Bounce-Back Beach Ball
July 21, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
After falling to Corpus Christi, 9-4, on Sunday, the RockHounds bounced back with a 9-5 win over the Hooks in game two of the four-game set.
The teams traded early home runs with Teoscar Hernandez sending a high drive to left in the last of the first off RockHounds starter Dillon Overton. Renato Nuñez answered with a game-tying line drive over the left field wall in the second off Joe Musgrove.
The Hooks gained a 2-1 edge in the home half of the second before the RockHounds took the lead for good in the top of the third.
For the second straight night, the 'Hounds put together a string of five consecutive hits in one inning. Sunday the club scored three runs on five hits, cutting into a 9-1 deficit. Monday's rally, though, was pivotal, with the 'Hounds turning a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Josh Whitaker led off the third with an opposite field double (on an 0-2 count) and Bruce Maxwell lined out sharply to center for the inning's first out. From there, five consecutive batters reached - - Chad Oberacker (RBI double), Colin Walsh (single), Chad Pinder (RBI single), Renato Nuñez (single) and Matt Olson (two-run double).
Maxwell later added the night's single biggest swing, a three-run double in the fifth that made the score 8-2.
The RockHounds
... are 15-9 in the second half and 50-44 overall ... snapped a two-game slide ... have won 6-of-their-last-9 ... are 6-12 in the season series with Corpus Christi, winning for just the third time in 10 games at Whataburger Field (the club is 3-5 at home vs. the Hooks) ... are 29-17 at Security Bank Ballpark and 21-27 on the road ... are 31-27 vs. the South Division and 19-17 vs. the North.
- Texas League South: After San Antonio and Corpus Christi tightened the South Division race by defeating Frisco and the RockHounds on consecutive nights (Saturday and Sunday), the 'Hounds and Riders gained a measure of revenge Monday (Frisco erased a 3-0 deficit at San Antonio, defeating the Missions, 4-3). The RockHounds remain a half-game ahead of the RoughRiders (14-9) with first half champ Corpus Christi (12-12) falling back to three games out and San Antonio (10-14) now trailing by five.
Kibbles & Bits
STAT OF THE DAY: The pair of solo home runs ... one for each club ... in the ninth inning were noteworthy. Ryon Healy's solo shot off Travis Ballew was just the second allowed by the Hooks reliever in 2015 in 44 innings. Colin Moran, whose solo drive to right was just his second home run of the year, became the first Texas League batter to homer against 'Hounds closer Ryan Dull this season. Ryan, who has allowed just three runs overall, went 42.2 innings before surrendering a long ball.
- Chad Pinder extended his hit streak to 14 games, going 1-for-5 with an RBI single and a run scored. He narrowly missed extra bases (and another RBI) when Teoscar Hernandez made a tremendous over-the-shoulder catch on a ball hit to deep right in the eighth inning. Chad is hitting .350 (21-60) in the 14-gamer and ranks fifth in the Texas League with a .305 season average. His third-inning RBI brings his season total to 54, three behind league leader Brian Hernandez of the Arkansas Travelers.
- Colin Walsh (2-for-4, walk, two strikeouts) has now hit in nine straight games (15-for-35, .429) and ranks sixth in the Texas League at .298. Colin ranks among the TL's best in 10 categories and leads the league in on-base percentage (.426), doubles (27) and extra-base-hits (39).
Texas League Stories from July 21, 2015
- First Inning Sinks Missions - San Antonio Missions
- Naturals Edge Drillers 1-0 - Tulsa Drillers
- Rough Start Dooms Missions in Loss to 'Riders - San Antonio Missions
- Mazara Goes Yard in RoughRiders 4-1 Win - Frisco RoughRiders
- Reed Dominant in Shutout of Drillers - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Eight Elected to the Texas League Hall of Fame Including Two Long Time Travs Execs - Arkansas Travelers
- Bounce-Back Beach Ball - Midland RockHounds
- Cotton Leads Tulsa to 6-0 Win over Naturals - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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