Chatter from the Press Box: Game 88: Frisco RoughRiders (Carlos Pimentel) @ Arkansas Travelers (Eddie McKiernan)

Time: 7:10 PM CT
Location: Dickey-Stephens Ballpark (Little Rock, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (10-7 2 games back in the Texas League South; 50-37 overall)... Arkansas Travelers (11-6 1st place in the Texas League North; 47-37 overall)
Streak: Won 4 in a Row
Last 10: 7-3
Road Trip: 4-1
Series Record: 13-9-2
2011 Record against Arkansas: 6-5
All-Time Record against Arkansas: 87-45
Record on July 12th since 2004: 3-3
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (3-6 4.91 ERA) is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA and 3.00 WHIP in 2 career starts against the Arkansas Travelers... Eddie McKiernan (4-7 6.16 ERA) is 0-1 with a 24.00 ERA and 3.00 WHIP in 1 career start

What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Carlos Pimentel to the mound for the 18th time, including his 16th start, while Arkansas sends Eddie McKiernan to the mound for the 17th time, including 10th start as Frisco once again goes for the sweep against Arkansas... Carlos Pimentel looks to rebound after three tough starts in a row. In his last start against the Springfield Cardinals, Pimentel gave up 5 hits, 5 walks, and 3 runs over 4 1/3 innings pitched with 3 strikeouts. Over his last three starts since returning to the rotation, Pimentel has given up 21 hits, 9 walks, and 12 runs (all earned) over 14 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. He is 0-3 over the three starts. On the season, Pimentel has given up 87 hits and 42 walks with 60 strikeouts over 84 1/3 innings. In his last start against Arkansas, Pimentel gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (5 earned) over 2 innings in Frisco's 8-5 loss to Arkansas. On the road this season, Pimentel is 2-3 with a 4.09 ERA over 9 appearances, including 7 starts... Like Pimentel, Eddie McKiernan looks to rebound from a tough start as the 22 year old right hander has struggled for consistency this season. In his last start, McKiernan gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs (3 earned) over 4 innings without a strikeout. Over his last five starts, McKiernan has given up 32 hits, 5 walks, and struck out 10 batters in 23 innings pitched. He is 2-2 with a 6.65 ERA in the 5 starts. On the season, McKiernan has given up 91 hits, 17 walks, and struck out 41 batters over 73 innings. He has also given up 16 homeruns. At home, McKiernan is 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA over 9 appearances, 4 starts. On the road, he is 1-6 with a 11.20 ERA over 7 appearances, 5 starts. In his only start against Frisco this season, McKiernan gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 10 runs (8 earned) over 3 innings in Arkansas's 11-4 loss to Frisco. He has hit 11 batters this season in 73 innings.

Frisco Wins Fourth in a Row, Guaranteed Series Victory: Frisco defeated the Arkansas Travelers 4-3 on Monday and in doing so they guaranteed their 4th series win in a row, including their 7th series win in a row against the Texas League North. They are also guaranteed to finish at least .500 against the Arkansas Travelers in the regular season as today is the last game that Frisco will play against Arkansas in the regular season in 2011. Frisco is 14-3 against the Texas League North since June 1st and 22-13 overall. With just 6 games remaining against the Texas League North, Frisco is also guaranteed to have a winning record against the North Division this season.

Texas League South vs. North
San Antonio: 24-12
Frisco: 22-13
Midland: 17-18
Corpus Christi: 11-24

Texas League North vs. South
Arkansas: 17-18
Northwest Arkansas: 18-17
Tulsa: 15-21
Springfield: 17-18

Ben Snyder Takes Team Lead in Wins: Ben Snyder pitched effectively against the Arkansas Travelers as he was able to last 6 innings, gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run while striking out 5 batters as well. His 7th win separated him from Justin Miller for the team lead. Snyder improved his record to 5-0 on the road as he lowered his ERA to 1.93 for the season on the road. Overall, Snyder is now 7-2 with a 3.81 ERA. As a Frisco RoughRider, he now has 10 wins over 68 appearances, 9 starts.

Osuna Has 3 Hits Again: Renny Osuna continued his obliteration of Arkansas pitching, as the infielder went 3 for 4 with a double, RBI, and run scored. Osuna added 2 steals to boot as well to give him 10 on the season now. Over his last 4 games against the Travelers, Osuna is 12 for 19 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. With 6 multi hit games over his last 10 games overall, Osuna is now up to 286 career hits for the RoughRiders bringing him to 34 hits away from becoming Frisco's all time hits leader. The Texas League mid season All-star is batting .400 (20 for 50) since the All-star break.

Justin Miller Gets 7th Save: Justin Miller pitched a scoreless 9th inning on Monday to earn his 7th save giving him 6 wins and 7 saves this season. He is one of 19 pitchers in minor league baseball with at least 5 wins and 5 saves. He is also one of 5 pitchers with at least 6 wins and 6 saves.

Ranking Top 10 Minor League Attendance
Through July 11th
1. 9,018...Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA, International League, Philadelphia Phillies)
2. 8,784... Louisville Bats (AAA, International League, Cincinnati Reds)
3. 8,502... Round Rock Express (AAA, Pacific Coast League, Texas Rangers)
4. 8,349... Dayton Dragons (A, Midwest League, Cincinnati Reds)
5. 8,048... Columbus Clippers (AAA, International League, Cleveland Indians)
6. 7,847... Frisco RoughRiders (AA, Texas League, Texas Rangers)
7. 7,809... Sacramento Rivers Cats (AAA, Pacific Coast League, Oakland Athletics)
8. 7,725... Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA, Pacific Coast League, Los Angeles Dodgers)
9. 7,688... Indianapolis Indians (AAA, International League, Pittsburgh Pirates)
10. 7,289... Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA, International League, Boston Red Sox)

Familiar Names Playing In Atlantic League AS Game: One of the former Frisco RoughRiders that the blog follows on twitter is pitcher Michael Schlact. One of the retweets from Schlact that I came across last night was from @BlueCrabs, which is from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League (Independent Ball), which named off some of their All-star representatives. Two of the names listed were outfielder Ben Harrison and pitcher Michael Schlact.

Ben Harrison played for Frisco over parts of four seasons (2006-2009). His best season for Frisco was 2008 when Harrison hit .300 with 17 homeruns, 66 RBI, stole 18 bases in 20 attempts, and posted a .903 OPS in 392 PA for the Riders. Over his career, Harrison totaled 158 hits, 26 homeruns, and 95 RBI for the Riders. He batted a collective .279 with an .836 OPS.

Michael Schlact pitched for Frisco over parts of four seasons (2007-2010) as well. His best season for Frisco was 2008 when he went 7-11 with a 5.23 ERA for the Riders. Schlact appeared in 48 games, making 44 starts, over the 4 seasons for Frisco. Schlact, unfortunately had surgery that could have been career ending. You can read more about it in an interview here. You can also follow him on twitter @michael_schlact

You can follow the league at their official website here.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 655 in 690 games (0.949 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Slugfest- A game characterized by one or both teams making many extra base hits.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco's game with the Arkansas Travelers on the road was postponed due to rain.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 1-2

Round Rock (AAA) had the day off due to the All-Star Break. Their next game will be on Thursday on the road against the Memphis Redbirds.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) scored 2 runs in the 9th inning, but couldn't quite come back and fell 3-2 to the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Robbie Ross started for Myrtle Beach and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 innings with 1 strikeout. Kasey Kiker and Trevor Hurley combined for 2 shutout innings of relief. Jared Bolden provided the offense for Myrtle Beach as he went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homerun in the 9th inning. Jared Prince went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk at the plate. Ryan Strausborger went 1 for 4 for the Pelicans. Santiago Chirino added a hit, while Vincent DiFazio added 2 walks in 4 plate appearances.

Hickory (Low-A) had the day off.

Spokane (Short Season A-Ball) gave up 5 runs in the 4th inning and lost 9-6 to the Vancouver Canadians in a brawl filled game, which you can check out here. John Kukuruda started for Spokane and gave up 4 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs over 3 innings with 1 strikeout. Samuel Robinson gave up 3 runs in 2 innings of relief. Leonel De Los Santos gave up 2 runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief, while Jose Monegro pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Trever Adams went 3 for 5 with a double and 4 RBI for Spokane. Brett Nicholas added a 3 for 5 day with a double and 1 RBI at the plate as well. Rougned Odor went 2 for 2 with a double and a run scored, but was a big part of the brawl. Edwin Garcia went 1 for 3 when he came in for Odor. Hirotoshi Onaka went 1 for 5 with 2 runs scored for the Indians, while Jorge Alfaro and Ruben Sierra Jr. each added a hit in the game.

Minor League Performance of the Day

Philadelphia Phillies prospect Brody Colvin has had a tough time keeping up with Trevor May this season, but on Monday Colvin turned in a performance that would make Trevor May smile. In the Clearwater Thresher's 4-2 victory over the Jupiter Hammerheads, Colvin gave up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 8 strong innings with 9 strikeouts. It was his third start over his last 4 starts that Colvin has given up 1 or less runs in 6 or more innings pitched. The right hander has given up 70 hits and 23 walks over 70 2/3 innings this season with 52 strikeouts. Drafted in the 7th round of the 2009 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, the 20 year old pitcher is 8-11 with a 3.50 ERA over 41 appearances, 39 starts. Brody Colvin was rated by Baseball America as the 3rd best prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies organization entering 2011. He was also rated as the 56th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America entering the 2011 season.

As always...

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