TL1 Frisco RoughRiders

Frisco RoughRiders Game Notes

Published on June 26, 2014 under Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


Happy homecoming: After a 4-7 road trip, the RoughRiders looked very comfortable back in their home ballpark last night, beating Arkansas 6-1 in the series opener between the teams. Frisco put five runs on the board in the second inning against Orangel Arenas. A single, a walk and an error loaded the bases to start the inning before a passed ball brought in the game's first run. After a single re-loaded the bases, Ryan Strausborger cracked a double to center to bring home two more tallies. Patrick Cantwell (single) and Tomas Telis (sac fly) drove in two more runs to make it 5-0. That was enough for a dominant Jerad Eickhoff, who limited Arkansas to just four hits in seven innings, with the only run against him scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. Frisco got that run back in the seventh inning on Joey Gallo's RBI single. The RoughRiders have now won five in a row against the Travs after dropping the first two games of the season series. Frisco will try to win consecutive games for the first time since June 9-10 (13 games in the interim) in the middle game of the set tonight.

Today's Pitching Matchup: The RoughRiders look for their first series win in three weeks this evening as Alex Gonzalez makes his fourth Double-A start against lefty Kramer Sneed. Gonzalez has lost his last two outings after winning his Texas League debut on June 10. He was a Carolina League All-Star in his first full pro season following his selection as the Rangers' first round draft pick in 2013. Sneed is making his second start against Frisco and his first since his season debut on April 7 when he allowed just one run (on a Rougned Odor homer) on three hits over six innings at Dr Pepper Ballpark. The 25-year-old has been roughed up in a few starts this year, giving up five runs or more in five outings this season. After allowing one run in a two-start stretch (12 innings), he has given up ten runs in ten innings over his last two games. Outside of a four-start rehab stint in the AZL, Sneed spent his 2013 season with Inland Empire and helped the 66'ers win the California League championship. The southpaw was 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA in the Cal League in his first season with the Angels organization and was a mid-season Cali- fornia League All-Star. He was traded from the Yankees along with outfielder Exicardo Cayones and cash considerations in the Vernon Wells deal in March 2013. New York drafted Sneed in the 32nd round ($30,000 bonus) in 2010 out of Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina. He was the first Barton player to be drafted since 1995 (Mark Raynor, Philadelphia in the 13th round) and was named to the 2010 All-Conference Carolina Team. He throws a fastball that can touch the low-90s, a low-to-mid-80s slider and a circle changeup, which has been described as a plus pitch.

A new era for Herrera: Frisco's Odubel Herrera did not let his bat cool off from a red-hot road trip over the break. The All-Star second baseman went 3 for 4 with a run scored on Wednesday to continue his good play offensively. Over the last 12 games, Herrera is batting .467 (21 for 45) with four doubles, a triple, seven runs scored, a walk and four steals. Prior to this offensive burst, the Venezuelan was batting .158 in his previous ten games.

All-Star Recap: The Texas League North Division bested the South Division 3-1 in last night's All-Star Game at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock last night. RoughRiders pitcher Luke Jackson started the game and struck out two in a scoreless first inning, while Alec Asher allowed a run in fifth, his only frame. Frisco hurlers Edwar Cabrera and Phil Klein did not pitch in the contest. Offensively, Ryan Rua and Tomas Telis each went 0 for 4 while Jake Smolinski was 1 for 4, Guilder Rodriguez was 0 for 2 and Odubel Herrera was 1 for 1 with a pinch-hit single. Before the game, Rua won the home run derby by stroking eight dingers in both rounds.

Tough trip: The 'Riders are happy to be back at home after completing their longest road trip of the season over the weekend. Frisco played 11 games in 12 days on the road - eight in Corpus Christi and three in Midland (a rainout ended a fourth game prematurely) - and went 4-7 on the jaunt. During the trip, the team traveled approximately 1,820 miles via bus, consuming about 26 hours. Over the trip, the RoughRiders hit just .220 as a team (the fourth-lowest batting average among full-season minor league teams over this span) and averaged 3.2 runs per game. On the bright side, Frisco committed just three errors on the trip and posted a .992 fielding percentage, the sixth-highest in the minors from June 11-22.

AshTag: Winner: After his offense failed to score for him in back-to-back losses in which he allowed single runs, Alec Asher took things into his own hands and decided he would not let Corpus Christi score against him in his six inning performance on Saturday. The only problem was that his offense did not get him any runs until the top the seventh, when Joey Gallo launched a tie-breaking three-run homer, ensuring Asher a victory. The longball accounted for the first runs scored during an Asher start since the sixth inning of Frisco's win over San Antonio on June 6. The offense had gone 17 straight scoreless innings while Asher was in the ballgame between runs. In his last six starts, the Lakeland, Florida native owns a 0.77 ERA (3 ER/35 IP). Since posting a 5.61 ERA in April, Asher is 6-3 with a 1.75 ERA. He ranks tied for second in the Texas League in wins (7), eighth in ERA (2.89), fifth in strikeouts (73), first in innings pitched (87.1), fourth in WHIP (1.04), fourth in average against (.221), third in walk rate (2.06/9 IP) and second in baserunners/9 IP (9.38).

World's Strongest Man: For the second straight night on Saturday, the RoughRiders got all of their scoring output from the sweet swing of Joey Gallo. The phenom blasted a three-run home run off Mike Hauschild in the top of the seventh to break open a scoreless ballgame and Frisco won 3-0. The night before, the 'Riders scored their only run in a 4-1 loss on a Gallo solo home run. Saturday's homer was Gallo's sixth with Frisco and it marked the third time in 12 games that he had hit dingers in back-to-back games. In a statistical oddity, Gallo has hit 89 career home runs and 90 career singles. Minor League Baseball's reigning home run king, the 20-year-old is tied for the lead in all of professional baseball with 27 round-trippers this season. Gallo is second slugging percentage (.713) and OPS (1.157), tied for second in total bases (171), tied for seventh in RBI (65) and tied for eighth in extra-base hits (40).

Playing not to lose: Frisco's all-time record is 862-740 (.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 June 26, 2014


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