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Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express Game Notes

June 4, 2010 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME

Round Rock continues its fourth home stand of the season Friday with the finale of a four-game series against the Iowa Cubs (Chicago-NL). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT at The Dell Diamond. This is the second of four series between the two teams this season. Round Rock is 4-6 in its last 10 games, going 2-5 in the last seven. Iowa is 4-6 in over its last 10 games, going 4-7 since a season-best six-game winning streak snapped May 24. The Express are 14-13 at The Dell Diamond this season, winning 11 of their last 19 home games. The Cubs are 16-12 on the road, joining Omaha, Oklahoma City and Sacramento as the only teams in the Pacific Coast League with better winning percentages on the road than at home. Round Rock is fourth in the PCL American Southern Division, 5.5 games behind division leader Oklahoma City. Iowa is fourth in the PCL American Northern Division, 3.0 games behind division leader Nashville (Round Rock's next opponent).

EXPRESS ON THE AIR

Tonight's game will be broadcast live on "The Horn" 104.9 FM ESPN Austin. Pregame starts at 15 minutes prior to first pitch with veteran Express play-by-play man Mike Capps on the call. Live streaming audio of the broadcast also is available online at www.ESPNAustin.com. ... Home games also are simulcast on 92.5 FM and 1260 AM. Games at The Dell Diamond also are broadcast on 88.9 FM throughout the stadium.

EXPRESS-CUBS SERIES

Iowa has won four of the first six meetings this season. The Express snapped Iowa's four-game winning streak in the series with a 4-3 victory in the nightcap of Thursday's doubleheader. Round Rock won the teams' first meeting this season 5-1 at Des Moines; that is the only meeting decided by more than two runs with four one-run games. In fact, four of the last five games have been decided in the Cubs' final at bat. The series at Iowa in late April was shortened to three games due to inclement weather; the fourth game of that series will be made up as part of a doubleheader June 14.

EXPRESS STARTING PITCHER

RHP JOSH BANKS

First season with the Astros organization, eighth year in professional baseball ... Signed to Minor League Jan. 4, 2010 ... Toronto Blue Jays second-round pick in 2003 out of Florida International ... Made Major League debut Sept. 11, 2007 ... Blue Jays organization 2003-2008 ... Was traded to San Diego Padres in late June 2008 ... Split each of the past two seasons between Portland (AAA) and San Diego ... Makes PCL-leading 12th start of season Sunday ... Has lasted at least 5.0 innings in 10 of 11 starts, going at least 6.0 innings eight times ... Allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of 11 starts, including six of the last seven ... Owns a 2.67 ERA through the fifth inning, 7.62 after fifth ... Allowed exactly one home run in each of season's first five starts but allowed only one home run in next five starts; then allowed four home runs in last start, most surrendered in a game by an Express pitcher this season ... 4-1 with one no-decision in last six starts ... Tied for fifth in the PCL with five wins ... Led PCL with four wins in April, posting a league-best 4-0 record before taking a loss in his final start of the month ... Four wins in May ranked second in Minor League Baseball ... Fourth in the PCL and with 67.0 innings pitched ... Suffered least effective start of season in losing effort at Omaha in last start (5/30); allowed six runs on nine hits, four of which were home runs, and one walk with no strikeouts over 4.0 innings. Snapped a streak of five consecutive quality starts and five consecutive games with at least 6.0 innings pitched.

TEAM QUICK NOTES

The Express enter tonight's game 0-8 on Friday this season. ... Round Rock is 3-1-3 in its last seven series after starting the season 0-5-1. ... The 4-3 loss to Iowa in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader was Round Rock's 16th one-run loss for the Express this season, three of which have come against Iowa. That is the most one-run losses in the PCL, four more than second-place Portland. The Express are a PCL-worst 8-20 in games decided by two or fewer runs. ... It also was Round Rock's 13th loss in the opponent's final at bat, four of which have been against Iowa. ... The Express scored 109 runs in a 13-game stretch May 15-28, scoring at least five runs in 14 of those 15 games. However, Round Rock has scored just 16 runs in six games since, scoring four or fewer runs in five of six games. ... Round Rock is 21-7 when scoring at least five runs, 3-23 when scoring fewer than five runs. Meanwhile, the Express are 20-10 when holding their opponent to fewer than five runs, 4-20 when the opponent scores at least five runs. ... The Express are 17-13 following a loss but 7-16 following a win. ... Round Rock is five games below .500 (19-24) when committing no more than one error but one game below .500 (5-6) when committing more than one error ... The Express in the PCL statistical rankings: fifth in batting (.278), 10th in pitching (4.37), 10th in fielding (.977).

PLAYER QUICK NOTES

- Josh Banks suffered his lone loss of May at Omaha in his last start (5/30). Prior to that, he owned a PCL-best 4-0 mark for the month. Banks is 5-1 at home and 0-3 on the road. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of 11 starts. Banks owns a 2.67 ERA through the fifth inning; that figure balloons to 7.62 after the fifth. He ranks fourth in the PCL with 67.0 innings pitched.

- Jonah Bayliss is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in seven road outings (13.0 innings) but 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in eight appearances at The Dell Diamond (11.0 innings). He is holding opponents' to a .111 average (3-for-27) when ahead in the count but allowing a .438 average (14-for-32) when behind in the count. All four home runs he has allowed have been solo shots. The home run Bayliss allowed to Micah Hoffpauir in Tuesday's series opener against Iowa was the first run allowed by Bayliss in 6.0 innings from the ninth inning on this season.

- Brian Bogusevic has hit safely in nine of his last 12 games, going 15-for-49 (.306) in that time. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games since April 29, a 33-game stretch. Bogusevic hit his fifth home run of the season Tuesday. Four of the five have been solo homers; however, three of the five have either tied the game of given the Express a lead. He ranks fourth in the PCL with 38 runs scored.

- Jason Bourgeois is riding a 12-game hitting streak, his second of at least 10 games this season; he is hitting .375 (21-for-56) during the current streak. Bourgeois' current 12-game run is one game removed from a 10-game stretch, giving him hits in 22 of the last 23 games; he is hitting .423 (44-for-104) in that time with 12 multiple-hit games and seven games of three-plus hits. He also has hit safely in 15 consecutive road games, the longest such streak in the PCL this season. Bourgeois ranks fourth in the PCL in batting average (.356), second in hits (71) and fourth in stolen bases (16). He ranks seventh in Minor League Baseball in hits.

- Jason Castro has hit safely in 20 of 23 games, going 27-for-87 (.310) in that time. He has reached safely in 41 of 44 games played this season, including 24 straight. His current 24-game streak is the tied for the fourth-longest on-base streak in the PCL this season and second in the league among active streaks. Castro snapped an 11-game hitting streak in home games, going 0-for-2 in the nightcap of Thursday's doubleheader. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games since May 6. Castro has 12 multiple-hit games, all two-hit outings.

- Roy Corcoran posted his first save of the season in the nightcap of Thursday's doubleheader against Iowa. He is 1-for-2 in save opportunities.

- Michael Garciaparra has hit safely in 11 of 12 games, going 13-for-30 (.433) in that time. He also is 3-for-3 in pinch-hit at bats during the last 11 games.

- Chris Johnson has hit safely in 20 of 23 games with the Express, producing a sacrifice fly in each of the three hitless games. He is riding a seven-game hitting streak (.321, 9-for-28) that is his second streak of seven-plus games in 23 games with the Express. Johnson is hitting .487 (19-for-39) when batting fifth in the lineup, .214 (12-for-56) elsewhere in the order. He blasted his sixth home run of the season in Thursday's nightcap.

- Matt Kata is hitting .054 (2-for-37) in nine games since ending his 13-game hitting streak. His average dipped below .300 after Tuesday's game for the first time since May 14. Still, Kata is hitting .347 (58-for-167) in 41 games since starting the season 4-for-38 (.105). He has committed only two errors in 115 total chances at second base this season, posting a .983 fielding percentage.

- Drew Locke has hit safely in 20 of his last 22 starts, going .372 (29-for-78) in that time. Locke is hitting .348 (31-for-89) in 27 games since May 5. All six of his home runs have come in the last 18 games (since May 16). Locke has multiple hits in nine games this season, all of which have been two-hit outings.

- Oswaldo Navarro has reached safely in 22 of 24 starts. He has 10 multiple-hit outings in 26 games, the best percentage on the Express roster.

- Yordany Ramirez is hitting .056 (1-for-18) in six games since snapping a four-game hitting streak that was his longest of the season. He is hitless in his last 10 pinch-hit appearances after starting the season 2-for-2.

- Chris Shelton has missed seven of the last nine games with hand and knee injuries; it is his first missed action of the season. Shelton leads the team in games with at least one hit (33). However, he is hitting .111 (3-for-27) in his last seven games played.

- Sergio Perez has worked 7.0 innings in each of his three starts with the Express, allowing no more than three earned runs in any of those starts. He left the game with a lead twice and tied once, and he has allowed one home run in each start. His streak of three consecutive games with at least 7.0 innings pitched is the longest such streak by an Express pitcher this season.

- Polin Trinidad has allowed three home runs over his last two outings after not allowing a round-tripper in his first seven appearances.

- Andy Van Hekken has a 16-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio over his last three outings. His nine strikeouts at Omaha (5/28) were the most by an Express pitcher this season.

NEXT SERIES

Round Rock continues its fourth home stand with a four-game series against Nashville, beginning Saturday and running through June 8. First pitch for each game in the series is 7:05 p.m. CDT. This is the second of four series between the teams this season. The Express took three of four against the Sounds at The Dell Diamond in early May, winning each of the first three games before Nashville salvaged the finale.

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