Chatter from the Press Box: Game 106: Frisco RoughRiders (Tyler Tufts) @ San Antonio Missions (Simon Castro)

Time: 6:05 PM CT
Location: Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium (San Antonio, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (19-16 2 games back in the Texas League South; 59-46 overall)... San Antonio Missions (21-14 1st place in the Texas League South; 70-35 overall)
Magic Number: 21
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Road Trip: 1-1
Series Record: 15-11-3
2011 Record against San Antonio: 8-14
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 118-121
Record on July 31st since 2004: 4-3:
Starting Pitchers: Tyler Tufts (3-1 2.08 ERA) vs. Simon Castro (3-4 5.65 ERA)

Frisco Falls to San Antonio: Frisco quickly went down 9-0 after 3 innings and lost 11-5 to the Missions to fall to 2 games behind them for the 2nd half and 11 back overall. Frisco is now 4-10 against the Missions in San Antonio this season.

Richard Bleier Struggles: Bleier gave up 9 hits and 9 runs (5 earned) over 2 2/3 innings on Saturday while he struck out 1 batter and walked 1 batter. Bleier is now 2-3 with a 6.98 ERA over 6 starts in the month of July. He has given up 47 hits in 29 2/3 innings during the time span. On the season, Bleier has given up 120 hits in 82 innings in 2011.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 13 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 4 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 H
2: 29 Pitches- 20 Strikes- 6 Called- 0 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 9 Balls- 8 BPIP- 5 H
3: 24 Pitches- 15 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 9 Balls- 6 BPIP- 3 H- 1 BB- 1 Swinging K- 2 ROE

Total: 66 Pitches- 44 Strikes- 10 Called- 2 Swinging- 14 Fouls- 22 Balls- 18 BPIP- 9 H- 1 BB- 1 Swinging K- 2 ROE

Bottom Of the Order Production: Frisco's bottom of the order produced well in the 11-5 loss as the last four hitters in the lineup combined to go 7 for 15 with a double, triple, 3 RBI, 2 walks, and 5 runs scored. Jonathan Greene went 2 for 4 with a double, walk, and 2 runs scored. Engel Beltre went 1 for 4 adding his 5th triple of the season as well as a RBI and a run scored. Jose Felix went 2 for 3 with a RBI, walk, and 2 runs scored. Mitch Hilligoss continued his hot hitting with a 2 for 4 game with a RBI.

Stoneburner Drives in Two: Davis Stoneburner continued his solid hitting with a 2 for 5 game including 2 RBI. It was his 4th multi hit game in his last 10 games. It was his 6th multi RBI game of the season for Stoneburner. Davis is now batting .281 with a .786 OPS on the season.

Yan's Relief Appearance: Brought up to me by Stephen Harmon, Johan Yan made his 6th appearance of the season for Frisco and for the 5th time he struck out a batter AND walked a batter in the same game. For the season overall, he has walked a batter and struck out a batter in 15 of his 32 appearances this season between Myrtle Beach (High-A) and Frisco (AA).

Brigham Continues to Roll: Jake Brigham pitched another 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on Saturday, although he let 2 of the 3 runners he inherited to score. Brigham has thrown 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He has struck out 20 batters over those innings which span 7 appearances, while walking only 3 and 8 hits during that time.

Erlin and Wieland Traded: As most probably know by now, the Texas Rangers traded Frisco pitchers Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland to the San Diego Padres for MLB reliever Mike Adams. The trade is interesting on multiple levels and has created uncertainty in Frisco today. First of all, Joe Wieland just pitched a No-Hitter against the San Antonio Missions on Friday. The San Antonio Missions of course are the San Diego Padre's AA team. I wonder how many times in history a player has pitched a no-hitter against a team and then made his next start for that team. Wieland has a chance to do just that. Then there is Robbie Erlin, who was supposed to start for Frisco today against San Antonio. It sure does make the travel for both pitchers easy though, they just have to walk across the field and switch clubhouses.

Tracking the Texas League Homeruns: 812 in 834 games (0.974 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Spray Hitter- A hitter with little power who is able to place the ball unpredictably to any part of the field as opposed to one who tends to hit to one part of the field.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 11-4 to the San Antonio Missions at home. Ben Snyder made the start for Frisco and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs over 5 innings with 4 strikeouts. Chris Mobley gave up 6 runs over 1 inning of relief. Zach Phillips and Mark Hamburger combined to give up 0 runs over 3 innings of relief. James Tomlin led Frisco with a 3 for 4 game including 2 RBI and a walk. Marcus Lemon went 2 for 5 with a RBI as well. Jonathan Greene and Renny Osuna each added a 2 for 4 game for the Riders. Jose Felix went 1 for 3 with a walk as well, while Emerson Frostad added a 1 for 5 game too.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 1-4

Round Rock (AAA) gave up 3 runs in the 5th and 6th innings and lost 3-2 to the Nashville Sounds on the road. Ryan Tucker started for Round Rock and gave up 7 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs over 5 2/3 innings with 4 strikeouts. Pedro Strop and Beau Jones combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Joey Butler led Round Rock with a 3 for 4 game including a double and a run scored. Matt Kata added in a 1 for 3 game with a double, hit by pitch, and a RBI. Leonys Martin went 1 for 4 with a RBI as well. Esteban German and Val Majewski each went 1 for 4.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 3 runs in the 2nd inning and lost 6-1 at home to the Winston-Salem Dash. Miguel De Los Santos started for Myrtle Beach and gave up 1 hit, 4 walks, and 3 runs over 1 2/3 innings with 4 strikeouts. Kasey Kiker gave up 2 runs over 2 2/3 innings, while Trevor Hurley gave up a run over 2 2/3 innings as well. Zach Osborne pitched a scoreless inning of relief as well. Jared Prince led Myrtle Beach with a 2 for 4 game including a double and a run scored. Zach Zaneski got on base 3 times for the Pelicans as he went 1 for 2 with a RBI and 2 walks. David Paisano went 1 for 3 as well with a double. Leury Garcia went 1 for 4 and Santiago Chirino went 1 for 3 as well.

Hickory (Low-A) gave up a run in the 7th inning and lost 6-5 to the Augusta Greenjackets. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs over 4 innings with 2 strikeouts. Ben Rowen took the loss after giving up 1 run over 2 2/3 innings while Francisco Mendoza pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings of relief. Jurickson Profar went 2 for 5 in the game for Hickory. Christian Villanueva led the offense with a 2 for 4 game including 2 RBI. Josh Richmond went 2 for 4 with a RBI and Odubel Herrera went 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Jake Skole added a 1 for 5 game while Tomas Telis went 1 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI, and a sac fly for the Crawdads. Braxton Lane added a 1 for 4 game in the 9th spot.

Spokane (Short Season A-Ball) scored 3 runs in the 2nd inning and defeated the Eugene Emeralds 4-3 at home. Santo Perez got the start for Spokane and gave up 3 hits, 4 walks, and 1 run over 4 innings with 4 strikeouts. Chris Hanna got the win after giving up 1 run over 2 innings of relief. Kyle Hendricks gave up 1 run over 2 innings while Matt West picked up the save with a scoreless 9th inning. Trever Adams went 2 for 4 with a double and a RBI at the plate. Ruben Sierra went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI in the 9 spot. Yefry Castillo went 1 for 4 with a solo homerun. Edwin Garcia went 1 for 4 with a run scored.

Minor League Performance of the Day

Michael Saunders has struggled in his time in the majors in his career, but he's found AAA pitching pretty easy to hit. On Saturday, Saunders had an outstanding game earning him the performance of the day. In the Tacoma Rainier's 12-1 win over the Las Vegas 51s, Saunders went 5 for 5 with 2 homeruns, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. On the season, Saunders is batting .297/.443/.486/.929 for Tacoma with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homeruns, and 25 RBI in 38 games. He has 35 walks to 45 strikeouts. Michael Saunders ranked as high as the #2 prospect in the Seattle Mariner's organization by Baseball America. He was selected in the 11th round of the 2004 draft by the Seattle Mariners.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Boone, NC!