Game 111: San Antonio Missions (Juan Oramas) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Neil Ramirez)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (21-19 4 games back in the Texas League South; 61-49 overall)... San Antonio Missions (25-15 1st place in the Texas League South; 74-36 overall)
Magic Number: 17
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 4-6
Road Trip: 3-4
Series Record: 15-12-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 9-15
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 119-122
Record on August 5th Since 2004: 7-0
Starting Pitchers: Neil Ramirez (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Juan Oramas (6-3 3.43 ERA)

Frisco Loses Rubber Match, Series to Midland: Frisco lost their second consecutive series to the Midland Rockhounds with this one being on the road as the Riders lost 3-1 on Thursday's getaway game. Frisco is now 14-8 this season against Midland and enters a 4 game set with the division leading San Antonio Missions as the first of 3 home series during a 10 game, 11 day homestand. The homestand is the longest of the season as Frisco will take on the Missions and then finish up the last home games of the season against the Texas League North with 3 with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and 3 with the Tulsa Drillers. They do, however, have a rare off day during the middle of the homestand on Tuesday. I'm not sure the last time Frisco had an off day during the middle of a homestand.


Ross Struggles Early, Dominates Late in AA Debut: Robbie Ross got off to a bit of a tough stretch in the first inning as he allowed three singles and a walk in the first inning en route to 2 early Midland runs. But once the 22 year old got through the first inning jitters he was golden against the Rockhounds. Ross breezed through the second, struck out the side in the third, faced the minimum three batters in the fourth, and after a homerun and a single to leadoff the 5th, Ross retired the next 6 batters to finish his 6 innings. He threw first pitch strikes to 18 of the 23 batters he faced (78%) and ended up with a fine AA debut as he gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 innings with 6 strikeouts.

Inning By Inning Count

1: 24 Pitches- 12 Strikes- 3 Called- 2 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 12 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 1 BB- 1 Hit
2: 10 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 2 Called- 0 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 3 Balls- 3 BPIP
3: 13 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 3 Called- 3 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 4 Balls- 0 BPIP- 3 Swinging K
4: 9 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 1 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 2 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 Hit
5: 21 Pitches- 14 Strikes- 1 Called- 1 Swinging- 8 Fouls- 7 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Swinging K- 2 Hits
6: 14 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 4 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K

Total: 91 Pitches- 59 Strikes- 14 Called- 8 Swinging- 21 Fouls- 32 Balls- 16 BPIP- 1 Called K- 5 Swinging K- 1 BB- 6 Hits

Greene Continues to Hit: For the first time in quite some time since early in the season, Jonathan Greene leads the Frisco RoughRiders in batting average with a .301 average. That is thanks to a 2 for 3 game on Thursday with a walk and his 4th stolen base of the season. Greene is batting .324 with a .970 OPS over his last 10 games and .304 since July 1st. He's proven to be able to hit anybody and has excelled in situations that most guys who strikeout a lot probably would not. With runners in scoring position, Greene is batting .320/.402/.515/.917 this season. With the bases empty he is batting .301 and with runners on, he's batting .302. He is hitting .307 against left handers, but also .299 against right handers. He has consistently produced for Frisco this season, no matter the situation.

Ruiz Gets 2 Hits Again: For the third straight game, Jose Ruiz went 2 for 4 and he added his 3rd double in the last 3 games. Ruiz had 5 2 hit games on the 7 game road trip and reached base in 6 of the 7 games. Now he comes back home to a ballpark that he has hit .297/.356/.560/.916 this season. Although he will have to defy the odds opponent wise:

vs. San Antonio:  .256/.327/.395/.722--- 86 AB
vs. Northwest Arkansas:  .200/.190/.350/.540 --- 20 AB
vs. Tulsa Drillers:  .273/.333/.455/.788---22 AB
Total: .250/.308/.398/.706---128 AB

With 2 Hits, Osuna Is 5 Away: Renny Osuna went 2 for 5 in the game against Midland on Thursday which puts him 4 hits away from tying all-time leader Steve Murphy, who had 319 hits as a Frisco RoughRider, and is 5 away from becoming the all-time hits leader. Hint: Ranger's brass, now wouldn't be a very nice time to promote Renny Osuna to AAA. Osuna is also a double from reaching 20 this season for Frisco and would become the 6th Frisco RoughRider with 20+ doubles, which would be a first in team history. Over roughly 2 seasons with Frisco, Osuna has been a .285 hitter and has knocked 47 doubles, 8 triples, 12 homeruns, and stolen 33 bases. His 8 homeruns this season are two times the amount of his next best season.

Offense: For the second consecutive game, the Frisco RoughRider's lineup finished one hitter shy of having everybody in the lineup with a hit. On Wednesday it was Renny Osuna who went 0 for 5 and on Thursday it was Mitch Hilligoss who went 0 for 4 in the game. The offense has not had trouble with getting hits, but it has had trouble getting runners in from second or third. On Thursday the offense went 2 for 13 with RISP and left 11 on base as a team total.

Ya(w)n: Just another ho hum scoreless performance from Johan Yan, the 22 year old right handed reliever for Frisco. Yan got promoted from Myrtle Beach (High-A) when Martin Perez was promoted to AAA and has been nothing short of consistently good for Frisco thus far. Yan has appeared in 8 games, has pitched 12 2/3 innings, allowed 7 hits, 0 runs, walked 5, and struck out 7. This season between high-A and AA, Yan has appeared in 34 games, pitched 54 innings, given up 40 hits, walked 18 batters, struck out 55, and has just a 1.17 ERA out of the bullpen. 


Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 834 Homeruns in 874 Games (0.954 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Gonfalonia Interruptus- A facetious, psudo-medical term for the struggles of a team bogged down in its quest for the pennant.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Midland Rockhounds 7-3 at home. Ben Snyder started for Frisco and gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. Chris Mobley pitched a scoreless inning of relief and Beau Jones pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief for his 3rd save. Johnny Whittleman led Frisco's lineup with a 3 for 4 game including a double, 2 RBI, walk, and run scored. Davis Stoneburner went 2 for 3 with a walk in the game for the Riders. Jonathan Greene went 1 for 4 with a homerun and 2 RBI. Marcus Lemon reached base three times with 3 walks. Elio Sarmiento and James Tomlin each added a hit as well, while Andy Jenkins added a hit and a RBI.

As always...

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- By Michael Damman