Off Day Notes

Next Game: Tomorrow Night at 7 PM CT at Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX) against the Texas League South 1st place San Antonio Missions. It will be an important series for the Frisco RoughRiders, who are 6 games back entering the 4 game set with San Antonio.

Streak: Won 6 in a Row
Last 10: 8-2
Series Record: 8-7-1
Record Since 2004 on June 7th: 3-4 with 1 rain out and 1 double header


Frisco Finishes 6-0 Road Trip: In what could have been a big momentum switch if the Missions would ever lose, Frisco defeated the Tulsa Drillers 9-4 and swept the Texas League North's 1st place team for a second consecutive sweep on the road. They begin the month of June with 6 straight wins, which is tied for their best start to open a month since 2004. Frisco also won 6 straight to open August 2008. They are now 24-10 since May 1st, the best record in the Texas League during that time.

Martin Perez Wins 3rd Straight: Martin Perez struck out 8 batters over 6 innings and gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs in the win. It is his 3rd consecutive win in a start and Perez is now 4-0 in his last 13 starts dating back to last season. Over his last 5 starts, Martin Perez has struck out 33 batters and walked just 8 in 32 2/3 innings, while facing Midland, San Antonio, Northwest Arkansas, and Tulsa. Perez lowered his ERA against Texas League North competition to 2.53 in 6 starts.

Leonys Martin's Game: Leonys Martin has made quite an impact on the Riders and on Monday, he made quite an impact by reaching base 4 times, including going 3 for 4 at the plate with a homerun and 4 RBI. He also scored 2 runs in the game, although Martin was caught stealing twice on the basepaths. Martin got his 3rd homerun (a 2-run shot) of the season in the 3rd inning on what was said to be a "no-doubter". He now has 11 extra base hits in 21 games and 12 walks to 6 strikeouts.

Jose Ruiz Also Hits Homerun: It looked like Martin would be a clear candidate as the lead story, but Jose Ruiz's 3-run homerun in the 9th inning changed that a bit. Ruiz finished the game 4 for 5 with a homerun, 4 RBI, and a run scored. The homerun in the 9th inning made the 9th inning for Castillo a non-save situation as well as it blew the game wide open.

Tommy Mendonca Continues Streak: Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 4 with a walk at the plate, but the more important part was that Mendonca scored 2 runs in the game, which extended his streak to 7 consecutive games with either a run scored or a RBI. He has hit in 7 straight and reached base in 8 straight.

Limiting Free Passes: Since May 1st, Frisco has had 20 starts out of 34 where the starters have gone at least 5 innings and given up 3 runs or less. They have had 17 starts out of the 34 where the starters have gone at least 6 innings and given up 3 runs or less. In the same time, the starters have walked 3.46 batters per 9 innings (68 walks in 176 2/3 innings). For the season, the RoughRider's pitching staff has walked 3.84 batters per 9 innings (214 in 501 1/3 innings), so they have improved a bit in that area and likely could get even better as the year goes on.

MLB Draft: Obviously the big talk on Monday in the baseball world was the draft, which began Monday night and runs through Wednesday. On Monday, the Texas Rangers had 2 selections (33rd and 37th overall picks). The newest Texas Ranger's farm hands were:

33. LHP Kevin Matthews (Richmond Hill High School)
37. OF Zach Cone (University of Georgia)

Last Year On this Date: Frisco's game was rained out.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 2-2

Round Rock (AAA) got shutout 11-0 by the Albuquerque Isotopes at home. Zach Jackson started for Round Rock and gave up 11 hits, 3 walks, and 8 runs over 5 2/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Zach Phillips pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Mark Hamburger pitched a scoreless 9th inning. Chris Davis went 2 for 4 at the plate for Round Rock with 2 singles. Joey Butler went 2 for 3 for the Express as well. Julio Borbon went 0 for 3 with a sacrifice as well.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up a run in the top of the 9th inning to fall 3-2 to the Winston-Salem Dash. Wilfredo Boscan started for Myrtle Beach and had a solid start. He gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 7 innings with 4 strikeouts. Joe Ortiz took the loss after giving up a hit, walk, and run in 1 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Mike Olt went 1 for 3 with a walk at the plate. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a RBI for the Pelicans. Leury Garcia also had 2 hits in the game in 4 at bats. Jared Hoying, Jared Bolden, Jared Prince, Santiago Chirino, and Zach Zaneski each added a hit in the game as well. Prince had Myrtle Beach's lone extra base hit in the game, a double.

Hickory (Low-A) scored 7 runs in the first 3 innings and defeated the Lakewood BlueClaws 8-5 at home. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave up 9 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings with 7 strikeouts and 0 walks. He picked up his first win of the season for Hickory. Ryan Rodebaugh pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for his 7th save of the season. Tomas Telis went 3 for 5 with a double for Hickory. Christian Villanueva went 2 for 4 with a walk for the Crawdads. Jake Skole went 2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI at the plate. Odubel Herrera and Jonathan Roof each added 2 hits of their own as well. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 5 at the plate. Josh Richmond and Teodoro Martinez each had a hit and a RBI in the game. Every hitter in the lineup had at least one hit and 7 of the 9 hitters drove in a run. Every player for Hickory either scored or drove in a run.


Minor League Performance of the Day

Mike Carp already has had a minor league performance of the day this year, but on Monday, he got his 2nd one. Carp hit 3 homeruns on May 15th, which earned him the honor. On Monday against the Tuscon Padres, Mike Carp went 4 for 6 with 2 homeruns and 7 RBI in the Tacoma Rainer's 24-3 victory over Tuscon. Tacoma only scored in 4 different innings, but they scored 5 runs in the 2nd, 8 runs in the 3rd, 6 runs in the 7th, and 5 runs in the 9th. The only player on Tacoma to not reach base at least three times was Sean Kazmar, who reached base twice. Blake Beavan started for Tacoma and gave up 11 hits and 3 runs over 7 innings in the win. But the story was Carp, who now has 19 homeruns and 58 RBI this season and is batting .350 for Tacoma. He has a 1.074 OPS on the season. He leads minor league baseball in both OPS (1.237) and total bases (116) since May 1st.