Next Game: Tomorrow Night at 7 PM CT at Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX) against the Texas League South 1st place San Antonio Missions. It will be an important series for the Frisco RoughRiders, who are 6 games back entering the 4 game set with San Antonio.
Streak: Won 6 in a Row
Last 10: 8-2
Series Record: 8-7-1
Record Since 2004 on June 7th: 3-4 with 1 rain out and 1 double header
Frisco Finishes 6-0 Road Trip: In what could have been a big momentum switch if the Missions would ever lose, Frisco defeated the Tulsa Drillers 9-4 and swept the Texas League North's 1st place team for a second consecutive sweep on the road. They begin the month of June with 6 straight wins, which is tied for their best start to open a month since 2004. Frisco also won 6 straight to open August 2008. They are now 24-10 since May 1st, the best record in the Texas League during that time.
Martin Perez Wins 3rd Straight: Martin Perez struck out 8 batters over 6 innings and gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs in the win. It is his 3rd consecutive win in a start and Perez is now 4-0 in his last 13 starts dating back to last season. Over his last 5 starts, Martin Perez has struck out 33 batters and walked just 8 in 32 2/3 innings, while facing Midland, San Antonio, Northwest Arkansas, and Tulsa. Perez lowered his ERA against Texas League North competition to 2.53 in 6 starts.
Leonys Martin's Game: Leonys Martin has made quite an impact on the Riders and on Monday, he made quite an impact by reaching base 4 times, including going 3 for 4 at the plate with a homerun and 4 RBI. He also scored 2 runs in the game, although Martin was caught stealing twice on the basepaths. Martin got his 3rd homerun (a 2-run shot) of the season in the 3rd inning on what was said to be a "no-doubter". He now has 11 extra base hits in 21 games and 12 walks to 6 strikeouts.
Jose Ruiz Also Hits Homerun: It looked like Martin would be a clear candidate as the lead story, but Jose Ruiz's 3-run homerun in the 9th inning changed that a bit. Ruiz finished the game 4 for 5 with a homerun, 4 RBI, and a run scored. The homerun in the 9th inning made the 9th inning for Castillo a non-save situation as well as it blew the game wide open.
Tommy Mendonca Continues Streak: Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 4 with a walk at the plate, but the more important part was that Mendonca scored 2 runs in the game, which extended his streak to 7 consecutive games with either a run scored or a RBI. He has hit in 7 straight and reached base in 8 straight.
Limiting Free Passes: Since May 1st, Frisco has had 20 starts out of 34 where the starters have gone at least 5 innings and given up 3 runs or less. They have had 17 starts out of the 34 where the starters have gone at least 6 innings and given up 3 runs or less. In the same time, the starters have walked 3.46 batters per 9 innings (68 walks in 176 2/3 innings). For the season, the RoughRider's pitching staff has walked 3.84 batters per 9 innings (214 in 501 1/3 innings), so they have improved a bit in that area and likely could get even better as the year goes on.
MLB Draft: Obviously the big talk on Monday in the baseball world was the draft, which began Monday night and runs through Wednesday. On Monday, the Texas Rangers had 2 selections (33rd and 37th overall picks). The newest Texas Ranger's farm hands were:
33. LHP Kevin Matthews (Richmond Hill High School)
37. OF Zach Cone (University of Georgia)
Last Year On this Date: Frisco's game was rained out.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) got shutout 11-0 by the Albuquerque Isotopes at home. Zach Jackson started for Round Rock and gave up 11 hits, 3 walks, and 8 runs over 5 2/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Zach Phillips pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Mark Hamburger pitched a scoreless 9th inning. Chris Davis went 2 for 4 at the plate for Round Rock with 2 singles. Joey Butler went 2 for 3 for the Express as well. Julio Borbon went 0 for 3 with a sacrifice as well.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up a run in the top of the 9th inning to fall 3-2 to the Winston-Salem Dash. Wilfredo Boscan started for Myrtle Beach and had a solid start. He gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 7 innings with 4 strikeouts. Joe Ortiz took the loss after giving up a hit, walk, and run in 1 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Mike Olt went 1 for 3 with a walk at the plate. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a RBI for the Pelicans. Leury Garcia also had 2 hits in the game in 4 at bats. Jared Hoying, Jared Bolden, Jared Prince, Santiago Chirino, and Zach Zaneski each added a hit in the game as well. Prince had Myrtle Beach's lone extra base hit in the game, a double.
Hickory (Low-A) scored 7 runs in the first 3 innings and defeated the Lakewood BlueClaws 8-5 at home. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave up 9 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings with 7 strikeouts and 0 walks. He picked up his first win of the season for Hickory. Ryan Rodebaugh pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for his 7th save of the season. Tomas Telis went 3 for 5 with a double for Hickory. Christian Villanueva went 2 for 4 with a walk for the Crawdads. Jake Skole went 2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI at the plate. Odubel Herrera and Jonathan Roof each added 2 hits of their own as well. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 5 at the plate. Josh Richmond and Teodoro Martinez each had a hit and a RBI in the game. Every hitter in the lineup had at least one hit and 7 of the 9 hitters drove in a run. Every player for Hickory either scored or drove in a run.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Mike Carp already has had a minor league performance of the day this year, but on Monday, he got his 2nd one. Carp hit 3 homeruns on May 15th, which earned him the honor. On Monday against the Tuscon Padres, Mike Carp went 4 for 6 with 2 homeruns and 7 RBI in the Tacoma Rainer's 24-3 victory over Tuscon. Tacoma only scored in 4 different innings, but they scored 5 runs in the 2nd, 8 runs in the 3rd, 6 runs in the 7th, and 5 runs in the 9th. The only player on Tacoma to not reach base at least three times was Sean Kazmar, who reached base twice. Blake Beavan started for Tacoma and gave up 11 hits and 3 runs over 7 innings in the win. But the story was Carp, who now has 19 homeruns and 58 RBI this season and is batting .350 for Tacoma. He has a 1.074 OPS on the season. He leads minor league baseball in both OPS (1.237) and total bases (116) since May 1st.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Game 56: Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez) @ Tulsa Drillers (Cory Riordan)
Time: 12:00 PM CT
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (31-24 6 games back in the Texas League South)... Tulsa Drillers (28-26 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 5 in a row
Last 10: 8-2
Series Record: 7-7-1
2011 Record against Tulsa: 4-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 62-70
Record since 2004 on June 6th: 2-4
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (3-0 2.41 ERA) is 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA and 2.36 WHIP in 4 career starts against the Tulsa Drillers...Cory Riordan (1-5 5.37 ERA) is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 2 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends 20 year old southpaw Martin Perez out to the mound for the 12th time this season, while Tulsa sends 25 year old right hander Cory Riordan out to the mound for the 11th time this year... Martin Perez looks to keep up his good pitching of late as the southpaw has been one of the Texas League's best pitchers all season long and the league's best since mid April. In his last outing, Martin Perez gave up 8 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings with 4 strikeouts. It was a season high amount of hits given up by Perez, but he still picked up his 3rd victory of the year. Martin Perez hasn't lost a decision since September 1st against the Corpus Christi Hooks. On the season, Perez has given up 50 hits and 25 walks over 59 2/3 innings with 57 strikeouts. He has surrendered just 2 homeruns all season. On the road, Martin is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in 7 starts. Left handed hitters are batting .159 against the southpaw this season... Cory Riordan on the other hand has struggled this year to get wins and pitch well in general. The right hander gave up 9 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts in his last start. He is 0-3 with a 5.16 ERA over his last 4 starts. On the season, Riordan has given up 68 hits and 9 walks over 57 innings with 36 strikeouts. He is 0-3 with a 4.60 ERA in 5 home starts this season. In 37 appearances/34 starts in the Texas League, Riordan is 9-10 with a 4.36 ERA.
Frisco Shuts Out Tulsa, Guaranteed Series Win: Frisco got a great pitching performance from Richard Bleier and guaranteed themselves another series win over Tulsa with a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. It is the second straight series against Tulsa that Frisco has taken the first two of the 3 game set. It also marks the 3rd consecutive series win for the Riders, who have won 5 in a row for the second time this season and 4 in a row or more for the 3rd time this season. Frisco is now 13-10 against the Texas League North this year.
Richard Bleier's Performance: If there is one thing that has been made known, Richard Bleier has Tulsa's number this season. The 24 year old pitcher has now given up just 1 earned run over 12 innings (0.75 ERA) over 2 appearances against the Drillers. On Sunday, Bleier gave up just 4 hits and 1 walk over 7 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. In doing so, Bleier got his first win for Frisco since August 15, 2010, which also came against Tulsa. His last non-Tulsa win came against the Corpus Christi Hooks on July 26, 2010, which spans 16 appearances and 14 starts. Bleier also got 12 groundball outs against the Drillers, which is tied for the most by a RoughRiders starter this season. It's been done 4 times now by Frisco this season and 3 of the times have been a start by Bleier, who has only made 5 starts. Bleier has induced 49 groundball outs to just 8 flyouts over his 5 starts.
Top of the Order Gets It Done: If there is one area that Frisco has excelled at over the last month or so, it's been the top of the order production. Leonys Martin has done a great job of getting on base since joining the RoughRiders and Renny Osuna has been a hitting machine with runners on base this season. Both players went 2 for 4 in the win against Tulsa and Martin had a sac bunt, while Osuna walked in his 5th plate appearance. Martin also scored a run and drove in a run. On the season, Leonys Martin is batting .338 with a .419 OBP, while Renny Osuna is hitting .377/.416/.507/.923 with runners on base, including .378 with RISP.
Mendonca Hit Twice: Christian Friedrich wasn't exactly wild all day as he finished with 0 walks, but he did manage to hit the same RoughRider (Tommy Mendonca) twice in the game. Perhaps they believed that was the best way to pitch to Mendonca, who has hit at least 1 extra base hit in 4 of his last 5 games and has driven in a run or scored a run in 6 straight games now. Frisco RoughRider's hitters have now been hit by 33 pitches this season with Jonathan Greene leading the team with 7 hit by pitches.
Miller Gets 4th Save: Justin Miller pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get his 4th save of the season. It was his first save since May 29th, which was the last time a reliever not named Castillo got the save for either team. Miller leads the RoughRiders team in wins with 5 and his 4th save is tied with Hamburger for 2nd most on the team.
Throwing Zeros: Ben Snyder has been one of the Rider's most consistent relievers. Outside of 2 blips, Snyder has 8 scoreless appearances in his last 10 outings. Left handed hitters are batting just .143 against the southpaw on the season as well. His career ERA for Frisco is now 3.51, which places him 8th on Frisco's ERA list and his 1.18 WHIP is 3rd among the franchise career list.
Struggling To Leadoff: While the offense continues to be among the best in the league, they have struggled to leadoff innings. As a team, Frisco is hitting just .250 with the 2nd worst on base percentage in the league (.316) when leading off an inning. The only team that has been worse than Frisco is the Corpus Christi Hooks, who have a .289 OBP when leading off an inning. Still, Frisco is scoring because of their ability to hit with runners on base (.301), with runners in scoring position (.278) and with runners in scoring position and 2 outs (.276).
MLB Draft: Also don't forget that tonight is the 1st round of the MLB draft. It will be covered on TV by the MLB Network beginning at 6 PM Central. On the computer, you can see the best coverage on both ESPN and MLB.com. The Texas Rangers hold the 33rd and 37th overall picks in the draft.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco lost to the Tulsa Drillers 4-1 on the road. Blake Beavan started for Frisco and gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 7 innings with 3 strikeouts. He got his 3rd loss of the season in the start. Warner Madrigal gave up 1 run over 1 inning of relief. Matt Lawson went 2 for 4 in the game for Frisco as he had half of the Rider's hits in the game. One of Lawson's 2 hits went for a double. Taylor Teagarden and Elio Sarmiento each had a hit in the game as well. Teagarden drove in a run, while Sarmiento had a double.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Bobby Trevino had a 37 game hitting streak in 1969 for El Paso
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 4-0
Round Rock (AAA) scored 5 runs in the first 2 innings and won 8-2 against the Albuquerque Isotopes at home. Neil Ramirez started for Round Rock and gave up 4 hits and 2 runs over 6 innings with 9 strikeouts to 0 walks. Ryan Tucker and Beau Jones pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief. Chad Tracy went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a homerun, 3 RBI, and a run scored for Round Rock. Chris Davis went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI as well for the Express. Joey Butler added 2 hits of his own in 4 trips to the plate, including a double. Julio Borbon, on rehab, went 1 for 4 with a double. Esteban German and Kevin Cash each added a hit as well.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) got another very good performance from Robbie Ross and defeated the Lynchburg Hillcats 5-3. Ross, who moved to 7-1 on the season, gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs over 8 innings with 6 strikeouts in the start. Robbie went 8 outstanding innings where he gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run. He opened the 9th with a walk and a single, however, and was pulled. Both runs came around to score with Kennil Gomez pitching, which brought Ross's runs up to 3 in the game. Gomez finished the 9th for his 1st save of the season. Mike Olt went 1 for 3 with a homerun, sacrifice fly, and 2 RBI in the game. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 3 with a triple, RBI, and walk for the Pelicans as well. Jared Prince and Mitch Hilligoss each went 2 for 4 with a couple of singles. Santiago Chirino added a 1 for 4 day with a homerun.
Hickory (Low-A) took a 6-0 lead after 3 innings and won 9-5 over the Lakewood BlueClaws at home. Luke Jackson started for Hickory and gave up 2 hits and 0 walks over 3 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. Nicholas McBride, Colby Killian, and Joseph Van Meter combined for the 5 innings of relief. Tomas Telis went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI at the plate for Hickory. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 3 with a walk at the plate. Teodoro Martinez went 1 for 3 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 walks for the Crawdads at the leadoff spot. Christian Villanueva, Jake Skole, Kellin Deglan, and Jonathan Roof each added a hit as well.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Mike Minor has put together a very good baseball resume. He was a 7th overall pick by one of the best known organizations in the National League, which covets good pitching. He rose through the minor leagues quickly in his first full minor league year and even got a taste of the major leagues. Now, he's back this year in AAA dominating again. On Sunday, Minor turned in another great performance too. In Gwinnett's 7-5 victory over the Buffalo Bisons, Minor gave up just 1 hit and 1 walk over 8 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts. Yes, the bullpen gave up 5 runs in the 9th inning, but Minor got the win and the headline. The 23 year old southpaw is 3-2 with a 2.23 ERA for the Gwinnett Braves (AAA International League). He has given up 48 hits, 15 walks, and struck out 63 batters over 60 2/3 innings over 9 starts. He was drafted in the 1st round of the 2009 draft 7th overall by the Atlanta Braves from Vanderbilt University.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (31-24 6 games back in the Texas League South)... Tulsa Drillers (28-26 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 5 in a row
Last 10: 8-2
Series Record: 7-7-1
2011 Record against Tulsa: 4-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 62-70
Record since 2004 on June 6th: 2-4
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (3-0 2.41 ERA) is 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA and 2.36 WHIP in 4 career starts against the Tulsa Drillers...Cory Riordan (1-5 5.37 ERA) is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 2 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends 20 year old southpaw Martin Perez out to the mound for the 12th time this season, while Tulsa sends 25 year old right hander Cory Riordan out to the mound for the 11th time this year... Martin Perez looks to keep up his good pitching of late as the southpaw has been one of the Texas League's best pitchers all season long and the league's best since mid April. In his last outing, Martin Perez gave up 8 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings with 4 strikeouts. It was a season high amount of hits given up by Perez, but he still picked up his 3rd victory of the year. Martin Perez hasn't lost a decision since September 1st against the Corpus Christi Hooks. On the season, Perez has given up 50 hits and 25 walks over 59 2/3 innings with 57 strikeouts. He has surrendered just 2 homeruns all season. On the road, Martin is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in 7 starts. Left handed hitters are batting .159 against the southpaw this season... Cory Riordan on the other hand has struggled this year to get wins and pitch well in general. The right hander gave up 9 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts in his last start. He is 0-3 with a 5.16 ERA over his last 4 starts. On the season, Riordan has given up 68 hits and 9 walks over 57 innings with 36 strikeouts. He is 0-3 with a 4.60 ERA in 5 home starts this season. In 37 appearances/34 starts in the Texas League, Riordan is 9-10 with a 4.36 ERA.
Frisco Shuts Out Tulsa, Guaranteed Series Win: Frisco got a great pitching performance from Richard Bleier and guaranteed themselves another series win over Tulsa with a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. It is the second straight series against Tulsa that Frisco has taken the first two of the 3 game set. It also marks the 3rd consecutive series win for the Riders, who have won 5 in a row for the second time this season and 4 in a row or more for the 3rd time this season. Frisco is now 13-10 against the Texas League North this year.
Richard Bleier's Performance: If there is one thing that has been made known, Richard Bleier has Tulsa's number this season. The 24 year old pitcher has now given up just 1 earned run over 12 innings (0.75 ERA) over 2 appearances against the Drillers. On Sunday, Bleier gave up just 4 hits and 1 walk over 7 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. In doing so, Bleier got his first win for Frisco since August 15, 2010, which also came against Tulsa. His last non-Tulsa win came against the Corpus Christi Hooks on July 26, 2010, which spans 16 appearances and 14 starts. Bleier also got 12 groundball outs against the Drillers, which is tied for the most by a RoughRiders starter this season. It's been done 4 times now by Frisco this season and 3 of the times have been a start by Bleier, who has only made 5 starts. Bleier has induced 49 groundball outs to just 8 flyouts over his 5 starts.
Top of the Order Gets It Done: If there is one area that Frisco has excelled at over the last month or so, it's been the top of the order production. Leonys Martin has done a great job of getting on base since joining the RoughRiders and Renny Osuna has been a hitting machine with runners on base this season. Both players went 2 for 4 in the win against Tulsa and Martin had a sac bunt, while Osuna walked in his 5th plate appearance. Martin also scored a run and drove in a run. On the season, Leonys Martin is batting .338 with a .419 OBP, while Renny Osuna is hitting .377/.416/.507/.923 with runners on base, including .378 with RISP.
Mendonca Hit Twice: Christian Friedrich wasn't exactly wild all day as he finished with 0 walks, but he did manage to hit the same RoughRider (Tommy Mendonca) twice in the game. Perhaps they believed that was the best way to pitch to Mendonca, who has hit at least 1 extra base hit in 4 of his last 5 games and has driven in a run or scored a run in 6 straight games now. Frisco RoughRider's hitters have now been hit by 33 pitches this season with Jonathan Greene leading the team with 7 hit by pitches.
Miller Gets 4th Save: Justin Miller pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get his 4th save of the season. It was his first save since May 29th, which was the last time a reliever not named Castillo got the save for either team. Miller leads the RoughRiders team in wins with 5 and his 4th save is tied with Hamburger for 2nd most on the team.
Throwing Zeros: Ben Snyder has been one of the Rider's most consistent relievers. Outside of 2 blips, Snyder has 8 scoreless appearances in his last 10 outings. Left handed hitters are batting just .143 against the southpaw on the season as well. His career ERA for Frisco is now 3.51, which places him 8th on Frisco's ERA list and his 1.18 WHIP is 3rd among the franchise career list.
Struggling To Leadoff: While the offense continues to be among the best in the league, they have struggled to leadoff innings. As a team, Frisco is hitting just .250 with the 2nd worst on base percentage in the league (.316) when leading off an inning. The only team that has been worse than Frisco is the Corpus Christi Hooks, who have a .289 OBP when leading off an inning. Still, Frisco is scoring because of their ability to hit with runners on base (.301), with runners in scoring position (.278) and with runners in scoring position and 2 outs (.276).
MLB Draft: Also don't forget that tonight is the 1st round of the MLB draft. It will be covered on TV by the MLB Network beginning at 6 PM Central. On the computer, you can see the best coverage on both ESPN and MLB.com. The Texas Rangers hold the 33rd and 37th overall picks in the draft.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco lost to the Tulsa Drillers 4-1 on the road. Blake Beavan started for Frisco and gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 7 innings with 3 strikeouts. He got his 3rd loss of the season in the start. Warner Madrigal gave up 1 run over 1 inning of relief. Matt Lawson went 2 for 4 in the game for Frisco as he had half of the Rider's hits in the game. One of Lawson's 2 hits went for a double. Taylor Teagarden and Elio Sarmiento each had a hit in the game as well. Teagarden drove in a run, while Sarmiento had a double.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Bobby Trevino had a 37 game hitting streak in 1969 for El Paso
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 4-0
Round Rock (AAA) scored 5 runs in the first 2 innings and won 8-2 against the Albuquerque Isotopes at home. Neil Ramirez started for Round Rock and gave up 4 hits and 2 runs over 6 innings with 9 strikeouts to 0 walks. Ryan Tucker and Beau Jones pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief. Chad Tracy went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a homerun, 3 RBI, and a run scored for Round Rock. Chris Davis went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI as well for the Express. Joey Butler added 2 hits of his own in 4 trips to the plate, including a double. Julio Borbon, on rehab, went 1 for 4 with a double. Esteban German and Kevin Cash each added a hit as well.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) got another very good performance from Robbie Ross and defeated the Lynchburg Hillcats 5-3. Ross, who moved to 7-1 on the season, gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs over 8 innings with 6 strikeouts in the start. Robbie went 8 outstanding innings where he gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run. He opened the 9th with a walk and a single, however, and was pulled. Both runs came around to score with Kennil Gomez pitching, which brought Ross's runs up to 3 in the game. Gomez finished the 9th for his 1st save of the season. Mike Olt went 1 for 3 with a homerun, sacrifice fly, and 2 RBI in the game. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 3 with a triple, RBI, and walk for the Pelicans as well. Jared Prince and Mitch Hilligoss each went 2 for 4 with a couple of singles. Santiago Chirino added a 1 for 4 day with a homerun.
Hickory (Low-A) took a 6-0 lead after 3 innings and won 9-5 over the Lakewood BlueClaws at home. Luke Jackson started for Hickory and gave up 2 hits and 0 walks over 3 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. Nicholas McBride, Colby Killian, and Joseph Van Meter combined for the 5 innings of relief. Tomas Telis went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI at the plate for Hickory. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 3 with a walk at the plate. Teodoro Martinez went 1 for 3 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 walks for the Crawdads at the leadoff spot. Christian Villanueva, Jake Skole, Kellin Deglan, and Jonathan Roof each added a hit as well.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Mike Minor has put together a very good baseball resume. He was a 7th overall pick by one of the best known organizations in the National League, which covets good pitching. He rose through the minor leagues quickly in his first full minor league year and even got a taste of the major leagues. Now, he's back this year in AAA dominating again. On Sunday, Minor turned in another great performance too. In Gwinnett's 7-5 victory over the Buffalo Bisons, Minor gave up just 1 hit and 1 walk over 8 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts. Yes, the bullpen gave up 5 runs in the 9th inning, but Minor got the win and the headline. The 23 year old southpaw is 3-2 with a 2.23 ERA for the Gwinnett Braves (AAA International League). He has given up 48 hits, 15 walks, and struck out 63 batters over 60 2/3 innings over 9 starts. He was drafted in the 1st round of the 2009 draft 7th overall by the Atlanta Braves from Vanderbilt University.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Game 55: Frisco RoughRiders (Richard Bleier) @ Tulsa Drillers (Christian Friedrich)
Time: 2:05 PM CT
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (30-24 6 games back in the Texas League South)... Tulsa Drillers (28-25 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 4 in a Row
Last 10: 7-3
Series Record: 7-7-1
2011 Record against Tulsa: 3-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 61-70
Record since 2004 on June 5th: 2-4 with 1 off day
Starting Pitchers: Richard Bleier (0-2 5.59 ERA) is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 2 career appearances and 1 start against the Tulsa Drillers... Christian Friedrich (4-3 4.64) is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 3 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Richard Bleier to the mound for the 7th time this season and 5th start, while Tulsa sends Christian Friedrich to the mound for the 11th time this season in a battle of southpaws... Richard Bleier pitched in relief in his last outing and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts and 0 walks against Tulsa. In his last start, Bleier gave up 9 hits, 1 walk, and 6 runs over 6 innings with 3 strikeouts against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. On the season, Bleier has given up 40 hits and 3 walks over 29 innings with 15 strikeouts. In 2 starts on the road, Bleier is 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA. Batters are hitting .374 against him when he is the starting pitcher. The 24 year old pitcher led Frisco in innings pitched last season with 164 1/3... Christian Friederich made his last start against Frisco on Memorial Day and he was dominant in the outing. Friedrich gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 7 strong innings with 5 strikeouts. It was the 2nd time in 10 starts that he lasted 7 innings and the fewest hits and baserunners he has given up in a start this year. The 23 year old former 1st round pick has given up 55 hits and 16 walks over 52 1/3 innings for the season. He is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 3 home starts as opponents have hit .190 against him at home. During the month of May, Friedrich went 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA in 6 starts showing flashes of why the Rockies selected him in the first round. Since coming to the Texas League, Friedrich is 7-9 with a 4.90 ERA in 28 starts.
Another Day, Another Win: The Frisco RoughRiders moved to 4-0 in the month of June with a 4-1 victory over the Tulsa Drillers. Frisco got great pitching performances from Robbie Erlin and the bullpen and used 5 extra base hits in the game to help the team defeat the Texas League North first place team, the Tulsa Drillers. The 4-0 record to open June is the team's best start to open a month since opening August 2008 with a 6-0 record. Frisco's 22-10 (.688 winning%) record since May 1st is the best record in the Texas League during that time, the 2nd best in AA baseball overall, and is tied for the 5th best record in all of minor league baseball (full season teams) during that time frame.
Robbie Erlin Victorious Again: Two starts into his AA tenure and Robbie Erlin is already 2-0 for the RoughRiders and 2-0 against the Tulsa Drillers. Erlin gave up just 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts. He got 5 groundball outs to 3 flyouts in the start and threw 54 of 90 pitches for strikes. On the season now, Erlin is 5-2 with a 2.15 ERA in 11 starts with 35 hits and 7 walks given up in 67 innings and has struck out 70 batters.
Tommy Mendonca Gets 2 Hits, Ends Streak: Yesterday we talked about Tommy Mendonca's triple and his strikeout streak, which was up to 13 games. Well, on Saturday Mendonca went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles, a RBI, and did not strikeout in the game. He also raised his road batting line (if you can believe it), to .371/.396/.938/1.034. He has a modest 5 game hit streak and 6 game on base streak going. He has driven in a run or scored a run in 5 straight games as well.
Jonathan Greene Continues Road Trip Success: Jonathan Greene has not hit all that well away from Dr. Pepper Ballpark this season, but this road trip has at least brought up his numbers a bit. Greene has hit in all 4 games, has scored at least one run in all 4 games, and has driven in at least one run in all 4 games. Oh and he has 4 extra base hits, including 3 straight games with a double. Altogether, Greene is 7 for 16 with 3 doubles, a homerun, 6 RBI, 7 runs, and 2 walks to 1 strikeout. His batting line on the road is now at: .245/.343/.394/.737 as opposed to his .394/.449/.676/1.125 batting line at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Still, Greene is the highest qualified RoughRider in season OPS (.902).
Osuna Ties Marcus Lemon: Renny Osuna's 1st inning double to left field was his only hit of the game in 4 at bats, but it tied him with Marcus Lemon for 4th place on the Frisco RoughRider career hits list with 245 career hits. He is 8 away from tying Emerson Frostad, who recently signed with the Corpus Christi Hooks, for 3rd place on the list. The leader, Steve Murphy, had 319 career hits for the RoughRiders. Osuna is also up to 6th place on the runs scored list with 121. Murphy also leads in runs scored with 194.
Bullpen Work: When Erlin left the game with a 4-1 lead in the 7th, the bullpen cruised to get Erlin the win. Tyler Tufts relieved Erlin and struck out the side in the 7th. Corey Young relieved Tyler Tufts and got a strikeout and 2 groundouts. Then Fabio Castillo took over and gave up a single, but induced a groundball double play and a line out to end the game to get his 6th save of the year. Castillo has given up 1 hit, 0 walks, and 0 runs over his last 5 appearances and innings with 5 saves. He has had scoreless appearances in 8 of his last 10 appearances. Since May 1st, Fabio Castillo is 2nd in the Texas League with 6 saves (1 behind San Antonio's Brad Brach) and he has a 0.95 WHIP with a .130 opponents average over that same time in 11 appearances (14 2/3 IP). He took over as closer on May 19th as well.
Streaking In the Texas League: The Midland Rockhound's Jermaine Mitchell has really had an incredible year so far, but there is a streak to note that he currently on. Jermaine Mitchell has reached base in 27 consecutive games, including a 11 game hitting streak. He also has reached base in 41 of the last 42 games and 50 of the 52 games he has played in during this season. It's a no wonder that he is currently 2nd in all of minor league baseball with a .486 on base percentage and 3rd in OPS. His full batting line is: .366/.486/.659/1.145.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to defeat the Tulsa Drillers 7-4 on the road. Ryan Tatusko started the game for Frisco and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 4 runs with 6 strikeouts. Beau Jones picked up the win with 2 innings of shutout relief, while Cody Eppley picked up his 4th save. Ironically Christian Friedrich started that game for Tulsa and 1 year later will be starting on June 5th at home against Frisco again. Renny Osuna went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI at the plate for Frisco. Guilder Rodriguez also had 3 hits in 4 at bats with 2 RBI. James Tomlin and Emerson Frostad each had 2 hits. Joey Butler had a RBI triple, Taylor Teagarden had a double, RBI, and walk, and Marcus Lemon had 1 hit and a walk.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Jim Bottomley (September 16, 1924) and Mark Whitten (September 7, 1993), both playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, had 12 RBI in a single game.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 1-3
Round Rock (AAA) lost 8-3 to the Albuquerque Isotopes at home. Tommy Hunter started for Round Rock on rehab and gave up 5 hits and 3 runs over 2 innings with 1 strikeout and 0 walks. Seth McClung pitched 6 innings of relief and gave up 10 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs with 5 strikeouts. Cody Eppley pitched a scoreless 9th inning. Julio Borbon, also on rehab, went 0 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base (his 4th). Chad Tracy, a former Rider, went 2 for 4 with a solo homerun, while Joey Butler, also a former Rider, went 1 for 3 with a RBI and a walk. Taylor Teagarden also added 2 hits in the game for the Express. Brad Nelson, Matt Kata, and Doug Deeds had a hit a piece.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 4 runs in the 6th inning and lost 8-6 to the Lynchburg Hillcats on the road. Barret Loux started for Myrtle Beach and received a no decision in the start. Loux gave up 8 hits and 3 runs over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts and 0 walks. Zach Osborne took the loss after giving up 4 runs over 1 inning of relief. Former Rider Kasey Kiker gave up 1 run over 2 innings of relief. Mike Olt went 1 for 4 at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a double for the Pelicans. Zach Zaneski led the team with 3 hits in the game, including a solo homerun. Jared Prince had 2 hits of his own. Jared Bolden, David Paisano, Leury Garcia (a triple), and Andres James each had a hit as well.
Hickory (Low-A) gave up a run in the 8th inning and lost 7-6 to the Delmarva Shorebirds on the road. Matt Thompson started for Hickory and had control problems again as he walked 5 batters, gave up 1 hit, and allowed 3 runs over 3 1/3 innings with 4 strikeouts. Ben Rowen took the loss for Hickory after giving up 2 runs (1 earned) over 2 innings of relief. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 5 with a RBI double and a run scored at the plate for Hickory. Odubel Herrera went 3 for 5 with a double, 3 RBI, and a run scored for the Crawdads. Tomas Telis added 3 hits in 5 at bats with a RBI as well. Christian Villanueva went 1 for 5 wtih a double and a RBI, while Kellin Deglan went 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Minor League Performance of the Day
While Julio Teheran was the highlight name in the game between the Gwinnett Braves and Buffalo Bisons, it was Stefan Gartrell who put on the show. The 27 year old career minor leaguer went 4 for 4 at the plate with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored in Gwinnett's 7-1 victory over Buffalo. Gartrell supplied all of the support that the 20 year old starting pitcher needed. Gartrell is hitting .284 with 14 doubles, 9 homeruns, and 31 RBI for the Braves now on the season. He has an .872 OPS through 38 games for Gwinnett. Stefan was drafted in the 31st round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Chicago White Sox. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves on April 16th this year for cash considerations.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (30-24 6 games back in the Texas League South)... Tulsa Drillers (28-25 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 4 in a Row
Last 10: 7-3
Series Record: 7-7-1
2011 Record against Tulsa: 3-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 61-70
Record since 2004 on June 5th: 2-4 with 1 off day
Starting Pitchers: Richard Bleier (0-2 5.59 ERA) is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 2 career appearances and 1 start against the Tulsa Drillers... Christian Friedrich (4-3 4.64) is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 3 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Richard Bleier to the mound for the 7th time this season and 5th start, while Tulsa sends Christian Friedrich to the mound for the 11th time this season in a battle of southpaws... Richard Bleier pitched in relief in his last outing and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts and 0 walks against Tulsa. In his last start, Bleier gave up 9 hits, 1 walk, and 6 runs over 6 innings with 3 strikeouts against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. On the season, Bleier has given up 40 hits and 3 walks over 29 innings with 15 strikeouts. In 2 starts on the road, Bleier is 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA. Batters are hitting .374 against him when he is the starting pitcher. The 24 year old pitcher led Frisco in innings pitched last season with 164 1/3... Christian Friederich made his last start against Frisco on Memorial Day and he was dominant in the outing. Friedrich gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 7 strong innings with 5 strikeouts. It was the 2nd time in 10 starts that he lasted 7 innings and the fewest hits and baserunners he has given up in a start this year. The 23 year old former 1st round pick has given up 55 hits and 16 walks over 52 1/3 innings for the season. He is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 3 home starts as opponents have hit .190 against him at home. During the month of May, Friedrich went 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA in 6 starts showing flashes of why the Rockies selected him in the first round. Since coming to the Texas League, Friedrich is 7-9 with a 4.90 ERA in 28 starts.
Another Day, Another Win: The Frisco RoughRiders moved to 4-0 in the month of June with a 4-1 victory over the Tulsa Drillers. Frisco got great pitching performances from Robbie Erlin and the bullpen and used 5 extra base hits in the game to help the team defeat the Texas League North first place team, the Tulsa Drillers. The 4-0 record to open June is the team's best start to open a month since opening August 2008 with a 6-0 record. Frisco's 22-10 (.688 winning%) record since May 1st is the best record in the Texas League during that time, the 2nd best in AA baseball overall, and is tied for the 5th best record in all of minor league baseball (full season teams) during that time frame.
Robbie Erlin Victorious Again: Two starts into his AA tenure and Robbie Erlin is already 2-0 for the RoughRiders and 2-0 against the Tulsa Drillers. Erlin gave up just 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts. He got 5 groundball outs to 3 flyouts in the start and threw 54 of 90 pitches for strikes. On the season now, Erlin is 5-2 with a 2.15 ERA in 11 starts with 35 hits and 7 walks given up in 67 innings and has struck out 70 batters.
Tommy Mendonca Gets 2 Hits, Ends Streak: Yesterday we talked about Tommy Mendonca's triple and his strikeout streak, which was up to 13 games. Well, on Saturday Mendonca went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles, a RBI, and did not strikeout in the game. He also raised his road batting line (if you can believe it), to .371/.396/.938/1.034. He has a modest 5 game hit streak and 6 game on base streak going. He has driven in a run or scored a run in 5 straight games as well.
Jonathan Greene Continues Road Trip Success: Jonathan Greene has not hit all that well away from Dr. Pepper Ballpark this season, but this road trip has at least brought up his numbers a bit. Greene has hit in all 4 games, has scored at least one run in all 4 games, and has driven in at least one run in all 4 games. Oh and he has 4 extra base hits, including 3 straight games with a double. Altogether, Greene is 7 for 16 with 3 doubles, a homerun, 6 RBI, 7 runs, and 2 walks to 1 strikeout. His batting line on the road is now at: .245/.343/.394/.737 as opposed to his .394/.449/.676/1.125 batting line at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Still, Greene is the highest qualified RoughRider in season OPS (.902).
Osuna Ties Marcus Lemon: Renny Osuna's 1st inning double to left field was his only hit of the game in 4 at bats, but it tied him with Marcus Lemon for 4th place on the Frisco RoughRider career hits list with 245 career hits. He is 8 away from tying Emerson Frostad, who recently signed with the Corpus Christi Hooks, for 3rd place on the list. The leader, Steve Murphy, had 319 career hits for the RoughRiders. Osuna is also up to 6th place on the runs scored list with 121. Murphy also leads in runs scored with 194.
Bullpen Work: When Erlin left the game with a 4-1 lead in the 7th, the bullpen cruised to get Erlin the win. Tyler Tufts relieved Erlin and struck out the side in the 7th. Corey Young relieved Tyler Tufts and got a strikeout and 2 groundouts. Then Fabio Castillo took over and gave up a single, but induced a groundball double play and a line out to end the game to get his 6th save of the year. Castillo has given up 1 hit, 0 walks, and 0 runs over his last 5 appearances and innings with 5 saves. He has had scoreless appearances in 8 of his last 10 appearances. Since May 1st, Fabio Castillo is 2nd in the Texas League with 6 saves (1 behind San Antonio's Brad Brach) and he has a 0.95 WHIP with a .130 opponents average over that same time in 11 appearances (14 2/3 IP). He took over as closer on May 19th as well.
Streaking In the Texas League: The Midland Rockhound's Jermaine Mitchell has really had an incredible year so far, but there is a streak to note that he currently on. Jermaine Mitchell has reached base in 27 consecutive games, including a 11 game hitting streak. He also has reached base in 41 of the last 42 games and 50 of the 52 games he has played in during this season. It's a no wonder that he is currently 2nd in all of minor league baseball with a .486 on base percentage and 3rd in OPS. His full batting line is: .366/.486/.659/1.145.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to defeat the Tulsa Drillers 7-4 on the road. Ryan Tatusko started the game for Frisco and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 4 runs with 6 strikeouts. Beau Jones picked up the win with 2 innings of shutout relief, while Cody Eppley picked up his 4th save. Ironically Christian Friedrich started that game for Tulsa and 1 year later will be starting on June 5th at home against Frisco again. Renny Osuna went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI at the plate for Frisco. Guilder Rodriguez also had 3 hits in 4 at bats with 2 RBI. James Tomlin and Emerson Frostad each had 2 hits. Joey Butler had a RBI triple, Taylor Teagarden had a double, RBI, and walk, and Marcus Lemon had 1 hit and a walk.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Jim Bottomley (September 16, 1924) and Mark Whitten (September 7, 1993), both playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, had 12 RBI in a single game.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 1-3
Round Rock (AAA) lost 8-3 to the Albuquerque Isotopes at home. Tommy Hunter started for Round Rock on rehab and gave up 5 hits and 3 runs over 2 innings with 1 strikeout and 0 walks. Seth McClung pitched 6 innings of relief and gave up 10 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs with 5 strikeouts. Cody Eppley pitched a scoreless 9th inning. Julio Borbon, also on rehab, went 0 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base (his 4th). Chad Tracy, a former Rider, went 2 for 4 with a solo homerun, while Joey Butler, also a former Rider, went 1 for 3 with a RBI and a walk. Taylor Teagarden also added 2 hits in the game for the Express. Brad Nelson, Matt Kata, and Doug Deeds had a hit a piece.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 4 runs in the 6th inning and lost 8-6 to the Lynchburg Hillcats on the road. Barret Loux started for Myrtle Beach and received a no decision in the start. Loux gave up 8 hits and 3 runs over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts and 0 walks. Zach Osborne took the loss after giving up 4 runs over 1 inning of relief. Former Rider Kasey Kiker gave up 1 run over 2 innings of relief. Mike Olt went 1 for 4 at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a double for the Pelicans. Zach Zaneski led the team with 3 hits in the game, including a solo homerun. Jared Prince had 2 hits of his own. Jared Bolden, David Paisano, Leury Garcia (a triple), and Andres James each had a hit as well.
Hickory (Low-A) gave up a run in the 8th inning and lost 7-6 to the Delmarva Shorebirds on the road. Matt Thompson started for Hickory and had control problems again as he walked 5 batters, gave up 1 hit, and allowed 3 runs over 3 1/3 innings with 4 strikeouts. Ben Rowen took the loss for Hickory after giving up 2 runs (1 earned) over 2 innings of relief. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 5 with a RBI double and a run scored at the plate for Hickory. Odubel Herrera went 3 for 5 with a double, 3 RBI, and a run scored for the Crawdads. Tomas Telis added 3 hits in 5 at bats with a RBI as well. Christian Villanueva went 1 for 5 wtih a double and a RBI, while Kellin Deglan went 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Minor League Performance of the Day
While Julio Teheran was the highlight name in the game between the Gwinnett Braves and Buffalo Bisons, it was Stefan Gartrell who put on the show. The 27 year old career minor leaguer went 4 for 4 at the plate with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored in Gwinnett's 7-1 victory over Buffalo. Gartrell supplied all of the support that the 20 year old starting pitcher needed. Gartrell is hitting .284 with 14 doubles, 9 homeruns, and 31 RBI for the Braves now on the season. He has an .872 OPS through 38 games for Gwinnett. Stefan was drafted in the 31st round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Chicago White Sox. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves on April 16th this year for cash considerations.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Game 54: Frisco RoughRiders (Robbie Erlin) @ Tulsa Drillers (Joey Williamson)
Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (29-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Tulsa Drillers (28-24 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 3 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Series Record: 7-7-1
2011 Record against Tulsa: 2-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 60-70
Record Since 2004 on June 4th: 3-3 with 1 off day
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Erlin (1-0 4.26 ERA) is 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 1 career start against the Tulsa Drillers... Joey Williamson (0-1 2.63 ERA) is making his first career start against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Robbie Erlin to the mound for the 2nd time this season, while the Tulsa Drillers send Joey Williamson to the mound for the 6th time this season, including his 2nd start... In case Robbie Erlin doesn't know it, there are other teams in the Texas League than the Tulsa Drillers, but he just wouldn't know it yet with how the schedule worked out. Erlin makes his 2nd start for Frisco and looks to build on his solid debut for the Riders last Sunday. Erlin gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 3 strikeouts in Frisco's 9-3 victory over Tulsa. Erlin threw first pitch strikes to 19 of 25 batters in that start and went to 2 strike counts with 14 of the batters as well. The 20 year old southpaw had a dominant season with Myrtle Beach before getting the promotion to Frisco. He was 3-2 with a 2.14 ERA in 9 starts for the Pelicans and led minor league baseball in WHIP with a 0.55 WHIP at the time of his promotion. Opponents hit just .132 against him in the Carolina League (25 hits in 54 2/3 innings) and he walked just 5 batters to 62 strikeouts in that time as well. Erlin was listed by Baseball America as the 4th best prospect in the Ranger's system entering 2011. He was selected in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft by Texas...Joey Williamson will make his 2nd start of the year for Tulsa and just his 16th career minor league start in 4 seasons in the minors. In his first start for Tulsa earlier this year, Williamson gave up 3 walks and 1 hit over 4 shutout innings with 1 strikeout against the Arkansas Travelers on April 27th. Williamson has a 3.72 ERA in 4 appearances as a reliever for Tulsa as well. He last pitched for Tulsa on May 22nd and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 2 innings with 2 strikeouts. Joey made an appearance for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA) on May 26th against Albuquerque and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 3 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts. Williamson was supposed to be in Tulsa much quicker than 2011, but before the 2010 season he retired from baseball... after posting a 22-3 record in his previous 3 seasons in the minor leagues, including an 18-0 start in his first 74 minor league appearances. You can read more about the story here. Joey Williamson was drafted by the Rockies in the 36th round of the 2007 draft out of Notre Dame.
Riders Crush Naturals, Finish Sweep: Frisco finished off their 2nd sweep of the season by cruising to an 18-5 victory over Northwest Arkansas. Frisco scored in all but 2 innings during the game, including 13 runs by the end of the 5th inning. They had a baserunner reach in every inning and had a baserunner in scoring position in every inning except the 3rd inning. Their 18 runs scored were tied for the 2nd most scored by Frisco since 2004.
Most Runs Scored:
1. 19-2 vs. Tulsa on July 13, 2006
T2. 18-4 @ Northwest Arkansas on June 3, 2011
T2. 18-4 @ Springfield on July 4, 2009
4. 17-8 @ Springfield on April 15, 2007
T5. 16-9 @ Midland on May 15, 2008
T5. 16-2 vs. Midland on May 12, 2004
T5. 16-5 @ Round Rock on July 23, 2004
Carlos Pimentel's Start: While the story of the game may have been the offense, Carlos Pimentel turned in one of his best starts yet. The 21 year old right hander gave up just 3 hits, walked 2 batters, and gave up 2 runs over 7 strong innings with 4 strikeouts in his 2nd victory this season. While sometimes in high scoring games the starting pitchers can "receive" a victory, Pimentel "earned" his on Friday. It was Pimentel's longest outing of the season and the least amount of hits he has given up in a start.
Bianucci Drives Home 6 Runs: Mike Bianucci finished Friday's game with 3 hits, 2 doubles, and 6 RBI. His 6 RBI was the most by a RoughRider since Tim Smith (who started for Northwest Arkansas on Friday) drove in 7 runs in Frisco's 18-4 demolition of the Springfield Cardinals on July 4th, 2009. Johnny Whittleman, who is in the Royal's organization now, also drove in 6 runs in that game as well. The 6 RBI for Bianucci, however, are not a career high in the minors as he drove in 7 runs on April 17th for the Hickory Crawdads against Asheville and drove 6 in on August 15th, 2008 for the Spokane Indians against Salem-Keizer. Of the 6 runs that Bianucci drove in on Friday, 5 of them were with 2 outs, so talk about clutch hitting. It's also probably the reason that despite driving in 6 runs and reaching base 3 times, Mike Bianucci did not score a run of his own. He is now batting .455 (10 for 22) this year with RISP and 2 outs
Offensive Explosion: Frisco finished with 6 players with 2 or more hits in the game and had 5 players reach base 3 or more times. They also finished with 8 of the 9 starters driving in a run and 7 of the 9 starters scoring a run. Every starter either scored or drove in a run. Amazingly, however, Frisco had the leadoff batter reach base only 3 times out of the 9 innings. Considering they had 17 hits and 18 runs that is quite a low total. Consider that they had the leadoff hitter reach 3 times in both of the previous 2 games and they only scored 12 runs with 16 hits in those 2 games combined.
Speaking of Offensive Explosions: The Texas Ranger's organization in general had a big, big night on Friday. Between the 5 full season teams (Hickory to Texas) playing on Friday, they combined to score 59 runs and accumulated 74 hits. There were 22 Texas Rangers organizational players that had 2 or more hits in a game and 31 players reached base at least twice. There were a combined 30 extra base hits hit between the 5 teams. Hickory and Frisco each scored 18 runs in their games and the Rangers combined with those 2 teams to each have at least 17 hits in their games. All five full season teams won their games.
Mendonca Drives In 3: Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 4 with a triple, walk, and 3 RBI. It marked the 10th time he has driven in multiple runs in a game this season for Frisco. He also struck out, however, which marked the 13th consecutive game that Mendonca has struck out at least once. Expect more big hits out of Mendonca in Tulsa, however, as he is batting .366/.393/.624/1.016 on the road this season.
Getting Comfortable With #2: Renny Osuna, who provided some of the heroics in the first two games of this series, went 2 for 5 with another RBI, a walk, and 3 runs scored. He batted #2 for the 19th gmae this season and is batting .349/.400/.446/.846 in the #2 hole of the lineup. He has scored 15 runs and driven in 13 in the 19 games.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-4 in 10 innings on the road. Richard Bleier made the start for Frisco and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings with 1 strikeout and 0 walks. Cody Eppley, Josh Lueke, and Adalberto Flores combined for 4 innings of scoreless relief. Josh Lueke picked up his first win of the season, while Flores got his first save of the year. Guilder Rodriguez led the team with 3 hits in the game in 4 at bats. Elio Sarmiento drove in 2 runs, while Renny Osuna and Taylor Teagarden drove in a run a piece with all having 1 hit. Joey Butler, James Tomlin, and Marcus Lemon each added a hit as well.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 4-0
Round Rock (AAA) scored 8 runs between the 3rd and 5th and defeated the Oklahoma City Redhawks 8-4. Brett Tomko started for Round Rock and gave up 5 hits and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts over 5 shutout innings. Mark Hamburger continues to struggle for Round Rock as he gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs over 1 2/3 innings. His ERA sits at 11.37 currently. Chris Davis went 3 for 5 with a double, triple, and 2 RBI. Ironically, he was a homerun short of the cycle. Joey Butler went 1 for 3 wtih a triple, 2 RBI, and walk for the Express. Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 with a RBI. Taylor Teagarden, Esteban German, Brad Nelson, Luis Cruz, and Doug Deeds each added a hit a piece.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) won 4-1 over the Lynchburg Hillcats on the road. Justin Grimm made his 2nd start for Myrtle Beach and turned in another good start. Grimm, who replaced Erlin, gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 6 2/3 innings with 6 strikeouts. Joe Ortiz and Ryan Kelly pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief as Kelly picked up his 8th save, which leads the Texas Ranger's minor leagues. Mike Olt went 1 for 5 with a RBI at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a double and got his 17th stolen base of the year. Leury Garcia went 2 for 4 with a double and a homerun. Jared Prince, Jared Hoying, and Santiago Chirino each added a hit in the game for the Pelicans.
Hickory (Low-A) crushed the Delmarva Shorebirds 18-6 on the road on Friday. Roman Mendez started for Hickory and gave up 8 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs over 4 innings with 9 strikeouts in a rare bad start for him. Ben Henry picked up the win with 4 innings of shutout relief and Nicholas McBride pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish the game. Tomas Telis went 4 for 6 with 2 doubles, 5 RBI and 3 runs. Jurickson Profar went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI, 2 walks, and 3 runs. The 18 year old's OPS is up to .945 for the season. Josh Richmond went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Jhonny Gomez and Kellin Deglan each had 3 hits in the game for Hickory, including a double by Gomez and 2 RBI. Teodoro Martinez reached base 4 times with 2 hits, including a tirple, and 2 walks, as well as 2 RBI. Odubel Herrera added 2 hits including a triple, and 3 RBI. The Crawdads went 10 for 22 with RISP as a team.
Minor League Performance of the Day
On a day when there was obviously lots of offense, one man stood alone. Corey Dickerson of the Asheville Tourists went 3 for 3 with 3 homeruns and 10 RBIs in Asheville's 13-5 victory over the Augusta Greenjackets. Dickerson hit 2 sacrifice flies in the game as well, as he totaled 12 bases in the game. Dickerson hit a sac fly in the 1st inning, hit 3-run homerun to centerfield in the 3rd inning, hit another sac fly in the 4th inning. He then finished with a 2-run homerun to right field in the 6th inning and another 3-run homerun to right field in the 7th inning. On the season Corey Dickerson is batting .283/.357/.638/.994 for Asheville with 13 doubles, 12 homeruns, and 31 RBI in 39 games. The 22 year old outfielder was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 8th round of the 2010 draft. Corey Dickerson was listed as the Colorado Rockie's 26th best prospect by Baseball America entering the 2011 season.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
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And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (29-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Tulsa Drillers (28-24 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 3 in a row
Last 10: 7-3
Series Record: 7-7-1
2011 Record against Tulsa: 2-1
All-Time Record against Tulsa: 60-70
Record Since 2004 on June 4th: 3-3 with 1 off day
Starting Pitchers: Robbie Erlin (1-0 4.26 ERA) is 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 1 career start against the Tulsa Drillers... Joey Williamson (0-1 2.63 ERA) is making his first career start against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Robbie Erlin to the mound for the 2nd time this season, while the Tulsa Drillers send Joey Williamson to the mound for the 6th time this season, including his 2nd start... In case Robbie Erlin doesn't know it, there are other teams in the Texas League than the Tulsa Drillers, but he just wouldn't know it yet with how the schedule worked out. Erlin makes his 2nd start for Frisco and looks to build on his solid debut for the Riders last Sunday. Erlin gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 3 strikeouts in Frisco's 9-3 victory over Tulsa. Erlin threw first pitch strikes to 19 of 25 batters in that start and went to 2 strike counts with 14 of the batters as well. The 20 year old southpaw had a dominant season with Myrtle Beach before getting the promotion to Frisco. He was 3-2 with a 2.14 ERA in 9 starts for the Pelicans and led minor league baseball in WHIP with a 0.55 WHIP at the time of his promotion. Opponents hit just .132 against him in the Carolina League (25 hits in 54 2/3 innings) and he walked just 5 batters to 62 strikeouts in that time as well. Erlin was listed by Baseball America as the 4th best prospect in the Ranger's system entering 2011. He was selected in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft by Texas...Joey Williamson will make his 2nd start of the year for Tulsa and just his 16th career minor league start in 4 seasons in the minors. In his first start for Tulsa earlier this year, Williamson gave up 3 walks and 1 hit over 4 shutout innings with 1 strikeout against the Arkansas Travelers on April 27th. Williamson has a 3.72 ERA in 4 appearances as a reliever for Tulsa as well. He last pitched for Tulsa on May 22nd and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 2 innings with 2 strikeouts. Joey made an appearance for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA) on May 26th against Albuquerque and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 3 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts. Williamson was supposed to be in Tulsa much quicker than 2011, but before the 2010 season he retired from baseball... after posting a 22-3 record in his previous 3 seasons in the minor leagues, including an 18-0 start in his first 74 minor league appearances. You can read more about the story here. Joey Williamson was drafted by the Rockies in the 36th round of the 2007 draft out of Notre Dame.
Riders Crush Naturals, Finish Sweep: Frisco finished off their 2nd sweep of the season by cruising to an 18-5 victory over Northwest Arkansas. Frisco scored in all but 2 innings during the game, including 13 runs by the end of the 5th inning. They had a baserunner reach in every inning and had a baserunner in scoring position in every inning except the 3rd inning. Their 18 runs scored were tied for the 2nd most scored by Frisco since 2004.
Most Runs Scored:
1. 19-2 vs. Tulsa on July 13, 2006
T2. 18-4 @ Northwest Arkansas on June 3, 2011
T2. 18-4 @ Springfield on July 4, 2009
4. 17-8 @ Springfield on April 15, 2007
T5. 16-9 @ Midland on May 15, 2008
T5. 16-2 vs. Midland on May 12, 2004
T5. 16-5 @ Round Rock on July 23, 2004
Carlos Pimentel's Start: While the story of the game may have been the offense, Carlos Pimentel turned in one of his best starts yet. The 21 year old right hander gave up just 3 hits, walked 2 batters, and gave up 2 runs over 7 strong innings with 4 strikeouts in his 2nd victory this season. While sometimes in high scoring games the starting pitchers can "receive" a victory, Pimentel "earned" his on Friday. It was Pimentel's longest outing of the season and the least amount of hits he has given up in a start.
Bianucci Drives Home 6 Runs: Mike Bianucci finished Friday's game with 3 hits, 2 doubles, and 6 RBI. His 6 RBI was the most by a RoughRider since Tim Smith (who started for Northwest Arkansas on Friday) drove in 7 runs in Frisco's 18-4 demolition of the Springfield Cardinals on July 4th, 2009. Johnny Whittleman, who is in the Royal's organization now, also drove in 6 runs in that game as well. The 6 RBI for Bianucci, however, are not a career high in the minors as he drove in 7 runs on April 17th for the Hickory Crawdads against Asheville and drove 6 in on August 15th, 2008 for the Spokane Indians against Salem-Keizer. Of the 6 runs that Bianucci drove in on Friday, 5 of them were with 2 outs, so talk about clutch hitting. It's also probably the reason that despite driving in 6 runs and reaching base 3 times, Mike Bianucci did not score a run of his own. He is now batting .455 (10 for 22) this year with RISP and 2 outs
Offensive Explosion: Frisco finished with 6 players with 2 or more hits in the game and had 5 players reach base 3 or more times. They also finished with 8 of the 9 starters driving in a run and 7 of the 9 starters scoring a run. Every starter either scored or drove in a run. Amazingly, however, Frisco had the leadoff batter reach base only 3 times out of the 9 innings. Considering they had 17 hits and 18 runs that is quite a low total. Consider that they had the leadoff hitter reach 3 times in both of the previous 2 games and they only scored 12 runs with 16 hits in those 2 games combined.
Speaking of Offensive Explosions: The Texas Ranger's organization in general had a big, big night on Friday. Between the 5 full season teams (Hickory to Texas) playing on Friday, they combined to score 59 runs and accumulated 74 hits. There were 22 Texas Rangers organizational players that had 2 or more hits in a game and 31 players reached base at least twice. There were a combined 30 extra base hits hit between the 5 teams. Hickory and Frisco each scored 18 runs in their games and the Rangers combined with those 2 teams to each have at least 17 hits in their games. All five full season teams won their games.
Mendonca Drives In 3: Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 4 with a triple, walk, and 3 RBI. It marked the 10th time he has driven in multiple runs in a game this season for Frisco. He also struck out, however, which marked the 13th consecutive game that Mendonca has struck out at least once. Expect more big hits out of Mendonca in Tulsa, however, as he is batting .366/.393/.624/1.016 on the road this season.
Getting Comfortable With #2: Renny Osuna, who provided some of the heroics in the first two games of this series, went 2 for 5 with another RBI, a walk, and 3 runs scored. He batted #2 for the 19th gmae this season and is batting .349/.400/.446/.846 in the #2 hole of the lineup. He has scored 15 runs and driven in 13 in the 19 games.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-4 in 10 innings on the road. Richard Bleier made the start for Frisco and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings with 1 strikeout and 0 walks. Cody Eppley, Josh Lueke, and Adalberto Flores combined for 4 innings of scoreless relief. Josh Lueke picked up his first win of the season, while Flores got his first save of the year. Guilder Rodriguez led the team with 3 hits in the game in 4 at bats. Elio Sarmiento drove in 2 runs, while Renny Osuna and Taylor Teagarden drove in a run a piece with all having 1 hit. Joey Butler, James Tomlin, and Marcus Lemon each added a hit as well.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 4-0
Round Rock (AAA) scored 8 runs between the 3rd and 5th and defeated the Oklahoma City Redhawks 8-4. Brett Tomko started for Round Rock and gave up 5 hits and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts over 5 shutout innings. Mark Hamburger continues to struggle for Round Rock as he gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs over 1 2/3 innings. His ERA sits at 11.37 currently. Chris Davis went 3 for 5 with a double, triple, and 2 RBI. Ironically, he was a homerun short of the cycle. Joey Butler went 1 for 3 wtih a triple, 2 RBI, and walk for the Express. Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 with a RBI. Taylor Teagarden, Esteban German, Brad Nelson, Luis Cruz, and Doug Deeds each added a hit a piece.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) won 4-1 over the Lynchburg Hillcats on the road. Justin Grimm made his 2nd start for Myrtle Beach and turned in another good start. Grimm, who replaced Erlin, gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 6 2/3 innings with 6 strikeouts. Joe Ortiz and Ryan Kelly pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief as Kelly picked up his 8th save, which leads the Texas Ranger's minor leagues. Mike Olt went 1 for 5 with a RBI at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a double and got his 17th stolen base of the year. Leury Garcia went 2 for 4 with a double and a homerun. Jared Prince, Jared Hoying, and Santiago Chirino each added a hit in the game for the Pelicans.
Hickory (Low-A) crushed the Delmarva Shorebirds 18-6 on the road on Friday. Roman Mendez started for Hickory and gave up 8 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs over 4 innings with 9 strikeouts in a rare bad start for him. Ben Henry picked up the win with 4 innings of shutout relief and Nicholas McBride pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish the game. Tomas Telis went 4 for 6 with 2 doubles, 5 RBI and 3 runs. Jurickson Profar went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI, 2 walks, and 3 runs. The 18 year old's OPS is up to .945 for the season. Josh Richmond went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Jhonny Gomez and Kellin Deglan each had 3 hits in the game for Hickory, including a double by Gomez and 2 RBI. Teodoro Martinez reached base 4 times with 2 hits, including a tirple, and 2 walks, as well as 2 RBI. Odubel Herrera added 2 hits including a triple, and 3 RBI. The Crawdads went 10 for 22 with RISP as a team.
Minor League Performance of the Day
On a day when there was obviously lots of offense, one man stood alone. Corey Dickerson of the Asheville Tourists went 3 for 3 with 3 homeruns and 10 RBIs in Asheville's 13-5 victory over the Augusta Greenjackets. Dickerson hit 2 sacrifice flies in the game as well, as he totaled 12 bases in the game. Dickerson hit a sac fly in the 1st inning, hit 3-run homerun to centerfield in the 3rd inning, hit another sac fly in the 4th inning. He then finished with a 2-run homerun to right field in the 6th inning and another 3-run homerun to right field in the 7th inning. On the season Corey Dickerson is batting .283/.357/.638/.994 for Asheville with 13 doubles, 12 homeruns, and 31 RBI in 39 games. The 22 year old outfielder was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 8th round of the 2010 draft. Corey Dickerson was listed as the Colorado Rockie's 26th best prospect by Baseball America entering the 2011 season.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Friday, June 3, 2011
Game 53: Frisco RoughRiders (Carlos Pimentel) @ Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Edgar Osuna
Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Averst Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (28-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-23 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 2 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 3-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 67-66
Record since 2004 on June 3rd: 1-6
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (1-3 4.96 ERA) is making his first career start against Northwest Arkansas... Edgar Osuna (4-1 7.60 ERA) is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 0.57 WHIP in 1 career start against Frisco
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Carlos Pimentel out to the mound for the 11th time this season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Edgar Osuna out to the mound for the 9th time and 8th start as Frisco tries to finish off the sweep of the Naturals... Carlos Pimentel started for Frisco on Saturday in the TV game and gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts. Frisco managed to win the game, however, as Pimentel hasn't gotten a loss since April 23rd, but has received no decisions in 6 of his 7 starts since then. Since losing 3 starts in a row to begin the year, Pimentel is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA over the 7 starts. On the season, the 21 year old righty has given up 53 hits and 23 walks over 49 innings with 40 strikeouts. He is 0-1 with a 3.04 ERA on the road in 4 starts. Pimente has struggled against the Texas League North, however, as he is 0-2 with an 11.45 ERA over 3 starts. Which means he is also 1-1 with a 3.08 ERA in 7 starts against the Texas League South... Edgar Osuna has won 4 out of 5 decisions this season, despite struggling mightily over the course of the season. Osuna has not posted a sub 4.50 ERA in a start since his first start of the season on April 11th against the Corpus Christi Hooks when he gave up 2 unearned runs over 5 2/3 innings. Since then, he has given up 45 hits, 10 walks, and 29 earned runs over 28 2/3 innings pitched. The 23 year old southpaw has still somehow managed to go 3-1 during that time. On the season, Osuna has given up 50 hits and 11 walks over 34 1/3 innings with 33 strikeouts. Right handed batters are hitting .364 against Osuna with 6 of the 7 homeruns he has given up on the season. At home, Osuna is 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 4 appearances/3 starts. He was a Texas League Mid season All-star last season.
Frisco Takes First 2 Again: Frisco received clutch homeruns in Thursday's 7-5 10th inning win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and took the first two games again from a Texas League North contender. Frisco is 2-0 in the month of June now and kept pace with the San Antonio Missions, who got a 9th inning walkoff homer from Kyle Blanks. Frisco's 28-24 record represents the 2nd best record in the Texas League, but is only the 2nd best in their division as well.
Jake Brigham Struggles: For the 3rd start in a row, Jake Brigham struggled with his command as he walked 4 batters and gave up 6 hits over 5 innings. He did manage to only give up 3 runs, however, which kept Frisco in the game. After walking 14 batters and striking out 37 over his first 40 2/3 innings, Brigham has walked 11 batters and struck out 8 over his last 11 2/3 innings. His groundballs have also gone down and his flyballs have gone up, as he has gotten 8 GB-12 FB his last 3 starts after getting 48-22 in his previous 8 starts.
Renny Osuna Homers Again: Renny Osuna has only hit more than 1 homerun in a month once in his career (last August for Frisco), let alone achieving the feat of homeruns in back to back games as he has done on the first two days of June this year. Renny Osuna hit a 2-run homerun in the top of the 10th inning to give Frisco a 7-5 lead, which eventually wound up as the final score. It was the second straight game that Osuna hit a game winning homerun, as Wednesday's solo shot was the difference in that game as well. It also represented his 4th homerun this season, which ties a career high for him and raised his OPS on the season to .802, which would be his highest since 2008.
Tommy Mendonca's Clutch Homer: Osuna never would have gotten the opportunity to hit the homerun if Tommy Mendonca wouldn't have hit one of his own in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game at 5-5. The homerun was Mendonca's 12th homerun of the year and gave him 34 RBIs, both of which tied him with Bianucci for the team lead. It was Mendonca's 2nd homerun in 11 at bats in the 9th inning this season.
Fabio Castillo Gets #5: Frisco seems to have found their new closer in hard throwing right hander Fabio Castillo, who got his 5th save of the season. All 5 saves have come in his last 6 appearances and he has thrown 4 perfect innings in his last 4 appearances for 4 saves.
Ruiz Continues Slump: Jose Ruiz came back hitting the ball like no other after the birth of his child as he went 19 for 45 (.422) from May 14th-May 27th with 3 homeruns and 6 doubles. But since then he has gone 0 for his last 19 over 5 games with 4 RBI and 1 walk. However, "that's the way baseball go".
Rare Struggle for Leonys Martin: Leonys Martin hasn't had much trouble with AA pitching to this point. But on Thursday he went 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts (raising his season total to 6 in 76 AB) and he grounded into a double play as well. Still, the 23 year old outfielder is batting .329 with an OPS of .955, including a .416 OBP.
MLB Draft Stuff: Keith Law came out with his latest projected first round today on ESPN insiders, and has the Texas Rangers selecting high school third baseman Travis Harrison from Tustin HS (California). State of Texas players that he has going in the first round include: 3B Anthony Rendon, Rice (#2 to Seattle); RHP Taylor Jungmann, University of Texas (#12 to Milwaukee); OF Josh Bell, Dallas Jesuit Prep (#26 to Boston). The MLB draft begins on Monday and lasts through Wednesday. MLB Network will cover the first round on TV on Monday night beginning at 6:00 PM CT. MLB.com covers the draft on their draft central as well.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco crushed the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 12-2 on the road. Ben Snyder started the game for Frisco and gave up 2 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 3 1/3 innings. Warner Madrigal picked up the victory with 2 1/3 shutout innings as he combined with Beau Jones and Evan Reed to pitch 5 2/3 shutout innings of relief. Marcus Lemon went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, a walk, and 3 RBI at the plate. Renny Osuna went 3 for 5 with a double and RBI. Every hitter in Frisco's lineup had at least one hit in the game as the team had 17 total hits. Guilder Rodriguez was the only batter in the lineup to not drive in a run.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Billy Hamilton scored at least one run in 24 straight games from July 6th through August 2nd, 1894.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) lost 11-1 to the Oklahoma City Redhawks on the road. Derek Hankins started for Round Rock and gave up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 7 runs over 3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Beau Jones gave up 2 hits and 1 run over 3 innings of relief with 4 strikeouts. Joey Butler went 2 for 3 at the plate for Round Rock. Chad Tracy went 0 for 3 with a walk for the Express. Brad Nelson went 2 for 4 with a double. Esteban German added a double as well.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) got a rare rough start from Joseph Wieland and lost 6-5 to the Frederick Keys. Wieland has been as close to automatic this season as one pitcher can get, but against the Keys, he hasn't been quite so automatic. He gave up 11 hits and 5 runs over 6 innings with 6 strikeouts and for the 8th consecutive complete start he did not issue a walk. Wieland has not walked a batter in his last 202 batters faced. Kennil Gomez pitched a scoreless inning of relief, but Trevor Hurley took the loss after giving up a run in his inning of relief. Mike Olt went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI, and walk for Myrtle Beach. Ryan Strausborger went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI in the game. Leury Garcia, Zach Zaneski and Jared Hoying each added a single as well.
Hickory (Low-A) defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds 5-3 on the road. Nick Tepesch started for Hickory and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 5 strikeouts. Joseph Van Meter and Ryan Rodebaugh combined for 2 2/3 innings of relief and gave up just 1 unearned run. Jurickson Profar went 2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 4 in the game at the plate. Josh Richmond added a 1 for 3 day with a double and a walk for the Crawdads. Tomas Telis, Christian Villanueva, Jake Skole, and Alejandro Selen all had a hit in the game as well. Jonathan Roof drove in 2 runs for Hickory.
Minor League Performance of the Day
There were some good minor league performances on Thursday, but Trevor May's start topped the list as the 21 year old right hander had another dominant performance for the Clearwater Threshers. May gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run over 8 innings and struck out 12 batters in Clearwater's 7-1 victory over the St. Lucie Mets. The matchup of May and Matt Harvey was one to watch and both lived up to the billing as Harvey gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 5 innings with 9 strikeouts. May lasted longer in the game, however, and earned the victory. On the season, Trevor May has given up just 46 hits and 29 walks over 61 innings with 80 strikeouts. He is 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA this season. His 12 strikeouts was the 2nd time this season that he had topped double digits. May was drafted in the 4th round of the 2008 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was listed as the 5th best prospect in the Philadelphia Phillie's system by Baseball America entering 2011.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Location: Averst Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (28-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-23 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 2 in a row
Last 10: 6-4
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 3-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 67-66
Record since 2004 on June 3rd: 1-6
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (1-3 4.96 ERA) is making his first career start against Northwest Arkansas... Edgar Osuna (4-1 7.60 ERA) is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 0.57 WHIP in 1 career start against Frisco
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Carlos Pimentel out to the mound for the 11th time this season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Edgar Osuna out to the mound for the 9th time and 8th start as Frisco tries to finish off the sweep of the Naturals... Carlos Pimentel started for Frisco on Saturday in the TV game and gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts. Frisco managed to win the game, however, as Pimentel hasn't gotten a loss since April 23rd, but has received no decisions in 6 of his 7 starts since then. Since losing 3 starts in a row to begin the year, Pimentel is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA over the 7 starts. On the season, the 21 year old righty has given up 53 hits and 23 walks over 49 innings with 40 strikeouts. He is 0-1 with a 3.04 ERA on the road in 4 starts. Pimente has struggled against the Texas League North, however, as he is 0-2 with an 11.45 ERA over 3 starts. Which means he is also 1-1 with a 3.08 ERA in 7 starts against the Texas League South... Edgar Osuna has won 4 out of 5 decisions this season, despite struggling mightily over the course of the season. Osuna has not posted a sub 4.50 ERA in a start since his first start of the season on April 11th against the Corpus Christi Hooks when he gave up 2 unearned runs over 5 2/3 innings. Since then, he has given up 45 hits, 10 walks, and 29 earned runs over 28 2/3 innings pitched. The 23 year old southpaw has still somehow managed to go 3-1 during that time. On the season, Osuna has given up 50 hits and 11 walks over 34 1/3 innings with 33 strikeouts. Right handed batters are hitting .364 against Osuna with 6 of the 7 homeruns he has given up on the season. At home, Osuna is 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 4 appearances/3 starts. He was a Texas League Mid season All-star last season.
Frisco Takes First 2 Again: Frisco received clutch homeruns in Thursday's 7-5 10th inning win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and took the first two games again from a Texas League North contender. Frisco is 2-0 in the month of June now and kept pace with the San Antonio Missions, who got a 9th inning walkoff homer from Kyle Blanks. Frisco's 28-24 record represents the 2nd best record in the Texas League, but is only the 2nd best in their division as well.
Jake Brigham Struggles: For the 3rd start in a row, Jake Brigham struggled with his command as he walked 4 batters and gave up 6 hits over 5 innings. He did manage to only give up 3 runs, however, which kept Frisco in the game. After walking 14 batters and striking out 37 over his first 40 2/3 innings, Brigham has walked 11 batters and struck out 8 over his last 11 2/3 innings. His groundballs have also gone down and his flyballs have gone up, as he has gotten 8 GB-12 FB his last 3 starts after getting 48-22 in his previous 8 starts.
Renny Osuna Homers Again: Renny Osuna has only hit more than 1 homerun in a month once in his career (last August for Frisco), let alone achieving the feat of homeruns in back to back games as he has done on the first two days of June this year. Renny Osuna hit a 2-run homerun in the top of the 10th inning to give Frisco a 7-5 lead, which eventually wound up as the final score. It was the second straight game that Osuna hit a game winning homerun, as Wednesday's solo shot was the difference in that game as well. It also represented his 4th homerun this season, which ties a career high for him and raised his OPS on the season to .802, which would be his highest since 2008.
Tommy Mendonca's Clutch Homer: Osuna never would have gotten the opportunity to hit the homerun if Tommy Mendonca wouldn't have hit one of his own in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game at 5-5. The homerun was Mendonca's 12th homerun of the year and gave him 34 RBIs, both of which tied him with Bianucci for the team lead. It was Mendonca's 2nd homerun in 11 at bats in the 9th inning this season.
Fabio Castillo Gets #5: Frisco seems to have found their new closer in hard throwing right hander Fabio Castillo, who got his 5th save of the season. All 5 saves have come in his last 6 appearances and he has thrown 4 perfect innings in his last 4 appearances for 4 saves.
Ruiz Continues Slump: Jose Ruiz came back hitting the ball like no other after the birth of his child as he went 19 for 45 (.422) from May 14th-May 27th with 3 homeruns and 6 doubles. But since then he has gone 0 for his last 19 over 5 games with 4 RBI and 1 walk. However, "that's the way baseball go".
Rare Struggle for Leonys Martin: Leonys Martin hasn't had much trouble with AA pitching to this point. But on Thursday he went 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts (raising his season total to 6 in 76 AB) and he grounded into a double play as well. Still, the 23 year old outfielder is batting .329 with an OPS of .955, including a .416 OBP.
MLB Draft Stuff: Keith Law came out with his latest projected first round today on ESPN insiders, and has the Texas Rangers selecting high school third baseman Travis Harrison from Tustin HS (California). State of Texas players that he has going in the first round include: 3B Anthony Rendon, Rice (#2 to Seattle); RHP Taylor Jungmann, University of Texas (#12 to Milwaukee); OF Josh Bell, Dallas Jesuit Prep (#26 to Boston). The MLB draft begins on Monday and lasts through Wednesday. MLB Network will cover the first round on TV on Monday night beginning at 6:00 PM CT. MLB.com covers the draft on their draft central as well.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco crushed the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 12-2 on the road. Ben Snyder started the game for Frisco and gave up 2 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 3 1/3 innings. Warner Madrigal picked up the victory with 2 1/3 shutout innings as he combined with Beau Jones and Evan Reed to pitch 5 2/3 shutout innings of relief. Marcus Lemon went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, a walk, and 3 RBI at the plate. Renny Osuna went 3 for 5 with a double and RBI. Every hitter in Frisco's lineup had at least one hit in the game as the team had 17 total hits. Guilder Rodriguez was the only batter in the lineup to not drive in a run.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Billy Hamilton scored at least one run in 24 straight games from July 6th through August 2nd, 1894.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) lost 11-1 to the Oklahoma City Redhawks on the road. Derek Hankins started for Round Rock and gave up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 7 runs over 3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Beau Jones gave up 2 hits and 1 run over 3 innings of relief with 4 strikeouts. Joey Butler went 2 for 3 at the plate for Round Rock. Chad Tracy went 0 for 3 with a walk for the Express. Brad Nelson went 2 for 4 with a double. Esteban German added a double as well.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) got a rare rough start from Joseph Wieland and lost 6-5 to the Frederick Keys. Wieland has been as close to automatic this season as one pitcher can get, but against the Keys, he hasn't been quite so automatic. He gave up 11 hits and 5 runs over 6 innings with 6 strikeouts and for the 8th consecutive complete start he did not issue a walk. Wieland has not walked a batter in his last 202 batters faced. Kennil Gomez pitched a scoreless inning of relief, but Trevor Hurley took the loss after giving up a run in his inning of relief. Mike Olt went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI, and walk for Myrtle Beach. Ryan Strausborger went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI in the game. Leury Garcia, Zach Zaneski and Jared Hoying each added a single as well.
Hickory (Low-A) defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds 5-3 on the road. Nick Tepesch started for Hickory and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 5 strikeouts. Joseph Van Meter and Ryan Rodebaugh combined for 2 2/3 innings of relief and gave up just 1 unearned run. Jurickson Profar went 2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 4 in the game at the plate. Josh Richmond added a 1 for 3 day with a double and a walk for the Crawdads. Tomas Telis, Christian Villanueva, Jake Skole, and Alejandro Selen all had a hit in the game as well. Jonathan Roof drove in 2 runs for Hickory.
Minor League Performance of the Day
There were some good minor league performances on Thursday, but Trevor May's start topped the list as the 21 year old right hander had another dominant performance for the Clearwater Threshers. May gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run over 8 innings and struck out 12 batters in Clearwater's 7-1 victory over the St. Lucie Mets. The matchup of May and Matt Harvey was one to watch and both lived up to the billing as Harvey gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 5 innings with 9 strikeouts. May lasted longer in the game, however, and earned the victory. On the season, Trevor May has given up just 46 hits and 29 walks over 61 innings with 80 strikeouts. He is 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA this season. His 12 strikeouts was the 2nd time this season that he had topped double digits. May was drafted in the 4th round of the 2008 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was listed as the 5th best prospect in the Philadelphia Phillie's system by Baseball America entering 2011.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Game 52: Frisco RoughRiders (Jake Brigham) @ Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Zach Miner)
Time: 6:00 PM CT
Location: Averst Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (27-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-22 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 2-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 66-66
Record on June 2nd since 2004: 3-2 with 2 off days
Starting Pitchers: Jake Brigham (2-4 4.82 ERA) is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in 1 career start against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals... Zach Miner (1-1 3.27 ERA) is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 1 career start against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Jake Brigham out to the mound for the 11th time this season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Zach Miner out to the mound for the 4th time this year in a rematch of their May 27th matchup in Frisco... After pitching solidly and giving consistent performances in his first 8 starts, Jake Brigham has sputtered with command his last 2 outings out and has taken back to back losses because of it. Against the Naturals, Brigham gave up 7 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings on Friday. He ended up getting ejected in the 6th inning after arguing balls/strikes as well. Brigham hasn't been in the victory column since May 1st either. On the season, Brigham has given up 47 hits and 22 walks with 49 strikeouts over 52 1/3 innings. On the road he is 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 4 starts. Right handed batters are hitting just .215 against Brigham this season... Zach Miner continues to try to make his way back to the majors. On Friday against Frisco he gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 5 innings en route to the victory. Miner will make his 2nd appearance at home this season and gave up 2 hits, 3 walks, and 1 run over 2 innings in his first appearance. Right handed batters are hitting .227 against Miner this season. The former major league pitcher has made 157 appearances on a big league mound in his career and is 25-20 with a 4.24 career MLB ERA.
Frisco Wins for Third Time in Four games: After losing on Monday with the opportunity to sweep the Tulsa Drillers, Frisco defeated Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday by a score of 5-4. All of the scoring for both teams was done by the 5th inning as both bullpens shut down the opposition. It was the 8th time this season that the Riders have taken the first game of the series out of 15 opportunities. When they have taken the first game of the set they have taken 6 of the 7 series.
Martin Perez Wins Again: It wasn't his best start of the season, but Martin Perez managed to pick up his 3rd victory in his 11th start of the season. He is now 4-0 in his last 12 starts, as well. Perez's final line was: 6 IP 8 H 4 R/ER 0 BB 4 K 96 pitches-60 strikes with a homerun given up and 9 GB-3 FB. The line is a bit misleading, however, as 5 of the 8 hits and all 4 runs came in the 3rd inning. He went 3 up and 3 down in the 1st, but faced baserunners in the next 4 innings. He faced 2 out trouble in the 2nd thanks in part to an error, but got Nick Francis to ground out to end the inning. He gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in the 3rd. Gave up a leadoff single in the 4th, which was erased on a caught stealing during the next at bat. Gave up a 1 out single in the 5th, which was erased on a double play to end the threat. He retired the batters in order in the 6th inning, which was his last inning.
Osuna Homers: Renny Osuna homered for the 3rd time this season in the 5th inning, which gave Frisco the 5-4 lead and the eventual win. He went 2 for 4 at the plate and scored twice. Osuna currently leads the team in batting average (among those qualified), and is now up to 22 RBI on the season. He has provided steady offense at the top of the order and is climbing on the hits list for Frisco. Osuna sits at 241 hits for the RoughRiders in his career, which spans parts of 3 years. Renny is 78 hits away from tying Steve Murphy for the most hits in Frisco RoughRiders history and 79 away from passing him on the list.
Jonathan Greene Reaches Base Three Times: Jonathan Greene got 2 hits in a game for the 4th time in his past 5 games and walked as well in the game. It represented his 18th multi hit game this season for Frisco and was the 9th time he has gotten on base three times in a game. Greene also drove in his 24th run of the year. With Runners In Scoring Position and 2 outs this season Greene is batting .412 (7 for 17) and leading off the inning, he is batting .421 (16 for 38).
Fabio Castillo Records 4th Save: For the first time in a while, Mark Hamburger has company a top the saves leader for the Frisco RoughRiders. Fabio Castillo pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 4th save of the season, which tied Hamburger for the team lead. It was the 7th time in his last 10 appearances that Castillo has thrown scoreless innings out of relief and the 6th time in his last 7 appearances.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 8-0 to Northwest Arkansas on the road. Tanner Roark started for Frisco and took the loss in the game. Roark gave up 9 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (2 earned) over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. Guilder Rodriguez led Frisco with 2 hits in the game in 3 at bats. Emerson Frostad added a double as his 1 hit in 4 at bats. Wes Bankston, Taylor Teagarden, and James Tomlin each added a single in the game as well, while Joey Butler and Renny Osuna each walked once.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Joe Sewell (Cleveland Indians) went 115 games without a strikeout from May 17th through September 19th in 1929.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) defeated the Oklahoma City Redhawks 7-6 on the road. Zach Jackson started for Round Rock and received the victory after giving up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (5 earned) over 6 innings with 2 strikeouts. Pedro Strop and Cody Eppley combined for 3 scoreless innings of relief. Former RoughRider Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 with a homerun and a hit by pitch for Round Rock. Taylor Teagarden went 2 for 5 with a homerun and 2 RBI. Joey Butler went 1 for 5 with a run scored and a stolen base. Julio Borbon went 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and a stolen base for the Express on rehab. Luis Cruz and Esteban German each added 3 hits in the game. Chris Davis went 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 3 runs in the 7th inning and then a run in the 11th and lost 4-3 in extra innings on the road to the Frederick Keys. Wilfredo Boscan started for Myrtle Beach and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. Joseph Ortiz gave up a rare run, however, as he had his first blown save of the season in 2 innings of work. Johan Yan took the loss after pitching into his 3rd inning of work. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a homerun at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Mitch Hilligoss and Jared Hoying each added 2 hits as well for the Pelicans. Mike Olt went 0 for 5 in the game.
Hickory (Low-A) lost to the Delmarva Shorebirds 5-3 on the road. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave a tremendous effort as he gave up 3 hits and 1 unearned run over 5 innings with 6 strikeouts. Buckel did not issue a walk. Colby Killian took the loss after giving up 6 hits and 4 runs over 2 innings of relief. Jorge Marban pitched the last inning of scoreless relief. Top prospect Jurickson Profar went 0 for 3 with a walk in the game. Christian Villanueva went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, 2 runs scored, and 2 stolen bases. Tomas Telis went 1 for 4 with a stolen base and a run for the Crawdads. Jonathan Roof went 2 for 4 with a stolen base out of the 9 hole in the lineup. Jhonny Gomez also added a hit and 2 RBI and Teodoro Martinez had a single and walk out of the leadoff spot in 5 plate appearances.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Sometimes you have to hand it to the players who continue to pursue their dreams, and in the case of AAA pitcher Brian Gordon (32 years old), he had a day that anyone at any level would take on Wednesday. Frisco RoughRiders fans might remember Brian Gordon, who pitched for Frisco back in 2008 for a short while. Gordon appeared in 15 games for the RoughRiders and did not give up a run in those 15 games. He gave up 9 hits over 22 1/3 innings pitched that year for Frisco. On Wednesday while pitching for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Gordon gave up just 2 hits and 0 walks over 7 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts in Lehigh Valley's 8-0 win over the Gwinnett Braves. Perhaps as impressive as anything is that it took Gordon only 67 pitches to dispatch the Gwinnett Brave's hitters over 7 innings with 11 strikeouts! Gordon also went 2 for 4 at the plate in the game, giving him as many hits in the game as the entire Gwinnett Braves offense combined. Gordon was taken in the 7th round of the 1997 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
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And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Location: Averst Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (27-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-22 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 5-5
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 2-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 66-66
Record on June 2nd since 2004: 3-2 with 2 off days
Starting Pitchers: Jake Brigham (2-4 4.82 ERA) is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in 1 career start against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals... Zach Miner (1-1 3.27 ERA) is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 1 career start against the Frisco RoughRiders
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Jake Brigham out to the mound for the 11th time this season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Zach Miner out to the mound for the 4th time this year in a rematch of their May 27th matchup in Frisco... After pitching solidly and giving consistent performances in his first 8 starts, Jake Brigham has sputtered with command his last 2 outings out and has taken back to back losses because of it. Against the Naturals, Brigham gave up 7 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings on Friday. He ended up getting ejected in the 6th inning after arguing balls/strikes as well. Brigham hasn't been in the victory column since May 1st either. On the season, Brigham has given up 47 hits and 22 walks with 49 strikeouts over 52 1/3 innings. On the road he is 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 4 starts. Right handed batters are hitting just .215 against Brigham this season... Zach Miner continues to try to make his way back to the majors. On Friday against Frisco he gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 5 innings en route to the victory. Miner will make his 2nd appearance at home this season and gave up 2 hits, 3 walks, and 1 run over 2 innings in his first appearance. Right handed batters are hitting .227 against Miner this season. The former major league pitcher has made 157 appearances on a big league mound in his career and is 25-20 with a 4.24 career MLB ERA.
Frisco Wins for Third Time in Four games: After losing on Monday with the opportunity to sweep the Tulsa Drillers, Frisco defeated Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday by a score of 5-4. All of the scoring for both teams was done by the 5th inning as both bullpens shut down the opposition. It was the 8th time this season that the Riders have taken the first game of the series out of 15 opportunities. When they have taken the first game of the set they have taken 6 of the 7 series.
Martin Perez Wins Again: It wasn't his best start of the season, but Martin Perez managed to pick up his 3rd victory in his 11th start of the season. He is now 4-0 in his last 12 starts, as well. Perez's final line was: 6 IP 8 H 4 R/ER 0 BB 4 K 96 pitches-60 strikes with a homerun given up and 9 GB-3 FB. The line is a bit misleading, however, as 5 of the 8 hits and all 4 runs came in the 3rd inning. He went 3 up and 3 down in the 1st, but faced baserunners in the next 4 innings. He faced 2 out trouble in the 2nd thanks in part to an error, but got Nick Francis to ground out to end the inning. He gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in the 3rd. Gave up a leadoff single in the 4th, which was erased on a caught stealing during the next at bat. Gave up a 1 out single in the 5th, which was erased on a double play to end the threat. He retired the batters in order in the 6th inning, which was his last inning.
Osuna Homers: Renny Osuna homered for the 3rd time this season in the 5th inning, which gave Frisco the 5-4 lead and the eventual win. He went 2 for 4 at the plate and scored twice. Osuna currently leads the team in batting average (among those qualified), and is now up to 22 RBI on the season. He has provided steady offense at the top of the order and is climbing on the hits list for Frisco. Osuna sits at 241 hits for the RoughRiders in his career, which spans parts of 3 years. Renny is 78 hits away from tying Steve Murphy for the most hits in Frisco RoughRiders history and 79 away from passing him on the list.
Jonathan Greene Reaches Base Three Times: Jonathan Greene got 2 hits in a game for the 4th time in his past 5 games and walked as well in the game. It represented his 18th multi hit game this season for Frisco and was the 9th time he has gotten on base three times in a game. Greene also drove in his 24th run of the year. With Runners In Scoring Position and 2 outs this season Greene is batting .412 (7 for 17) and leading off the inning, he is batting .421 (16 for 38).
Fabio Castillo Records 4th Save: For the first time in a while, Mark Hamburger has company a top the saves leader for the Frisco RoughRiders. Fabio Castillo pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 4th save of the season, which tied Hamburger for the team lead. It was the 7th time in his last 10 appearances that Castillo has thrown scoreless innings out of relief and the 6th time in his last 7 appearances.
Last Year on This Date: Frisco lost 8-0 to Northwest Arkansas on the road. Tanner Roark started for Frisco and took the loss in the game. Roark gave up 9 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (2 earned) over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. Guilder Rodriguez led Frisco with 2 hits in the game in 3 at bats. Emerson Frostad added a double as his 1 hit in 4 at bats. Wes Bankston, Taylor Teagarden, and James Tomlin each added a single in the game as well, while Joey Butler and Renny Osuna each walked once.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Joe Sewell (Cleveland Indians) went 115 games without a strikeout from May 17th through September 19th in 1929.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 2-2
Round Rock (AAA) defeated the Oklahoma City Redhawks 7-6 on the road. Zach Jackson started for Round Rock and received the victory after giving up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (5 earned) over 6 innings with 2 strikeouts. Pedro Strop and Cody Eppley combined for 3 scoreless innings of relief. Former RoughRider Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 with a homerun and a hit by pitch for Round Rock. Taylor Teagarden went 2 for 5 with a homerun and 2 RBI. Joey Butler went 1 for 5 with a run scored and a stolen base. Julio Borbon went 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and a stolen base for the Express on rehab. Luis Cruz and Esteban German each added 3 hits in the game. Chris Davis went 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) gave up 3 runs in the 7th inning and then a run in the 11th and lost 4-3 in extra innings on the road to the Frederick Keys. Wilfredo Boscan started for Myrtle Beach and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs over 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. Joseph Ortiz gave up a rare run, however, as he had his first blown save of the season in 2 innings of work. Johan Yan took the loss after pitching into his 3rd inning of work. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 5 with a homerun at the plate for Myrtle Beach. Mitch Hilligoss and Jared Hoying each added 2 hits as well for the Pelicans. Mike Olt went 0 for 5 in the game.
Hickory (Low-A) lost to the Delmarva Shorebirds 5-3 on the road. Cody Buckel started for Hickory and gave a tremendous effort as he gave up 3 hits and 1 unearned run over 5 innings with 6 strikeouts. Buckel did not issue a walk. Colby Killian took the loss after giving up 6 hits and 4 runs over 2 innings of relief. Jorge Marban pitched the last inning of scoreless relief. Top prospect Jurickson Profar went 0 for 3 with a walk in the game. Christian Villanueva went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, 2 runs scored, and 2 stolen bases. Tomas Telis went 1 for 4 with a stolen base and a run for the Crawdads. Jonathan Roof went 2 for 4 with a stolen base out of the 9 hole in the lineup. Jhonny Gomez also added a hit and 2 RBI and Teodoro Martinez had a single and walk out of the leadoff spot in 5 plate appearances.
Minor League Performance of the Day
Sometimes you have to hand it to the players who continue to pursue their dreams, and in the case of AAA pitcher Brian Gordon (32 years old), he had a day that anyone at any level would take on Wednesday. Frisco RoughRiders fans might remember Brian Gordon, who pitched for Frisco back in 2008 for a short while. Gordon appeared in 15 games for the RoughRiders and did not give up a run in those 15 games. He gave up 9 hits over 22 1/3 innings pitched that year for Frisco. On Wednesday while pitching for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Gordon gave up just 2 hits and 0 walks over 7 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts in Lehigh Valley's 8-0 win over the Gwinnett Braves. Perhaps as impressive as anything is that it took Gordon only 67 pitches to dispatch the Gwinnett Brave's hitters over 7 innings with 11 strikeouts! Gordon also went 2 for 4 at the plate in the game, giving him as many hits in the game as the entire Gwinnett Braves offense combined. Gordon was taken in the 7th round of the 1997 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Game 51: Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez) @ Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Will Smith)
Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Arvest Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (26-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-21 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 4-6
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 1-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 65-66
Record Since 2004 on June 1st: 4-2 with a rain out, day off, and double-header
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (2-0 2.01 ERA) is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 1 career start against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals... Will Smith (3-6 4.63 ERA) is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA and 2.20 WHIP in 2 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders.
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Martin Perez out to the mound for his 11th start of the season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Will Smith out to the mound for his 10th start of the season in a battle of southpaws... For the 3rd time in 4 starts, Martin Perez gave up 0 earned runs in a start in his last outing. Perez went up against Smith last Thursday and gave up 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts over 7 shutout innings en route to his second victory of the 2011 season. Dating back to the 2010 season, Martin Perez is 3-0 in his last 11 starts and Frisco is 8-3 during those 11 starts. Martin Perez is 1-0 with a 1.41 ERA during his 6 starts on the road this season and is coming off a month where he went 1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in 5 starts. On the season, Perez has given up 42 hits and 25 walks with 53 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings pitched. Perez is 2nd in AA in ERA this season and ranks 17th in ERA among all minor league pitchers this season... Will Smith pitched well in his last start against Frisco when he gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. He took the loss in the effort, however, to drop him to 3-5 on the season. Smith has gone at least 6 innings and given up 2 or fewer runs in 4 of his last 6 starts after getting off to a bad start this year. On the season, Smith has given up 65 hits and walked 13 batters with 23 strikeouts over 46 2/3 innings. He is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA at home this season in 5 starts. Left handed batters are hitting .349 against him, while right handed hitters are batting .344 against him. Will Smith went 2-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 5 starts in the month of May.
Frisco Can't Finish Off Sweep of Tulsa: Tulsa scored early and often on Monday evening and finished off winning 7-2 over Frisco. Tulsa finished with 4 players with a multi hit game, including leadoff man Tim Wheeler who had 3 singles in his first 3 at bats, which all came by the 4th inning. Christian Friedrich had a terrific performance on the hill as well, as he gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 7 innings with 5 strikeouts.
Brandon Webb Struggles In First Start Back: 2006 NL Cy Young Award Winner Brandon Webb gave up 8 hits and 5 runs over 3 1/3 innings in his first pro start since 2009. His line wasn't the only thing that struggled, however, as his velocity was down into the low to mid 80s. He threw some good sinkers, but the command and velocity were not up to par, which is likely to be expected after having shoulder surgery. The 3 time NL All-Star ended up with a total line of: 3 1/3 IP 8 H 5 R/ER 2 BB 2 K 1 HBP 77 pitches-47 strikes and 3 GB-2 FB.
Another Day In the Life of #12: Leonys Martin continued his tear against AA pitching as he went 2 for 4 with a single, homerun, and 2 runs scored against Tulsa on Monday. His homerun, a solo shot, came in the 9th inning with the team down 7-1, but it did make a splash on the box score and in the pool zone at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Martin had a multi hit game for the 3rd time in 4 games and reached base twice for the 6th time in 7 games, including 5 games in a row. He also scored a run for the 5th game in a row and 6th time in 7 games. Over the last 5 games, Martin has now scored 9 runs, hit 3 extra base hits, driven in 2 runs, and walked 4 times. His batting line on the season is: .353/.438/.588/1.026.
Jose Ruiz Reaches Base, Doesn't Drive in Run: One of the more interesting lines of the series with Tulsa was Jose Ruiz's two days against the Drillers on Saturday and Sunday. Ruiz went 0 for 8 in those 2 games, but drove home 3 runs in the 2 games. On Monday, Ruiz reached base for the first time this season against Tulsa, but did not drive in a run. He finished the 3 game set 0 for 11 with a walk and 3 RBI thanks to 2 sacrifice flies and a RBI groundout.
Team Leaders in the Month of May:
AVG: Martin (.353)
HR: Bianucci and Mendonca (5)
RBI: Bianucci and Greene (17)
R: Rodriguez (18)
SB: Martin (8)
XBH: Bianucci (12)
OPS: Martin (1.026)
W: Miller (4)
SV: Castillo and Hamburger (3)
K: Perez (29)
ERA: Perez (1.47)
WHIP: Brigham (1.21)
Games: Snyder (12)
Unsung Player in May: Guilder Rodriguez does not have the best power on the team, in fact he's hit 1 homerun in his professional career, which came for Frisco in 2009. But, he made up for the lack of power in May with more walks (16) than strikeouts (12) and got on base at a .375 clip, which was the 3rd highest on the team behind Martin (.438) and Davis Stoneburner (.380). Rodriguez also led the team in runs scored with 18 and stole 4 bases, which were the 2nd most on the team. He's currently tied with Martin for the team lead in steals with 8.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco had the day off.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Pedro Martinez struck out 10 or more batters in 8 consecutive starts for the Boston Red Sox from August 19th through September 27th in 1999. He also did it in 7 consecutive starts earlier in the same year from April 15th through May 18th.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 1-2
Round Rock (AAA) fell to the Oklahoma City Redhawks 7-5 after giving up 5 runs in the 5th inning. Round Rock starter Neil Ramirez started and came out after giving up 1 hit and 2 walks over 3 shutout innings after he took a comeback hit off of his throwing arm. Per the Round Rock website, his status is to be determined. Former Rider Chad Tracy went 2 for 3 with a double, 2 RBI, and walk for Round Rock. Chris Davis went 1 for 5, but did not hit a homerun, as his hit was a double. Julio Borbon, who rehabbed with Frisco on Monday, went 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 steals in his rehab for the Express. Matt Kata and Taylor Teagarden each added 2 hits in the game for Round Rock. Reliever Mark Hamburger took the loss for Round Rock after giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs over 2 innings of relief. Zach Phillips gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, and a wild pitch over 3 innings of relief.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) scored 2 runs in the 1st inning and it was all they needed as they defeated the Frederick Keys 2-1 on the road. Robbie Ross started for Myrtle Beach and turned in a terrific performance. Ross gave up just 3 hits and 1 unearned run over 8 innings with 7 strikeouts and no walks. He induced 13 groundball outs in the start to 2 flyball outs. 20 of the 28 batters he faced either struck out or grounded out. Ryan Kelly pitched the 9th inning for his 7th save of the year. Offense was tough to come by for both sides, but it was Zach Zaneski's 2 RBI single, which decided the difference. Zaneski finished with 2 hits in the game for the Pelicans, as did Jared Prince. Jared Bolden had a hit in 4 at bats. Jared Hoying walked twice at the top of the order. Mike Olt and Ryan Strausborger finished 0 for 7 with a walk and run.
Hickory (Low-A) lost to the West Virginia Power 3-2 on Monday on the road. Luke Jackson took the mound for Hickory and gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. Ben Rowen pitched 3 shutout innings of relief with 1 hit and 1 walk given up to 3 strikeouts. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 3 at the plate with a hit by pitch and a run scored. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 4 at the plate for Hickory. Josh Richmond went 1 for 3 with a walk, while Jonathan Roof added a 1 for 3 day with a double for the Crawdads. Teodoro Martinez had 2 walks and a sacrifice groundout, so he did not have an official at bat in the game.
Minor League Performance of the Day
On Tuesday a Frisco pitcher takes home the Minor League Performance of the Day here, but it isn't a pitcher that pitches for the Frisco RoughRiders. Frisco, Texas native Red Patterson had a career performance on Tuesday and he still couldn't take home the victory in his start. In fact, his team didn't even win the game. Pitching for the Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodger's Low-A team), the 24 year old right hander gave up just 2 hits and struck out 10 over 9 shutout innings against the Burlington Bees and the Loons lost 1-0 in 10 innings. On the season, Patterson has given up 45 hits and 14 walks over 60 2/3 innings with 59 strikeouts. He is 4-3 with a 2.87 ERA over 11 starts. Red Patterson was drafted in the 29th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2010 MLB draft out of Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
Location: Arvest Ballpark (Springdale, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (26-24 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-21 1st place in the Texas League North)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 4-6
Series Record: 6-7-1
2011 Record against Northwest Arkansas: 1-2
All-Time Record against Northwest Arkansas: 65-66
Record Since 2004 on June 1st: 4-2 with a rain out, day off, and double-header
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (2-0 2.01 ERA) is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 1 career start against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals... Will Smith (3-6 4.63 ERA) is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA and 2.20 WHIP in 2 career starts against the Frisco RoughRiders.
What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco sends Martin Perez out to the mound for his 11th start of the season, while Northwest Arkansas sends Will Smith out to the mound for his 10th start of the season in a battle of southpaws... For the 3rd time in 4 starts, Martin Perez gave up 0 earned runs in a start in his last outing. Perez went up against Smith last Thursday and gave up 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts over 7 shutout innings en route to his second victory of the 2011 season. Dating back to the 2010 season, Martin Perez is 3-0 in his last 11 starts and Frisco is 8-3 during those 11 starts. Martin Perez is 1-0 with a 1.41 ERA during his 6 starts on the road this season and is coming off a month where he went 1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in 5 starts. On the season, Perez has given up 42 hits and 25 walks with 53 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings pitched. Perez is 2nd in AA in ERA this season and ranks 17th in ERA among all minor league pitchers this season... Will Smith pitched well in his last start against Frisco when he gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs over 6 1/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. He took the loss in the effort, however, to drop him to 3-5 on the season. Smith has gone at least 6 innings and given up 2 or fewer runs in 4 of his last 6 starts after getting off to a bad start this year. On the season, Smith has given up 65 hits and walked 13 batters with 23 strikeouts over 46 2/3 innings. He is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA at home this season in 5 starts. Left handed batters are hitting .349 against him, while right handed hitters are batting .344 against him. Will Smith went 2-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 5 starts in the month of May.
Frisco Can't Finish Off Sweep of Tulsa: Tulsa scored early and often on Monday evening and finished off winning 7-2 over Frisco. Tulsa finished with 4 players with a multi hit game, including leadoff man Tim Wheeler who had 3 singles in his first 3 at bats, which all came by the 4th inning. Christian Friedrich had a terrific performance on the hill as well, as he gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 7 innings with 5 strikeouts.
Brandon Webb Struggles In First Start Back: 2006 NL Cy Young Award Winner Brandon Webb gave up 8 hits and 5 runs over 3 1/3 innings in his first pro start since 2009. His line wasn't the only thing that struggled, however, as his velocity was down into the low to mid 80s. He threw some good sinkers, but the command and velocity were not up to par, which is likely to be expected after having shoulder surgery. The 3 time NL All-Star ended up with a total line of: 3 1/3 IP 8 H 5 R/ER 2 BB 2 K 1 HBP 77 pitches-47 strikes and 3 GB-2 FB.
Another Day In the Life of #12: Leonys Martin continued his tear against AA pitching as he went 2 for 4 with a single, homerun, and 2 runs scored against Tulsa on Monday. His homerun, a solo shot, came in the 9th inning with the team down 7-1, but it did make a splash on the box score and in the pool zone at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Martin had a multi hit game for the 3rd time in 4 games and reached base twice for the 6th time in 7 games, including 5 games in a row. He also scored a run for the 5th game in a row and 6th time in 7 games. Over the last 5 games, Martin has now scored 9 runs, hit 3 extra base hits, driven in 2 runs, and walked 4 times. His batting line on the season is: .353/.438/.588/1.026.
Jose Ruiz Reaches Base, Doesn't Drive in Run: One of the more interesting lines of the series with Tulsa was Jose Ruiz's two days against the Drillers on Saturday and Sunday. Ruiz went 0 for 8 in those 2 games, but drove home 3 runs in the 2 games. On Monday, Ruiz reached base for the first time this season against Tulsa, but did not drive in a run. He finished the 3 game set 0 for 11 with a walk and 3 RBI thanks to 2 sacrifice flies and a RBI groundout.
Team Leaders in the Month of May:
AVG: Martin (.353)
HR: Bianucci and Mendonca (5)
RBI: Bianucci and Greene (17)
R: Rodriguez (18)
SB: Martin (8)
XBH: Bianucci (12)
OPS: Martin (1.026)
W: Miller (4)
SV: Castillo and Hamburger (3)
K: Perez (29)
ERA: Perez (1.47)
WHIP: Brigham (1.21)
Games: Snyder (12)
Unsung Player in May: Guilder Rodriguez does not have the best power on the team, in fact he's hit 1 homerun in his professional career, which came for Frisco in 2009. But, he made up for the lack of power in May with more walks (16) than strikeouts (12) and got on base at a .375 clip, which was the 3rd highest on the team behind Martin (.438) and Davis Stoneburner (.380). Rodriguez also led the team in runs scored with 18 and stole 4 bases, which were the 2nd most on the team. He's currently tied with Martin for the team lead in steals with 8.
Last Year on this Date: Frisco had the day off.
Answer to Yesterday's Question of the Day: Pedro Martinez struck out 10 or more batters in 8 consecutive starts for the Boston Red Sox from August 19th through September 27th in 1999. He also did it in 7 consecutive starts earlier in the same year from April 15th through May 18th.
Around the Ranger's System
Yesterday's Record: 1-2
Round Rock (AAA) fell to the Oklahoma City Redhawks 7-5 after giving up 5 runs in the 5th inning. Round Rock starter Neil Ramirez started and came out after giving up 1 hit and 2 walks over 3 shutout innings after he took a comeback hit off of his throwing arm. Per the Round Rock website, his status is to be determined. Former Rider Chad Tracy went 2 for 3 with a double, 2 RBI, and walk for Round Rock. Chris Davis went 1 for 5, but did not hit a homerun, as his hit was a double. Julio Borbon, who rehabbed with Frisco on Monday, went 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 steals in his rehab for the Express. Matt Kata and Taylor Teagarden each added 2 hits in the game for Round Rock. Reliever Mark Hamburger took the loss for Round Rock after giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs over 2 innings of relief. Zach Phillips gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, and a wild pitch over 3 innings of relief.
Myrtle Beach (High-A) scored 2 runs in the 1st inning and it was all they needed as they defeated the Frederick Keys 2-1 on the road. Robbie Ross started for Myrtle Beach and turned in a terrific performance. Ross gave up just 3 hits and 1 unearned run over 8 innings with 7 strikeouts and no walks. He induced 13 groundball outs in the start to 2 flyball outs. 20 of the 28 batters he faced either struck out or grounded out. Ryan Kelly pitched the 9th inning for his 7th save of the year. Offense was tough to come by for both sides, but it was Zach Zaneski's 2 RBI single, which decided the difference. Zaneski finished with 2 hits in the game for the Pelicans, as did Jared Prince. Jared Bolden had a hit in 4 at bats. Jared Hoying walked twice at the top of the order. Mike Olt and Ryan Strausborger finished 0 for 7 with a walk and run.
Hickory (Low-A) lost to the West Virginia Power 3-2 on Monday on the road. Luke Jackson took the mound for Hickory and gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs over 5 innings with 2 strikeouts. Ben Rowen pitched 3 shutout innings of relief with 1 hit and 1 walk given up to 3 strikeouts. Jurickson Profar went 1 for 3 at the plate with a hit by pitch and a run scored. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 4 at the plate for Hickory. Josh Richmond went 1 for 3 with a walk, while Jonathan Roof added a 1 for 3 day with a double for the Crawdads. Teodoro Martinez had 2 walks and a sacrifice groundout, so he did not have an official at bat in the game.
Minor League Performance of the Day
On Tuesday a Frisco pitcher takes home the Minor League Performance of the Day here, but it isn't a pitcher that pitches for the Frisco RoughRiders. Frisco, Texas native Red Patterson had a career performance on Tuesday and he still couldn't take home the victory in his start. In fact, his team didn't even win the game. Pitching for the Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodger's Low-A team), the 24 year old right hander gave up just 2 hits and struck out 10 over 9 shutout innings against the Burlington Bees and the Loons lost 1-0 in 10 innings. On the season, Patterson has given up 45 hits and 14 walks over 60 2/3 innings with 59 strikeouts. He is 4-3 with a 2.87 ERA over 11 starts. Red Patterson was drafted in the 29th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2010 MLB draft out of Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
As always...
Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/pressboxchatter
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/
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