Chatter from the Press Box: Game 90: Corpus Christi Hooks (Dallas Keuchel) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Richard Bleier)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (12-7 1 game back in the Texas League South; 52-37 overall)... Corpus Christi Hooks (8-11 5 games back in the Texas League South; 33-56 overall)
Streak: Won 6 in a row
Last 10: 8-2
Homestand: 1-0
Series Record: 14-9-2
2011 Record against Corpus Christi: 11-10
All-Time Record against Corpus Christi: 106-99
Record on July 15th since 2004: 3-3
Starting Pitchers: Richard Bleier (3-3 5.43 ERA) is 2-3 with a 4.01 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 8 career appearances, including 7 starts against the Corpus Christi Hooks... Dallas Keuchel (7-6 2.80 ERA) is 1-4 with a 4.36 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 6 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders.

What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Richard Bleier to the mound for the 17th time this season, including his 9th start, while Corpus Christi sends Dallas Keuchel to the mound for the 17th start this season in a battle of southpaws... Richard Bleier looks to continue his solid pitching of late as he takes the place of Martin Perez for now as Perez was promoted to AAA Round Rock yesterday. In his last start on July 9th, Bleier gave up 7 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) over 6 2/3 innings with 2 strikeouts and 0 walks. He threw 16 first pitch strikes to the 27 batters he faced (59%). Over his last 6 appearances, Bleier has given up 15 hits and 1 walk over 14 1/3 innings with 7 strikeouts. He is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA over that span. As a starting pitcher this season, Bleier is 2-3 with a 6.20 ERA in 8 starts. He has given up 67 hits over 45 innings in those 8 starts. On the season, Bleier has given up 87 hits and 8 walks with 34 strikeouts over 64 2/3 innings. The 24 year old is 1-1 with a 6.49 ERA at home this season... Dallas Keuchel also looks to continue his great pitching of late. In his last start, Keuchel gave up 10 hits, 1 walk, and 4 runs over 6 2/3 innings with 5 strikeouts. He is 5-4 with a 2.33 ERA over his last 10 appearances, including a span of 5 consecutive starts from June 10th to July 3rd where he gave up 1 or less earned runs while pitching 7 innings. Keuchel has gone at least 7 innings in 8 of his 16 starts this season, including a complete game shutout against Arkansas on May 29th. Overall, he has given up 94 hits and 25 walks with 58 strikeouts over 103 innings this season. On the road, Keuchel has gone 4-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 8 starts.

Frisco Wins Sixth In a Row: Frisco matched a season high sixth win a row with a 2-1 walkoff win in the 9th inning on Thursday night against Corpus Christi. Both Erick Abreu and Joe Wieland had nearly identical lines as the two starters went at it in a pitchers duel for their 6 innings before leaving it up to the bullpens. Frisco received their 31st win this season from the bullpen as Frisco's relievers are 31-12 this season. It also represented their 10th win when tied after 8 innings. They are 10-5 in such scenarios.

Joe Wieland's Great Start: Joe Wieland had little trouble with the Jose Altuve-less Corpus Christi Hooks after he gave up a first inning solo homerun to Jimmy Paredes. Wieland gave up 2 hits and a walk in the first inning and settled down to give up 3 hits and 0 walks over the final 5 frames. He finished with a line of: 6 IP 5 H 1 R 1 BB 6 K 88 pitches-57 strikes. He threw 13 first pitch strikes to the 25 batters he faced (52%) and got 6 groundouts to 4 flyouts. His 63 game score was his best for Frisco in 4 AA starts.

Osuna Collects 2 Hits, Walks Off: Renny Osuna continues to try to climb the ladder in the hits list as the infielder went 2 for 4 with a walk, stole a base, and the game winning RBI in the 9th inning. He is now at 288 hits for his career for Frisco, putting him 31 shy of Steve Murphy's 319. He is batting .326 with an .829 OPS this season when batting 1st in the lineup. Last season he batted just .206 with a .501 OPS when hitting 1st in the order. Since June 1st, Osuna has seen 710 pitches and swung and missed at just 39 of them.

Stoneburner Goes Deep: Davis Stoneburner tied the game at 1-1 with a solo homerun in the 4th inning. It was his first homerun since May 23rd, although he has been a steady bat in the lineup during that time still. On the season he is batting .273 with a .333 OBP, .441 SLG, and .774 OPS.

Brigham Big in Relief: Jake Brigham struggled early on in his transition as a reliever giving up runs in 3 of his first 4 appearances. Since then, however, the right hander has been nails for Frisco pitching 6 scoreless innings over his last 3 appeaances. On Thursday he played a big role in keeping the game tied at 1-1 after Wieland had pitched terrific. Brigham's only baserunner came on a hit by pitch to J.D. Martinez. But he struck out 2 and got the ball to Justin Miller who ended up with the victory. He made 25 pitches and 18 of those went for strikes.

Perez Gets the Promotion: After nearly 2 seasons in Frisco, 20 year old southpaw Martin Perez earned a promotion to AAA Round Rock. In mid season updated lists, he was recently rated as the 6th best prospect by Baseball America, the 10th best prospect by Keith Law, and the 9th best prospect by Scout.com's Frankie Piliere.

Here's what Perez did in his time in Frisco:
46 Appearances
44 Games
10 Wins
3,674 Pitches
2,277 Strikes
61.9% Strike%
198 Strikeouts (2nd All-Time)
924 Batters Faced

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 671 in 706 games (0.950 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Fat One- A homerun pitch; a pitch that is delivered down the middle of the strike zone and easy to hit.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning and lost 5-4 to the Corpus Christi Hooks at home. Richard Bleier started for Frisco and gave up 8 hits and 3 runs over 7 innings with 3 strikeouts and 0 walks. Evan Reed pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Adalberto Flores took the loss after giving up 2 runs in the 9th inning. Engel Beltre led Frisco with 2 hits in 4 at bats including a RBI and a run scored. Renny Osuna also went 2 for 4 with a run scored and stolen base. Marcus Lemon went 1 for 4 with a walk at the plate for the Riders. Joey Butler, Taylor Teagarden, and Johnny Whittelman each had a hit as well.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 4-1

Round Rock (AAA) scored 5 runs in the 6th inning and defeated the Memphis Redbirds 6-2 on the road. Eric Hurley started for Round Rock and improved to 3-0 on the season. He gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 5 batters over 6 shutout innings. Mark Hamburger gave up 2 runs in 1 2/3 innings, while Beau Jones and Pedro Strop combined for 1 1/3 innings of shutout relief. Chris Davis went 2 for 5 at the plate with 2 runs scored. Brad Nelson led Round Rock with a 3 for 5 day including a double and 3 RBI. Leonys Martin added a 2 for 5 day for the Express. Chad Tracy finished 1 for 3 with 2 walks as well. Esteban German, Matt Kata, and Guilder Rodriguez each added a hit of their own.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) won a close game 6-5 over the Salem Red Sox at home. Wilfredo Boscan started for Myrtle Beach and earned his 3rd win of the season for them. Boscan gave up 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs (1 earned) over 6 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts. Trevor Hurley gave up 3 runs in 1 inning of relief, but Joe Ortiz and Johan Yan each had 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Jared Prince went 3 for 4 at the plate with a homerun, walk, and 2 runs scored. David Paisano added 3 hits in 4 at bats as well including a double and a RBI. Jared Bolden added a 2 for 4 day including a double, walk, and 2 runs scored. Santiago Chirino also had 2 hits in 4 at bats for the Pelicans including a double, RBI, walk, and 2 runs scored. Jared Hoying and Andres James each added a hit as well.

Hickory (Low-A) scored 6 runs in the first 4 innings and defeated the West Virginia Power 6-2 on the road. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave up 1 hit, 1 walk, and 2 unearned runs over 5 innings with 4 strikeouts. Jimmy Reyes and Jorge Marban combined for 4 shutout innings of relief. Top prospect Jurickson Profar had a rare 0 for 4 game for Hickory. 2010 1st round pick Jake Skole, however, went 2 for 4 with a double, homerun, 2 RBI, and scored 2 runs for the Crawdads. Christian Villanueva also went 1 for 4 with a homerun, as part of back to back homeruns by Villanueva and Skole. Odubel Herrera added a 1 for 3 day with a RBI and run scored. Teodoro Martinez and Tomas Telis each had a hit in the game as well, as did Andrew Clark and Josh Richmond.

Spokane (Short Season A-Ball) gave up 8 runs in the 1st inning and fell 16-9 to the Everett AquaSox on the road. Victor Payano started for Spokane and gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, and 8 runs (4 earned) over 2/3 of an inning without a strikeout. Carlos Melo gave up 2 runs over 2 2/3 innings of relief. Juan Grullon gave up 2 runs over 2/3 of an inning. Andres Perez-Lobo also gave up 3 runs over 2 innings, while Phil Klein gave up 1 unearned run over 2 innings of relief. Trever Adams went 2 for 5 with a triple, 3 RBI, and run scored at the plate for Spokane. Hirotoshi Onaka added a 2 for 4 day with a walk and 2 runs scored. He is batting .250 with a .473 OBP this season. Zach Cone went 1 for 3 with a RBI for the Indians. Guillermo Pimentel added a 1 for 4 day including a double and 2 RBI. Nick Vickerson, Drew Robinson, Edwin Garcia, and Brett Nicholas each added a hit of their own as well.

Minor League Performance of the Day

Few performance this season have been as great as David Flore's night on Thursday, let alone the ones that took place on Thursday. During the Lancaster JetHawk's 13-7 victory over the High Desert Mavericks, David Flores went 4 for 5 with 3 homeruns, 7 RBI, and 4 runs scored. He increased his OPS by 110 points in the single game. On the season for Lancaster, Flores is batting .325/.398/.553/.951 with 8 doubles, 6 homeruns, and 24 RBI in 114 at bats. He began the 2011 season playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks and batted .212 with a .617 OPS through 38 games for the Hooks earlier this season. Flores, 24 years old, was selected by the Houston Astros in the 18th round of the 2008 draft.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Bigfoot, TX!