Welcome to "Chatter from the Pressbox", the website dedicated to the Pressbox of the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

Today's Matchups Around the Ranger's System

Today's (5/20) Match-Ups Around the Ranger's System

Round Rock: Martin Perez (3-3 5.27) vs. Fresno Grizzlies: Andrew Kown (3-1 2.61) @ 1:00 PM CT

Myrtle Beach: Kyle Hendricks (1-4 2.91) @ Wilmington Blue Rocks: Sugar Ray Marimon (3-0 2.65) @ 12:30 PM CT

Hickory : Santo Perez (2-2 6.19) @ Asheville Tourists: Daniel Winkler (4-2 6.06) @ 1:05 PM CT



Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Game 135: Frisco RoughRiders (Robbie Ross) @ Corpus Christi Hooks (Ross Seaton)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Whataburger Field (Corpus Christi, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (34-30 7 games back in Texas League South; 74-60 overall)... Corpus Christi Hooks (25-39 16 games back in the Texas League South; 50-84 overall)
Magic Number: 0
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Road Trip: 2-2
Series Record: 20-14-4
2011 Record against Corpus Christi: 15-14
All-Time Record against Corpus Christi: 110-103
Record on August 31st since 2004: 1-5
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Ross (1-1 2.78 ERA) vs. Ross Seaton (4-8 5.32 ERA)

Frisco Clinches Despite Loss: Frisco was down 1-0 after the first inning and Tuesday's game was all down hill from there on out. After tying the game 1-1 in the 3rd inning, Corpus Christi poured in 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, 1 more in the 4th, and 1 in the 6th to cruise to a 7-1 victory over Frisco. Still, the Riders are offiicially in the playoffs thanks to San Antonio's 90th win of the season on Tuesday, an 8-2 victory over the Midland Rockhounds at home. San Antonio, who clinched both the first and second half titles, will host Frisco for games 1 and 2 in the first round of the playoffs. Frisco will hold their first home playoff game on Friday September 9th, game 3 of the playoffs. Game 4, if necessary, will be on Saturday at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. This will be Frisco's 6th playoff trip in their 9 year team history. They won the 2004 Texas League Championship and lost in the Championship in both 2003 and 2008. This will be the 4th time that Frisco will play San Antonio in the playoffs. They are 1-2 vs. San Antonio in the previous three postseason meetings.

Flores Rocked In First Start: Adalberto Flores, normally a reliever, got a cameo start for Frisco on Tuesday and gave up 4 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs over 2 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts. In his second full season with Frisco, Flores has been much improved coming out of the bullpen. Over 78 appearances for Frisco, Flores has given up 128 hits and 57 walks over 136 2/3 innings with 140 strikeouts. This season Flores is 5-4 with a 3.30 ERA in 40 appearances (1 start). He has given up 67 hits and 37 walks over 76 1/3 innings with 79 strikeouts.

Inning By Inning Count

1: 12 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 4 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 2 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 1 Hit
2: 13 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 3 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 1 ROE
3: 25 Pitches- 13 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 12 Balls- 5 BPIP- 2 BB- 3 Hits

Stoneburner Leads Offense: Stoneburner was one of two Frisco RoughRider's hitters to reach base more than once in the game as Stoneburner extended his hitting streak to 7 games. Stoneburner went 2 for 3 with a walk in the game and scored the lone run on a groundout from Renny Osuna. Over his last 10 games, Davis is batting .278 with a .366 on base percentage. Overall, for the month of August Stoneburner is batting .255/.361/.343/.704 with 7 extra base hits and 12 walks to 22 strikeouts. His previous high in walks for a month this season was 8 in June.

Bolden Gets On Base: Jared Bolden also had a good game as the 15 game AA veteran went 2 for 2 with a walk out of the 9th spot in the lineup. For Bolden, it was his 4th multi hit game for Frisco and the 3rd time he has gotten on base 3 times in a game.

Osuna's Patience String: Renny Osuna is not known for walking much, as his career walk% of 7.2% would indicate. But over the last 10 games, Osuna has walked 7 times to increase his walk total to 39, the second most he's had in a season. Osuna finished the game on Tuesday 0 for 3 with a RBI and a walk. He also swung and missed for the 100th time in the game as well. With 2 swings and misses in the game, Osuna has now swung and missed an incredible 101 times this season in 2,151 total pitches seen. Comparatively, he has seen 807 balls thrown to him, so nearly 8 balls for every swing and miss this season.


Brigham's Strikeouts: Jake Brigham inches closer to having the 3rd most strikeouts in a single season. With 5 more out of relief on Tuesday, Brigham has 111 strikeouts this season, which is 4 short of moving into 3rd in a single season alone. Brigham did give up 3 hits and 2 runs over 3 1/3 innings out of relief though and has a 4.00 ERA as a reliever.

San Antonio's Chase: As mentioned above, San Antonio won their 90th game of the season on Tuesday, a feat in and of itself in a 140 game schedule. Since the Texas League started going to 140 game schedules in the early 1960s, only 4 teams have won 90 or more games. With 3 more wins, San Antonio would have the most wins of any Texas League team in a 140 game schedule. 

Chase For 1000: As I've been tracking all year, the Texas League has been on an incredible power surge this year compared to recent seasons. With 6 more homeruns yesterday, the Texas League now has 988 homeruns with 5 more games to be played for each team. The likelyhood that the league will break the record has gone from a good chance to basically no chance, but the total number of homeruns is still going to be very, very high and with one good day, today could be the day the league crosses 1,000 or tomorrow or the next day.  Since 1950, the league has only crossed the 1,000 homerun mark three previous times. In 2006, the league hit 1,011 homeruns; in 1998, they hit a record 1,066 homeruns; in 1956, they hit 1,027 homeruns. It's a possibility that the league could still finish with the second most homeruns in a single season.

Congrats to Jurickson Profar: One of the top prospects in the Texas Ranger's system, shortstop Jurickson Profar, was named the South Atlantic League's Most Valuable Player on Tuesday. Profar is the youngest player in the league and has incredible upside. Just 18 years old, Profar has hit .283 with 35 doubles, 8 triples, 11 homeruns, driven in 63 runs, and has stolen 20 bases in the SAL. He has walked 64 times to 62 strikeouts in 417 at bats and has an .874 OPS. Profar also took part in the MLB Future's Game earlier this summer in Arizona over the MLB All-star Break. It will be only a matter of time before Profar is up in Frisco and then hopefully to the major leagues some day.

Rider's Heading to AFL: Every year in the month of October after the season is over, some of baseball's best prospects and some of the prospects for teams that need work will head to Arizona for the Arizona Fall League. It's a league that can be very useful for some prospects that need to work on specific areas of their game. The Texas Ranger's (and Lonestardugout.com) announced on Tuesday their eight participants, including three current Rider's and one former Rider.

The Minor Leaguers

RHP Neil Ramirez (Frisco)
RHP Johan Yan (Frisco)
C Elio Sarmiento (Frisco)
LHP Miguel De Los Santos (Myrtle Beach)
RHP Ryan Kelly (Myrtle Beach)
SS Leury Garcia (Myrtle Beach)
3B Mike Olt (Myrtle Beach)
OF Ryan Strausborger (Myrtle Beach)


Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 988 homeruns in 1066 games (0.927 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Crown- 1. An honor figuratively won by a player or team that comes in first place, either in the standings or in the statistical counting of some aspect of performance; e.g., the "batting crown" goes to the player who has the highest batting average in his league. 2. To hit the ball

Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 4-1 on the road to the Corpus Christi Hooks. Travis Chick started for Frisco and gave up 10 hits and 4 runs over 4 innings with 4 strikeouts and 0 walks. Beau Jones and Brennan Garr combined for 4 innings of shutout relief. Andy Jenkins led Frisco's offense with a 2 for 4 game including a double and a run scored. Joey Butler added a 2 for 4 game for the Riders. Guilder Rodriguez also added a 1 for 2 game with a RBI and a walk. Jose Felix and Jonathan Greene each added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Horseheads, NY!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Game 134: Frisco RoughRiders (Adalberto Flores) @ Corpus Christi Hooks (Jarred Cosart)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Whataburger Field (Corpus Christi, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (34-29 6 games back in the Texas League South; 74-59 overall)... Corpus Christi Hooks (24-39 16 games back in the Texas League South; 49-84 overall)
Magic Number: 1
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Road Trip: 2-1
Series Record: 20-14-4
2011 Record against Corpus Christi: 15-13
All-time Record against Corpus Christi: 110-102
Record on August 30th since 2004: 4-3
Starting Pitchers: Adalberto Flores (5-3 2.81 ERA) vs. Jarred Cosart (0-1 2.96 ERA)


Frisco Blows 2-0 lead, Will Wait Another Day to Clinch: Frisco and Midland were tied 0-0 through 7 innings before Frisco scored 2 runs in the top of the 8th inning to get within 6 outs of officially owning the second playoff spot in the Texas League South. Frisco's defense, however, had other ideas as the Riders committed 3 errors in the bottom of the 8th inning, all coming with 2 outs, which allowed Midland to score 3 runs with 2 outs and take a lead that they held onto. With San Antonio's loss to Corpus Christi as well, Frisco will wait until at least today to clinch the playoff spot. The magic number remains at 1, which means with one San Antonio Missions's victory the Riders would secure a playoff bid to San Antonio.

Pimentel's Strong Start: Carlos Pimentel seemed to be headed for his 7th win of the season and second straight victory, but an unfortunate blown lead cost Pimentel that win. Still, Pimentel had a terrific start as he gave up 3 hits and 2 walks over 7 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. Since giving up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings on August 2nd against Midland, Pimentel has been very strong on the mound for Frisco. Spanning over 5 starts, Pimentel has gone 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has struck out 29 batters in the 28 innings that he has pitched in as well. He has also gone at least 6 innings in 4 of the 5 starts with the only non 6 inning start being a August 13th start where he left early due to a strained groin. Pimentel continues to struggle with command at times, but he has certainly produced better over the last 5 starts.

Inning By Inning Count

1: 10 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 3 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 4 Balls- 3 BPIP
2: 18 Pitches- 11 Strikes- 3 Called- 2 Swinging- 4 Fouls- 7 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 1 BB- 1 Hit
3: 9 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 1 Called- 1 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 3 BPIP
4: 10 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 4 Balls- 3 BPIP
5: 19 Pitches- 12 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 7 Balls- 5 BPIP- 1 Hit- 1 ROE
6: 13 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 7 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 BB- 1 Hit
7: 13 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 2 Called- 4 Swinging- 1 Foul- 4 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Swinging K

Total: 92 Pitches- 56 Strikes- 15 Called- 9 Swinging- 11 Fouls- 36 Balls- 21 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 2 BB- 3 Hits- 1 ROE

Hilligoss Cruising: Mitch Hilligoss is heating back up again as he had another strong game going 2 for 3 with a RBI, a walk, and a run scored. Over his last 10 games, Hilligoss is batting .300 with an .814 OPS. He has 3 extra base hits, has driven in 4 runs, scored 6 runs, and walked 3 times during that time. On the season for Frisco, Hilligoss is now batting .271 with a .721 OPS. He is still waiting for his first extra base hit on the road. Perhaps it can come against Corpus Christi this week.

Osuna Ties Tracy: Renny Osuna went 1 for 3 in the loss on Monday with a walk and a run scored as well. His 2 out single in the 8th inning sparked Frisco's 2 run rally to take the lead as his single was followed by a single from Mitch Hilligoss and a double by Jonathan Greene. The single was Osuna's 149th hit of the season and 343rd as a Frisco RoughRider. The single season hit total is now tied for 3rd highest by a RoughRider with Chad Tracy, who had 149 hits in his big 2009 season. With 7 games to go, Osuna is 8 hits away from tying Joaquin Arias's single season Frisco RoughRider hits record of 157 in 2005.

Strikeout Kings: Jonathan Greene and Tommy Mendonca both added to their strikeout totals with 2 more each in the loss. The two players have combined for 307 strikeouts this season with Greene having 155 and Mendonca having 152. Since July 1st, Greene has 72 strikeouts and Mendonca has 68 strikeouts. To put that into perspective, Renny Osuna has 60 strikeouts all year. Mike Bianucci also struck out for the 127th time to give the trio a total of 434 strikeouts. Coming into this season, the highest strikeout total by a Frisco RoughRider was 126 by Jason Botts in 2004. Now, Frisco has 3 players with more than that in the same year. It's a common theme, however, around the league as the Texas League currently has 7,612 strikeouts, which is 217 behind last year's record breaking total of 7,829 strikeouts. With 7 games to go for each team, the league is on pace to break the record.


Wheeler Catching Fire In Tulsa: When Tim Wheeler hit his 29th homerun on July 25th he was pacing for a team best in homeurns for the Tulsa Drillers and was looking like a possible 40 homerun contender. But it would be nearly a month before he hit another homerun on August 24th to finally enter the 30 homerun club. By that point Matt Adams already had 31 homeruns and the same day Mike Bianucci would join Wheeler and Adams with 30 homeruns as well.

However, the homerun has gotten the centerfielder back on another tear as he has begun to make the impossible look possible for Tulsa. The Drillers entered a seven game stretch with the Arkansas Travelers and Northwest Arkansas Naturals on the brink of elimination as they were 6 back with 15 to play. A couple losses here or there would have put them out of the race. Now, 4 homeruns, 7 RBI, 10 runs scored, 13 hits, 4 walks, and 2 stolen bases later for Wheeler, the Drillers are riding a 7 game win streak, back to back sweeps, and a hot Wheeler bat into a series with Springfield with the Drillers only being 1 game behind the Naturals for first place in the Texas League North. With 7 games to go anything is possible, especially with Tulsa's last series coming at home against Northwest Arkansas. 

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 982 homeruns in 1058 games (0.928 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Tear- A winning streak for a team or a hot period for an individual.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 6-4 to the Midland Rockhounds at home. Richard Bleier started for Frisco and gave up 9 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs (4 earned) over 6 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts. Chris Mobley gave up 1 unearned run in 2 1/3 innings of relief. Marcus Lemon led Frisco's offense with a 2 for 5 game including a double and 2 runs scored. Renny Osuna had a 2 for 4 day for the Riders with a run scored. Ian Kinsler went 1 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI on rehab. Emerson Frostad added a hit in 5 at bats including a double with a RBI. Andy Jenkins and Christian Guzman each added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Bowlegs, OK!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Monday, August 29, 2011

Game 133: Frisco RoughRiders (Carlos Pimentel) @ Midland Rockhounds (Anthony Capra)

Time: 6:30 PM CT
Location: Citibank Ballpark (Midland, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (34-28 6 games back in the Texas League South; 74-58 overall)... Midland Rockhounds (32-30 8 games back in the Texas League South; 59-73 overall)
Magic Number: 1
Streak: Won 3 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Road Trip: 2-0
Series Record: 19-14-4
2011 Record against Midland: 16-8
All-Time Record against Midland: 119-105
Record on August 29th since 2004: 5-2
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (6-9 5.21 ERA) vs. Anthony Capra (1-6 5.70 ERA)

Frisco's Win Puts Midland on Brink of Elimination: Frisco took a 4-0 lead to the bottom of the 4th and never let up from there as they defeated Midland 8-4 on the road. With the win and a San Antonio win, the magic number for Frisco clinching a playoff berth has dwindled down to 1. An early victory over Midland on Monday would secure a series sweep and a playoff berth to go along with it. Frisco's 74-58 record overall is good for the second best record in the league behind the Missions, who could finish with the most wins of any team in Texas League history since they moved to a 140 game schedule if all they did was finish out .500.


Snyder Keeps Pitch Count Low, Goes Seven Strong: Ben Snyder pitched a season high seven innings on just 68 pitches en route to his 10th victory of the season and 13th career victory as a Frisco RoughRider. Snyder never needed more than 15 pitches to get through an inning, his average pitches per inning this season, and three times he was able to get out of an inning without even crossing 10 pitches. In all, he had almost as many balls put into play (22) as balls thrown (23). Snyder improved his season record against Midland to 5-1 as well.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 7 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 4 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 0 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Hits
2: 10 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 2 Balls- 1 BPIP- 1 HBP- 1 Swinging K
3: 12 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 3 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 6 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 BB
4: 8 Pitches- 5 Strikes- 0 Called- 0 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 4 BPIP- 2 Hits
5: 15 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 2 Called- 2 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 7 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit
6: 6 Pitches- 5 Strikes- 1 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 1 Ball- 3 BPIP
7: 10 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 2 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 4 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit

Total: 68 Pitches- 44 Strikes- 14 Called- 4 Swinging- 4 Fouls- 23 Balls- 22 BPIP- 1 HBP- 1 Called K- 1 Swinging K- 1 BB- 6 Hits


Osuna Continues Hot Hitting: Renny Osuna went 2 for 4 with a double on Saturday and followed that up with a 3 for 6 game with 2 doubles and 3 RBI on Sunday. Overall, he has a 7 game hitting streak currently and is batting 15 for 40 (.375) over his last 10 games. The 3 hit game got Osuna within 9 hits of tying Joaquin Arias's single season RoughRider hit record and 10 away from breaking it with 8 games to go in the season. What looked like a difficult challenge a week ago is starting to look more achievable by the day. The 3 RBI marked Osuna's 13th multi RBI game of the season and a season high in RBI for a single game. The RBI also moved Osuna from 6th to 4th on the Rider's career RBI list.


Stoneburner Goes Deep: Davis Stoneburner went 2 for 5 with a double, a homerun, and 4 RBI against Midland on Sunday. The homerun was his first in over a month since July 26th. His 4 RBI were also a single game high for this season for Stoneburner and marked his 7th multi RBI game of the season. Stoneburner now has 39 extra base hits for the season and is batting .277/.356/.447/.803 away from Dr. Pepper Ballpark.

Bianucci Does Something Rare: Mike Bianucci is not known for his speed very much, so Mike Bianucci's game must have been at least something to laugh at for everybody. In the same game, Bianucci took a walk (34th this season), had an infield single, and stole a base (5th in 6 tries). He finished 2 for 4 with the walk, stolen base, and struck out for the 126th time this season.

Beltre's Multi Hit Game: Engel Beltre finished 2 for 4 with 2 runs and a stolen base. For Beltre, it was his 4th multi hit game in the month of August, but more importantly the 3rd game of his last 4 where he has reached base 2 or more times and also his second straight game with a stolen base. Amazingly, it was the first time this season that Beltre has gone back to back games with a stolen base. Since the all-star game, Beltre has stolen 12 bases in 16 attempts. Before the all-star game, he had stolen just 3 bases in 5 attempts.

Double Steal Works: Elio Sarmiento stole his third base of the season and it was a rare steal of home for the catcher. Sarmiento finished the game 1 for 3 with 2 walks in the process. He is batting .274/.335/.447/.782 on the season with 19 extra base hits in 190 at bats. With runners on this season, Sarmiento is batting .375 and .364 with RISP compared to .200 with the bases empty.

Riders Continue RISP Struggles: Frisco scored 8 runs on Sunday despite going just 3 for 17 with runners in scoring position. In the month of August, Frisco is batting .227 (50 for 220) as a team with RISP. They are hitting .245 (123 for 503) with RISP since the all-star break as well. For the season, their team average is down to .275 with RISP.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 976 homeruns in 1050 games (0.930 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Knee-Buckling- Said of an inside breaking ball (curveball or slider) that causes the batter to freeze or flinch in the belief that the pitch is about to hit him, and to bend his knees before bailing out. It occurs when a right handed pitcher faces a right handed batter, or a left handed pitcher faces a left handed batter.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Midland Rockhounds 6-4 at home. Dustin Nippert started for Frisco and gave up 1 walk over 2 1/3 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts. Michael Schlact gave up 2 runs (1 earned) over 4 2/3 innings of relief, while Fabio Castillo gave up 2 runs over 1/3 of an inning of relief. Mark Hamburger picked up the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Andy Jenkins led Frisco's offensive attack with a 2 for 4 game including a double, homerun, and 5 RBI. Emerson Frostad added a 2 for 3 game including a double, walk, and 2 runs scored for the Riders. Guilder Rodriguez went 1 for 4 with a double, while Ian Kinsler went 1 for 3 with a RBI on rehab. Jose Felix and Engel Beltre each added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Big Rock Candy Mountain, VT!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Game 132: Frisco RoughRiders (Ben Snyder) @ Midland Rockhounds (Gary Daley)

Time: 6:00 PM CT
Location: Citibank Ballpark (Midland, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (33-28 6 games back in the Texas League South; 73-58 overall)... Midland Rockhounds (32-29 7 games back in the Texas League South; 59-72 overall)
Unofficial Magic Number: 0... Official Magic Number: 3
Streak: Won 2 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Road Trip: 1-0
Series Record: 19-14-4
2011 Record against Midland: 15-8
All-Time Record against Midland: 118-105
Record on August 28th since 2004: 3-4
Starting Pitchers: Ben Snyder (9-5 4.21 ERA) vs. Gary Daley (6-5 4.50 ERA)

Frisco Takes First of Three, Playoffs on Horizon:
Frisco scored 3 runs in the 2nd inning against the Midland Rockhounds and it was all they needed as the Riders used 3 pitchers to combine to give up 1 run to the Rockhounds on the road. With the 3-1 win, Frisco helped lower San Antonio's (and Frisco's) official magic number from 5 to 3 with 9 games to play.

Ramirez Goes Five Strong: Neil Ramirez gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 5 strong innings with 2 strikeouts for Frisco. It was his longest outing in 5 starts for the Riders and a needed boost to help the bullpen. Ramirez struggled to throw first pitch strikes, but was able to battle back and limited damage from the Midland hitters. For Ramirez, it was his first victory since June 5th for Round Rock spanning 11 starts. It was also his least amount of walks given up when going more than 4 innings since April 13th when he did not give up a walk over 6 innings for the Express in his AAA debut.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 21 Pitches- 11 Strikes- 3 Called- 2 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 10 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 BB- 1 ROE
2: 11 Pitches-  7 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 4 Balls- 3 BPIP
3: 16 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 5 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 HBP- 1 Called K- 1 Hit
4: 12 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 3 Called- 0 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 4 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K
5: 10 Pitches- 5 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 5 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit

Total: 70 Pitches- 41 Strikes- 11 Called- 3 Swinging- 11 Fouls- 28 Balls- 16 BPIP- 1 HBP- 2 Called K- 1 BB- 2 Hits- 1 ROE

Osuna Reaches Base Twice, Helps Frisco's Offense: Renny Osuna climbed up the ladder some more in the hits column on Saturday when he went 2 for 4 with a double and stole a base. Osuna now has 145 hits for the season, which put him in 4th place alone on Frisco's single season list. He is now 12 away from Joaquin Arias's high of 157 with 9 games remaining on the season. The double gave him 20 for the season, which means that Frisco's 2011 offense has six players with 20 or more doubles for the first time in team history. The stolen base also puts Renny Osuna alone in 4th place on the career list. He was previously tied with Guilder Rodriguez, who is currently in Round Rock.

Greene's Game: Jonathan Greene went 2 for 4 for Frisco on Saturday and joined Tommy Mendonca and Mike Bianucci with 70 or more runs scored as he scored 1 run to get to 70 for the season. It is the third season that Frisco has had 3 players with 70 or more runs scored as the 2007 and 2008 teams both achieved that. Frisco has never had 4 players with 70 or more though, and Renny Osuna has 67 with 9 games remaining.


A Better Beginning: Jared Bolden added a 2 for 4 game with a double and 2 RBI for Frisco. His double was his first for Frisco and his second extra base hit. His 2 RBI marked his 3rd multi RBI game in 12 games for Frisco. To begin the season, it took Bolden 29 games for Myrtle Beach before he had his 3rd multi RBI game. He had 12 multi RBI games in 94 games for the Pelicans earlier this season. Bolden has hit .313 with RISP as a Frisco RoughRider, despite playing for a team that has struggled with RISP of late.

An All-Around Game: Engel Beltre showed what he can do when things are going right for him on Saturday when he went 1 for 3 with a RBI, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. The 21 year old outfielder is batting just .176 over his last 10 games and is batting .202/.272/.238/.510 in the month of August after hitting a season best monthly total .252/.310/.364/.675 in the month of July.

Yan Records First Save: Johan Yan came into the game in a crucial situation facing bases loaded and 1 out in the 8th inning in a 3-1 game. He struck out both Jeremy Barfield and Ryan Ortiz and finished off the 9th to earn his first AA save. Yan has been about as good (and probably much, much better) as anyone could hope for in his time with Frisco. In 16 appearances for Frisco, Yan has pitched 23 innings and has given up 17 hits, 9 walks, struck out 15 batters, and has a miniscule 0.39 ERA. Right handed batters are hitting just .182 against Yan in the Texas League and he has been perfect at home with a 0.00 ERA in 10 appearances. He has inherited 12 baserunners and only 2 have scored for a 16.7%.


Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 964 in 1042 games (0.925 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Middle of the Rotation- The position in a starting rotation occupied by the third pitcher.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 2-0 to the Midland Rockhounds at home. Clayton Hamilton started for Frisco and gave up 4 hits, 0 walks, and 2 runs over 6 innings with 6 strikeouts. Adalberto Flores and Tim Murphy combined for 3 innings of relief work allowing 0 runs. Engel Beltre went 1 for 2 with a double and a walk for Frisco. Nelson Cruz added a 1 for 3 game including a walk and a stolen base on rehab. Christian Guzman went 1 for 3 with a walk as well. Andy Jenkins added a 1 for 4 game.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Monkey's Eyebrow, KY!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Game 131: Frisco RoughRiders (Neil Ramirez) @ Midland Rockhounds (Shawn Haviland)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Citibank Ballpark (Midland, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (32-28 6 games back in the Texas League South; 72-58 overall)... Midland Rockhounds (32-28 6 games back in the Texas League South; 59-71 overall)
Unofficial Magic number: 0... Official Magic Number: 5
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Homestand: 3-1
Series Record: 19-14-4
2011 Record against Midland: 14-8
All-Time Record against Midland: 117-105
Record on August 27th since 2004: 4-3
Starting Pitchers: Neil Ramirez (0-0 1.93 ERA) vs. Shawn Haviland (6-11 7.45 ERA)

Frisco Comes Back, Takes Series from San Antonio:
For only the second time this season, Frisco won a series with the first place San Antonio Missions. The last time they did that was May 3rd-6th when they took 3 out of 4 from San Antonio at home. And the Riders followed that series by taking 10 of the next 12 games against the Midland Rockhounds and Corpus Christi Hooks, a similar look to what the Riders face the rest of the season as they finish with 10 games against those two teams. Frisco came back from down 3-1 to San Antonio at one point to tie the game in the 7th inning and won 4-3 on a walkoff walk to designated hitter Mike Bianucci with 2 outs in the 9th inning.

Ross's Solid Start: Robbie Ross wasn't particularly dominant, but he got the job done on Friday and kept Frisco in the game. Ross gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 7 innings and struck out 7 batters. In 5 starts for Frisco, Ross has 4 "quality starts" and has gone 7 or more innings in 3 of the starts. He has walked just 3 batters over 32 1/3 innings, has given up 28 hits, and has struck out 30 batters. Essentially he has picked up right where the other Robbie (Erlin) left off. Limiting walks and hits, striking out a bunch, and going deep into games. Like Erlin, though, Ross has given up his share of homeruns. In fact while pitching for Frisco, the two Robbies have given up 14 homeruns to 10 walks.

Inning By Inning Count

1: 17 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 8 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 BB
2: 17 Pitches- 11 Strikes- 2 Called- 6 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 6 Balls- 1 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Swinging K- 1 Hit
3: 11 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 3 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 2 Hits
4: 7 Pitches- 5 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 2 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit
5: 11 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 3 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit
6: 9 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K
7: 15 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 2 Called- 2 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 5 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Called K- 1 Swinging K- 3 Hits

Total: 87 Pitches- 57 Strikes- 13 Called- 11 Swinging- 12 Fouls- 30 Balls- 20 BPIP- 3 Called K- 4 Swinging K- 1 BB- 8 Hits

Mitch Hilligoss's Clutch Hitting: Mitch Hilligoss went 2 for 4 at the plate and his double couldn't have come at a bigger time as Hilligoss drove a 3-1 pitch from Craig Italiano to the left field wall for a 2 RBI opposite field, game tying double with 2 outs in the 7th inning. Hilligoss's single in the 9th inning to left field also set up the bases loaded with 1 out. Over the 4 game set with San Antonio, Hilligoss was 5 for 16 with a double, triple, homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs. He is batting .286 with an .899 OPS at Dr. Pepper Ballpark this season.

Osuna Reaches Three Times: Frisco's all-time hit leader, Renny Osuna, went 1 for 2 with a sac fly RBI, 2 walks, and a run scored in the game. He is now up to 337 hits all time and 143 for the season, which tied Joey Butler for 5th on the single season hits list. With 9 games remaining in the season, Osuna is 14 hits away from the record of 157 set by Joaquin Arias in 2005. Osuna's .298 batting average leads the team and is his highest batting average since he hit .338 in 2008.


Riders Set Team Record for HBP: San Antonio Mission's pitchers hit 2 more Frsico RoughRider's hitters on Friday as Simon Castro hit Mitch Hilligoss and Nick Vincent hit Mike Bianucci. The two hit by pitches gives Frisco 78 for the season, which passed the previous team high of 77 set in 2004. They also were the 19th and 20th times a Frisco hitter has been hit by a San Antonio Mission's pitcher this season. It was Bianucci's 10th time being hit by a pitch this season joining Jonathan Greene (18), Davis Stoneburner (12), and Tommy Mendonca (11) as the Rider's players with 10 or more. They have the same amount of players with 10 or more HBP's this season as they had in the rest of the team's history combined. Only 2004's team had more than 1 player with 10 or more hit by pitches in the season.

Mendonca Named to League's Post Season All-Star Team: Tommy Mendonca has had a terrific season this year and the former 2nd round pick can add Texas League Post-Season All-star to the list as well. Mendonca earned the honor as the DH, which comes as irony due to his recent Baseball America honor as being named the best defensive third baseman in the league, but it is what it is. Mendonca is batting .283 with 25 homeruns and 87 RBI this season. You can see the team listed on here and read more from the Rider's Insider blog here. Among Mendonca's highlights this season were his 3 homerun game on July 22nd against the Corpus Christi Hooks and his multiple 4 RBI games as Mendonca has had 5 games with 4 or more RBI. Mendonca tied a season high 4 hits on June 13th against the Midland Rockhounds when he also drove in 4 runs.

Frisco Can Help Themselves: Perhaps among the issues of beating the San Antonio Missions, was the Rider's lack of cutting into the Missions's magic number. While it's still about a 99% surefire chance that Frisco will make the postseason, they have 6 games remaining with the Midland Rockhounds and they can help themselves now to a playoff berth. Frisco is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs as long as San Antonio wins the second half and by beating the Midland Rockhounds this coming series and next weekend in Frisco, they can ensure that the Missions will win the second half. Frisco is also 6 games back though and tied with Midland, so they sit in a pretty good position. Win and everything else will take care of itself.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 955 homeruns in 1034 games (0.924 HR/G)

Tracking Texas League Strikeouts: 7,438 strikeouts in 1034 games (7.19 K/G) 

Term of the Day: Home plate is jumping around- The condition that describes a pitcher's location when he constantly misses the strike zone with pitches on the corners; e.g. the outside corner pitch is too far outside and the inside corner pitch is too far inside.

Last Year on This Date:
Frisco defeated the San Antonio Missions 4-2 at home. Dustin Nippert started for Frisco in a rehab outing and pitched 1 shutout inning with 1 hit given up and 3 strikeouts. Martin Perez relieved Nippert and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 4 innings with 6 strikeouts. He earned the win in the relief appearance. Brennan Garr, Beau Jones, and Tyler Tufts combined for 4 scoreless innings of relief. Nelson Cruz led Frisco with a 2 for 3 game including a double and a RBI. Christian Guzman went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, while Osuna came in for Guzman and went 1 for 1 with a RBI. Joey Butler added a 2 for 4 game for the Riders. Marcus Lemon went 1 for 3 with a triple, walk, and 2 runs scored. Andy Jenkins, Engel Beltre, and Elio Sarmiento each added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Monkey's Eyebrow, KY!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Friday, August 26, 2011

Game 130: San Antonio Missions (Simon Castro) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Robbie Ross)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (31-28 7 games back in the Texas League South; 71-58 overall)... San Antonio Missions (38-21 1st place in the Texas League South; 87-42 overall)
Magic Number: Clinched/San Antonio Magic Number: 5
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Homestand: 2-1
Series Record: 18-14-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 12-19
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 122-125
Record on August 26th since 2004: 3-4
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Ross (1-1 2.84 ERA) vs. Simon Castro (5-6 4.77 ERA)

Frisco Falls in Blowout: Frisco found themselves down 8-0 before they could even get the second out of the second inning and lost 8-3 on Thursday against the first place San Antonio Missions. Frisco still has a 2-1 advantage in this series and still is extremely likely to make the playoffs for the sixth time in nine years in the Texas League. Midland's game with Corpus Christi was rained out yesterday and they play a double header today with the Hooks. San Antonio's win dropped their magic number to 5. Both Frisco and San Antonio would then be officially playing each other in the playoffs as Frisco unofficially clinched on Wednesday.


Hankins Rocked In Fourth AA Start: Derek Hankins doesn't have a particularly good out pitch and on Thursday he showed what can happen when he can't command the strike zone well enough. Hankins gave up 8 hits, walked 2 batters, and gave up 8 runs (4 earned) over 1 1/3 innings pitched. He did not strikeout anybody. Over the 1 1/3 innings, Hankins threw 47 pitches and 32 of those went for strikes.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 19 Pitches- 15 Strikes- 4 Called- 2 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 4 Balls- 7 BPIP- 3 Hits- 1 ROE
2: 28 Pitches- 17 Strikes- 5 Called- 0 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 11 Balls- 6 BPIP- 2 BB- 5 Hits

Total: 47 Pitches- 32 Strikes- 9 Called- 2 Swinging- 8 Fouls- 15 Balls- 13 BPIP- 8 hits- 2 BB- 1 ROE

Greene Has 3 Hit Day: Jonathan Greene extended his hit streak to 9 games in the 1st inning and didn't stop there. He finished 3 for 4 with 3 singles and 2 RBI in the game. Greene is batting .308 over his last 10 games, including a 5 for 11 (.455) homestand so far . Since the all-star break in late June, Greene is batting .288/.344/.475/.819 with 10 homeruns and 29 RBI in 53 games. Greene is up to 73 RBI for the season with 27 doubles and 18 homeruns. He also struck out for the 150th time this season in his other at bat.

Osuna Gets Hit #336: Renny Osuna led off for Frisco again and went 1 for 3 with a walk. Unfortunately he was eliminated by double plays hit by Mitch Hilligoss both times he got on base, although one of the double plays was a single that was robbed by good Mission's up the middle defense. Osuna is tied with Greene for the team lead in batting average at .297. Osuna is also a hit from being tied with Joey Butler for 5th on the single season list at 143. He is currently 15 away from Joaquin Arias's single season record of 157 hits, but with 11 games to play it will take quite a hot streak from Osuna for him to tie or break the record.

Brigham Passes Pimentel: A day after Carlos Pimentel passed Jake Brigham for the team strikeout lead (and a tie for 5th place on the single season strikeout list), Brigham passed Pimentel with a 4 strikeout relief effort. Brigham's 106 strikeouts are the most by a RoughRider's pitcher since Kasey Kiker had 120 in 2009. Brigham, who started out in the starting rotation, has pitched in the bullpen since June 23rd. Brigham had 68 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings as a starter and has had 38 over 32 2/3 innings as a reliever. Since July 1st, Brigham has struck out 37 batters over 30 innings.

Young Has Best Outing of Year: Corey Young has come up big at times in 2011, but none bigger than on Thursday when he relieved Derek Hankins after Hankins had gone just 1 1/3 innings and left 2 men on base for Young. Young got the first 2 batters he faced out to get out of the 2nd inning and kept rolling along for 3 more innings after that. In the appearance, Young pitched a season high 3 2/3 innings, gave up just 1 hit without allowing a walk or a run and struck out 2 batters. He began a relief effort that featured 7 2/3 innings of shutout relief pitching from Young, Brigham, and Johan Yan, which kept the game from going into laughable territory.

Wieland Shines In Return: Joe Wieland had a dominating start to the 2011 season in Myrtle Beach, and he's only gotten better since coming to the Texas League. In his 11th AA start, Wieland pitched 5 shutout innings against his former team and gave up just 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 3 batters. His only rough part came in the 2nd inning when he gave up a leadoff double to Tommy Mendonca, walked Beltre with 1 out, but he got out of it by getting Davis Stoneburner to ground into a force out and Jared Bolden to pop up to the shortstop. Wieland featured a low 90s fastball, curveball, and changeup in the start. He is now 7-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 11 AA starts and his team is 11-0 when he has started.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 951 homeruns in 1024 games (0.929 HR/G)


Term of the Day: Payback Pitch- A ball thrown by a pitcher to harm or intimidate a batter in revenge for a real or imagined transgression by the batter's team.

Last Year on This Date:
Frisco lost 7-6 to the San Antonio Missions in 14 innings at home. Travis Chick started for Frisco and gave up 5 hits, 5 walks, and 4 runs (3 earned) over 5 innings with 7 strikeouts. Adalberto Flores gave up 1 run over 2 innings of relief. Tim Murphy added 2 shutout innings of relief, while Mark Hamburger gave up 1 run over 2 2/3 innings of relief. Chris Mobley also gave up 1 run over 2 1/3 inning of relief and took the loss. Emerson Frostad led Frisco with a 3 for 6 game including a double, RBI, and walk in the game. Marcus Lemon led off with a 3 for 6 game including a double and walk. Andy Jenkins went 2 for 5 with a homerun, 2 RBI, and 2 walks for the Riders. Beltre added a double in 7 at bats, while Joey Butler, Guilder Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz, and Jonathan Greene each added a hit as well. Engel Beltre was thrown at home trying to score the game winning run on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning. The game lasted 4 hours and 35 minutes long.

 
As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Possum Trot, KY!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Game 129: San Antonio Missions (Joe Wieland) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Derek Hankins)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (31-27 6 games back in the Texas League South; 71-57 overall)... San Antonio Missions (37-21 1st place in the Texas League South; 86-42 overall)
Magic Number: Clinched Unofficially/San Antonio's magic number: 6
Streak: Won 4 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Homestand: 2-0
Series Record: 18-14-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 12-18
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 122-124
Record on August 25th since 2004: 4-3
Starting Pitchers: Derek Hankins (1-1 2.70 ERA) vs. Joe Wieland (6-0 1.50 ERA)

Back to Back Homers Give Frisco Win, Guarantee Series Split: Frisco seemed to be out of the game for most of the night on Wednesday, but a 3-run homerun followed by a solo homerun in the 6th inning revived the night and gave Frisco a 4-3 win over the Missions. The win meant Frisco could at the very least salvage a split with the Missions and should give Frisco confidence as they prepare for the playoffs in early September. Frisco is now 12-18 against the Missions, but they are 5-5 against the Missions over their last 10 games against the team with the best record in minor league baseball.

Pimentel Starts Strong, Loses Focus, Ends Strong: It took Carlos Pimentel just 22 pitches to get through the first two innings and 27 pitches to get through the last 2 innings that he pitched, but in between it took him 54 pitches to get through the 3rd inning and 4th inning, and you couldn't help but wonder if the loss of focus in the 3rd inning and 4th was due to catcher Jose Felix almost running into the dugout with just 2 outs in the inning. Pimentel struck out the first 2 batters in the 3rd inning when Jose Felix ran off the field thinking the strikeout to Daniel Robertson was the third out of the inning when it was only the 2nd inning. It's rare that a catcher would lose track of the outs like that in an inning due to being such an integral part of each hitter. Pimentel went to 0-2 counts with 10 of the 25 batters he faced in the start, including 8 through the first 4 innings.


Inning by Inning Count

1: 13 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 3 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 5 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K- 1 BB
2: 9 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 1 Ball- 3 BPIP
3: 24 Pitches- 15 Strikes- 4 Called- 3 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 9 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Swinging K- 2 Hits
4: 30 Pitches- 12 Strikes- 3 Called- 3 Swinging- 5 Fouls- 17 Balls- 1 BPIP- 1 HBP- 2 Called K- 2 BB
5: 13 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 1 Foul- 6 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Swinging K
6: 14 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 4 Fouls- 5 Balls- 4 BPIP- 2 Hits

Total: 103 Pitches- 59 Strikes- 18 Called- 10 Swinging- 17 Fouls- 43 Balls- 14 BPIP- 1 HBP- 4 Called K- 3 Swinging K- 3 BB- 4 Hits

Bianucci Becomes 3rd Texas Leaguer with 30: Springfield Cardinal's first baseman Matt Adams was the only player in the Texas League with 30 homeruns this season entering Wednesday. Tim Wheeler joined the 30 club by swatting his first homerun since August 2nd in the 1st inning of Tulsa's 5-2 win over Arkansas. Mike Bianucci joined the club with a 3-run game tying homerun to left centerfield in the 6th inning. The blast also brought him to 83 RBI for the season, which is 7 short of matching a career high. It is Bianucci's 2nd time in 3 full seasons that he has hit 30 or more homeruns in a season. He had 30 homeruns in 2009 between Hickory (low-A) and Bakersfield (high-A). He is also 3 extra base hits short of matching a career high in that category as well. With 12 games remaining on the schedule, Bianucci sits 4 short of Nate Gold's team record 34 homeruns in a single season.


Mendonca Clubs #25: Tommy Mendonca joined Mike Bianucci as the only Frisco teammates with 25 or more in a season in team history. The go ahead and eventual game winning solo homerun followed Bianucci's 3-run blast in the 6th inning. The pitch by Oramas was a mistake fastball placed exactly down the middle of the plate and Mendonca didn't miss anything on the pitch. Mendonca's 25 homeruns puts him at 4th on Frisco's single season list, 1 behind Chad Tracy's 26 homeruns in 2009. Mendonca is also now at 87 RBI for the season. Both his homeruns and RBI are career bests, although this is his second full season in the minors.


Justin Miller 1st to 10 Saves: When Fabio Castillo earned his 9th save of the season on July 12th, it seemed like a given that it would be Castillo that would be the first to 10 saves for the season. Instead, on August 24th it was Justin Miller who earned his 10th save of the season to go along with a tied for team best 9 wins. He is one of three players in minor league baseball with 9 or more saves and wins. With one win he would be the only pitcher in minor league baseball with double digit wins and saves this season.

Chad Tracy Update: Chad Tracy had a great game yesterday in Round Rock's 16-9 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes. Tracy went 3 for 6 with 2 homeruns and 6 RBI. On the season he now has 23 homeruns and 100 RBI. It is his second minor league season with 100 or more RBI. His first came with Frisco in 2009 when he had a team record 107 RBI in a season.

Other former Frisco RoughRiders hitters in that game were:

Leonys Martin- 2 for 6 with a double, 2 RBI, run scored. Batting .270 for Round Rock
Joey Butler- 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored. He's batting .330 for Round Rock this season
Robbie Diaz- 2 for 5 with a homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Batting .309 for Round Rock
Jose Ruiz- 1 for 5 with a RBI. Ruiz was promoted a week and a half or so ago and is struggling to a .205 batting average so far.
Guilder Rodriguez- 2 for 4 with a RBI, walk, 2 runs, and a stolen base. He's batting .292 so far for Round Rock.


Andy Parrino Promoted to San Diego: Fresh off a 1 for 3 game with a homerun and a walk against Frisco, the 25 year old shortstop got the promotion to the San Diego Padres. According to the Rochester Democrat, Parrino is the 1st non-pitcher from Rochester, NY to make the major leagues in 65 years. I'm sure Frisco had nothing to do with the promotion of Parrino given his .347/.484/.653/1.137 line against Frisco this season.

Return of Joe Wieland: Joe Wieland will face his former team for the first time today. The 21 year old right hander was traded by Texas on July 31st to the San Diego Padres along with Robbie Erlin for major league reliever Mike Adams. Joe Wieland threw a no-hitter for Frisco in his last start for the Riders against the San Antonio Missions, the team he plays on now, on the road on July 29th. Wieland went 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 7 starts for Frisco this season. In the Texas League he is 6-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 10 starts and overall between high-A and AA this season, Wieland is 12-3 with a 1.85 ERA in 24 games/23 starts. In his 10 starts in the Texas League, Frisco/San Antonio is 10-0 when he starts.

Happy Birthday!: Frisco's pressbox would like to wish a Happy Birthday to Betsy Pry of Antioch, Tennessee! Betsy is the sister of Frisco's scoreboard operator extraordinaire Billy Cannon. So, Happy Birthday and hope you have a great day!

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 949 homeruns in 1018 games (0.932 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Shuttle System- The process of moving players back and forth between the major leagues and minor leagues.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the San Antonio Missions 4-3 in 11 innings at home. Richard Bleier started for Frisco and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 innings with 1 strikeout. Chris Mobley and Tyler Tufts each pitched 2 scoreless innings. Brennan Garr picked up the win with a scoreless 11th inning. Engel Beltre led Frisco with a 3 for 4 game including a double, RBI, and run scored. Jonathan Greene went 2 for 4 with a homerun, RBI, and 2 runs scored. Renny Osuna added a 2 for 5 game with a RBI for the Riders. Joey Butler, Emerson Frostad, and Andy Jenkins each added a hit as well. It was the middle game of three extra inning games in a row, which accumulated 38 innings over 3 games.

 
As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Antioch, TN!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Game 128: San Antonio Missions (Juan Oramas) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Carlos Pimentel)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (30-27 7 games back in the Texas League South; 70-57 overall)... San Antonio Missions (37-20 1st place in the Texas League South; 86-41 overall)
Magic Number: Clinched
Streak: Won 3 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Homestand: 1-0
Series Record: 18-14-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 11-18
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 121-124
Record on August 24th since 2004: 5-2
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (5-9 5.24 ERA) vs. Juan Oramas (8-4 3.08 ERA)


Frisco Unofficially Clinches Playoff Spot With Win: For the 6th time in their 9 year team existence the Frisco RoughRiders will be playing postseason ball in the Texas League so long as San Antonio clinches the second half. Frisco defeated the Missions 5-2 on Tuesday in the first of a four game set and a Midland loss to Corpus Christi meant Frisco's magic number was brought from 2 to 0 in one day. San Antonio holds a 7 game lead over Frisco and 8 game lead over Midland in the 2nd half with 13 games remaining. San Antonio's magic number over Midland is currently at 6 to decide if Frisco will officially be in the postseason.

Snyder's Solid Start: Ben Snyder continues to pitch well against Frisco this season as the southpaw faced the Missions for the 12th time this season, although only 3 of the 12 games were starts. Snyder went 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), walked 1, and struck out 3. He is now 1-2 with a save against San Antonio, but has as 3.30 ERA and 1.27 WHIP against the best hitting team in the Texas League South. Snyder worked in and out of trouble well throughout his start and managed to get a quality start.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 17 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 4 Called- 3 Swinging- 1 Foul- 7 Balls- 2 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 1 BB- 1 Hit
2: 8 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 0 Called- 0 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 2 Balls- 3 BPIP
3: 10 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 3 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit
4: 22 Pitches- 16 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 8 Fouls- 6 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 2 Hits
5: 17 Pitches- 11 Strikes- 5 Called- 0 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 6 Balls- 6 BPIP- 2 Hits- 1 ROE
6: 13 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 2 Called- 2 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 6 Balls- 3 BPIP

Total: 87 Pitches- 57 Strikes- 16 Called- 7 Swinging- 12 Fouls- 30 Balls- 22 BPIP- 3 Swinging K- 1 BB- 6 Hits- 1 ROE

Hilligoss Leads the Way: Mitch Hiligoss got the offense rolling with a leadoff homerun to open the 4th inning for Frisco. The homerun was the beginning of a 3 run inning for Frisco, which gave them a lead they never let go. Hilligoss finished the game 2 for 4 with a triple and the homerun. It was the second game this season for Frisco where Hilligoss has had a triple and a homerun in the same game. The other game came on July 17th against Corpus Christi. All 13 of Hilligoss's extra base hits have come at Dr. Pepper Ballpark this season. In his career in AA, 16 of his 18 extra base hits have come at home (Dr. Pepper Ballpark).

Bianucci Inches Closer to 30: Mike Bianucci also added a homerun in the game against San Antonio, in fact it came two batters after Hilligoss's homerun. Jonathan Greene doubled after Hilligoss and Mike Bianucci gave Frisco the lead with a 2-run homerun to left field. The blast hit the roof of the Diamond Deck down the left field line. For the season, Bianucci now has 29 homeruns this season putting him 5 short of Nate Gold's single season Frisco record of 34. Bianucci is now tied for second in homeruns with Tim Wheeler and is 1 behind Matt Adam's league leading 30. Last season, Clint Robinson led the Texas League with 29 homeruns. Bianucci leads the league in extra base hits since the Texas League All-star break with 25 (13 homeruns, 11 doubles, and 1 triple). 


Mendonca Adds to RBI total: Frisco had 3 homeruns against San Antonio and Tommy Mendonca was the third one. Mendonca's 2-run homerun in the 6th, gave them a 5-2 lead and gave Mendonca 86 RBI for the season, a team high. Mendonca is now tied for second in the Texas League in RBI with Arkansas's Luis Jimenez. Both are 8 behind Matt Adams, who also leads the league in RBI with 94.

Greene Adds to Hit by Pitch Record: Jonathan Greene got the single season record for hit by pitches on the road with 17 and he added his 18th against San Antonio on Tuesday. It was his 101st career hit by pitch as well in close to 5 seasons in the minor leagues. Greene has been hit by San Antonio Mission's pitchers 6 times this year now, which is more than any other team.

Ali Solis Continues to Struggle: One of the fascinating struggles to watch in Frisco this season has been that of catcher Ali Solis, who despite decent numbers, continues to not be able to hit at Dr. Pepper Ballpark at all. With another 0 for 4 game, Solis is now 3 for 31 (.097) at Frisco's home ballpark with 12 strikeouts. He is 60 for 202 (.297) everywhere else this season with 48 strikeouts.

Strikeout Record Position: With 13 games remaining in the season, the Texas League currently sits at 7,279 strikeouts as a league. The league record for strikeouts is 7,798 and definitely within striking distance. If every team in the league averages 5 strikeouts per game for the next 13 games, which is feasible by even the best team in this category (Northwest Arkansas Naturals have averaged a league low of 6.20 strikeouts per game), then the league would finish at a league record 7,799 strikeouts. More than likely, the league will finish with far more than that as the league average for strikeouts in a game this season is 7.21. At the current average, the league will finish with 8,028 strikeouts this season.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 940 homeruns in 1010 games (0.931 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Clean house- To trade or release many players on a team, especially when a new general manager or manager takes over.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated San Antonio 7-6 at home in 13 innings. Beau Jones started for Frisco and gave up 3 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs over 3 innings with 1 strikeout. Michael Schlact gave up 2 runs (1 earned) over 4 1/3 innings of relief. Brennan Garr pitched 2/3 of an inning of shutout relief. Ben Snyder gave up 1 hit over 4 scoreless innings of relief. Adalberto Flores picked up the win with a scoreless 13th inning. Emerson Frostad led Frisco with a 2 for 5 game including a homerun, 4 RBI, and a walk. Guilder Rodriguez added a 2 for 5 game with a double and a walk for the Riders. Joey Butler went 2 for 6 with a walk as well, while Marcus Lemon went 2 for 5 with 2 walks in the leadoff spot. Renny Osuna and Engel Beltre also added 2 hits, while Johnny Whittleman went 0 for 4 with 2 walks and Jose Felix added 2 hits in 6 at bats. Frisco won on a walkoff single in the 13th inning by Joey Butler. This game was the beginning of three extra inning games in a row against San Antonio where the two teams played 38 innings over 3 games. Frisco won 2 of the 3 extra inning games.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Brainy Boro, NJ!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
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- By Michael Damman

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Game 127: San Antonio Missions (Pedro Hernandez) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Ben Snyder)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (29-27 8 games back in the Texas League South; 69-57 overall)... San Antonio Missions (37-19 1st place in the Texas League South; 86-40 overall)
Magic Number: 2
Streak: Won 2 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Road Trip: 2-4
Series Record: 18-14-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 10-18
All-Time record against San Antonio: 120-124
Record on August 23rd since 2004:  5-1
Starting Pitchers: Ben Snyder (8-5 4.38 ERA) vs. Pedro Hernandez (3-0 2.08 ERA)

Frisco Gets Win, Takes Series From Tulsa: After losing the first game of the three game set, Frisco took the final 2 games from the Tulsa Drillers including a 4-2 win on Monday night in the rubber match. Frisco got outstanding bullpen work from Adalberto Flores, Richard Bleier, and Justin Miller and overcame a 2-1 deficit after 2 innings. With the win, Frisco wrapped up their regular season with the Texas League North with a record of 30-18, including 10-2 against the Tulsa Drillers.

Ramirez's Start: Neil Ramirez had no trouble at times with the Driller's lineup during his 3 innings of work and at other times he did have trouble. As Ramirez continues to work on his shoulder strength, he continues to dominate AA hitters at times. In 3 innings, Ramirez gave up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs in 3 innings. He also struck out 5 batters during the outing. Ramirez got 9 swings and misses in the start despite only throwing 50 pitches. Almost 25% of his strikes (37) were swings and misses

Inning By Inning Count

1: 20 Pitches- 16 Strikes- 3 Called- 5 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 4 Balls- 2 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 2 Hits
2: 22 Pitches- 15 Strikes- 5 Called- 3 Swinging- 5 Fouls- 7 Balls- 2 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 1 BB- 2 Hits
3: 8 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 1 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 2 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Swinging K

Total: 50 Pitches- 37 Strikes- 9 Called- 9 Swinging- 13 Fouls- 13 Balls- 6 BPIP- 5 Swinging K- 1 BB- 4 Hits

Adalberto Flores Provided Huge Relief: Frisco certainly could have lost the game on Monday if not for the outstanding relief work by right hander Adalberto Flores. Flores entered the game to begin the 4th inning and left the game after giving up a harmless 2 out single in the 8th inning. Over his 4 2/3 innings of relief, Flores gave up just 1 hit and struck out 6 batters. In other words, Flores earned every bit of his 5th win of the season. It was Adalberto's 2nd 4 inning relief appearance this season and in both of them he has struck out 6 batters without issuing a walk.

Greene Goes Deep: Jonathan Greene continued a solid road trip with a 1 for 4 game including a homerun to right center field, 2 RBI, and a walk. For Greene the homerun was his 18th of the season and the 2 RBI gave him 71 on the season, which is tied for third on the club. With him getting over 70 for the season, it gives Frisco 3 players with 70 or more RBI in the same season for the first time in team history.

Stoneburner Continues to Show Patience: If there has been one weakness in Davis Stoneburner's game this season it has been his patience, or lack thereof. Through the first four months of the season, Stoneburner had walked 22 times, an average of 5.5 per month. Stoneburner used a 1 for 2 game with 2 more walks on Monday to get to 11 walks in the month of August (including 8 in his last 10 games) and 34 for the season. Stoneburner is batting .226 over his last 10 games, but his OBP over the same time is .415. 

Bianucci Knocks #28: Mike Bianucci went 2 for 5 in Frisco's win, including hitting his 28th blast of the season. The homerun, a solo shot to right field, puts him 6 behind Nate Gold's team best 34 homeruns in a single season. Frisco has 14 games remaining, however, which puts Bianucci at a tough spot. He did hit 6 homeruns in a 13 game span from July 16th-July 29th, so it's not impossible.

Osuna's 3 Hit Game: Osuna had his 6th multi hit game in the month of August on Monday when he went 3 for 5 with a run scored. The game extended his on base streak to 12 games dating back to August 10th. Osuna is up to 139 hits for the season and sits 18 hits behind Joaquin Arias's single season Frisco record for hits with 157 with 14 games remaining. Osuna would need 19 hits to set the single season record. From July 10th-July 24th, Osuna had 26 hits over 14 games and Osuna will need a similar stretch to get the record. Already Frisco's career hit leader, Renny Osuna is in the midst of his best season with Frisco.

Joey Butler/Mark Hamburger Update: Former Frisco reliever Mark Hamburger started yesterday's game for Round Rock and picked up his 7th win of the season for Round Rock. It was Hamburger's 3rd start of the season for Round Rock, who moved Hamburger into the rotation on August 12th. He gave up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 6 innings with 4 strikeouts in his 3rd start. As a starter, Hamburger is now 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA. He has given up 9 hits, 3 walks, and has struck out 13 batters in 15 1/3 innings.

Another former Rider, Joey Butler, is having a break through season for the Round Rock Express as well, in part thanks to an astronomically high BABIP (Batting average on balls in play). Butler added another productive game to his list yesterday when he went 2 for 4 with a double, homerun, 4 RBI, and a run scored. Butler is batting .333 for Round Rock with 27 doubles, 5 triples, 12 homeruns, 53 RBI, and 71 runs. He has a .390 on base percentage and .913 OPS overall. Butler was Frisco's RBI leader last season with 59 and was tied with Andy Jenkins for the team lead in homeruns with 10. He is also 5th on the all time hits list in a single season for Frisco with 143 last season.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 933 homeruns in 1002 games (0.931 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Drop down- To pitch with a lower arm angle; to pitch sidearm or underhanded.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Tulsa Drillers 2-1 on the road. Clayton Hamilton started for Frisco and gave up 7 hits and struck out 4 batters over 7 shutout innings without issuing a walk. Tim Murphy gave up 1 run over 1 inning of relief, while Mark Hamburger picked up his 5th save with a scoreless 9th inning. Johnny Whittleman led Frisco with a 2 for 3 game including a homerun and a run. Joey Butler added a 1 for 4 game with a solo homerun for the Riders. Jonathan Greene also added a 1 for 3 game, while Marcus Lemon led off with an 0 for 3 game with a walk.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Humansville, MO!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Monday, August 22, 2011

Game 126: Frisco RoughRiders (Neil Ramirez) @ Tulsa Drillers (Christian Friedrich)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (28-27 8 games back in the Texas League South; 68-57 overall)... Tulsa Drillers (25-30 5 games back in the Texas League North; 58-67 overall)
Magic Number: 4
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Road Trip: 1-4
Series Record: 17-14-4
2011 Record against Tulsa: 9-2
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 67-71
Record on August 22nd since 2004: 3-3
Starting Pitchers: Neil Ramirez (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Christian Friedrich (6-8 4.64 ERA)

Frisco Gets Dominant Pitching, Takes Game 2: After losing their 2nd game against Tulsa this season on Saturday, Frisco evened up the current series with a 6-2 victory over the Drillers on Sunday. With a rubber match coming on Monday, Frisco is 9-2 against the Drillers this season and improved their record against the Texas League North to 29-18 (.617 winning%). In fact they are now 58-39 (.598 winning%) against anyone not named San Antonio, who they play for the last time in the regular season this coming week at home.

Ross Continues to Roll: Frisco may have lost one Robbie at the trade deadline, however, they picked up another Robbie to replace him as well. In his fourth start for Frisco, Ross was as dominant as ever on the mound against the Tulsa Drillers. Ross gave up just 3 hits and 1 run over 7 strong innings with 6 strikeouts and 0 walks as well. In his 4 starts, Ross has pitched 25 1/3 innings and has given up 20 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 23 batters. Left handed batters are hitting just .043 against Ross (1 hit). He also got 16 swinging strikes on Sunday, which was the 3rd most in a single start by a Frisco RoughRider's pitcher this season.


Top 10 Swinging Strike Totals in 2011

1. 22- Robbie Erlin (6/26 vs. Corpus Christi)
2. 17- Miguel De Los Snatos (4/27 vs. San Antonio)
3. 16- Robbie Ross (8/21 vs. Tulsa)
4. 15- Martin Perez (5/16 vs. Midland)
5. 15- Jake Brigham (6/18 vs. Corpus Christi)
6. 15- Jake Brigham (4/9 vs. Springfield)
7. 13- Robbie Erlin (6/10 vs. San Antonio)
8. 13- Joe Wieland (6/10 vs. San Antonio)*
9. 13- Martin Perez (4/14 vs. Springfield)
10. 13- Martin Perez (4/8 vs. Springfield)

*= No-Hitter

Inning By Inning Count

1: 13 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 1 Called- 5 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 3 Balls- 1 BPIP- 2 Swinging K
2: 13 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 4 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 1 Hit
3: 7 Pitches- 5 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 1 Foul- 2 Balls- 3 BPIP
4: 16 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 1 Called- 4 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 7 Balls- 1 BPIP- 2 Swinging K
5: 12 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 3 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 4 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 1 Hit
6: 10 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 1 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 3 BPIP
7: 9 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 0 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 2 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit

Total: 80 Pitches- 55 Strikes- 9 Called- 16 Swinging- 13 Fouls- 25 Balls- 17 BPIP- 6 Swinging K- 3 Hits

Boldening The Offense: Jared Bolden had a big game on Sunday when the team needed a game from him (or anyone in the lower part of the order) most. With the team on the heels of a 4 game losing streak, Jared Bolden went 2 for 2 with a RBI, walk, and sacrifice bunt out of the 9 hole of the order.

Speaking of the Lower Part of the Order: Jared Bolden wasn't alone in producing out of the lower part of the order. The last four hitters in Frisco's lineup combined to go 5 for 11 with 5 walks, all 6 runs, and 1 RBI. Davis Stoneburner went 0 for 3 with 2 walks, Mitch Hilligoss went 2 for 3 with a walk, Jose Felix added a 1 for 3 game with a walk, and Bolden's 2 for 2 game with a walk and a sac bunt.

Casey Weathers Pulls a Rick Vaughn: One of the classic scenes (and quotable phrases) from the movie "Major League" is when Ricky Vaughn, a pitcher who could throw hard without a whole lot of control, especially in the beginning, walked the bases loaded with 12 straight balls against the New York Yankees early on. On Sunday, Casey Weathers did his own version of that when he walked Davis Stoneburner, Mitch Hilligoss, and Jose Felix consecutively on 12 straight balls to open the 8th inning before being replaced by Adam Jorgenson. Weathers also had walked Bolden, Osuna, and Beltre to open up the 7th inning, so the former 1st round pick faced 9 batters and walked 6 of them... that isn't good.

Strikeouts Piling Up on Road Trip: Frisco has struggled all year to keep the strikeout totals down, but recently they have taken it to scary levels. On the road trip, Frisco's position players have struck out 50 times over the 5 games, an average of 10 a game. They have 3 games with 10 or more strikeouts, including Saturday when the team struck out 12 times, including at least 2 from each of their 2nd-5th hitters. Overall they have had players have games with 2 or more strikeouts 15 times on the road trip from 8 different players.

2 Strikeouts

3- Tommy Mendonca
2- Engel Beltre
2- Mitch Hilligoss
1- Elio Sarmiento
1- Jonathan Greene
1- Jared Bolden

3 Strikeouts

2- Mike Bianucci
1- Jonathan Greene

4 Strikeouts


1- Tommy Mendonca

Organizational Woes: Speaking of struggling, on Sunday the Texas Ranger's organization as a whole had a lot of trouble hitting with runners in scoring position. Frisco as a team went 2 for 16 with RISP, while the other three Ranger's minor league affiliates had similar struggles. In the month of August, Frisco is 38 for 166 with RISP (.229 AVG) and since the Texas League All-star break Frisco's offense is 111 for 449 (.247) with RISP. Despite the struggles, however, the organization managed to go 2-2 as Frisco and Spokane received dominant pitching performances.

Round Rock (AAA): 3 for 17
Frisco (AA): 2 for 16
Myrtle Beach (A+): 4 for 16
Hickory (A) canceled
Spokane (Short Season A): 1 for 11

Total: 10 for 60 (.167 AVG)

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 926 homeruns in 994 games (0.932 HR/G) 


Term of the Day: Ballplayer's ballplayer- A player who is widely respected and admired by other players.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 5-4 to the Tulsa Drillers on the road. Martin Perez started for Frisco and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 3 1/3 innings with 3 strikeouts. Chris Mobley pitched 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief, but Ben Snyder and Tyler Tufts combined to give up 3 runs over 1 2/3 innings. Johnny Whittleman led Frisco's offense with a 3 for 4 game including a double and triple. Andy Jenkins went 2 for 4 with a homerun and 2 RBI for the Riders. Elio Sarmiento added a hit in 4 at bats with 2 RBI, while Joey Butler went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Engel Beltre added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Hot Coffee, MS!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Game 125: Frisco RoughRiders (Robbie Ross) @ Tulsa Drillers (Rob Scahill)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (27-27 8 games back in the Texas League South; 67-57 overall)... Tulsa Drillers (25-29 5 games back in the Texas League North; 58-66 overall)
Magic Number: 5
Streak: Lost 4 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Road Trip: 0-4
Series Record: 17-14-4
2011 Record against Tulsa: 8-2
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 66-71
Record on August 21st since 2004: 3-3
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Ross (0-1 3.44 ERA) vs. Rob Scahill (9-10 4.31 ERA)

Frisco falls to Tulsa for first time since May 30th: Frisco made a late comeback attempt on Saturday's game, but fell 4-3 to the Tulsa Drillers to extend Frisco's losing streak to 4 games, the team's longest since they lost 5 straight from April 23rd-27th. Frisco still managed to move closer to clinching a playoff berth, however, as Midland also lost their 4th straight game. With a magic number of 5, Frisco will not clinch the playoff berth on this road trip, and have a 4 game homestand coming up this week against San Antonio.


Derek Hankins First Non Dominant Frisco Start: For the first time in his Frisco career, which is all of three starts, Derek Hankins wasn't at the top of his game. After giving up just 1 run over 5 innings in his first start and 6 shutout innings in his second one, Hankins gave up 4 runs over 5 2/3 innings on Saturday in the loss to the Drillers. Hankins gave up 8 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1 batter. His ERA "skyrocketed" to 2.70. Hankins faced 25 batters and threw a first pitch strike to 13 of them.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 8 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 1 Called- 1 Swinging- 1 Foul- 1 Ball- 4 BPIP- 1 Hit
2: 14 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 2 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 6 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 BB- 1 Hit
3: 10 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 2 Called- 0 Swinging- 1 Foul- 4 Balls- 3 BPIP
4: 19 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 4 Fouls- 9 Balls- 5 BPIP- 2 Hits
5: 8 Pitches- 5 Strikes- 0 Called- 0 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 4 BPIP- 2 Hits
6: 15 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 2 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 7 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 1 BB- 2 Hits

Total: 74 Pitches- 44 Strikes- 8 Called- 4 Swinging- 10 Fouls- 30 Balls- 22 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 2 BB- 8 Hits

Mendonca Goes 2 For 4: Tommy Mendonca went 2 for 4 for the Riders on Saturday and drove in his 84th RBI on the season. Since the second half began, Mendonca is batting just .213 with 13 extra base hits in 46 games. His OPS during this time is .659 and his K-BB ratio is 65-15. This is after he batted .335 with 37 extra base hits in 65 games in the first half and posted a .983 OPS and 75-18 K-BB ratio.

Greene is HBP King: Jonathan Greene was hit by a pitch for the 17th time this season on Saturday during a game where he went 1 for 3 and stole a base as well. With the hit by pitch Jonathan Greene now holds the single season record by a Frisco RoughRider. The record was previously held by current Texas Ranger Craig Gentry, who was hit by 16 pitches in 2009. Being hit by pitches is no fluke for Jonathan Greene either, as Greene holds the Midwest League record for hit by pitches in a season with 36 in 2008. In 5 minor league seasons, Greene has netted exactly 100 hit by pitches.

Speaking of Kings, the Hit King...: Renny Osuna added 2 hits in 5 at bats on Saturday as well as the Frisco RoughRider's hit leader continues to pile up hits. Osuna is now up to 330 hits for his Frisco RoughRider's career with 136 coming this season. He is 21 hits away from Joaquin Arias's season high of 157 hits with 16 games to go. It's not likely, but it is possible so it's something to keep an eye on. He is currently on pace to finish with 152.5 hits for the season.

Making A Quick Impact: Matt Leeds has only been with Frisco for 3 games, but he already has 3 hits, 2 walks, a double, 2 RBI, and had 4 total bases. The switch handed hitter has given Frisco's offense a nice boost early on and has done so at a key time with Frisco's offense struggling a bit.

Just Dominant Pitching: Justin Miller pitched another 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on Saturday, but that should come as no surprise really as the right hander has been mowing down hitters left and right out of the bullpen for Frisco. Since the second half began, Miller has made 18 appearances, pitched in 27 innings, allowed just 15 hits, walked 12 batters, struck out 30, and is 3-0 with 3 saves. On the season, Miller now sports a nifty 1.99 ERA and has allowed just over a baserunner per inning with 44 hits allowed and 21 walks in 63 1/3 innings. Since June 1st, Miller's ERA is 0.73 over 24 appearances. If the question is where would Frisco be without Justin Miller, the answer is pretty obvious... not far.


Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 919 homeruns in 986 games (0.932 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Killer Instinct- The desire or inclination to defeat or finish off an opponent when the latter is struggling.


Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Tulsa Drillers 5-3 on the road. Travis Chick started for Frisco and gave up 4 hits over 5 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts and 0 walks. Adalberto Flores gave up 2 runs over 2/3 of an inning of relief. Tim Murphy gave up a run over 1 1/3 innings, while Tyler Tufts and Mark Hamburger pitched 2 shutout innings of relief. Renny Osuna went 2 for 5 with a double to lead Frisco's offense. Jose Felix added a 2 for 4 game with a homerun and 2 RBI for the Riders. Elio Sarmiento and Johnny Whittleman each added solo homeruns. Marcus Lemon, Joey Butler, Engel Beltre, and Guilder Rodriguez added a hit a piece as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from What Cheer, IA!


Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

- By Michael Damman