Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (24-23 6 games back in the Texas League South; 64-53 overall)... Tulsa Drillers (21-26 3 games back in the Texas League North; 54-63 overall)
Magic Number: 14
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 4-6
Homestand: 3-4
Series Record: 16-13-4
2011 Record against Tulsa: 5-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 63-70
Record on August 13th since 2003: 8-0
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (5-8 5.42 ERA) vs. Alex White (0-1 5.79 ERA)
Riders Shutout In Series Finale: For only the fourth time this season and only the second time since June 1st, Frisco was shutout by an opponent in their 2-0 loss to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. They lost 4-0 to the Corpus Christi Hooks on April 29th; 3-0 to the San Antonio Missions on May 6th; and 1-0 to the San Antonio Missions on July 20th. Frisco gave up a run in the 2nd and the 5th and that was all of the damage done against the pitching all night. Still, Frisco took 2 out of 3 from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and looks to continue their success against the Texas League North as the Tulsa Drillers come to town in the final 3 games of a 10 game, 11 day homestand.
Snyder Struggles to Get Ahead, Keeps Team in Game: Ben Snyder didn't give up a ton of baserunners on Friday night despite struggling to get ahead of hitters all night. Through four innings he had thrown first pitch strikes to just 4 of the 15 batters he faced, but had still limited the Natural's hitters to just 1 run over the 4 innings. He finished with 10 first pitch strikes to the 24 batters he faced and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) over 6 innings. He walked 3, struck out 1 batter, and gave up 4 hits in the contest. He wasn't helped by 3 errors behind him, including 2 involved with Paulo Orlando up at the plate in the 5th inning. Snyder's 5th loss of the season means that he's still stuck at 8 wins for the season and 11 wins for his career with Frisco.
Inning by Inning Count
1: 12 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 5 Balls- 3 BPIP-
2: 25 Pitches- 13 Strikes- 5 Called- 2 Swinging- 2 Fouls- 12 Balls- 4 BPIP- 1 BB- 2 Hits
3: 18 Pitches- 10 Strikes- 0 Called- 1 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 8 Balls- 3 BPIP- 1 BB- 1 Hit
4: 12 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 2 Called- 0 Swinging- 3 Fouls- 4 Balls- 3 BPIP-
5. 21 Pitches- 13 Strikes- 2 Called- 0 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 8 Balls- 5 BPIP- 1 BB- 1 Hit- 1 ROE
6: 9 Pitches- 6 Strikes- 3 Called- 0 Swinging- 1 Foul- 3 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K
Total: 97 Pitches- 57 Strikes- 15 Called- 4 Swinging- 18 Fouls- 40 Balls- 20 BPIP- 1 Called K- 3 BB- 4 Hits- 1 ROE
Brigham Reaches Magic #100: Jake Brigham struck out the side in the 9th inning, his one inning of relief in the game. His last strikeout came on a called strike three with Wil Myers, who was rated the #2 prospect in the Royal's system by Baseball America entering 2011, at the plate. Myers represented Brigham's 100th strikeout of the season, which is the most by a Frisco RoughRider's pitcher this season. Last season Martin Perez led Frisco with 101 strikeouts for the season. Only seven pitchers had reached 100 for a season for Frisco before Brigham this season. Of his 100 strikeouts, 32 have come as a reliever in 24 1/3 innings (11.84 K/9 ratio). Brigham first appeared as a reliever on June 23rd. He was 3-5 with a 4.96 ERA in 14 starts this season as a starting pitcher for Frisco.
Tulsa Comes To Town Amidst A Tight Texas League North: All season long the Texas League North has been far closer than the Texas League South. Each team has had their shining moments this season and all teams have remained close all season long. Currently in the second half, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals hold the first place honor, but are just 1 game up on Arkansas, 2 games up on Springfield, and 3 games up on last place Tulsa. The Naturals are the only team that are above .500 in the second half and they are 1 game over .500. Overall for the season, there is just a 6.5 game difference between the Arkansas Travelers/Northwest Arkansas Naturals (59-55 each) and Springfield Cardinals/Tulsa Drillers (54-63 each).
The Texas League North has probably also featured the higher touted prospects of the two parts of the Texas League as well. Currently, the Texas League North has 3 of Baseball America's top 15 prospects entering 2011 in Mike Trout (#2), Wil Myers (#10), and Shelby Miller (#13). Alex White (#47) and Willin Rosario (#49) are also on the Tulsa Drillers as well right now to round out 5 of Baseball America's pre-season top 50 prospects and 5 of the 6 top 50 prospects in the Texas League.
Speaking of Alex White: Taking the mound today for the Tulsa Drillers will be Alex White, who is likely the Colorado Rockie's top prospect now. White was one of the centerpieces in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade at the deadline. White was traded along with southpaw Drew Pomeranz, right handed minor league pitcher Joseph Gardner, and outfielder Matt McBride. White, Gardner, and McBride are all on the Tulsa Driller's roster and it is likely that Drew Pomeranz will be on Tulsa when he can officially be a part of the deal. Because he was drafted in 2010 and signed at the August 15th deadline, Pomeranz cannot officially be part of the deal until one year later, which would come this upcoming week.
White, 22 years old, was taken with the 15th overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Cleveland Indians. He was 1-0 with a 1.90 ERA in 4 starts for the Columbus Clippers (AAA International League) and made 3 starts for the Cleveland Indians this season. Today will be his third start for the Tulsa Drillers.
Frisco Undefeated Today: Frisco takes their franchise 8-0 record on the line in the TV game today. Frisco has never lost on August 13th entering today beginning with 2003, the first year of the team's history.
Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 876 homeruns in 930 games (0.942 HR/G)
Term of the Day: STUFF- A shorthand rating of a pitcher's demonstrated skills, relative to his age and level. Its primary use is to evaluate pitching prospects. A score of 10 for a minor league pitcher indicates he has the talent to develop into an average major-league starter. A score above 20 denotes an excellent prospects; that above 30 denotes an elite pitcher. The largest component of STUFF is the strikeout rate, but also considered are the walk rate, hit rate, earned run average, innings pitched per game, and age relative to that of the league.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 7-6 at home. Michael Schlact started for Frisco and gave up 9 hits, 2 walks, and 6 runs over 5 innings. Beau Jones picked up his second win with 4 scoreless innings of relief. Jonathan Greene led Frisco's offense with a 3 for 4 game including 2 RBI. James Tomlin went 2 for 4 with a double, RBI, stolen base, and run scored. Marcus Lemon added a 2 for 4 game with a RBI, walk, stolen base, and run scored for the Riders. Davis Stoneburner also went 2 for 4 with a double, RBI, and run scored. Andy Jenkins went 1 for 4 with a RBI, while Emerson Frostad went 1 for 3 with a walk. Joaquin Arias and Renny Osuna each added a hit as well.
As always...
A special thanks to any blog followers from Greenville, NC!
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- By Michael Damman
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