TL1 San Antonio Missions

Godfrey Too Good

Published on July 18, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
San Antonio Missions News Release


Sometimes, for whatever reason, a pitcher finds his groove against a particular team. For Midland starter Graham Godfrey, that team is the 2009 Missions. Godfrey bested San Antonio for the fourth time this season, needing only a single run of support as RockHounds pitching combined for a two-hit shutout, beating the Missions 1-0 at Wolff Stadium Friday night.

Godfrey (8-6) continued his dominance of Missions hitters, working 6.1 innings of brilliant, one-hit, shutout ball, walking three and fanning eight. In five starts against San Antonio this season, he is 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA, having allowed just six earned runs in 30.2 innings pitched.

The mark against San Antonio stands out even more, as Godfrey has been a completely different pitcher against the rest of the Texas League. In his 14 other starts, the Midland righty has gone just 3-6 with a 4.02 ERA.

"For some reason he just has our number," said Missions interim manager Orv Franchuk, trying to explain Godfrey's isolated success. "He almost never throws the ball down the middle. You have to be really disciplined against him."

The game remained scoreless into the top of the fourth inning, when Chris Carter worked a full count and poked a shot over the left-center field wall on the 11th pitch of the at-bat, giving the RockHounds the only run they would need. It was Carter's 15th longball of the season, tying him for second in the Texas League. Last season he ranked second in all of minor league baseball with 39 home runs in the regular season for Stockton in the California League, adding five more in the playoffs.

The Missions opened the door for Midland to add on in the fifth, but the visitors failed to stretch the lead. With two outs, Luis Durango could not corral Cory Wimberly's shallow fly to left, putting the RockHounds speedster at second with two out. After Frieri worked ahead to 0-2 on Adrian Cardenas, the Midland second baseman hit a routine grounder to short, which Lance Zawadzki bobbled, putting runners at the corners. But Missions starter Ernesto Frieri induced an inning-ending groundout to third from Carter to keep it a 1-0 game.

Scott Rice worked out of a first-and-third jam in the sixth, and Carlos Guevara did the same in the seventh to keep San Antonio close, but the offense could not come through.

Frieri (7-5) took the tough-luck loss, working 5.0 solid innings with just a single earned run on four hits and two walks, striking out three. He has not won since June 18th, a span of five starts.

The Midland staff got a couple of assists on spectacular defensive plays. Craig Cooper hit a sinking liner towards right-center field in the second inning that seemed ticketed for extra bases, but right fielder Matt Sulentic laid out to make a fantastic diving catch. In the seventh inning with a runner at first and nobody out, Logan Forsythe hit a ball just right of center field that looked to be over Archie Gilbert's head, but the Midland center fielder timed a perfect leap, stretching to snag the ball out of mid air to keep the Missions off the board.

"We hit some balls hard tonight, but got no love," said Franchuk, who was optimistic that the bad breaks would average out over time. "When things like that happen, each guy thinks 'I have to do more'. But if each guy just does his job, things will work out."

The Missions have managed just eight hits through the first 18 innings of the series, dropping to 3-7 this season at home against Midland.

W: Godfrey (8-6); L: Frieri (7-5); S: Lansford (1); HR: Carter (15)

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Texas League Stories from July 18, 2009


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