Locke, Cramer Earn PCL Weekly Awards
August 23, 2010 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1) News Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Outfielder Drew Locke of the Round Rock Express and starting pitcher Bobby Cramer of the Sacramento River Cats have been named the Pacific Coast League's Player and Pitcher of the Week for August 16-22, the league announced Monday.
Locke, a 6-1, 205-pound right-handed hitter, hit .500 (11-for-22) for the week with five doubles, two home runs, seven runs batted in and eight runs scored for the Express. He added eight walks against just one strikeout, helping him to a league-best .633 on-base percentage and 1.633 OPS (on-base plus slugging) for the week.
A Rule 5 Draft selection following the 2008 season, Locke has seen his fortunes improve since joining the Houston Astros organization. Last year he led the Texas League with a .338 batting average and 109 runs batted in for Double-A Corpus Christi, and after a slow start this year the 27-year-old is hitting .291 with 17 home runs and 73 RBI for Round Rock.
Cramer, 30, joined the River Cats on August 6 and has been one of the PCL's most dominant hurlers over the course of his four starts. During the week, Cramer allowed one earned run in 14 innings pitched, adding 15 strikeouts with just one walk. The left-hander shut down Salt Lake on August 21, firing eight shutout innings while allowing just two hits in a 3-0 victory. For the season, Cramer is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched in Sacramento.
The Anaheim, Calif., native has taken a circuitous route to his current standing as PCL Pitcher of the Week, one that involved Tommy John surgery, a year of work for Shell Oil and three separate stints away from affiliated baseball. Just this season, Cramer enjoyed a 13-3 record with 123 strikeouts for Quintana Roo of the Mexican League before jumping straight into the Sacramento rotation.
Cramer, drafted in the 38th round of the 2001 first-year player draft by Seattle and later signed by Tampa Bay, was out of baseball in 2005 and 2006 before going 9-2 between Single-A Stockton and Double-A Midland in 2007 - only to find himself in Independent baseball in 2008. Including a run of success in the Athletics system in 2009, Cramer owns a career Minor League record of 35-16 with a 3.02 ERA in parts of five seasons over an eight-year span.
Pacific Coast League Stories from August 23, 2010
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- PCL Playoff Race Heats up as Highly Anticipated 5-Game Series Unfolds - Sacramento River Cats
- Locke, Cramer Earn PCL Weekly Awards - PCL1
- Major League Veteran Mike Hampton Assigned to Reno - Reno Aces
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- Bobby Cramer Earns Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week Honors - Sacramento River Cats
- New Orleans Zephyrs Visit Greer For Season Finale - Nashville Sounds
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