TL1 Frisco RoughRiders

Frisco RoughRiders Game Notes

Published on May 21, 2014 under Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


ROUGHRIDERS RUNDOWN Out like a lamb: Frisco's eight-game road trip ended on a quiet note with a 4-0 defeat in San Antonio. The RoughRiders were done in by a pair of Caseys, as MLB rehabber Casey Kelly was dominant on the mound over six innings and second baseman Casey McElroy hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to provide the game's first run. Alec Asher was solid, but surrendered the McElroy homer and then left with two runners aboard in the sixth inning. Both runners came home to score after Wilmer Font entered the game and the Missions tacked on an unearned tally in the frame to go ahead by four. Frisco's bats never could get rolling against Kelly, who yielded just four singles and a hit batter over his six scoreless innings. The 'Riders could not manage anything against the Missions bullpen and were shut out for the first time this season. Frisco lost the series, has dropped three in a row and went 3-5 on the road trip. The RoughRiders got some help from Corpus Christi on Monday night, as the Hooks defeated Midland 7-0 to keep the 'Riders a game clear of the RockHounds for first place in the TL South. Frisco has lost five of its last six after winning seven of its previous eight games.

Today's Pitching Matchup: The RoughRiders look to get back on track tonight when they meet the Tulsa Drillers for the first time this season. Former Driller Edwar Cabrera faces his old team and organization for the first time and is coming off his longest outing of the season on Thursday in Midland (6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K). Cabrera pitched for Tulsa in 2012 and went 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 15 Texas League starts. The Drillers start Daniel Winkler, who has statistically been the TL's best pitcher this season. Winkler ranks first in ERA (1.48), first in wins (5), first in strikeouts (51), first in shutouts/complete games (1), first in WHIP (0.74, third in MiLB) and first in opposing batting average (.145, second in MiLB). He made five TL starts last season, going 1-2 with a 3.04 ERA; in two starts against Frisco, he was 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA (3 ER/11.2 IP). He spent the bulk of 2013 with Modesto, where he was the California League Pitcher of the Year as well as a mid-season & post-season All-Star. With the Nuts, he went 12-5 with a 2.97 ERA, a .184 opponents' batting average, 152 strikeouts, 37 walks and 84 hits allowed in 130.1 innings. He led all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts (175) and ranked second in WHIP (0.98) and fourth in opponents' average (.193). Winkler threw seven innings of a combined no-hitter on June 24, 2013 at San Jose, striking out seven and walking three on 102 pitches. It was Modesto's first no-hitter since 1987 when they were an A's affiliate. Winkler credits his success to a change in mentality to attacking hitters and trusting his stuff instead of pitching around batters and nit-picking around the strike zone. He spent 2012 with Asheville, going 11-10 with a 4.46 ERA in 25 starts, striking out 136 and walking 47 in 145.1 innings. He made his professional debut with short-season Casper in 2011 and went 4-3 with a 3.92 ERA, 65 strikeouts and 19 walks in 57.1 innings. The Rockies drafted Winkler in the 20th round in 2011 out of the University of Central Florida. In his only season with the Knights he went 3-4 with a 4.70 ERA and struck out 92 batters in 82.1 innings. Prior to attending UCF, he played at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois where he helped Cobras to a 49-9 record and a NJCAA national title as a freshman; they came in fifth place with a 50-11 record in his sophomore year. The Cubs drafted him in the 43rd round out of Parkland, but did not sign him. The Effingham, Illinois native was a pitcher and an outfielder at St. Anthony High School. Winkler throws a fastball that sits 88-92, a slider and a changeup.

You Don't Know Jake: Jake Smolinski has been smoldering with the bat over the last three weeks. He has had multiple hits in five of his last eight games and is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak (.385, 15 for 39). Smolinski also has a hit in 25 of his last 27 contests, over which he is batting .368 (39 for 106). He is now at .310 with his batting average, which ranks third in the Texas League. He also ranks tied for first in games played (44), tied for second in hits (48), fourth in on-base percentage (.403), fourth in slugging percentage (.516), fourth in OPS (.919), fourth in total bases (80), fifth in extra-base hits (17) and tied for first in triples (3).

Hungry like the Wolff: Frisco has had a hard time getting into any sort of offensive groove at San Antonio's Wolff Stadium. In the eight games the 'Riders have played there, they are batting just .203 (15 for 74) with runners in scoring position; in all of their other games, they are batting .270 (86 for 318) with runners aboard second and/or third base. They have also averaged nearly an extra runner left on base at the Wolff (7.6/G, 61 total LOB) versus everywhere else (7.0/G, 251 total LOB). San Antonio has outscored Frisco 44-24 in games in the Alamo City, an average score of 5.5 to 3.0. In all other games, the Missions average 3.3 runs while the 'Riders average 4.8 runs.

No relief: Frisco's bullpen was hit hard again on Monday, allowing two inherited runners to score and another unearned run. During the road trip, the RoughRiders relievers threw 28.2 innings and have allowed 30 runs (24 earned) on 38 hits and 19 walks. The bullpen ERA was 7.53 and the WHIP was 1.99 during the trip. The starters allowed 18 runs (17 earned) in 41.0 innings, posting a 3.73 ERA. Over the last six games Frisco has blown five saves after blowing just four saves in the first 38 games. What started the season as a tremendous strength for the team has turned sour. Entering play on April 28, the relief corps was 9-2 with a 1.93 ERA and rate stats of 6.4 hits/9 IP, 4.7 BB/9 IP, and 0.1 HR/9 IP (1 homer). In the 21 games since, the bullpen is 5-4 with a 5.99 ERA (49 ER/73.2 IP) and rate stats of 10.5 H/9 IP (86 hits), 4.9 BB/9 IP (40 walks), 1.3 HR/9 IP (11 homers).

Course Change: It was only less than weeks ago that the RoughRiders offense was in need of a lifeboat. Entering play on May 5, Frisco had scored more than four runs just once over its previous 12 games. In the last two weeks, the offense has done a complete 180, scoring five or more runs in ten of the last 14 contests. Frisco is averaging 5.5 runs per game (77 runs) after it averaged 3.1 runs per game (37) over the previous dozen games.

Feels like the first time: Wednesday night's fall-from-ahead loss to the RockHounds was an exceptionally rare one for the RoughRiders. The last time Frisco had lost a game when taking a lead into the ninth inning was July 19, 2012 against San Antonio. The 'Riders had won their last 93 games when leading after eight innings prior to last night's contest. The streak was previously the fifth-longest among all full-season teams in Minor League Baseball. The longest current streaks belong to Savannah (112 games, June 9, 2012), Visalia (98 games, August 17, 2012) and Fort Wayne (94 games, July 7, 2012). Hickory had a 128-game winning streak when leading after eight innings that originated on April 8, 2012, but the Crawdads' streak ended on Sunday with a 6-5 loss at Kannapolis in which the Intimidators tied the game in the ninth and won it in the tenth.

No doubting Tomas: RoughRiders catcher Tomas Telis has bounced back from the end of his nine-game hitting streak nicely with multi-hit games in three of his last five contests. He went 3 for 4 on Sunday with a double in his fourth straight game; he has hit a two-bagger in five of his last seven. Over his last 19 games, he is batting .375 (30 for 80).

Playing not to lose: Frisco's all-time record is 845-726 (.538) following a 70-70 2013 campaign. 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 May 21, 2014


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