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 Frisco RoughRiders

Frisco RoughRiders Game Notes

July 31, 2014 - Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


Everything but the kitchen sink: If you are a Frisco fan, Wednesday night's 3-0 win over Midland had practically everything you could ask for in a night at the ballpark. Rangers lefty Derek Holland wowed in his first rehab start, striking out four over two scoreless innings. Shortly after he departed the mound, Trever Adams hit the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning past rightfielder Jeremy Barfield for what turned into an inside-the-park home run, the first of his career. The RoughRiders added two more runs against Sean Murphy on a Jake Skole run-scoring single and an RBI groundout off Odubel Herrera's bat. After Martire Garcia tossed a perfect inning, Alex Gonzalez came out of the bullpen for the first time and kept a team no-hitter alive into the seventh inning. With two outs in the frame, Dusty Coleman lined a clean single into right field for the RockHounds' only hit of the ballgame. Gonzalez retired the final seven batters to complete his longest effort as a RoughRider and preserve Frisco's league-leading (with San Antonio) tenth shutout victory of the season; it was the team's third one-hitter in 2014. The win clinched a series victory and the 'Riders are now 10-3 over their last 13 games.

Today's Pitching Matchup: The RoughRiders and Missions begin their final regular season series at Wolff Stadium tonight with a pitching rematch of Saturday's fantastic duel at Dr Pepper Ballpark as Alec Asher opposes Joe Ross. Frisco walked off a 2-1 winner as neither pitcher picked up a decision in the contest, but both pitched well. Asher did not allow a run over seven scoreless innings while Ross surrendered just a solo home run to Drew Robinson over seven otherwise excellent frames. Asher's outing helped him earn Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors as in his last two starts he is 1-0 with a 0.63 ERA (1 ER/14.1 IP), ten hits allowed, 11 strikeouts, one walk and a .192 average against. Prior to those starts, he was 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA in his previous four starts. In five starts against San Antonio, Asher is 1-3 with a 2.97 ERA and a .191 average against. Ross is making his third Texas League appearance (second start). He threw six innings in relief of Jesse Hahn on July 21 against Corpus Christi, allowing three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Ross made 19 starts this season for Lake Elsinore and went 8-6 with a 3.98 ERA, 101.2 innings, 101 hits allowed, 87 strikeouts, 28 walks and a .256 batting average against. He ranked sixth in the California League in ERA and fourth in WHIP (1.27) and was named to the circuit's mid-season All-Star team. Ross entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the Padres' tenth-best minor league prospect after going into 2013 ranked 14th. Last year he made 23 starts for Fort Wayne and went 5-8 with a 3.75 ERA and a 79-40 strikeout-walk ratio in 122 innings; he was named a mid-season Midwest League All-Star. The brother of Padres 2014 National League All-Star Tyson Ross, San Diego drafted Joe in the first round (25th overall) in 2011 out of Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California but he was limited in his first full pro season because of shoulder tendonitis. He throws a 93-94 mph fastball that can reach 97, a power slider and a changeup.

The Trevolution will not be televised: Trever Adams accomplished a baseball rarity on Wednesday night with an inside- the-park home run off Sean Murphy. The home run was his the first of its kind for Adams as a professional and it broke his previous career-high for homers in a single season; he hit 11 in 2013 with Myrtle Beach and now has 12 this year. The homer extended Adams' hit streak to seven games, which ties his longest of the season and the Nebraskan has a hit in 15 of his last 17 games (hitting .343). In the second half of the season, Adams has not been held hitless in back-to-back games and the last time he went more than two games without a hit was April 28 throught May 4 when he went three straight contests without a knock.

Gallo's Humor: Joey Gallo keeps accomplishing big things with his big flies. The slugger hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the eighth inning Tuesday night to send Frisco to a 6-2 win. The home run was Gallo's sixth in the last nine days, a stretch which followed a career-high nine-game homerless drought. On Monday he was named Texas League Player of the Week for July 21-27. During the week, he hit .357/.438./.929 (10 for 28) with a double, five homers, 13 RBI and a 1.366 OPS. Since joining the RoughRiders on June 9, Gallo leads the Texas League in homers (16), runs batted in (48) and total bases (98). A year after becoming the first teenager in more than 50 years to hit 40 home runs in a minor league season, Gallo became the first player in pro baseball to hit 30 home runs this season on July 3. He leads all of professional baseball with 37 home runs, three more than his friend Kris Bryant of the Iowa Cubs. Minor League Baseball's reigning home run king, the Las Vegas native is second in the minors in slugging percentage (.675), second in OPS (1.091), second in RBI (92), third in total bases (237), fifth in walks (73) and fourth in extra-base hits (57).

Odubel your pleasure: Odubel Herrera had another strong game on Wednesday, going 1 for 4 with an RBI. He is currently eight plate appearances shy of qualifying for the Texas League batting title, which he would lead by a wide margin if he was qualified. Over the last 44 games, the All-Star second baseman has had multiple hits 21 times and is sporting a .378 clip during this stretch with seven doubles, two triples, one home run, 21 RBI, 24 runs scored, 12 walks, seven steals and a .426 on-base percentage. Since June 11, he is first in the Texas League in batting average (ninth in MiLB) and on-base percentage.

Skole of Rock: Seemingly out of nowhere, the RoughRiders quickly got on the scoreboard in the third inning on Monday night against Midland. Chris Grayson singled on Shawn Haviland's first pitch of the inning and then on the next pitch, Jake Skole went deep to right field for a two-run home run. The homer was Skole's third of the season and his first since April 22 when he cracked a walk-off winner against San Antonio. The lefty batter ended streaks of 76 games and 220 at bats without a home run with the blast. In the previous game, Odubel Herrera hit his first home run in 52 games and 199 at bats against San An- tonio. The longest homer drought among current RoughRiders who have gone deep this season belongs to Patrick Cantwell, who hit his only dinger this year on May 21 agains Tulsa. He owns streaks of 37 games and 127 at bats without a home run. Cheap (Pa)trick: RoughRiders catcher Patrick Cantwell came through when needed on Saturday night with a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning to send Frisco to a 2-1 win over the Missions. It was just the latest highlight in what has been a terrific run at the plate. He is hitting .309 in July with seven doubles, 11 RBI and an .826 OPS. Cantwell has a hit in 32 of his last 44 games and over this stretch is batting .293 with nine doubles, one home run, 26 RBI and 24 runs scored.

Playing not to lose: Frisco went 70-70 in 2013 and its all-time record is 882-754 (.539). 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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Texas League Stories from July 31, 2014


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