Chatter from the Press Box: Game 100: Corpus Christi Hooks (Dallas Keuchel) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Richard Bleier)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (17-12 1 game back in the Texas League South; 57-42 overall)... Corpus Christi Hooks (13-16 5 games back in the Texas League South; 38-61 overall)
Streak: Won 3 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Homestand: 3-0
Series Record: 14-10-3
2011 Record against Corpus Christi: 15-12
All-Time Record against Corpus Christi: 110-101
Record on July 25th since 2004: 4-3
Starting Pitchers: Richard Bleier (3-4 5.45 ERA) vs. Dallas Keuchel (8-6 3.04 ERA)

Frisco Wins Low Scoring Game: After defeating the Corpus Chris Hooks 19-4 on Friday and 9-5 on Saturday, Frisco proved to be able to win a close, low scoring game with 2 solo homeruns in their 2-1 win over the Hooks on Sunday. The win guaranteed a series victory over the Hooks as Frisco improved to 50-29 (.633 winning%) against any team not named the San Antonio Missions this season. Frisco is still a game behind the Missions in the second half, who beat the Midland Rockhounds 4-2 on Sunday.

Wieland Solid Again: Joe Wieland continued his breakthrough season with another very solid outing on Sunday in AA play. The 21 year old right hander gave up 8 hits and 1 walk over 6 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts. He improved his record to 3-0 for Frisco and lowered his ERA to 1.54 in the Texas League. In 35 innings for Frisco, Wieland has now given up 35 hits and 10 walks with 29 strikeouts. He has given up 1 earned run or less in 5 of his 6 starts for the Riders. In 3 starts at Dr. Pepper Ballpark, Wieland is now 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA (2 earned runs in 18 IP) with 18 hits, 5 walks, and 12 strikeouts. He has given up 2 earned runs over 17 innings against the Hooks with 2 walks and 16 strikeouts over his 3 starts against them.

Ruiz Continues Dr. Pepper Ballpark Beatdown: Frisco's first baseman Jose Ruiz seems to have a knack for getting big extra base hits at home this season and Sunday was no different. The 26 year old went 2 for 3 at the plate with a double and a solo homerun. The solo homerun gave Frisco a 1-0 lead in the 5th inning. He now has 26 extra base hits in 44 home games this season helping him to a .317/.371/.602/.973 batting line at Dr. Pepper Ballpark this year. Compare that to the 10 extra base hits he has in 43 road games and a .253/.325/.347/.672 batting line. Ruiz is also batting well in the month of July as he has 13 extra base hits in 22 games for the month. His .516 slugging% for the month is a season best for any month.

Bianucci's Blast the Difference: Designated Hitter Mike Bianucci blasted his 23rd homerun of the season to left field in the 7th inning and the solo homerun proved to be the difference in the 2-1 win. Bianucci's homerun got him to the 70 RBI mark as well joining Tommy Mendonca (72) with 70 or more RBI. They are the only teammates in the Texas League with 70 or more RBI.

Teammates with 70 or more RBI

166- Mobile Baybears (Southern League)- Paul Goldschmidt (93) and Ryan Wheeler (73)
163- Lake Elsinore Storm (California League) Nathan Freiman (89) and Jedd Gyorko (74)
159- Reno Aces (Pacific Coast League)- Cody Ransom (89) and Collin Cowhill (70)
159- Modesto Nuts (California League)- Kent Matthes (81) and Nolan Arenado (78)
155- High Desert Mavericks(California League)- Denny Almonte (80) and Dennis Raben (75)
146- Visalia Rawhide (California League)- Matthew Davidson (76) and Bobby Borchering (70)
142- Frisco RoughRiders (Texas League)- Tommy Mendonca (72) and Mike Bianucci (70)

Teammates with 20 or more HR

44- Round Rock Express (Pacific Coast League)- Chris Davis (24) and Chad Tracy (20)
43- Frisco RoughRiders (Texas League)- Mike Bianucci (23) and Tommy Mendonca (20)
43- Harrisburg Senators (Eastern League)- Tyler Moore (23) and Bill Rhinehart (20)
41- Tacoma Rainiers (Pacific Coast League)- Mike Carp (21) and Alex Liddi (20)

Teammates with 20 or more HR and 70 or more RBI

Frisco RoughRiders (Texas League)- Mike Bianucci (23/70) and Tommy Mendonca (20/72)

Justin Miller Goes Lower: On May 23rd, Justin Miller gave up a run in an inning against the San Antonio Missions. He blew a potential save, but picked up the win in the appearance. It was his 4th blown save of the season, and it was his last blown save. His ERA after the appearance stood at 4.01. Since then, Miller has made 17 appearances. He has given up a run in just 1 of those 17 appearances. Sunday was the 6th time out of the 17 that he has gone at least 2 innings and not given up a run. His ERA now stands at 2.10 with a 1.01 WHIP. He has had 5 save opportunities since and has picked up a save in all 5 appearances. Miller has also picked up 2 wins since. He has 7 wins and 7 saves for the season. For the season, he has inherited 16 baserunners and only 3 have scored and 2 of the 3 came in the May 23rd appearance against San Antonio. Since then he has gone 7 for 7 in keeping the inherited runners from scoring.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 765 homeruns in 786 games (0.973 HR/G)... Previous best in Texas League history: 0.952 HR/G

Term of the Day: Peak Value- The value of a player to his team at his highest clearly established level of performance; e.g., the argument that Mickey Mantle was a greater player than Willie Mays presumes that peak value is the proper interpretation of "greater player". The term was introduced by Bill James in his Baseball Abstract (1985).

Last Year on This Date: Frisco shutout the Corpus Christi Hooks 4-0 at home. Richard Bleier started for Frisco and gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, struck out 3 batters over the complete 9 innings. He picked up his 6th win of the season. Joey Butler led Frisco's offense with a 3 for 4 game including 2 runs scored. Johnny Whittleman went 2 for 4 with a homerun, 2 RBI, and a run scored for the Riders. Renny Osuna went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and a walk at the plate. Jose Felix and James Tomlin each went 2 for 4 as well. Marcus Lemon had the lone other hit for Frisco.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 3-2

Round Rock (AAA) scored 2 runs in the 6th and a run in the 8th to defeat the Omaha Storm Chasers 3-1 on the road. Eric Hurley started for Round Rock and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 7 innings with 4 strikeouts. Mark Hamburger pitched a scoreless 8th inning, while Darren O'Day picked up the save with a scoreless 9th inning. Joey Butler led Round Rock's offense with a 2 for 3 game including a walk. Kevin Cash went 2 for 4 with a RBI, while Nick Green went 2 for 5. Chad Tracy and Esteban German each went 1 for 4 with a run scored. Brad Nelson went 1 for 3 with a double, RBI, walk, and run scored for the Express. Matt Kata also went 1 for 3 with a double and a RBI.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 4 runs in the 3rd inning and lost 6-1 to the Frederick Keys. Miguel De Los Santos started for Myrtle Beach and gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs (1 earned) over 6 innings with 6 strikeouts. Ryan Kelly gave up 1 unearned run over 1 inning of relief while Trevor Hurley pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Santiago Chirino went 1 for 3 with a RBI for Myrtle Beach. Jared Bolden added a 1 for 4 game for the Pelicans.

Hickory (Low-A) gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning, but beat the Delmarva Shorebirds 7-6 with a run in the 9th inning via an error. Joseph Van Meter started for Hickory and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs (2 earned) over 5 innings with 4 strikeouts. Colby Killian pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief, while Francisco Mendoza gave up a run over 1 1/3 innings of relief. Jimmy Reyes picked up the win with 2/3 of an inning of shutout relief. Jurickson Profar led Hickory's offense with a 3 for 5 game including a RBI and 3 runs scored. Jake Skole went 2 for 2 with a double, RBI, 3 walks, and a run scored for the Crawdads. Odubel Herrera went 2 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored. Tomas Telis added a 1 for 4 game with a double, stolen base, and a run scored. Josh Richmond also went 1 for 3 with a walk. Andrew Clark added a 1 for 2 game with a RBI and 2 walks.

Spokane (Short Season A-Ball) gave up 9 runs in the 5th inning and lost 13-6 to the Boise Hawks. Victor Payano started for Spokane and gave up 7 hits, walk, and 7 runs over 4 innings with 1 strikeout. Leonel De Los Santos gave up 2 runs in 0 innings pitched, while Andres Perez-Lobo gave up 1 run over 1 1/3 innings pitched. Phil Klein gave up 3 runs over the final 2 innings. Hirotoshi Onaka led Spokane's offense with a 2 for 4 game including 2 triples, a RBI, a walk, and a run scored. Yefry Castillo added a 2 for 4 game including a triple and 2 RBI. Zach Cone went 1 for 3 with a stolen base for the Indians. Guillermo Pimentel went 1 for 3 with a walk, while Hanser Alberto went 1 for 3 with a RBI on a sacrifice fly. Rougned Odor also went 1 for 3, while Ruben Sierra Jr. went 1 for 1 with a double and a RBI.

Minor League Performance of the Day

On a day when hitting was rampant throughout the minor leagues, it was Kent Matthes's day that took home the performance of the day. The 24 year old slugger for the Modesto Nuts of the California League had a huge day in Modesto's 13-9 win over the High Desert Mavericks. Matthes went 4 for 5 with 3 homeruns, a double, 7 RBI, and scored 4 runs. His 3 homeruns were part of a Rider's like 7 homerun performance by the Modesto Nuts. On the season, Kent Matthes is now batting .330 with 36 doubles, 3 triples, 20 homeruns, 81 RBI, and 63 runs scored. He also has a .372 on base percentage, a .631 slugging percentage, and a 1.003 OPS. In the month of July, Matthes is batting .350 with 8 homeruns, 28 RBI, and a 1.055 OPS over 23 games, and that may be his worst month since April. Kent Matthes was a 4th round pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2009 draft.

As always...

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