Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (24-22 6 games back in the Texas League South; 64-52 overall)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (23-23 1st place in the Texas League North; 58-55 overall)
Magic Number: 14
Streak: Won 2 in a row
Last 10: 4-6
Homestand: 3-3
Series Record: 15-13-4
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 6-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 70-66
Record on August 12th since 2004: 2-4
Starting Pitchers: Ben Snyder (8-4 4.57 ERA) vs. Jake Odorizzi (3-2 5.31 ERA)
Frisco Cruises to Guaranteed Series Win: Frisco jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 4 innings and after a glitch in the 6th where the Rider's gave up 3 runs, the offense tacked on 2 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th to defeat the Naturals 7-3. After going 0 for 8 with RISP, the offense went 5 for 13 in the win and helped the team to just their 4th win in 10 August games. It also guarantees at least a season series split with the Naturals and with one more win they would be guaranteed a season series win. Frisco has now won 8 consecutive series with the Texas League North.
Ramirez's Start: Neil Ramirez pitched 3 innings again in a start as he continues to be under a pitch limit. The 22 year old right hander struck out 5 batters, gave up 3 hits, and walked 2 batters over 3 innings without allowing a run. Over 5 1/3 innings for Frisco now, Ramirez has 8 strikeouts and has given up 3 hits and 4 walks. On the season, he has 102 strikeouts over 83 1/3 innings and is 4-3 with a 3.24 ERA. In the start on Thursday, Ramirez consistently hit 94 and 95 mph on the stadium radar gun, while mixing in his curveball in the 72-74 mph range and changeup as well.
Inning by Inning Count
1: 15 Pitches- 12 Strikes- 4 Called- 3 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 3 Balls- 2 BPIP- 2 Swinging K- 1 Hit
2: 25 Pitches- 15 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 10 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Hits
3: 22 Pitches- 11 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 11 Balls- 0 BPIP- 1 Called K- 1 Swinging K- 2 BB
Total: 62 Pitches- 38 Strikes- 12 Called- 5 Swinging- 14 Fouls- 24 Balls- 7 BPIP- 2 Called K- 3 Swinging K- 3 Hits- 2 BB
Sarmiento Hits #5: Elio Sarmiento added another homerun to his stellar 2011 campaign to this point. The catcher has split time with Jose Felix, but that still hasn't cooled his bat as Sarmiento continues to hit when he gets playing time. The 25 year old switch hitting catcher's 5th homerun was his 18th extra base hit of the season, which ties a career best with 2009. He has 9 doubles, 4 triples, and 5 homeruns this season in 43 games (150 at bats). Of his 18 extra base hits, 16 of them have come since June 1st as he is batting .315/.374/.568/.942 since June 1st with 8 doubles, 4 triples, and 4 homeruns.
Hilligoss Goes 3 for 4: Mitch Hilligoss continues to hit well in Frisco as the 26 year old went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs in Frisco's 7-3 win. He's now hitting .327/.400/.635/1.035 with 8 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 homeruns in 16 games at Dr. Pepper Ballpark this season. He has yet to hit an extra base hit in 13 games on the road.
Greene Reaches Base Three Times: Jonathan Greene continues to strikeout at an alarming rate, but also continues to produce at the plate. Greene went 2 for 3 with a RBI, walk, and strikeout in Thursday's win. He now has 65 RBI for the season, which is third on the team behind Tommy Mendonca (79) and Mike Bianucci (77). Greene is also batting .328 with a .960 OPS at Dr. Pepper Ballpark this season. He has struck out at least once in 15 consecutive games. His 133 strikeouts are the most by a Frisco RoughRider in the 9 year history of the team.
Speaking of Strikeouts: Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 5 at the plate with 3 strikeouts. His 3 strikeouts gives him 9 "sombreros" for the season, which ties Jonathan Greene for the team high.
Active Player's Sombrero Totals
1. Greene and Mendonca- 9
2. Bianucci- 6
3. Stoneburner- 4
4. Beltre and Ruiz- 2
5. Osuna- 1
6. Sarmiento, Felix, and Hilligoss- 0
One Step Closer: Jose Ruiz was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning by the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. For Ruiz, it was the 4th time he's been hit by a pitch this season, including his 3rd in the last 6 games. For Frisco, however, it was the team's 71st hit by pitch of the season putting them tied with the 2008 club for the 3rd most by a Frisco RoughRider's team. They are now 6 shy of tying the most by a Frisco RoughRider's team and 7 short of setting a franchise high. The current most was 77 set by the 2004 Texas League championship team.
Feast or Famine Texas League: The two league records that stand the best chance of going down in the Texas League this season are the league homerun record and the league strikeout record. Currently the Texas League sits at 873 homeruns and 6,613 strikeouts through 918 games. According to the 2011 Texas League Media Guide & Record Book, the records for those are 1,066 homeruns and 7,798 strikeouts. As of right now, the league is on pace for 1,058 homeruns and 8,018 strikeouts. Now a few games can change the league's pace quite a bit as we've seen in the last week or two as the league has gone from averaging around 0.97 HR/G to 0.95 HR/G which has brought them from on pace to break the record to falling just short. With the season getting closer to the end it will be interesting to see how these records end up falling.
Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 873 in 918 games (0.951 HR/G)
Term of the Day: Cheap Win- 1. A victory in which the winning team did nothing spectacular, but the losing team did even worse. 2. A victory for a pitcher when his game score is less than 50. The statistic was introduced by Bill James in his Baseball Abstract (1988).
Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 7-1 at home to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Carlos Pimentel started for Frisco and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 7 runs (5 earned) over 4 innings with 2 strikeouts. Adalberto Flores and Corey Young each pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief, while Tyler Tufts pitched the 9th inning scoreless as well. James Tomlin led Frisco's offense with a 2 for 4 game including a double. Joey Butler added a 1 for 4 game with a triple for the Riders. Andy Jenkins went 1 for 4 with a RBI, while Joaquin Arias had a 1 for 4 game as well.
As always...
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- By Michael Damman
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