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



Thursday, August 25, 2011

Game 129: San Antonio Missions (Joe Wieland) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Derek Hankins)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (31-27 6 games back in the Texas League South; 71-57 overall)... San Antonio Missions (37-21 1st place in the Texas League South; 86-42 overall)
Magic Number: Clinched Unofficially/San Antonio's magic number: 6
Streak: Won 4 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Homestand: 2-0
Series Record: 18-14-4
2011 Record against San Antonio: 12-18
All-Time Record against San Antonio: 122-124
Record on August 25th since 2004: 4-3
Starting Pitchers: Derek Hankins (1-1 2.70 ERA) vs. Joe Wieland (6-0 1.50 ERA)

Back to Back Homers Give Frisco Win, Guarantee Series Split: Frisco seemed to be out of the game for most of the night on Wednesday, but a 3-run homerun followed by a solo homerun in the 6th inning revived the night and gave Frisco a 4-3 win over the Missions. The win meant Frisco could at the very least salvage a split with the Missions and should give Frisco confidence as they prepare for the playoffs in early September. Frisco is now 12-18 against the Missions, but they are 5-5 against the Missions over their last 10 games against the team with the best record in minor league baseball.

Pimentel Starts Strong, Loses Focus, Ends Strong: It took Carlos Pimentel just 22 pitches to get through the first two innings and 27 pitches to get through the last 2 innings that he pitched, but in between it took him 54 pitches to get through the 3rd inning and 4th inning, and you couldn't help but wonder if the loss of focus in the 3rd inning and 4th was due to catcher Jose Felix almost running into the dugout with just 2 outs in the inning. Pimentel struck out the first 2 batters in the 3rd inning when Jose Felix ran off the field thinking the strikeout to Daniel Robertson was the third out of the inning when it was only the 2nd inning. It's rare that a catcher would lose track of the outs like that in an inning due to being such an integral part of each hitter. Pimentel went to 0-2 counts with 10 of the 25 batters he faced in the start, including 8 through the first 4 innings.


Inning by Inning Count

1: 13 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 3 Called- 2 Swinging- 1 Foul- 5 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K- 1 BB
2: 9 Pitches- 8 Strikes- 4 Called- 1 Swinging- 0 Fouls- 1 Ball- 3 BPIP
3: 24 Pitches- 15 Strikes- 4 Called- 3 Swinging- 6 Fouls- 9 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Called K- 2 Swinging K- 2 Hits
4: 30 Pitches- 12 Strikes- 3 Called- 3 Swinging- 5 Fouls- 17 Balls- 1 BPIP- 1 HBP- 2 Called K- 2 BB
5: 13 Pitches- 7 Strikes- 3 Called- 1 Swinging- 1 Foul- 6 Balls- 2 BPIP- 1 Swinging K
6: 14 Pitches- 9 Strikes- 1 Called- 0 Swinging- 4 Fouls- 5 Balls- 4 BPIP- 2 Hits

Total: 103 Pitches- 59 Strikes- 18 Called- 10 Swinging- 17 Fouls- 43 Balls- 14 BPIP- 1 HBP- 4 Called K- 3 Swinging K- 3 BB- 4 Hits

Bianucci Becomes 3rd Texas Leaguer with 30: Springfield Cardinal's first baseman Matt Adams was the only player in the Texas League with 30 homeruns this season entering Wednesday. Tim Wheeler joined the 30 club by swatting his first homerun since August 2nd in the 1st inning of Tulsa's 5-2 win over Arkansas. Mike Bianucci joined the club with a 3-run game tying homerun to left centerfield in the 6th inning. The blast also brought him to 83 RBI for the season, which is 7 short of matching a career high. It is Bianucci's 2nd time in 3 full seasons that he has hit 30 or more homeruns in a season. He had 30 homeruns in 2009 between Hickory (low-A) and Bakersfield (high-A). He is also 3 extra base hits short of matching a career high in that category as well. With 12 games remaining on the schedule, Bianucci sits 4 short of Nate Gold's team record 34 homeruns in a single season.


Mendonca Clubs #25: Tommy Mendonca joined Mike Bianucci as the only Frisco teammates with 25 or more in a season in team history. The go ahead and eventual game winning solo homerun followed Bianucci's 3-run blast in the 6th inning. The pitch by Oramas was a mistake fastball placed exactly down the middle of the plate and Mendonca didn't miss anything on the pitch. Mendonca's 25 homeruns puts him at 4th on Frisco's single season list, 1 behind Chad Tracy's 26 homeruns in 2009. Mendonca is also now at 87 RBI for the season. Both his homeruns and RBI are career bests, although this is his second full season in the minors.


Justin Miller 1st to 10 Saves: When Fabio Castillo earned his 9th save of the season on July 12th, it seemed like a given that it would be Castillo that would be the first to 10 saves for the season. Instead, on August 24th it was Justin Miller who earned his 10th save of the season to go along with a tied for team best 9 wins. He is one of three players in minor league baseball with 9 or more saves and wins. With one win he would be the only pitcher in minor league baseball with double digit wins and saves this season.

Chad Tracy Update: Chad Tracy had a great game yesterday in Round Rock's 16-9 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes. Tracy went 3 for 6 with 2 homeruns and 6 RBI. On the season he now has 23 homeruns and 100 RBI. It is his second minor league season with 100 or more RBI. His first came with Frisco in 2009 when he had a team record 107 RBI in a season.

Other former Frisco RoughRiders hitters in that game were:

Leonys Martin- 2 for 6 with a double, 2 RBI, run scored. Batting .270 for Round Rock
Joey Butler- 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored. He's batting .330 for Round Rock this season
Robbie Diaz- 2 for 5 with a homerun, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Batting .309 for Round Rock
Jose Ruiz- 1 for 5 with a RBI. Ruiz was promoted a week and a half or so ago and is struggling to a .205 batting average so far.
Guilder Rodriguez- 2 for 4 with a RBI, walk, 2 runs, and a stolen base. He's batting .292 so far for Round Rock.


Andy Parrino Promoted to San Diego: Fresh off a 1 for 3 game with a homerun and a walk against Frisco, the 25 year old shortstop got the promotion to the San Diego Padres. According to the Rochester Democrat, Parrino is the 1st non-pitcher from Rochester, NY to make the major leagues in 65 years. I'm sure Frisco had nothing to do with the promotion of Parrino given his .347/.484/.653/1.137 line against Frisco this season.

Return of Joe Wieland: Joe Wieland will face his former team for the first time today. The 21 year old right hander was traded by Texas on July 31st to the San Diego Padres along with Robbie Erlin for major league reliever Mike Adams. Joe Wieland threw a no-hitter for Frisco in his last start for the Riders against the San Antonio Missions, the team he plays on now, on the road on July 29th. Wieland went 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 7 starts for Frisco this season. In the Texas League he is 6-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 10 starts and overall between high-A and AA this season, Wieland is 12-3 with a 1.85 ERA in 24 games/23 starts. In his 10 starts in the Texas League, Frisco/San Antonio is 10-0 when he starts.

Happy Birthday!: Frisco's pressbox would like to wish a Happy Birthday to Betsy Pry of Antioch, Tennessee! Betsy is the sister of Frisco's scoreboard operator extraordinaire Billy Cannon. So, Happy Birthday and hope you have a great day!

Tracking Texas League Homeruns: 949 homeruns in 1018 games (0.932 HR/G)

Term of the Day: Shuttle System- The process of moving players back and forth between the major leagues and minor leagues.

Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the San Antonio Missions 4-3 in 11 innings at home. Richard Bleier started for Frisco and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 innings with 1 strikeout. Chris Mobley and Tyler Tufts each pitched 2 scoreless innings. Brennan Garr picked up the win with a scoreless 11th inning. Engel Beltre led Frisco with a 3 for 4 game including a double, RBI, and run scored. Jonathan Greene went 2 for 4 with a homerun, RBI, and 2 runs scored. Renny Osuna added a 2 for 5 game with a RBI for the Riders. Joey Butler, Emerson Frostad, and Andy Jenkins each added a hit as well. It was the middle game of three extra inning games in a row, which accumulated 38 innings over 3 games.

 
As always...

A special thanks to any blog followers from Antioch, TN!


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

- By Michael Damman

No comments:

Post a Comment