Game 112: San Antonio Missions (Simon Castro) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Ben Snyder)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (21-20 5 games back in the Texas League South; 61-50 overall)... San Antonio Missions (26-15 1st place in the Texas League South; 75-36 overall)
Magic Number: 17
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Homestand: 0-1
Series Record: 15-12-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 9-16
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 119-123
Record on August 6th Since 2004: 4-3
Starting Pitchers: Ben Snyder (8-3 4.39 ERA) vs. Simon Castro (3-5 5.34 ERA)

Frisco Loses For First Time On August 5th: For the first time since 2004 Frisco lost on August 5th. It was the only day that Frisco had not lost on before Friday night's 4-2 loss to the San Antonio Missions. Frisco's batters struck out 15 times and their pitchers walked 10 times en route to the loss to the first place Mission's team. Due to Midland winning as well, Frisco's magic number remains at 17 making it harder for the Riders to clinch this homestand if the Missions are to stay in first place in the division in the second half.

Ramirez's Short Start: Neil Ramirez was only expected to make about 50 pitches on Friday in his Frisco debut, so the expectations were not for him to last too long in the game. He finished up going 2 1/3 innings in the start, did not allow a hit, walked 2 batters, and struck out 3, all in the first inning. He made 48 pitches, and 30 of them went for strikes. He also threw first pitch strikes to 4 of the 9 batters he faced.

Inning by Inning Count

1: 22 Pitches- 14 Strikes- 4 Called- 4 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 8 Balls- 0 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Swinging K- 1 BB
2: 17 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 8 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 BB
3: 9 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 2 Called- 0 Swinging- 4 Fouls- 2 Balls- 1 BPIP-

Total: 48 Pitches- 30 Strikes- 9 Called- 5 Swinging- 12 Fouls- 18 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Swinging K- 3 BB

Sarmiento Gets #4: Elio Sarmiento came into 2011 with 7 career triples, including a career high of 3 in a season. On Friday night, Sarmeinto knocked his 4th triple of the season, which is one short of the team high of 5 held by Davis Stoneburner and Engel Beltre. The triple, hit to deep centerfield, was Sarmiento's lone hit for the game.

Twice Is Not Always Nice: Five Frisco RoughRider's hitters struck out at least twice in the game on Friday, including 3 times for both Tommy Mendonca and Jonathan Greene. Stoneburner, Mike Bianucci, and Sarmiento all struck out twice in the game as well. Greene and Mendonca are both over the 120 mark on the season for strikeouts, while Bianucci sits at 110. It is the first time that Frisco has had two players with 120 or more strikeouts in the same season. Since striking out 21 times in 18 games in April (1.17 K/G) , Greene has struck out 105 times over his last 83 games (1.27 K/G) The only Frisco RoughRider to not strikeout in the game was Jose Ruiz, who went 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch.

Speaking of Hit by Pitches: Jose Ruiz's hit by pitch was his 2nd of the season, but more notably it was the 63rd time that a Frisco RoughRider's hitter has been hit by a pitch this season. That is already the 4th most that a Frisco RoughRider's team has been hit by pitches in a season. The record is 77 set by the 2004 team. Jonathan Greene leads the team with 15 on the season, which is one shy of tying Craig Gentry's Frisco RoughRider season high of 16 in 2009.

Snyder Goes for #12: When he takes the mound today, Ben Snyder will be aiming for win #12 as a Frisco RoughRider. He currently is tied with 9 other pitchers at 11 wins for the 10th best total as a Frisco RoughRider. This season Snyder has 8 wins while splitting time between the bullpen and the rotation. Jonathan Greene and Mike Bianucci are also tied for 9th with Chris Davis for the most homeruns as a Frisco RoughRider with 25 each. Greene's 25 come over 3 seasons, while Davis's was over 2 and Bianucci's is over 1. Bianucci's 25 this season is the 3rd best season total by a RoughRider.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 840 homeruns in 882 Games (0.952 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Polished Deception- The use of style and grace by a pitcher to mask his mechanical weaknesses.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 8-4 on the road to the San Antonio Missions. Martin Perez started for Frisco and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs over 2 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Brennan Garr pitched in relief and gave up 5 hits and 2 runs over 2 2/3 innings of relief. Tyler Tufts pitched a scoreless inning of relief, while Mark Hamburger gave up 2 runs over 2 innings of relief. Johnny Whittleman led Frisco's offense with a 2 for 4 game including a walk. Andy Jenkins went 1 for 4 with a RBI and a walk, while Jose Felix went 2 for 4 with a RBI and Jonathan Greene went 2 for 5 with a run scored for the Riders. Marcus Lemon added a hit in 5 at bats with a RBI and Davis Stoneburner went 1 for 4 with a hit by pitch. James Tomlin and Joey Butler each added a hit as well.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Smileyberg, KS!

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