Ninety Degree Angle
July 6, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
Matt Angle of the Midland RockHounds
(Midland RockHounds, Credit: Frank Longobardo / Midland RockHounds)
One of the challenges of professional baseball is dealing with your circumstances within any given season. Matt Angle's resume includes 31 games with the Baltimore Orioles (2011) and four seasons at the Triple-A level. With Chad Oberacker having a career year, the emergence of prospect Jaycob Brugman and a healthy Josh Whitaker, playing time in the outfield has been tough to come by. Matt, in fact, had not seen any action in the first three games of the RockHounds' Independence Day Weekend homestand. Sunday, he was back in the lineup and "all" the ninth-year pro did was (1) extend his on-base streak to 23 games and (2) win the game with a tie-breaking RBI single in the last of the eighth.
Angle's single to right-center scored Matt Olson, breaking a 2-2 tie, and giving the 'Hounds a win in the opener of a three-game series with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The win was the club's third in four games in the stand at Security Bank Ballpark and its seventh in nine games.Â
Bubba Starling, the fifth overall selection in the 2011 draft (by the Kansas City Royals) went 2-for-4, scoring the Naturals' first run and driving in the second. The 'Hounds answered on an RBI single in the fourth from Brugman and an RBI single from Colin Walsh, bringing home Oberacker, who had tripled with one out in the seventh.
Olson and Brugman then singled, back-to-back, in the eighth, and Angle followed with the game-winner, a two-out base hit to right-center.
Although not figuring in the decision, Tim Atherton turned in his fourth consecutive strong outing (three of them "quality starts"), with Ryan Doolittle pitching two scoreless innings for the win and Seth Frankoff closing with a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save of this season.
The RockHounds
... are 7-3 in the second half and 42-38 overall ... have won seven-of-their-last-nine ... are 3-1 in their current (six-game) homestand with Monday and Tuesday evening games remaining ... are 4-3 against Northwest Arkansas (3-1 at home and 1-2 on the road) ... the clubs split the first six meetings (each taking 2-of-3 at home in April), games 1-2-3 and 7-8-9 of the season ... are 24-16 at Security Bank Ballpark and 18-22 on the road ... are 27-25 vs. the South Division and 15-13 vs. the North ... lead the South by two games over the first half champion Corpus Christi Hooks and the Frisco RoughRiders (both 6-4) and by three games over the San Antonio Missions (4-6).
Kibbles & Bits
STAT OF THE DAY: In the first four games of the homestand, the RockHounds bullpen has pitched a combined 14.0 innings, allowing one run (earned) on five hits, with three walks and 11 strikeouts. The bullpen ERA in the four games is 0.64.
- Matt Angle has reached base in 23 consecutive games (.275 with a .427 OBP), a team high streak and third-longest in the Texas League this year. Between limited playing time (see above) and time missed due to a (left) groin strain, Matt's streak dates back to May 5.
- Tim Atherton went six innings, allowing two runs (earned) on seven hits, with no walks and eight strikeouts (matching his 2015 season high). In his last four starts, the native of New South Wales, Australia, is 3-0, with a 2.88 ERA.
- One night after seeing a nine-game hit streak end, Renato Nuñez went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored. A top five prospect for Oakland, Renato has hit in 10-of-11 games (.340) and is hitting .301 in his last 16 games. He has reached base in 40 of his last 45 games and now ranks fifth in the Texas League with 11 home runs.
- Matt Olson (2-for-3, double, run, walk) has reached base in eight straight games (with hits in seven) and is 12-for-32, .375 in that stretch.
- After entering the Fourth of July game 0-for-his-last-9, Jaycob Brugman has reached base in 7-of-his-last-9 trips to the plate, going 4-for-6, with a double, a home run, one run, two RBI and three walks.
Images from this story
 Matt Angle of the Midland RockHounds (Frank Longobardo / Midland RockHounds) |
Texas League Stories from July 6, 2015
- Riders Unable to Overcome Early Deficit - Frisco RoughRiders
- Late Rally Falls Short as Naturals Edged by Midland, 5-4 - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Friday: First off to the Races Night - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Registration for Youth Baseball Clinics and Team Louie Clinic Open Right Now - Springfield Cardinals
- Riders' July Fourth Weekend Crowds Set Record - Frisco RoughRiders
- From Corpus Christi to Canada - Corpus Christi Hooks
- RoughRiders Late Blasts Sink Travs, Sunday - Arkansas Travelers
- Alex Liddi Named Texas League Player of the Week - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Wisdom Blast Busts Hooks - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Ninety Degree Angle - Midland RockHounds
- Wisdom and Cardinals Walk off with 7-5 Win against Hooks - Springfield Cardinals
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