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Frisco RoughRiders

Frisco RoughRiders Game Notes

July 21, 2014 - Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


Due date: A pair of RoughRiders hitters mired in long hitless droughts both broke through and spurred Frisco to another comeback win over the Hooks on Sunday. The 'Riders earned a split of their four-game set with Corpus Christi thanks to a 3-2 victory in the series finale, their second straight one-run win. The Hooks nabbed a run in the third off Alex Claudio on a Delino DeShields, Jr. sac fly, but Frisco tied the game in the fourth on Trever Adams' RBI double. DeShields put Corpus back in front with a run-scoring triple one frame later, but an error by Telvin Nash allowed the 'Riders to tie the game once again. In the seventh, Hanser Alberto snapped an 0 for 18 skid with a leadoff single and then moved to third on a pickoff throwing error by Mike Hauschild. Then Jake Skole, hitless in his previous 22 at bats, stroked a base hit past a drawn-in infield to score Alberto and give Frisco its first lead. Francisco Mendoza and Will Lamb pitched scoreless baseball the rest of the way as the RoughRiders ended their brielf home stand on a winning note.

Today's Pitching Matchup: Frisco begins a four-game, three-day series with Midland tonight and Alec Asher takes the ball against fellow righty Nate Long. Asher is in the midst of his most trying stretch of baseball this season, as the Floridian is 0-3 over his last four starts with a 9.15 ERA (20 ER/19.2 IP), 31 hits allowed, three walks, 15 strikeouts and a .352 opposing batting average (31 for 88). This followed a six-start stretch in which he posted a 0.77 ERA. Asher is 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA in three starts against the RockHounds this season. Long, like Asher, was a mid-season Texas League All-Star and is making his fourth start of the season against Frisco. He is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA against the RoughRiders in 2014. After making three of his first four appearances out of the bullpen to begin the year, Long has made his last 16 as a starter and has allowed three earned runs of fewer in all but three outings this season. He faced Frisco four times out of the bullpen last year and was 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA (6 ER/8.1 IP). The 28-year-old made 32 of his 33 appearances in 2013 for Midland, going 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA (27 ER/63 IP) in the Texas League with 67 hits allowed, 20 walks and 57 strikeouts. The Athletics drafted Long out of the University of Texas-Arlington in the 28th round in 2009 as a five-year senior (he redshirted in 2005 at Oklahoma before transferring). He posted ERAs over five in his first three seasons at UTA, but excelled in his final year, going 6-4 with a 3.76 ERA and a 104-29 K-BB ratio in 93.1 innings. He set a single-season school record in strikeouts that season and finished with the second-most whiffs (229) in program history. A Fort Worth native, Long graduated from All Saints Episcopal in 2004 and holds school records in wins, hits, RBI and strikeouts.

Odubel your pleasure: It has been an eventful last two nights for RoughRiders second baseman Odubel Herrera. First, he broke up Chris Devenski's no-hitter with a liner to left field in the seventh inning on Saturday and he followed that up with a 3 for 4 night at the plate with the run scored on Sunday. Herrera has a hit in 21 of his last 24 games and is batting .370 during this stretch. Over the last 33 games, the All-Star second baseman has had multiple hits 16 times and is sporting a .392 clip during this stretch with six doubles, two triples, 16 RBI, 15 runs scored, seven walks, seven steals and a .433 on-base percentage. Since June 11, he leads the Texas League in batting average (ranking sixth among all full-season minor leaguers) and on-base percentage.

Top of the Rock: Tonight the RoughRiders renew acquaintances with the Midland RockHounds, owners of the best record in the Texas League following a furious stretch of winning baseball. After dropping six consecutive games shortly after the All-Star break, Midland has gone 14-3, winning nine in a row at one point. The 'Hounds have been bolstered by a good run of pitching, as the team's 2.96 ERA stands as the tenth-best among all full-season minor league teams since July 3. Midland has captured four walk-off wins over this period (all at the expense of San Antonio) and has won five one-run games. The RoughRiders and RockHounds have not played in more than a month when Midland swept a rain-shortened three-game series at Security Bank Ballpark. Frisco has lost its last five road games to the 'Hounds after winning the first two meetings in the Permian Basin this season.

Wise guy: One of the newest RoughRiders played the role of hero on Saturday night, as J.T. Wise hit a two-run double to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. Since joining Frisco about a week ago, Wise has been extremely productive, reaching base safely in six of seven games played with four doubles and seven runs batted in.

A (pretty big) blip on the radar: The RoughRiders bullpen settled back into its groove the last two nights, tossing seven scoreless innings in two games after giving up nine runs in the ninth inning to Corpus Christi on Friday. Outside of Friday's game, which included that season-worst frame, the Frisco relief corps has been tremendous since June 29, going 6-1 with a 1.35 ERA (10 ER/66.2 IP), 39 hits allowed, 38 walks, 69 strikeouts and one home run.

Four square: Saturday night's comeback victory snapped Frisco's four-game losing streak, the team's longest string of losses this season. By winning, the RoughRiders avoided what would have been their first five-game losing streak since August 4-9, 2013. Prior to this dip, the 'Riders had been the only Texas League team that had not lost at least four straight in 2014. Frisco and Tulsa are the only TL squads that have not lost five in a row this season.

The Future is now: Third baseman Joey Gallo played in Sunday's Sirius/XM All-Star Future's Game at Target Field in Min- neapolis and the power hitter did not disappoint. After blasting 15 home runs during batting practice, Gallo went 1 for 4 with a game-winning two-run home run in the sixth inning to propel the U.S. team to a 3-2 victory over the World. Gallo was named the game's MVP for his efforts, becoming the first Rangers prospect to win the honor. A year after becoming the first teenager in more than 50 years to hit 40 home runs in a minor league season, the 20-year-old became the first player in pro baseball to hit 30 home runs this season on July 3. He is second only to Iowa's Kris Bryant for the most in the minors with 31. Minor League Baseball's reigning home run king, the Las Vegas native is second in the minors in slugging percentage (.663), second in OPS (1.083) and fifth in total bases (207).

Playing not to lose: Frisco went 70-70 in 2013 and its all-time record is 874-751 (.538). It was the eighth straight season that the RoughRiders finished with a non-losing record. The last time Frisco finished below .500 was the only time in team history, back in 2005 when it finished 58-82. The streak of non-losing seasons is by far the longest in the Texas League; every other team in the circuit has had at least one losing season in the last three years. The streak is the longest in Double-A and the third-longest among all 120 full-season minor league clubs, exceeded only by the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats (11 straight non-losing seasons) and the Advanced-A San Jose Giants (ten). Including teams that play in short-season leagues, Frisco's streak is the sixth longest; the Elizabethton Twins (25), Brooklyn Cyclones (13) and AZL Giants (13) have the longest such streaks in stateside Minor League Baseball.

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