Game 110: Frisco RoughRiders (Robbie Ross) @ Midland Rockhounds (Gary Daley)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Citibank Ballpark (Midland, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (21-18 2 games back in the Texas League South; 61-48 overall)... Midland Rockhounds (18-21 5 games back in the Texas League South; 46-63 overall)
Magic Number: 17
Streak: Won 1 in a Row
Last 10: 5-5
Road Trip: 3-3
Series Record: 15-11-4
2011 Record against Midland: 14-7
All-Time Record against Midland: 117-104
Record on August 4th Since 2004: 3-3
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Ross (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Gary Daley (4-4 4.68 ERA)

Frisco Back On Winning End: After Losing a tough 11 inning game to San Antonio on Monday and a slugfest on Tuesday, Frisco took advantage of 3 Midland errors and scored in 4 different innings en route to a 6-3 victory over the Midland Rockhounds. The win pushed their magic number to 17 to clinch a playoff spot as long as San Antonio were to win the division for the second half. Or Frisco could use their up coming 4 game home series with the Missions to take over first place alone.

Richard Bleier Better In Win: Bleier moved to 4-6 on the season with one of his better starts. He gave up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts.

Inning By Inning Count

1: 18 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 10 Balls- 1 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 2 BB
2: 10 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 3 Balls- 3 BPIP-
3: 18 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 4 Called- 0 Swinging- 1 Foul- 8 Balls- 5 BPIP- 4 Hits
4: 20 Pitches- 14 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 6 Balls- 6 BPIP- 3 Hits- 1 ROE
5: 16 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 4 Called- 0 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 6 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Called K-1 Hit

Total: 82 Pitches- 49 Strikes- 19 Called- 3 Swinging- 9 Fouls- 33 Balls- 18 BPIP- 1 Called K- 1 Swinging K- 2 Balls- 8 Hits- 1 ROE


Stoneburner Has 2nd Straight 3 Hit Game: For the second day in a row, Frisco second baseman Davis Stoneburner went 3 for 5 with a double in the game and scored 2 runs as well. Stoneburner also stole his 14th base of the season which ties him with Guilder Rodriguez (now in AAA) for the team lead. Stoneburner is now hitting .286 for the season with an OPS closing in on .800 at .792.

Mendonca Goes Deep: For the first time since July 26th Tommy Mendonca sent a ball over the wall for a homerun. He went 2 for 5 with the homerun and 2 RBI. It was also his 6th homerun this season against Midland in 84 at bats. He has a team best 22 RBI against the Rockhounds this season.


Raking Midland: There is something about the Midland Rockhounds that makes Frisco hitters go nuts against their pitching. Frisco could put together a lineup on any given day that features:

Position-Name- Batting Line vs. Midland:
C- Elio Sarmiento: .455/.514/.939/1.453
1B- Jose Ruiz: .333/.426/.614/1.041
2B- Davis Stoneburner: .414/.469/.672/1.141
3B- Tommy Mendonca: .429/.500/.738/1.238
SS- Renny Osuna: .209/.263/.314/.577
LF- Mitch Hilligoss: .353/.389/.529/.918
CF- Engel Beltre: .197/.234/.246/.280
RF- Jonathan Greene: .360/.388/.533/.921
DH- Mike Bianucci: .284/.344/.605/.949

When you have four players with an OPS above 1.000 and three more with an OPS above .900, I think you've got a pretty good chance of scoring some runs.

Justin Miller Steps Up: There may not be a reliever who has been better than Justin Miller for the Frisco RoughRiders this season. He has been nails late in the games for Frisco this season, especially of late. Miller went the entire month of June without allowing a run and gave up just 2 in July in 15 innings. Well, in August, he's gotten off to a pretty good start as well with 2 superb innings on Wednesday to help Frisco win the game. Miller did not allow a baserunner over 2 innings and struck out 2 batters. His swing and miss% of 12.4% is among the best of Frisco's bullpen and his strike% (65.9) and 1st pitch strike% (63.2) are very good as well. He also has been very tough to score upon even when given baserunners as Miller has allowed just 3 of 17 inherited runners score.  To go further, Miller has been especially good in the 8th inning, which could be an inning he could fill in the future at a higher level.

8th Inning
Strike%: 68.9
Swing and Miss%: 14.6
1st Pitch Strike%: 63.3
Inherited Runners-Scored: 7-1 (14.3% scored)
1st Batters Faced- Hits-Strikeouts: 14-3-3

Overall:
vs. LHB: .192/.306/.288/.594
vs. RHB: .205/.254/.303/.557

Tracking the Texas League Homeruns: 830 homeruns in 866 games (0.958 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Human Rain Delay- A batter who takes considerable time preparing to receive each pitch by warming up, swinging the bat, pounding his spikes, moving in and out of the batter's box, adjusting his helmet or batting gloves, calling time, etc. The term was applied specifically to Mike Hargrove and Carlton Fisk.


Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 7-2 to the Midland Rockhounds at home. Richard Bleier started for Frisco and gave up 8 hits and 5 runs over 7 innings with 6 strikeouts and 0 walks. Tyler Tufts worked a scoreless inning of relief, while Mark Hamburger gave up 2 runs over an inning of work as well. Johnny Whittleman went 2 for 4 with a double at the plate for Frisco while James Tomlin added a 2 hit game in 4 at bats as well. Jonathan Greene went 1 for 4 with a solo homerun for the Riders. Jose Felix, Renny Osuna, and Marcus Lemon each added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Oddville, KY!

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- By Michael Damman