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 10, 2011

Game 115: Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Jeremy Jeffress) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Robbie Ross)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (22-22 6 games back in the Texas League South; 62-52 overall)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (23-21 1st place Texas League South; 58-53 overall)
Magic Number: 16
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Homestand: 1-3
Series Record: 15-13-4
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas Naturals: 4-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas Naturals: 68-66
Record on August 10th since 2004: 3-3
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Ross (0-1 4.50 ERA) vs. Jeremy Jeffress (1-1 4.60 ERA)

Frisco Blows Lead, Loses Series to San Antonio: Frisco seemed to be on their way to a successful series split where they would manage to defeat both Casey Kelly and Robbie Erlin, but a late rally by the Missions beginning in the 8th inning defied the Riders their chance at a series split. Frisco lost 3-1 in the end to the Missions as the bullpen could not hold the 1-0 lead, which stood for 7 full innings.

Hankins Great In Debut: Derek Hankins, a former 10th round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2004 draft, made his debut for Frisco on Monday and pitched as well as one could have ever expected. The 28 year old right hander began this season in AAA Round Rock and was sent down when the Rangers promoted Tanner Scheppers from Frisco to Round Rock. For the time being Hankins is taking over Richard Bleier's rotation spot. Hankins gave up 1 hit and 1 walk over 5 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts and made just 54 pitches in total. He threw first pitch strikes to 10 of the 16 batters he faced in the game, one over the minimum.


Inning by Inning Count

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

Total: 54 Pitches- 34 Strikes- 8 Called- 5 Swinging- 8 Fouls- 20 Balls- 13 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 1 Hit- 1 BB

Bianucci Ties Tracy: Mike Bianucci blasted his 26th homerun of the season to leadoff the 2nd inning off of Robbie Erlin, which gave Frisco a 1-0 lead at the time and seemed like all they might need. Bianucci's blast tied him with Chad Tracy for the second most homeruns in a single season by a Frisco RoughRider and puts him 8 short of Nate Gold's franchise best 34 homeruns in a single season. It also moved Bianucci out of a tie with Jonathan Greene and Chris Davis and into a tie with Ben Harrison for the 8th most career homeruns by a Frisco RoughRider. Steve Murphy holds the career record with 41 homeruns as a Frisco RoughRider.

Mendonca Swings the Bat: Tommy Mendonca went 2 for 4 with a double at the plate for Frisco in the loss to San Antonio. He also tried to stretch his second hit into a double in the 9th inning, but was thrown out at second base to end the game. Mendonca has been struggling since July 1st as the third baseman is batting .234 since July 1st with 7 homeruns. Although his August hasn't been too bad with a .281/.343/.438/.781 batting line in 8 games so far.

Top 10 Texas League Hitters In 2011 in OPS+

1. 184 James Darnell, San Antonio (SD): .333/.434/.604/1.038
2. 171 Mike Trout, Arkansas (LAA): .325/.418/.534/.952
3. 162 Jermaine Mitchell, Midland (OAK): .355/.453/.589/1.042
4. 160 Blake Tekotte, San Antonio (SD): .298/.410/.534/.944
5. 152 J.D. Martinez, Corpus Christi (HOU): .338/.414/.546/.960
6. 148 Matt Adams, Springfield (STL): .321/.380/.609/.989
7. 141 Luis Jimenez, Arkansas (LAA): .297/.342/.501/.843
8. 140 Tim Wheeler, Tulsa (COL): .297/.377/.563/.940
9. 137 Tommy Mendonca, Frisco (TEX): .297/.357/.529/.886
10. 137 Alex Castellanos Springfield (STL): .319/.379/.562/.941


With Hit List On Line, Osuna Struck Out 4 Times: Renny Osuna is currently tied with Steve Murphy for the most hits by a Frisco RoughRider in their respective careers at 319. But on Monday, Osuna did something he had never done before, which was go 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts. He had never struck out 4 times in his career before, let alone go 0 for 4 with the 4 strikeouts. All of that being said, the hits quest continues on Wednesday as Osuna tries to become the first Frisco RoughRider with 320 hits in a career. He is just the second with 300 or more hits in his career.

Robbie Erlin Outstanding in Frisco Return: It was just a little over a week ago that Robbie Erlin was still wearing a Frisco RoughRider's uniform. But on Monday he showed no allegiance to the RoughRider's as Erlin mowed through the Rider's lineup stating to each batter that they really had little to no chance of doing anything. The 20 year old southpaw gave up just 2 hits, 1 run, and struck out 9 batters without issuing a walk in 6 innings. The only run came on the solo homerun that he gave up to Mike Bianucci to leadoff the 2nd inning. Even with the outing, however, Erlin was in line for the loss until the Riders bullpen and Mission's offense got him off the hook. In two starts for the Missions, Erlin has given up 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, and has struck out 15 batters over 12 innings. He has received no decisions in both starts. On the season overall, Erlin has now struck out 138 batters to just 13 walks over 133 1/3 innings while giving up only 105 hits.

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 863 Homeruns in 906 Games (0.953 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Bat-Burning Ceremony- A mostly metaphoric ritual during which the useless bats of a baseball team are burned in a bonfire.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco had an off day.

As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from West Thumb, WY!


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

- By Michael Damman

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