TL1 Frisco RoughRiders

Frisco RoughRiders Game Notes

Published on August 16, 2014 under Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


Beating Tulsa to a pulpa: The venue may have changed, but the tone of the result did not change much between the RoughRiders and Drillers in last night's 8-2 Frisco victory at ONEOK Field. The 'Riders took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning with three consecutive two out hits, but Irving native Trevor Story blasted a two-run homer off Rockwall native Jake Thompson in the bottom of the frame to push the Tulsa in front by a run. With two in scoring position and one out in the top of the third, a fielding error by Story brought in two runs to restore Frisco's lead. Teodoro Martinez and Nomar Mazara followed with RBI hits off Richard Castillo to make it a four-run inning and put the RoughRiders ahead 5-2. The same duo brought in two more Frisco runs in the fifth inning on a single and a double-play while Guilder Rodriguez' RBI double in the sixth inning finished the scoring. Thompson tossed five solid innings for his second Texas League win while the bullpen did not yield a run over four frames. In the last three meetings between Frisco and Tulsa over the last week, the RoughRiders have won out by a combined score of 25 to 5, out-hitting the Drillers 36 to 15.

Today's Pitching Matchup: The RoughRiders go for a series victory tonight in Tulsa with a pitching rematch of Sunday's 9-2 win over the Drillers back in the Metroplex. Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez returns to the city where he pitched collegiately for Oral Roberts and will try to make it back-to-back victories over Tulsa; he threw five hitless innings in his last start and gave up two unearned runs. The reigning Texas League Pitcher of the Week has won five consecutive decisions and has not lost in his last eight games (last loss on June 26).

Butler was roughed up on Sunday, allowing five runs on eight hits over six innings in a loss. He made his Major League debut on June 6 against the Dodgers and took the loss, allowing six runs on ten hits in 5.1 innings. After the start, he went on the 15-day disabled list for right shoulder inflammation and made a pair of rehab starts for Modesto and Colorado Springs before being optioned back to Tulsa, where he has spent most of the season and was a mid-season Texas League All-Star. Butler entered the season ranked by Baseball America and MLB.com as the Rockies' second-best prospect. He was ranked among the top 100 prospects in the minors by Baseball America (24), Baseball Prospectus (26) and MLB.com (41). In 2013, Butler made 28 starts between Asheville, Modesto and Tulsa, going 9-5 with a 1.80 ERA, 143 strikeouts and 52 walks in 149.2 innings. In six starts with the Drillers, he was 1-0 with a 0.65 ERA; in two starts against Frisco he allowed one run on four hits in ten innings. Last year pitched a scoreless inning for the USA in the Future's Game, striking out Xander Bogaerts, hitting Miguel Sano and getting a double-play against Henry Urrutia. Butler was drafted in the supplemental first round in 2012 (46th overall, compensation for Colorado's loss of Mark Ellis to the Dodgers in free agency) out of Radford (Virginia) University and signed for $1 million. In 13 games (12 starts) for short-season Grand Junction in 2012, he went 7-1 with a 2.13 ERA, 55 strikeouts, 13 walks and 59 hits allowed in 68 innings. He led the Pioneer League in ERA, WHIP (1.06) and op- ponents' average (.230). The Chesapeake, Va. native was originally drafted by the Rangers out of Greenbrier Christian Academy in the 35th round in 2009 but did not sign. He went on to have a terrific career at Radford in the Big South Conference (he was the third-ever Highlander to be drafted in high school), culminating with a junior year that saw him go 7-4 with a 2.20 ERA (a Radford single-season record), a 95/23 K/BB ratio in 98 innings, earning him co-conference pitcher of the year honors. He was the first-ever Big South player to be drafted in the first round. Butler throws a mid-90s fastball that can reach 99 mph and has great sink. He also throws a mid-to- high-80s slider, a hard sinking changeup that can get good horizontal run and a curveball.

Getting his fill of the drill: Frisco outfielder Teodoro Martinez has made life miserable for the Drillers lately. Last night Martinez tied a career-high in hits, going 4 for 5 with 2 RBI and a run scored. It was the second time in six days that he racked up four hits against Tulsa, as he accomplished the same feat on Sunday. From his final plate appearance on Saturday through his fourth at bat the next Friday, Martinez reached base nine consecutive times on eight hits (two doubles) and a walk with six RBI and three runs scored. Overall this season against the Drillers, he is batting .483 with three doubles, nine RBI, five runs scored and a 1.086 OPS. Martinez is also riding a nine-game hitting streak - his longest of the season - and is batting .474 (18 for 38) with four doubles, 11 RBI and four runs scored during the streak. He has raised his batting average 30 points to .289 over the last nine games. Martinez' longest Double-A hitting streak is ten (May 28 - June 8, 2013) and his longest career hitting streak is 16 (June 26 - July 15, 2010 with the AZL Rangers).

Pitching in: The RoughRiders' pitching has continued to impress lately. Last night Frisco limited the Drillers to just two runs on five hits in a victory. Over the last six games, the team owns a 1.33 ERA (8 ER/54 IP), has allowed just 33 hits with 59 strikeouts and 17 walks. For the season, the staff ERA is 3.39, which would edge last season's 3.58 mark as the best in franchise history.

#Winning: Tuesday night marked Frisco's 70th win of the season and, because the team will play a maximum of 139 regular season games, the club is guaranteed to finish the year with a winning overall record, continuing a tradition of victorious play on the diamond. The RoughRiders have finished .500 or better in nine consecutive seasons and own an all-time record of 888-758 (.539). 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 (12 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.

Going Gonzo for Chi Chi: Frisco hurler Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez was impressive again in Sunday night's 9-2 victory over Tulsa. The right-hander tossed five no-hit innings and surrendered two unearned runs en route to his fifth consecutive winning decision. The outing helped him earn Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time. In two starts last week, Gonzalez allowed just one earned run over 11 innings with four hits allowed, three walks and eight strikeouts. The 2013 first rounder has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 12 Texas League outings and has been incredibly stingy since the start of July. Since then, Gonzlalez is 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA (5 ER/39.1 IP) and opposing batters are hitting just .142 (19 for 134) off him.

The Trevolution will not be televised: Trever Adams got back on the extra-base hit train last night, going 2 for 5 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored. Adams is second in the Texas League with 34 doubles (a new single-season career-high), but prior to Friday had gone eight straight games without an extra-base hit. It has been a career year for Adams offensively, as he also set a new single- season best in homers with 12 when he cracked an inside-the-park home run on July 30. He is batting .289, good for fifth in the TL, is fourth in RBI (56), third in hits (122), first in slugging (.460), tied for first in extra-base hits (47), tied for second in runs scored (61) and second in total bases (194). The Nebraskan has a hit in 26 of his last 31 games and is hitting .344 over this stretch. 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.

All about the Benjamins: After going seven quiet games without a home run, Joey Gallo got back on track on August 8 with a two-run shot off Rockies top prospect Jon Gray. The home run was Gallo's 100th as a minor leaguer, a feat accomplished in just 279 profes- sional games. Since joining the RoughRiders on June 9, Joey Gallo leads the Texas League in homers (17), runs batted in (45) and slugging percentage (.539). A year after becoming the first teenager in more than 50 years to hit 40 home runs in a minor league season, Gallo could become the first minor league to have back-to-back 40-homer seasons since Ron Kittle did it in 1981 (40 for Glens Falls White Sox) and 1982 (50 for Edmonton Trappers). He is second in all of professional baseball with 38 home runs, two fewer than Kris Bryant of the Iowa Cubs. Minor League Baseball's reigning home run king is second in the minors in slugging percentage (.633), third in OPS (1.033) and fifth in RBI (95).

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Texas League Stories from August 16, 2014


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