Mendez Earns Victory in Double-A Debut
May 21, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release
Frisco RoughRiders Pitcher Yohander Mendez
(Frisco RoughRiders)
FRISCO, TEXAS - The Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, evened the four-game series against the San Antonio Missions with a 6-5 win Saturday night in front of a crowd of 10,950 at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Yohander Mendez's Double-A debut.
Mendez (1-0) earned the win in his debut with the RoughRiders (28-13). The lefty pitched five innings and gave up three runs on seven hits, while striking out six. He did not allow a walk and retired seven consecutive Missions batters to conclude his outing.
After falling behind 3-0 early, the Riders jumped ahead 6-3 with runs in three consecutive innings against starter Bryce Morrow (0-6). Isiah Kiner-Falefa's two-run single got the Riders on the board in the third, and Alex Burg's two-out RBI single later in the inning evened the score The following inning, Luis Mendez knocked a double over the head of the left fielder Nick Torres to give Frisco the lead. Evan Van Hoosier, making his Double-A debut, brought the decisive runs home with a two-run single in the fifth.
The Missions (13-28) scored runs against Riders reliever Reed Garrett in the sixth and eighth to cut the Riders' lead to 6-5. With two outs and a runner on second base in the eighth, Cody Palmquist entered and got the final four outs to earn his first save of the season.
With the victory, Frisco improved to 9-1 against San Antonio this season. The Riders also increased their first-place lead to three games over Corpus Christi in the Texas League South Division.
The series against the Missions continues Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. Three-time American League All-Star Yu Darvish (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to make another rehabilitation start with the RoughRiders, and he will be working against righty Luis Diaz (2-3, 4.98 ERA).
Darvish is expected to throw six innings or about 90 pitches in his fifth rehab start and third with the Riders this year. Darvish's first rehabilitation start in Frisco on May 1 drew a crowd of 11,842, the fourth-largest crowd in Dr Pepper Ballpark history.
Fans can watch the action live on MiLB.TV, and live audio can be heard on the Frisco RoughRiders Radio Network, on the TuneIn Radio App, and the MiLB First Pitch App.
Sunday is also a Kids Sunday Funday, including a pre-game catch on the field for kids and their parents/guardians (up to 35 minutes prior to first pitch) and $1 ice cream sandwiches all game long.
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 Frisco RoughRiders Pitcher Yohander Mendez |
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