Location: Citibank Ballpark (Midland, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (33-28 9 games back in the Texas League South)... Midland Rockhounds (25-36 17 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Series Record: 8-8-1
2011 Record against Midland: 7-2
All-Time Record against Midland: 110-99
Record on June 13th since 2004: 3-4
Starting Pitchers: Jake Brigham (2-5 5.05 ERA) is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.67 WHIP in 1 career start against the Midland Rockhounds... Anthony Capra (0-2 5.13 ERA) is 1-4 with a 4.65 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 6 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Jake Brigham to the mound for the 13th time this season, while Midland sends Anthony Capra to the mound for the 12th time this season... Jake Brigham looks to stop a recent trend of command struggles on the mound as the right hander is 0-3 in his last 4 starts and 0-4 in his last 7 starts. Brigham gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, and 4 runs over 5 innings with 3 strikeouts against the San Antonio Missions last Wednesday in Frisco's 11-1 loss to the Missions. Brigham has averaged 7.56 BB/9 over his past 4 starts after averaging 2.96 BB/9 over his first 8 starts on the season. On the season, Brigham has given up 57 hits and 29 walks in 62 1/3 innings with 55 strikeouts. On the road he is 2-1 with a 5.70 ERA in 5 starts. Right handed batters are hitting just .206 against Brigham, while left handed hitters are batting .313 against him... Anthony Capra looks to continue his recent trend of very nice pitching as he faces off against Frisco. Capra gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs (1 earned) in 6 innings with 3 strikeouts against Corpus Christi last Wednesday. Over his last 4 starts, Capra is 0-0 with a 0.42 ERA and has given up 17 hits and 10 walks over 21 1/3 innings with 15 strikeouts. On the season, Capra has given up 59 hits and 27 walks in 54 1/3 innings with 45 strikeouts. He is still searching for his first personal win of the 2011 season. Capra is 2-9 over his last 30 starts dating back to June 6th, 2010.
Frisco Loses 4th game in last 5: After beginning the month of June on a 6 game win streak, Frisco has sputtered to 1-4 in their last 5. The RoughRiders lost 9-2 to the Midland Rockhounds on Sunday evening. The loss meant that Frisco is mathematically eliminated from winning the South division for the first half, which gives San Antonio the first half title. Frisco has been outscored 38-18 over the last 5 games as well as the pitching has struggled to keep opponents from scoring. The loss snapped a 7 game road win streak that Frisco had dating back to a 6-4 win over San Antonio on May 23rd as part of the last game of a 4 game set with the Missions.
Perez's First Loss of 2011: Martin Perez received his first loss of the season after giving up a season high 12 hits against the Rockhounds and 6 runs (5 earned) over 5 2/3 innings. Perez also walked 1 batter and struck out just 3 in the game, which ties a season low. It was also the first time since May 5th that Perez failed to go at least 6 innings, although he did pitch into the 6th inning. Perez allowed multiple baserunners in 5 of the 6 innings he pitched in, including multiple hits in 4 of the 6 innings. Still, on the season Perez's ERA is 3.03 and he's 4-1 for the season.
Mendonca Continues to Fire on all Cylinders: Tommy Mendonca led Frisco with 3 hits in the game in 4 at bats, including a double. It was his 3rd consecutive multi hit game and the 8th inning double was his 4th extra base hit over the last 3 games. It should come as no surprise at this point, however, as Mendonca is batting .379 with a 1.045 OPS away from Dr. Pepper Ballpark. He currently is in the midst of a 34 game road on base streak dating back to 2010 in the California League. He has reached base in all 28 road games he has played in this season for Frisco. He also has a modest 7 game hit streak going on the road. Mendonca now leads the team in batting average (.305), is tied with Mike Bianucci for team lead in both homeruns (13) and RBI (43) and leads the team with a .906 OPS.
Struggles with RISP: On Sunday Frisco went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, which was the worst they have done since the month of June began. However, over the last 7 games, Frisco is batting just .219 with RISP. But through the first 4 games of June, Frisco was 17 for 40 (.425) with RISP, so overall in the month of June the team is 31 for 104 (.298) with RISP. Not too bad, but the recent trend of the last 7 games is not good.
The Tale of Bianucci and Midland: Mike Bianucci went 1 for 4 with a solo homerun against Midland on Sunday. It was his first homerun since May 28th and just his 2nd homerun over his last 26 games. But if there is one thing that Mike Bianucci does very well, it is hit homeruns against Midland and specifically against Midland in Midland. Bianucci's homerun on Sunday was his 4th against the Rockhounds this season in 8 games. To go even further, in 5 games in Midland, it was Bianucci's 4th homerun there. He is batting .303 with a .932 OPS on the road, including 8 of his 13 homeruns. He is batting 7 for 20 (.350) with 4 homeruns and 7 RBI in 5 games in Midland.
Midland's Jermaine Mitchell's Stats: Jermaine Mitchell has certainly has made a name for himself this season in AA. He is currently 9th in batting average, 2nd in on base percentage, 13th in slugging percentage, 3rd in OPS, 13th in extra base hits, 5th in total bases, 7th in walks, and 2nd in runs scored. Not bad stats for a leadoff hitter. Even better when you consider this is among all full season minor league hitters (4 levels), not just the Texas League or just AA. He is also the only player in minor league baseball with double digit totals in doubles (12), triples (13), and homeruns (10). Despite not having hit a triple since May 28th, Mitchell is still on pace to tie the Texas League triples record (30) for a single season, which was set in 1929.
Texas League All-stars: Four players mentioned above here were named to the Texas League All-star team: Bianucci (starter), Mitchell (starter), Mendonca (Reserve), and Perez (one of the pitchers). You can read about the all-star teams here. The Texas League All-star game is June 29th in San AntonioThe Starters are:
North:
C- Wilin Rosario (Tulsa Drillers)
1B- Matt Adams (Springfield Cardinals)
2B- Ryan Mount (Arkansas Travelers)
3B- Luis Jimenez (Arkansas Travelers)
SS- Darwin Perez (Arkansas Travelers)
OF- Alex Castellanos (Springfield Cardinals)
OF- Michael Trout (Arkansas Travelers)
OF- Tim Wheeler (Tulsa Drillers)
DH- Anthony Seratelli (Northwest Arkansas Naturals)
South:
C- Ali Solis (San Antonio Missions)
1B- Michael Spina (Midland Rockhounds)
2B- Vince Belnome (San Antonio Missions)
3B- James Darnell (San Antonio Missions)
SS- Wladimir Sutil (Corpus Chrisi Hooks)
OF- Leonys Martin (Frisco RoughRiders)
OF- Jermaine Mitchell (Midland Rockhounds)
OF- J.D. Martinez (Corpus Christi Hooks)
DH- Mike Bianucci (Frisco RoughRiders)
Congrats to the Dallas Mavericks!: I spent Sunday night like most people in Dallas watching the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Miami Heat 105-95 to take the NBA Finals 4 games to 2. The Mavericks earned their first NBA title in franchise history and as importantly, they got a NBA title for class act future Hall of Fame veterans like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. It is amazing really what the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been able to witness over the last year. The Texas Rangers made their first World Series in franchise history, then the Super Bowl was played at the Dallas Cowboy's stadium, and now the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title. Not many cities have the opportunity to say they've had two of those there in a one year span, let alone all three.
Texas League Homerun Tracker: 453 in 482 games (0.939/Game)
Term of the Day: Meikyukai- The Golden Players Club, a special honor for Japanese players, who have reached 2,000 hits, 200 wins, or 250 saves in Japanese or other leagues. The honor is automatic, not elective. Members receive a dark blue jacket with Pegasus logos.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco defeated Midland 7-2 at home. Martin Perez started for Frisco and gave up 1 hit, 3 walks, and 1 run with 6 strikeouts over 4 innings. He got a no-decision in the start. Andrew Laughter picked up the win after pitching 2 scoreless innings of relief. Beau Jones picked up the save after pitching the final 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Adalberto Flores also pitched and gave up a run in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Matt Lawson went 2 for 4 with a double for Frisco at the plate. Renny Osuna and Guilder Rodriguez each had 2 singles in 4 at bats each in the game. Marcus Lemon, Joey Butler, and Wes Bankston each had a hit a piece and each drove in a run for the Riders. James Tomlin added a double and a RBI as well.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Clint Robinson with 29 homeruns for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. He took home the league's triple crown with a league leading .335 batting average and league best 98 RBI as well.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) scored 9 runs between the 4th and 7th innings and defeated the Iowa Cubs 9-2 on the road. Zach Jackson started for Round Rock and gave up 5 hits, 2 walks, and 1 unearned run over 6 innings with 3 strikeouts. Manny Delcarmen pitched a scoreless 7th and Beau Jones gave up 1 run over the final 2 innings of relief. Five hitters for Round Rock finished the game with 2 hits. Chad Tracy went 2 for 5 with a grand slam homerun and 4 RBI. Joey Butler finished 2 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI. His 2 hits extends Butler's hitting streak to 13 games for the Express Luis Cruz, Brad Nelson, and Omar Quintanilla each had 2 hits in the game, including a homerun by Cruz. Brian Barden finished 1 for 4 with a homerun, 2 RBI, a hit by pitch, and 2 runs scored.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) played the game of the day as they unfortunately lost to the Kinston Indians 3-2 in 23 innings. The 23 innings was the most innings played in a game in Carolina League history, which has seen over 36,000 games played. The previous most was 22 innings. Joe Wieland started the game and gave up 4 hits and 1 run over 6 innings with 9 strikeouts and 0 walks. Kennil Gomez gave up 1 run over 2 innings of relief. The run came in the 7th inning, the next run scored by Kinston would be the 23rd inning. Trevor Hurley, Ryan Kelly, Zach Osborne, and Chad Bell combined for 14 scoreless innings of relief. Kasey Kiker took the loss after giving up 2 hits and a run over 2/3 of an inning. The offenses combined to go 4 for 37 with RISP and left a combined 37 runners on. Myrtle Beach's offense went 1 for 13. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 8 with a double and 2 walks in the game. David Paisano led the Pelican's offense with 3 hits in 9 at bats in the game. Four pitchers had to hit due to losing the DH in the 9th inning. The pitchers combined to go 0 for 3 with 2 sac bunts. The game lasted for 6 hours and 27 minutes.
Hickory (Low-A) scored 10 runs in the first 4 innings and crushed Asheville 12-3 on the road. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 1 run over 5 innings with 4 strikeouts. Ben Henry and Jorge Marban combined to pitch 4 innings of relief with 2 runs given up. Alejandro Selen went 2 for 4 with 2 homeruns and 3 RBI for Hickory. Jake Skole led with 3 hits, including 2 doubles, in 4 at bats. He drove in 3 runs, walked once, and score 2 runs of his own. Jonathan Roof also had 2 doubles as part of a 2 for 5 day. Andrew Clark went 1 for 3 with 2 RBI and 2 walks. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 6 in the game and is 3 for his last 19, but does have a 12 game on base streak going. Odubel Herrera also had 2 hits in the game, including a double.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Dennis Raben has had some big days this season for the High Desert Mavericks, but none compares to what he did on Sunday. During High Desert's 13-7 win over the Lake Elsinore Storm, Raben went 4 for 5 with 3 homeruns, 6 RBI, and 4 runs scored. On the season, Raben now is batting .331 with 17 homeruns and 66 RBI. He is tied for 6th among all minor league players in homeruns and his RBI total is the most among any minor league player this season. The 23 year old first baseman was a 2nd round pick in the 2008 draft by the Seattle Mariners. He was listed as the 21st best prospect in Seattle's organization by Baseball America entering 2010. But he dropped out of the top 30 entering 2011 after missing a ltitle less than half of 2010 with an injury. He also missed the entire 2009 season due to injury.
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
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/
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
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/
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