TL1 Frisco RoughRiders

Riders Game Notes - 6:05 p.m. at Northwest Arkansas Naturals - April 9, 2016

Published on April 9, 2016 under Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


First Pitch from Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas is set for 6:05 p.m.

Riders: RHP Sam Wolff (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Naturals: RHP Christian Binford (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Today's game can be heard on the RoughRiders Radio Network at Ridersbaseball.com/media, online and on mobile devices via TuneIn Radio, or on the MiLB First Pitch App. The Dr Pepper Pregame Show with Ryan Rouillard begins at 5:30 p.m. prior to the first pitch at 6:05 p.m. with game coverage from Nathan Barnett and Steve Goldberg. Today's Dr Pepper Pregame Show guest is Riders catcher Kellin Delgan.

LAST TIME OUT: Shutting out Northwest Arkansas until the eighth inning, the RoughRiders moved ahead with a five-run sixth inning and held on for a 6-3 win over the Naturals on Friday night at Arvest Ballpark...CONNOR SADZECK posted six shutout frames en route to a win in his season debut...LEWIS BRINSON, ALEX BURG, RYAN CORDELL, and JOE JACKSON all collected two hits...Frisco led 5-0 until the eighth, when the Naturals scored a run off MATT BUSH...Frisco got the run back in the ninth before the Naturals scored two more in the ninth...RYNE SLACK entered to pick up the final two outs and the save.

TOP OF THE CLASS: The RoughRiders enter the season with six players ranked in either Baseball America or MLBPipeline.com's Rangers Top 30 Prospects. LEWIS BRINSON, the No. 2 prospect in Rangers' farm system according to MLBPipeline.com and Baseball America, returns to Frisco. He appeared in 28 games for the Riders last season, hitting .291 with six home runs and 23 RBI before being promoted to Round Rock in August. Brinson is joined by five other players named in the lists- RYAN CORDELL (No. 15 in MLB, No. 11 in BA), RONALD GUZMAN (23, 29), JOSE LECLERC (25, 21), SAM WOLFF (26, NR), and CONNOR SADZECK (27, 26).

STREAKING START: The RoughRiders have had a fair amount of success following an Opening Day victory, and last night's victory continued the trend. Frisco now has a 5-3 record in the second game of a season after winning the first, and they are 5-1 in those games since 2007.

THREE'S A CROWD: While the Riders have reached the 2-0 mark five times, the team has only improved to 3-0 once. Frisco opened the 2008 season with five straight victories, all occurring on the road against Springfield and Arkansas.

PUTTING THE 'O' IN FRISCO: The RoughRiders began this season in a fashion that has never been done before in team history. Frisco kept Northwest Arkansas off the board for 16 straight innings before allowing a run on a one-out sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth yesterday. The previous record for consecutive scoreless innings to begin a RoughRiders season was 13 2/3 in 2012.

WELCOMING WOLFF: Right-handed pitcher SAM WOLFF is set to make his Double-A debut for Frisco tonight and his first start since 2014. Wolff missed the entire 2015 season with a torn Achilles following an impressive season with High-A Myrtle Beach the year before. He is currently ranked the No. 26 prospect in the Rangers' organization, according to MLB Pipeline.

HOW SWEEP IT IS: After winning the first two games of this series, the Riders are back in action trying to accomplish something that was only done once last season. The Riders swept one series in 2015, and it was a rain-shortened two-game road set against Northwest Arkansas on July 10. The last time Frisco swept a series of three or more games was August 15-17, 2014 at Tulsa.

RANGER DANGER: All four of the Rangers' full-season affiliates are off to 2-0 starts in the 2016 season. Yesterday, everyone in the Texas farm system won, including the big league club. The Rangers beat the Angels 7-3 behind a third inning two-run homer by Rougned Odor (Riders '13-14). For the second straight game, Triple-A Round Rock scored all their runs in the first three innings and held on to defeat Iowa 4-3. Francisco Mendoza (Riders '13-15) gave up a run in the ninth but worked around it to earn his first save. High-A High Desert put up a four-spot in the first inning and for the second straight game, Travis Demeritte (No. 21 prospect, MLB Pipeline) hit two home runs in the 9-5 victory over Inland Empire. Single-A Hickory topped Kannapolis 8-2.

MATT'S ALL, FOLKS: MATT BUSH made his debut in the Rangers' organization Thursday and earned his first save since August 24, 2011 with Double-A Montgomery. Originally a shortstop, the San Diego native was selected No. 1 overall by his hometown Padres in the 2004 MLB Draft. Bush was converted to a pitcher prior to the 2007 season and later spent two years in the Tampa Bay Rays' farm system.

FRESH START FOR FRISCO: After finishing 2015 with a 60-79 overall record, the RoughRiders are looking to improve this season. Frisco went 29-41 in the first half and 31-38 in the second half last year. The Riders ended the season in third place, 28.5 games behind Corpus Christi, in the final Texas League South division standings.

FAMILIAR FACES IN FRISCO: The Riders' initial roster features 18 players who appeared in Frisco last season. Dallas native PRESTON BECK is back home in the Metroplex once again after playing 93 games with the Riders last year. Despite the large number of returning players this year, only five were on the 2015 Opening Day roster.

SKIPPING INTO THE RECORD BOOKS: JOE MIKULIK has returned for his second season with the RoughRiders. He is the eighth manager in RoughRiders history, and the fourth to return for a second consecutive year. The veteran skipper is in his 18th season as a Minor League manager and has 1,123 all-time wins. 938 of his victories were recorded with the Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League (Class A), setting both a team and league record.

K.C. CONNECTION: The Naturals recently announced a four-year extension of their player development contract with the Kansas City Royals. The agreement will keep the Naturals as the Royals' Double-A affiliate through the 2020 season. Northwest Arkansas, the youngest Texas League club, joined the circuit in 2008 when they relocated to Springdale from Wichita.

ARVEST ADDITIONS: While construction of the Choctaw Lazy River continues back at home, other Texas League teams have been making ballpark renovations as well. Arvest Ballpark features several upgrades that are brand new for the 2016 season, including the installation of a 66-foot wide HD videoboard in the outfield.

NATURAL HISTORY LESSON: The Riders have fared well against Northwest Arkansas since the Naturals began Texas League play in 2008. In 97 total meetings between the two teams, Frisco holds a favorable 56-41 record (.577 winning percentage) and is 27-22 at Arvest Ballpark. The RoughRiders have not lost a season series to the Naturals either, with six wins and two ties over the eight-year span.

OPPOSING STARTER: Binford signed with the Royals for $575,000 in June, 2011 after they chose him in the 30th round out of a private Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania after going 9-2 with a 0.57 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 61 innings as a senior. He was signed away from a baseball scholarship to the University of Virginia...Prospect ranks: The Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Binford as the 26th-best prospect in the Royals' organization in the spring of 2013. In the winter before 2014 spring training, they moved Christian all the way up to tenth-best prospect in the Royals' farm system...He was down to #16 in the spring of 2015, and enters 2016 unranked after a down year in 2015 with Northwest Arkansas and Omaha (combined 5-11, 5.22 ERA in 22 starts)...In 2014, Binford was named to represent the Royals at the SiriusXM Futures All-Star Game...Notes: Underwent "Tommy John" surgery in 2009 as a sophomore in high school and missed most of his junior year. Repertoire: Binford throws a 88-92 mph two-seam fastball with some sink, a slider, a curveball, and a developing changeup, mixing his pitches well and relying on command...The right-hander relies on getting more than his fair share of ground balls with his sinking fastball.

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