
Record on June 11th since 2004: 3-4
Starting Pitchers: Richard Bleier (1-2 4.50 ERA) is 1-5 with a 6.56 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 10 career appearances and 9 starts against the San Antonio Missions... Anthony Bass (6-3 3.53 ERA) is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 3 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Richard Bleier out to the mound for the 8th time this season and 6th start, while San Antonio sends Anthony Bass out to the mound for the 12th time this season... Richard Bleier is coming off of his strongest start since throwing a complete game shutout on July 25th 2010 against the Corpus Christi Hooks. Bleier gave up just 4 hits and 1 walk over 7 shutout innings against the Tulsa Drillers last Sunday in Frisco's 3-0 win over the Drillers. Bleier also struck out 2 batters in the start and induced 12 groundouts. He got rocked in his last start against the Missions when he gave up 11 hits and 6 runs over 3 1/3 innings on the road. On the season, the 24 year old southpaw has given up 44 hits and 4 walks over 36 innings with 17 strikeouts... Anthony Bass also is coming off of his best start of the 2011 season when he gave up just 1 hit and 0 walks over 5 shutout innings against the Springfield Cardinals last Sunday. He also struck out 6 in the start, but received a no decision in San Antonio's 4-3 walkoff win in the 9th inning. In Bass's last start against Frisco he gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. He picked up the win in that start, his 6th of the season. On the season, Bass has given up 56 hits and 17 walks over 63 2/3 innings with 60 strikeouts for the Misisons. He also made one start for the Padre's AAA team, the Tuscon Padres, and picked up the win in that start after he gave up 6 hits and 1 run over 5 innings.
Frisco Gets Walkoff Single in 9th: After dropping the first two games of the series, Frisco picked up a 1 out single from Travis Adair to score Jonathan Greene from 2nd base as Frisco won 5-4 in the 9th inning. Frisco led 3-0 at one point, but gave up 4 runs in the 7th inning. The Riders answered with a run of their own in the 7th to tie the game at 4-4, setting up the Adair walkoff in the 9th. The win evened up their all-time record with the Missions at 116-116.
Robbie Erlin Dominant in Start: While his final line does not look "stellar", southpaw Robbie Erlin worked his way through the Missions lineup as well as anyone has all season. Erlin took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before giving up a leadoff double to Daniel Robertson in the inning. The only baserunner to reach in the first 6 innings was James Darnell, who reached to leadoff the 2nd inning on an error by shortstop Renny Osuna. Erlin struck out 8 batters through the first 6 innings and at one point had thrown first pitch strikes to 10 consecutive hitters. He finished with a line of: 7 IP 5 H 4 R 4 ER 0 BB 8 K 1 HR 88 pitches-62 strikes. The start actually brought his ERA up, despite it being the far more impressive start of his 2 in Frisco.
Top of the Order Doing Their Job: Despite the absence of outfielder Leonys Martin, who was placed on the DL, Frisco's top of the order had a presence on Friday. The 1-4 hitters combined to go 7 for 16 with 3 doubles, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Tommy Mendonca led the way with a 3 for 4 game, including a double, RBI, and run. Renny Osuna added 2 hits of his own in 4 at bats, which also included a double.
Another HBP: Jonathan Greene was hit by a pitch with 2 strikes in the 2nd inning. It was his 8th hit by pitch of the season, which leads the Texas League and is 1 behind 4 different players for the AA lead. Greene also walked to lead off the 9th inning and score the game winning run.
Dominating the 9th Inning: Fabio Castillo may not have gotten the save, but he did pitch in the 9th inning again. This season, the Frisco RoughRider's saves leader has allowed just a .133 opponents batting average in the 9th inning with a 3.00 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP in the 9th inning. Since getting off to a shaky start in April, Castillo has gone 1-0 with 6 saves (in 6 save opportunities) and a 2.70 ERA and 0.84 WHIP since May 1st. He has inherited 5 baserunners since May 1st and none have scored.
Notes Around the Texas League: In Midland's 4-0 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks last night, Jermaine Mitchell's 31 game on base streak came to an end as Mitchell went 0 for 4 at the plate.. Domnit Bolivar of the Springfield Cardinals, who was playing in just his 3rd game with AB's in AA, went 4 for 5 and hit for the cycle and he was still probably overshadowed by the first AA home start for top prospect Shelby Miller. We'll have more on that below... Also in that Midland-Corpus Christi game, was the start of Dallas Keuchel who gave up just 1 hit and struck out 8 over 7 shutout innings without a walk... Northwest Arkansas and Arkansas split a double header, which combined to be the same score as Frisco's 9 inning game, 5-4. Arkansas currently leads the Texas League North by 1.5 games over Tulsa and Springfield and 2 over Northwest Arkansas.
Conversation: I had a nice conversation before yesterday's game in the pressbox with Jon Collander, a staff writer for another Texas Ranger's blog: http://nolanwritin.com . He was visiting Frisco for the first time, so hopefully Robbie Erlin helped with something for him to write about! Check their blog out if you get the chance as they are another informative blog that follows the Texas Rangers organization. You can also follow him at: @rangerdanger85
TV Game: Today's game between Frisco and Corpus Christi will be shown on TXA 21 beginning at 7:00 PM. The broadcast will be with Aaron Goldsmith, Frisco's radio broadcaster, and Jason Cole, who runs the Lonestar Dugout, a website dedicated to the Texas Ranger's minor league system. It is the second TV game of the season. There will be 6 more this season after tonight. You can learn more about the schedule on the Radio & TV section of the Frisco RoughRiders website.
A First for Me: I spent the majority of yesterday trying to help Billy put in a pool, so I was unable to do a blog prior to yesterday's game. But if I had, I would have thanked Aaron Goldsmith, the radio broadcaster of the Frisco RoughRiders, for interviewing me prior to Thursday's game as part of their pre-game show. It was the first time I've been interviewed on the radio and it was quite interesting.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated San Antonio at home 5-1. Ryan Tatusko made the start for Frisco and gave up 5 hits and 1 run over 7 innings without a walk or strikeout. Adalberto Flores and Beau Jones pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief for Frisco. Joey Butler went 2 for 4 with a double, homerun, and RBI. Wes Bankston also went 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Renny Osuna added 2 hits of his own in the game. Taylor Teagarden had a hit and RBI, while James Tomlin added a hit.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) scored 2 runs in the 10th inning and held on to defeat the Iowa Cubs 7-6 on the road in 10 innings. Seth McClung started for Round Rock and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 innings with 3 strikeouts. Manny Delcarmen gave up 2 runs in 1 inning of relief, while Pedro Strop pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief to pick up his 4th victory. Cody Eppley gave up 1 unearned run in 1 inning of relief for his 5th save. Brian Barden led Round Rock's offense with a 4 for 5 day, including a double and a run scored. Chad Tracy went 1 for 5 with a double and a RBI for the Express. Omar Quintanilla, Luis Cruz, and Kevin Cash each added 2 hits in the game.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning and lost 4-3 on the road. Robbie Ross took the mound for Myrtle Beach and gave up 6 hits and 4 runs (2 earned) over 7 1/3 innings with 4 strikeouts and 0 walks. Myrtle Beach has gotten their starting pitchers to go at least 7 innings in 5 of their last 6 starts. Ryan Kelly pitched the final 2 outs of the 8th inning and allowed both mullets in the mix to score. Ryan Strausborger went 1 for 3 with a triple and sac bunt at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Santiago Chirino led the Pelicans with a 3 for 4 day including a double, homerun, and 2 RBI. Jared Hoying had a double as his lone hit in the game, while Leury Garcia and Jared Prince each added a hit in the game.
Hickory (Low-A) fell 4-2 to the Lexington Legends on the road. All 6 runs in the game were scored by the 4th inning. Matt Thompson started for Hickory and gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 4 runs (all earned) over 3 1/3 innings with 5 strikeouts. Colby Killian, Joseph Van Meter, and Jimmy Reyes combined for 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Top prospect Jurickson Profar went 0 for 3 with a walk at the plate for Hickory. Andrew Clark went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles and a walk. Josh Richmond and Jake Skole each went 1 for 4 with singles. Skole drove in a run as well. Christian Villanueva went 0 for 3 with a walk as well.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Domnit Bolivar has never had a lot of offensive success at any level of the minor leagues. But on Friday, the 22 year old middle infielder went 4 for 5 with a single, double, triple, and homerun to complete the cycle in Springfield's 10-9 10th inning win over the Tulsa Drillers. Bolivar doubled to left field in the 2nd inning, he homered to left to leadoff the 5th, he singled to left field in the 8th inning, and finally Bolivar tripled to centerfield in the 9th inning to score 2 runs, which tied the game and completed the cycle by the 7th place hitter. Bolivar, a Venezuelan native, hasn't had an OPS higher than .600 in a full season since 2008, which came combined between the levels of short season-A ball and low-A ball. However, this season Bolivar was batting .248 with a .685 OPS in 129 at bats for the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League before getting the recent promotion to Springfield, the St. Louis Cardinal's AA affiliate.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Station to Watch the Game on: TXA 21
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
- By Michael Damman
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