Game 71: Midland Rockhounds (Gary Daley) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco,TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (0-0 Tied for First in the Texas League South; 40-30 overall)... Midland Rockhounds (0-0 Tied for First in the Texas League South; 27-43 overall)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Homestand Record: 1-1
Series Record: 10-8-1
2011 Record against Midland: 11-3
All-Time Record against Midland: 114-100
Record on June 22nd since 2004: 2-2
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (4-1 3.30 ERA) is 2-4 with a 4.56 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 11 career starts against the Midland Rockhounds ...Gary Daley (1-1 3.86 ERA) is 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 6 career appearances, including 3 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders.


What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Martin Perez to the mound for the 15th time this season, while Midland sends Gary Daley to the mound for the 7th time this season in the first game of the second half... Martin Perez looks to get back to his dominant ways as he opens up the 2nd half of the season for Frisco. In his last outing, Perez gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 4 runs over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts. He gave up 2 homeruns as well, which nearly equaled the amount (3) that he gave up in his previous 13 starts combined. Perez faced Midland on the road on June 12th and gave up a season high 12 hits, 1 walk, and 6 runs (5 earned) in 5 2/3 innings in Frisco's 9-2 loss to the Rockhounds. The last time that Perez faced Midland in Frisco, however, was the most dominant home start of his career for the RoughRiders. Perez gave up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 7 2/3 innings while striking out a career best 10 batters. On the season, Martin has given up 74 hits and 30 walks over 76 1/3 innings with 73 strikeouts. He is 1-0 with a 2.94 ERA at home this season, although he has only made 4 of his 14 starts at home... Gary Daley looks to build on his last 3 starts for the Midland Rockhounds. In his last outing, Daley gave up 3 hits, 4 walks, and 2 runs over 5 2/3 innings with 6 strikeouts in a no decision against the San Antonio Missions. In his last start against the Frisco RoughRiders, Daley gave up 9 hits and 2 runs over 7 2/3 innings with 5 strikeouts and 0 walks in Midland's 9-2 win over the Riders. He is 0-0 with a 2.53 ERA in 4 road starts this year. On the season, Daley has given up 36 hits and 13 walks in 32 2/3 innings for Midland with 24 strikeouts. He has also pitched for the Stockton Ports and Sacramento River Cats this season. Overall, he has given up 75 hits and 30 walks in 75 1/3 innings with 47 strikeouts.

Frisco Erases 9 run Defecit, Loses 10-9 to Midland: For most of the game on Tuesday morning/afternoon, Frisco was out of the game. They were down 5-0 after 2 innings and 9-0 after 5 innings. But a 4 run 6th and 5 run 7th helped Frisco tie the game at 9-9 after 7 innings. The Riders gave up a homerun in the 8th inning, however, and came up just a bit short in the 9th with the tying run 90 feet away at third base to lose 10-9.

Richard Bleier's Start: He didn't look terrible on the mound, but when it's all said and done, the line looked pretty rough. Bleier gave up 12 hits, 3 walks, and 8 runs over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. There were only a couple hits by Midland out of the 12 that were actually hit well. Many of the hits seemed to be "Texas Leaguers" or groundballs that seemed to have eyes.

Elio Sarmiento's Big Day: Elio Sarmiento had 2 hits in the game in 3 at bats and both hits were big. He hit a 3-run homerun in the 6th inning, which gave Frisco their 69th homerun in their 70th game. He also had a 2 RBI double in the 7th inning to tie the game at 9-9. Sarmiento tried to stretch it into a 2 out triple, however, and got thrown out at third base. He also walked in the 2nd inning. His 5 RBI set a new single game high for Elio. Sarmeinto now has 14 RBI and 9 extra base hits in 19 games this season. In 8 games for the month of June, he is batting .281/.361/.656/1.017 with 7 extra base hits and 11 RBI.

Mendonca Extends Streaks: Mendonca extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the 1st inning and then extended his RBI streak to 9 games with a RBI single in the 7th inning. Overall, he went 2 for 4 with a hit by pitch as well. He has gotten on base at least twice in 12 consecutive games and is batting .419/.480/.721/1.201 for the month of June with 16 extra base hits and 27 RBI in 20 games. He leads or is tied for the lead in the minor leagues in hits, runs, extra base hits, total bases, and RBI for the month of June.

Another Multi Hit game for Beltre: Engel Beltre went 2 for 5 in Frisco's loss on Tuesday and had a RBI and 2 runs scored in the game. It marks his 4th consecutive multi hit game, which is a personal first for him in Frisco and the first time he's done that since June 27th-30th of 2010 for the Bakersfield Blaze. He actually achieved 5 straight then when he went 2 for 4 in his next game on July 3rd for Frisco. 

Pacing Hit by Pitches: With 2 more players being hit by pitches on Tuesday, Frisco now has had 39 players get hit by pitches in 70 games. If they were to keep up the same pace in the second half, they would set a franchise record with 78 hit by pitches. The current high is 77 by the 2004 team.

Notable Achievements in the First Half: 

- Elio Sarmiento's homerun gave the team 69 homeruns on the season giving the team more homeruns than the 2010 team and on pace for the 2nd most in Frisco's 9 year history.

- Frisco has scored 386 runs in the first half this season in 70 games (average of 5.51 runs per game). The total puts them on pace for roughly 772 runs for the season, which would be their best in franchise history. The high right now is 758 runs in 2008. 

- Mike Bianucci has 16 homerun on the season, putting him on pace for 32 homeruns for the year. That would be the 2nd most for a Frisco RoughRider in a single season behind Nate Gold's 34 in 2006. Both Bianucci and Mendonca have more than last year's team leaders had, Joey Butler and Andy Jenkins with 10. 

- Tommy Mendonca's RBI on Tuesday was his 59th on the season, which gives him more than the 2010 team leader Joey Butler had for the season (58).  Mendonca is on pace for 118 RBI, which would crush Chad Tracy's Frisco record of 107 in 2009.

- Jonathan Greene has been hit by 8 pitches this season, which paces him to tie Craig Gentry's Frisco record of 16 hit by pitches in 2009.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 530 HR in 554 games (0.957 HR/G) would be a record for the Texas League

Term of the Day: Texas Leaguer- 1. A player from the Texas League. 2. A poorly hit ball that loops meekly over the infield and lands for a hit; a flyball just out of reach of the infielders, but too close in for an outfielder to catch it.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Midland Rockhounds 6-3 on the road. Blake Beavan took the mound for Frisco and gave up 7 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) over 7 2/3 innings with 6 strikeouts and 0 walks. Beau Jones gave up 1 hit and 1 run over 0+ innings of relief, while Cody Eppley pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless innings of relief. Marcus Lemon led Frisco with a 2 for 4 day including a homerun, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Wes Bankston, Mitch Hilligoss, James Tomlin, and Guilder Rodriguez each had a hit and a RBI a piece. Renny Osuna and Joey Butler each had a hit in the game as well.

Around the Ranger's System:

Yesterday's Record: 1-1

Round Rock (AAA) had their game suspended with the New Orleans Zephyrs.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) had the day off. The Carolina League had their all-star game against the California League. The California League All-Stars defeated the Carolina League All-Stars by a score of 6-1. Representing Myrtle Beach were the following:

- Joseph Wieland was the starting pitcher for the Carolina League and pitched 1 perfect inning with 1 strikeout. He made 6 pitches and all 6 went for strikes.
- Ryan Strausborger went 1 for 4 at the plate
- Zach Zaneski pinch hit and finished 0 for 2 at the plate.
- Robbie Ross pitched a scoreless inning of relief and struck out 2 batters. He made 12 pitches- 9 for strikes.

Hickory (Low-A) had the day off. The South Atlantic League had their all-star game as well on Tuesday. The South Atlantic League South Division defeated the South Atlantic League North Division by a score of 6-3. Hickory is in the North Division of the league. Representing Hickory were the following:

- Roman Mendez struggled and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs over 2/3 of an inning with 1 strikeout.
- Christian Villanueva went 1 for 2 with a RBI
- Tomas Telis went 0 for 1

Spokane (Short Season A-ball) scored 13 runs in the 5th and 6th inning and crushed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 15-8 to take 4 out of 5 in the series. John Kukuruda started for Spokane and gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 4 innings with 4 strikeouts Juan Grullon got his second win as he pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief. Carlos Melo gave up 2 hits, 4 walks, and 5 runs over 1/3 of an inning in relief. Leonel De Los Santos and Kyle Hendricks combined to give up 1 unearned run in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Rougned Odor went 3 for 5 with a triple and a RBI for Spokane. Ranger's 1st round pick (supplemental) Zach Cone went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI in his pro debut. Trever Adams went 2 for 3 with a triple, a walk, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored for the Indians. Guillermo Pimentel went 2 for 5 with a RBI and 2 runs scored. Ruben Sierra Jr. went 1 for 5 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Jorge Alfaro, Brett Nicholas, Hanser Alberto, and Nick Vickerson each had a hit in the game for Spokane.

Minor League Performance of the Day

The Pioneer League play just started and Taylor Lindsey already has had a very big day. Playing for the Casper Ghosts, Lindsey went 4 for 5 with 3 doubles, a homerun, 4 RBI, and scored 6 runs in Casper's 23-1 win over the Orem Owlz. Taylor Lindsey, a 19 year old second baseman for the Ghosts, was a first round pick (supplemental) of the Los Angeles Angels in the 2010 draft. He was taken 37th overall in the draft out of a high school in Scottsdale, Arizona. On the season so far in just two games, Lindsey is 7 for 9 with a walk, a strikeout, and a stolen base. Last season for the Angel's Arizona rookie league team, Lindsey batted .284 with 18 extra base hits in 45 games. Taylor Lindsey was rated by Baseball America as the 19th best prospect in the Angel's organization entering the 2011 season.

As always...

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- By Michael Damman