TL1 Frisco RoughRiders

Riders Rock Sulbaran, Best Naturals

Published on April 19, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


SPRINGDALE, ARKANSAS (April 19, 2015) - Luis Mendez had not hit a home run since June 21, 2013 while playing rookie ball in the Arizona League. But that all changed in the second inning on Sunday when he jumped on a 0-1 pitch from J.C. Sulbaran, hitting a three-run homer to right field. The Riders offense combined for seven hits to take game one against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, 7-3.

The Frisco RoughRiders (5-5) have won five of seven games, with four of those wins coming at the Naturals expense. During that stretch, Riders starters have pitched at least five innings in all but one game. Victor Payano (1-0) continued the trend on Sunday, throwing five scoreless innings and striking out six. In Payano's first start on April 13th against these same Naturals, he walked five hitters in four innings but had no such issue on Sunday walking just one and throwing 55 of his 85 pitches for strikes. Payano worked around a pair of singles in his final inning, stranding two including the lone Naturals base runner to reach third base against him. The win is Payano's first at the Double-A level.

Offensively, the Riders broke a four-game stretch in which they failed to score more than two runs. Frisco went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position and scored five runs with two outs. Nick Williams extended his hit streak to seven games with a two-run single in the third inning. Jake Skole, who had a deep fly ball knocked down by the wind in Arkansas on Saturday, connected with a two-run home run in the sixth inning off Aroni Nina to give the Riders a 7-0 lead.

Naturals second baseman Alex Liddy entered Sunday hitting .043 (1-for-23), but had a multi-hit game including a three-run home run off Jose Leclerc in the 8th inning. Leclerc had an interesting day in his 2.2 innings. He struck out five, but the Liddy home run put a significant dent in his final line as he continues to adjust to this level while piggybacking Payano.

Josh McElwee made his team leading fifth appearance to retire the final four outs of the game. The loss snaps a two-game win streak for the Naturals and gives the Riders a 3-1 record on the current road trip as they look for their third consecutive series win. The two teams do battle again tomorrow night with Alec Asher (0-0) making his third start for the Riders and Miguel Almonte (0-1) looking to rebound from back-to-back short outings that inflated his earned run average to 10.80. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the Riders Pregame Show starting at 6:45 p.m.

The Riders return to Dr Pepper Ballpark on April 23 against the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A, Houston Astros) for the second "Thirsty Thursday" of the season. From 6-8 p.m. fans can enjoy $1 domestic draft beers, $2 import beers, and $1 Dr Pepper products. For tickets to see the Riders in 2015, call 972-731-9200, e-mail info@RidersBaseball.com or visit www.RidersBaseball.com.

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Texas League Stories from April 19, 2015


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