Chatter from the Press Box: Game 92: Corpus Christi Hooks (Jonnathan Aristil) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Ben Snyder)

Time: 6:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (12-9 2 games back in the Texas League South; 52-39 overall)... Corpus Christi Hooks (10-11 4 games back in the Texas League South; 35-56 overall)
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Homestand: 1-2
Series Record: 14-9-2
2011 Record against Corpus Christi: 11-12
All-Time Record against Corpus Christi: 106-101
Record on July 17th since 2004: 2-4

Starting Pitchers: Ben Snyder (7-2 3.81 ERA) is 1-2 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 11 career appearances against the Corpus Christi Hooks ... Jonnathan Aristil (4-6 5.60 ERA) is 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in 3 career appearances, including 2 starts against the Frisco RoughRiders

What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Ben Snyder to the mound for the 31st time, including his 5th start of the season, while Corpus Christi sends Jonnathan Aristil to the mound for the 19th time, including his 18th start... Ben Snyder takes the mound in the first inning for the first time in his career against the Corpus Christi Hooks as he looks to help Frisco salvage a split with Corpus Christi. In his last start against the Arkansas Travelers, Snyder gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts. In four starts this season, Snyder is 2-1 with a 4.79 ERA. He has given up 26 hits and 4 walks over 20 2/3 innings with 17 strikeouts in those 4 starts. Overall on the season, Snyder has given up 59 hits and 17 walks with 42 strikeouts over 59 innings. At home this season, Ben is 2-2 with a 5.52 ERA in 15 appearances, including 3 starts... Jonnathan Aristil looks to continue his recent string of successful pitching lately as he can help Corpus Chrsiti to their second consecutive series win and second straight series win over Frisco. In his last start against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Aristil gave up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 5 innings with 6 strikeouts. Over his last 3 starts, Aristil has given up 15 hits, 4 walks, and 4 earned runs over 15 1/3 innings with 14 strikeouts. On the season, he has given up 91 hits, 47 walks, and struck out 85 batters over 88 1/3 innings. On the road, Jonnathan is 1-4 with a 6.00 ERA over 8 appearances, including 7 starts.

Frisco Fall to Hooks: Frisco got down early as they were down 3-0 after 2 and 4-0 after 4, and couldn't muster a comeback as the Riders fell 4-2 to the Hooks. Frisco is now in jeopardy of their 3rd series loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks.

Erlin Struggles: Robbie Erlin struggled early in the game giving up 3 base hits in the first inning and 5 in the first 2 innings. Erlin's only 3 up, 3 down inning came in the 5th inning and he finished with a line of 6 IP 10 H 4 R 4 ER 0 BB 5 K. He made 87 pitches, 62 for strikes, and induced 5 groundouts to 3 flyouts. It was his 2nd start in AA where Erlin has given up 10 hits, which are a career high. However, Erlin has not walked a batter in his last 20 innings pitched, which spans 80 batters faced.

Engel Beltre's Good Game: Engel Beltre came into Saturday's game 3 for his last 26 with 3 singles. On Saturday, Beltre went 2 for 3 with a double, triple, walk, and stole a base. It was his first multi extra base hit game since June 18th, 2010 while playing for the Bakersfield Blaze in the California League. Beltre's triple was his 4th of the season tying him with Davis Stoneburner for the team lead. Beltre is currently hitting .281 in the month of July with a .656 OPS, both would be season highs for a month. More promising is the fact that this came against a left handed pitcher, as Beltre is batting just .186 with a .426 OPS against left handed pitchers.

Johan Yan's Debut: The Texas Rangers promoted 22 year old reliever Johan Yan from Myrtle Beach to Frisco when they promoted Martin Perez to Round Rock. Johan Yan made his AA debut on Saturday by holding the Hooks scoreless for 2 innings of relief. Yan struck out one batter and walked one batter. He uses an interesting arm angle when delivering the pitch and hit the low 90s on the stadium gun. In 26 appearances for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans he was 5-3 with a 1.52 ERA and 10 saves in 10 save opportunities. He struck out 48 batters, walked 13 batters, and allowed 33 hits in 41 1/3 innings pitched.

Osuna Extends On Base Streak: Renny Osuna collected hit #291 in the 4-2 loss and in doing so extended his on base streak to 12 games. He finished 1 for 4 with a walk. Osuna is now batting .409 over his last 10 games and .393 in the month of July.

Steele Continues Success: T.J. Steele seems to love Frisco pitching or at least he hits Frisco pitching far better than anyone else. Steele has hit 5 homeruns and 10 total extra base hits in 23 games against the Frisco RoughRiders this season. His .744 OPS against the Riders is by far the best he has against any team this season. In fact, Frisco is the only team in the league that he has an OPS above .600 against this season. On Saturday he went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles to help that production as well. For his career, Steele has taken 33 walks and struck out 246 times in 967 plate appearances. His 8 walks this season are 3 short of setting a career high.

Perez Good In Debut: Martin Perez made his Round Rock debut yesterday and pitched 5 effective innings giving up 6 hits and 1 run with 4 strikeouts and 0 walks. He made 76 pitches, 48 of which went for strikes and induced 5 groundouts to 6 flyouts against the Memphis Redbirds. The 20 year old southpaw also picked up the win in the start to move to 5-2 on the season so far between Frisco and Round Rock.

Tracking the Texas League Homeruns: 688 homeruns in 722 games (0.953 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Ice Wagon- A player who runs slowly, resembling the labored movement of an ice wagon.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco gave up 3 runs in the top of the 8th inning and lost 4-2 to the Corpus Christi Hooks at home. Martin Perez started for Frisco and gave up 5 hits, 1 walks, and 1 run over 4 innings with 5 strikeouts. Tim Murphy pitched a shutout inning of relief, while Kasey Kiker gave up 1 run over 2 1/3 innings of relief. Adalberto Flores took the loss after giving up 2 runs over 2/3 of an inning and Beau Jones finished up the game with a scoreless inning. Joey Butler led the team with a 2 for 3 day including a double, walk, and run scored. Andy Jenkins went 1 for 3 with a homerun, 2 RBI, walk, and run scored. James Tomlin added 2 hits in 4 at bats, while Marcus Lemon led off with a 1 for 3 day including 2 walks for the Riders. Johnny Whittleman and Elio Sarmiento each added a hit as well.

Around the Ranger's System

Yesterday's Record: 4-1

Round Rock (AAA) scattered 3 runs between the 3rd and 6th innings and defeated the Memphis Redbirds 3-2 on the road. As noted Perez started the game and gave up 6 hits, 1 run, and 0 walks with 4 strikeouts over 5 innings in his AAA debut. Mark Hamburger gave up 1 run in 2 innings of relief, while Darren O'Day and Pedro Strop each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Leonys Martin led Round Rock's offense with a 3 for 4 day including a double and a walk. He is batting .400 so far for Round Rock. Joey Butler went 1 for 3 with a homerun, RBI, walk, and 2 runs scored. Taylor Teagarden added 1 hit in 4 at bats including a double. Esteban German, Robbie Diaz, and Matt Kata each added a hit of their own.

Myrtle Beach (High-A) tied the game in the 9th inning and defeated the Salem Red Sox 8-6 in 13 innings on a walkoff homerun by Jared Bolden. Barret Loux got the start for Myrtle Beach and gave up 9 hits, 2 walks, and 6 runs (3 earned) over 6 innings with 4 strikeouts. Kennil Gomez pitched 4 innings of shutout relief, while Chad Bell pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Ryan Rodebaugh earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of relief. Ryan Strausborger went 4 for 7 with 3 doubles, and a RBI in the win. Jared Bolden went 4 for 7 with the game winning homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs for the Pelicans. Jared Prince added a 2 for 4 day with 3 RBI. He also had a sacrifice fly and a hit by pitch. Leury Garcia led off with a 3 for 7 game, stole a base, and scored 3 runs. Andres James also added 2 hits in 6 at bats. Vincent DiFazio and David Paisano each added a hit of their own.

Hickory (Low-A) scored 2 runs in each of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th and defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds 8-1 on the road. Joseph Van Meter started for Hickory and gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 4 innings with 2 strikeouts. Ben Henry followed with 4 innings of shutout relief, while Jorge Marban pitched the 9th inning. Andrew Clark led the offensive attack with a 2 for 4 game including a double, a walk, and 3 RBI. Teodoro Martinez went 2 for 5 with a run and a stolen base. Christian Villanueva went 1 for 4 with a double, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base for the Crawdads. Yefry Castillo and Tomas Telis each had 2 hits as well for Hickory. Jhonny Gomez finished 1 for 4 with 3 RBI, while Jake Skole finished 1 for 4. Josh Richmond and Odubel Herrera each added a hit as well.

Spokane (Shorts Season A-Ball) scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th inning to win 7-5 over the Everett AquaSox on the road. Will Lamb started for Spokane and gave up 4 walks and struck out 4 over 4 shutout hitless innings. Richard Alvarez gave up 3 runs (1 earned) over 1 2/3 innings of relief. Jose Monegro gave up 2 runs over 2 1/3 innings of relief as well, while Kyle Hendricks pitched a shutout inning of relief for his 2nd save. Zach Cone led Spokane with a 4 for 5 day including a homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Guillermo Pimentel went 2 for 4 with a walk at the plate as well for the Indians. Nick Vickerson hit in front of Zach Cone and went 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored. Jorge Alfaro hit a pinch hit 2-run homerun in the 9th inning to put Spokane on top. Edwin Garcia went 1 for 4 with a RBI, walk, and 2 runs, while Braxton Lane went 1 for 2 with 2 walks.

Minor League Performance of the Day

Jobduan Morales continued his hot July by going 4 for 4 and hitting for the cycle for the Jamestown Jaguars of the New York Penn League in Jamestown's 13-6 win over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Jobduan Morales tripled to right field in the first inning, doubled to left field in the 3rd, walked in the 5th, homered to right field in the 6th, and singled to right field in the 8th inning. He finished 4 for 4 with a double, triple, homerun, 4 RBI, and scored 3 runs. The 20 year old catcher is currently hitting .325 with a 1.000 OPS through 77 at bats for the Jaguars. He was drafted in the 9th round by the Florida Marlins in the 2009 draft. Over 3 seasons in the minors, Morales is a career .285 hitter with a .768 OPS.

As always...

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