PCL1 Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express - Game Notes vs. Albuquerque Isotopes

Published on June 2, 2012 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


GAME 57 | 2 JUNE 2012 | 6:05 P.M. CDT | THE DELL DIAMOND

ROUND ROCK EXPRESS (25-31) vs. ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (31-25)

RADIO: 104.9 FM The Horn ESPN"ˆAustin | ONLINE"ˆAUDIO: www.espnaustin.com

EXPRESS: RHP Roy Oswalt (0-0, 0.00 ERA) | ISOTOPES: RHP Fernando Nieve (2-2, 9.53 ERA)

TONIGHT'S"ˆGAME

Round Rock begins a four-game series against division rival Albuquerque (Los Angeles Dodgers). First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CDT. This is the first of two single-series home stands this season for the Express. Round Rock most recently split a four-game series at Memphis. Round Rock won each of the final two games, including a 3-0 win last night. The Express were 4-4 on the road trip, which started with a split at Nashville. Round Rock is 5-5 over its last 10 games and 13-11 at The Dell Diamond. Albuquerque most recently split a four-game series at New Orleans; the Isotopes were shutout 3-0 and 2-0 in the series' final two games. The Topes are 4-6 in their last 10 games and 9-15 on the road. The Express are fourth in the PCL's American Southern Division, seven-and-a-half games back of Oklahoma City. Albuquerque is second in the division, one-and-a-half games behind the RedHawks.

BROADCAST"ˆINFORMATION

Tonight's game airs on 104.9 FM The Horn ESPN"ˆAustin. Online audio also is available at www.espnaustin.com. Express Director of Broadcasting Mike Capps handles play-by-play duties.

EXPRESS-ISOTOPES SERIES

This is the first of four series between the two teams this season. The Express travel to Albuquerque for a three-game set June 11-13 and return to Isotopes Park for a five-game series July 4-8 immediately followed by the All-Star break. The Isotopes return to The Dell Diamond for a four-game series July 24-27, closing Round Rock's antepenultimate home stand. ... SERIES NOTES: Albuquerque leads the all-time series 59-53. The series has been dominated by the home team with the Express leading the series 34-22 at The Dell Diamond and the Isotopes leading 37-19 in Albuquerque. Round Rock won season series in 2006 (10-6) and 2008 (9-7). Albuquerque won series in 2005 (9-7), 2007 (10-6), 2009 (10-6) and 2010 (9-7). The Express swept four-game series at home in 2008 and last season, and a three-game home series in 2006. The Isotopes swept four-game series at home in 2005 and 2007. ... 2011 SERIES: The teams split last season's series eight games apiece with both teams going 5-3 at home. Joey Butler was 15-for-53 (.283) with a home run, seven RBI, two doubles and four runs in 14 games. Matt Kata was 19-for-58 (.328) with a home run, seven RBI, six doubles and 14 runs scored in 15 games. Val Majewski was 11-for-28 (.393) with two homers, nine RBI, two doubles, a triple and seven runs scored in seven games. Majewski also made his second career appearance on the mound, pitching a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout at Isotopes Park. Brad Nelson struggled against Albuquerque, going 7-for-48 (.146) with a homer, seven RBI, a double and four runs scored in 13 games. Derek Hankins made three starts and one relief appearance, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA (11 ER/14.2 IP). Zach Jackson was 1-2 with a 7.84 ERA (18 ER/20.2 IP) and five home runs allowed in three starts. Jackson tossed a complete-game in the regular season's final game for a win at The Dell Diamond. Michael Kirkman made one start and three relief outings, going 1-0 with a 7.45 ERA (8 ER/9.2 IP) and 13 strikeouts against no walks. Neil Ramirez was 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA (2 ER/7.0 IP) in two starts. Tanner Scheppers made three relief appearances, going 1-0 with a 7.20 ERA (4 ER/5.0 IP) and one save.

SERIES"ˆINFORMATION

GAME"ˆ57 | SATURDAY, JUNE 2 | 6:05 p.m. CDT

Express: RHP Roy Oswalt (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Isotopes: RHP Fernando Nieve (2-2, 9.53 ERA)

GAME"ˆ58 | SUNDAY, JUNE 3 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: RHP Neil Ramirez (5-5, 7.57 ERA)

Isotopes: RHP Will Savage (7-2, 4.45 ERA)

GAME"ˆ59 | MONDAY, JUNE 4 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: LHP Martin Perez (3-4, 5.37 ERA)

Isotopes: RHP Stephen Fife (4-4, 5.43 ERA)

GAME"ˆ60 | TUESDAY, JUNE 5 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: LHP Zach Jackson (2-5, 4.92 ERA)

Isotopes: RHP John Ely (4-4, 3.55 ERA)

EXPRESS STARTER

RHP ROY OSWALT (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

2012: Signed minor league contract May 29 with Rangers.

2011: Made only 23 starts due to injury, his fewest since 2003 (21); had made 30-plus starts in seven straight years (2004-10) ... finished with a losing record for the first time in his career (9-10, .474) ... allowed three or fewer earned runs in 16 of 23 starts (70 percent) ... 3-3, 2.70 ERA (15 ER/50.0 IP) in his first nine starts ... 6-7, 4.25 ERA (42 ER/89.0 IP) over final 14 outings ... Phillies scored a total of 22 runs in his 10 losses (2.2 runs per game) ... allowed one hit over 6.0 innings April 21 at San Diego ... took the loss on April 26 at Arizona, which snapped a career-high, 10-game winning streak; the longest win streak by a Phillies pitcher since Jim Lonborg also won 10 consecutive decisions from July 5, 1975 to May 30, 1976 ... was on the disabled list twice with lower back inflammation (April 27-May 16; June 24-Aug. 6) ... notched 100th career sacrifice bunt May 22 vs. Texas ... lost at Citizens Bank Park for the first time in his career May 22 vs. Texas ... was 10-0, 2.23 ERA in his previous 12 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, including a 6-0 record with a 2.04 ERA in eight starts with the Phillies ... recorded his 1,700th career strikeout June 12 vs. Chicago Cubs (Fukudome) ... tossed 6.0 shutout innings in his final start of the season Sept. 27 at Atlanta.

CAREER: Three-time All-Star (2005-06-07) ... top-six finish in National League Cy Young voting on six different occasions, including a career-best third place in 2004 behind Houston teammate Roger Clemens and Arizona's Randy Johnson ... two 20-win seasons (2004-05), including a league-leading 20 wins in 2004, and has won 15-plus games five times ... led the NL with a 2.98 ERA in 2006 and has seven seasons of 200-plus innings ... his 159 career wins and 1,759 strikeouts both rank 11th among active pitchers, while nine seasons of 10-plus wins are tied for seventh-most in that group ... has a 1.19 career WHIP, fifth-best among active pitchers behind only Johan Santana (1.12), Roy Halladay (1.17), Dan Haren (1.17), and Jake Peavy (1.18) ... 5-2 with a 3.73 ERA (30 ER/72.1 IP) in 11 starts and two relief outings in postseason career, including one start with the Astros in the 2005 World Series ... earned win in 2005 NLCS Game 6 at St. Louis that sent the Astros to their lone Fall Classic.

MISCELLANEOUS: Only Houston pitcher ever to be selected to three straight All-Star games ... led all MLB pitchers in wins (137) from 2001 to 2009 and ranked third in ERA (3.23) ... ranks second on Houston's all-time wins list (143) and has the highest winning percentage in club history (143-82, .636) ... made eight consecutive Opening Day starts (2003-10), a Houston club record.

NOTABLE: Roy Edward Oswalt... Married, wife's name is Nicole; has three daughters, Arlee Faith (9/6/04), Ainslee Grace (9/18/07) and Aubree (10/22/10)... Attended Holmes {Miss.] Community College ... Opened a restaurant called Home Plate Fish and Steakhouse in his hometown of Weir, Miss., in November 2009 ... Established Fund 44, a charitable fund that provides annual gifts to children's charities, including the Ronald McDonald House in Jackson, Miss., the Garth Brooks Children's Charity and the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund and Aid Sudan ... signed by Ralph Bratton, Brian Granger and James Farrar.

BRAD NELSON: ROAD WARRIOR

Brad Nelson was 13-for-33 (.394) on Round Rock's road trip, hitting safely in all eight games with three multiple-hit outings, four homers, 12 RBI, a double, five walks and 12 runs scored. He homered in four consecutive games May 26-29, tying the franchise record. Nelson has scored in seven of eight games on the road trip and nine of his last 10 road games. Nelson has hit safely in 21 consecutive road games, the PCL's longest streak this season; he is 33-for-86 (.384) in those games with seven homers, 20 RBI, seven doubles and 27 runs scored. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games since a three-game spell April 19-21. Nelson has hit safely in 32 of 35 games since, enjoying hitting streaks of 11 games, nine games and his current eight-game run.

KATA KEY IN CLUTCH SITUATIONS

Matt Kata is hitting .462 (18-for-39) with runners in scoring position, delivering 28 RBI. He is even more deadly with runners in scoring position and two outs, going 8-for-15 (.533) with 16 RBI. Kata's grand slam Thursday night was Round Rock's first this season. He is 4-for-6 with a double and 11 RBI with the bases loaded. He is 3-for-3 with the bases loaded since delivering a game-winning, three-run double May 24 vs. Sacramento. Furthermore, Kata gets better as the game goes along, hitting .354 (34-for-96) after the third inning; he is 12-for-32 (.375) after the seventh inning with eight RBI. Kata is riding a eight-game hitting streak (.459, 17-for-37), his longest of the season with two homers and 13 RBI. He has at least one RBI in six of the eight games with three multiple-RBI games. His five RBI Thursday night were his most since June 4, 2010, against Iowa while with the Houston Astros affiliated Express. Kata has five multiple-hit outings during the eight-game streak, including a pair of three-hit games and a four-hit game May 27 at Nashville.

CAPTAIN KIRKMAN

2010 Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year Michael Kirkman has re-established himself as one of the PCL's top starters over the past month. After starting the season in the bullpen, Kirkman slid into the Express rotation April 20. He worked three scoreless innings against Omaha in his first start, but was rocked for eight runs (seven earned) over 2.1 innings April 26 at Oklahoma City in his next start. However, Kirkman has been solid as a rock since the calendar flipped to May. He is 4-0 with a 3.48 ERA (12 ER/31.0 IP) in six May starts, holding the opponent to three or fewer earned runs in each start. Kirkman also has limited opponents to a .189 average (20-for-106) in that time with 9.58 strikeouts per nine innings. The rest of the Round Rock staff was 9-16 in May with a 5.86 ERA (145 ER/222.2 IP) and a .293 opponents' average (258-for-881). Opponents are 3-for-21 (.143) against Kirkman this season with runners in scoring position and two outs. However, they are 4-for-6 against him with the bases loaded.

KEY NUMBERS TELL THE STORY

Round Rock is 8-15 since blowing a 9-5 lead in the ninth inning May 9 at Salt Lake. The Express were 17-16 prior to that loss, the only point at which they were over .500 this season. Round Rock has been outscored 155-133 over the last 23 games, surrendering double-digit runs five times. Express pitchers have a 6.26 ERA (137 ER/197.0 IP) in that time. The staff has allowed at least one home run in 17 of the last 20 games (27 homers). A closer look into the numbers shows the Express are hitting .200 (26-for-130) with runners in scoring position in the 15 losses and .427 (41-for-96) in the eight wins. Conversely, opponents are hitting .314 (53-for-169) with runners in scoring position in the 15 Express losses and .127 (9-for-71) in Round Rock's eight wins.

"HOME" RUNS SCARCE

In stark contrast to last season, The Dell Diamond has not been a launching pad for the Express. Round Rock averages 0.71 homers per game through 24 home dates this season. The Express have not homered in six of their last seven home games. Conversely, Round Rock averages 1.44 homers in 32 road games, including a season-high five May 8 at Salt Lake. The Express have homered in 17 of their last 20 road games, including streaks of seven and eight games. Round Rock has homered in all but seven road games this season, clubbing at least two homers 12 times. Meanwhile, the Express have four multiple-homer games at The Dell Diamond. Last season, Round Rock averaged 1.46 home runs per game at The Dell Diamond and 0.97 homers per game on the road. Teams have combined to score 9.88 runs per game at The Dell Diamond this season as opposed to the 11.90 average in 2011.

IT'S A LOADED QUESTION

Round Rock is hitting .338 (22-for-65) with the bases loaded. The Express are 12-for-25 (.480) with the bases loaded since May 21, collecting eight bases-loaded hits over the last four games. Matt Kata delivered Round Rock's first grand slam of the season Thursday night. The Express have 11 walks against 10 strikeouts with the bases loaded. Kata leads the team with four bases-loaded hits, three of which have come since May 24. Mike Bianucci, Julio Borbon and Tommy Mendonca have three bases-loaded hits each. Dusty Brown has drawn three walks and produced one sacrifice fly in four bases-loaded plate appearances. Elio Sarmiento has one based loaded walk. Meanwhile, opposing batters are 22-for-55 (.400) with the bases loaded, including five grand slams. Opponents are 18-for-42 (.429) with the bases loaded since April 21, including a 5-for-5 series by Oklahoma City (April 26-29).

POSITION PLAYER"ˆNOTES

Mike Bianucci hit safely in six of last eight games (.393, 11-for-28) with three multiple-hit games, a home run, 10 RBI, four doubles and four runs scored. He has gone hitless in consecutive games twice this season (April 17-18, April 24-26). Bianucci has one homer in his last 76 at bats since homering in four of six games May 6-11. He is hitting .333 (19-for-57) with runners in scoring position, and he is 3-for-10 with the bases loaded with a double, two walks and eight RBI. ... Dusty Brown has reached safely in eight of his last 40 plate appearances immediately following a stretch in which he reached safely in 10 consecutive plate appearances. He 2-for-17 (.118) with runners in scoring position but has eight walks and nine RBI; both hits came with two outs, including one home run. Brown has three walks and two sacrifice flies in five bases-loaded plate appearances. ... Joey Butler is hitting .338 (27-for-80) over his last 24 games; however, he has two multiple-hit games in 20 games since May 11. Butler is hitting .407 (59-for-145) when putting the ball in play, hitting safely in 26 of 60 such at bats (.433) since May 8. He is hitting .324 (45-for-139) after the third inning with 10 of his 11 home runs and 29 of his 37 RBI. Butler has 10 walks and four strikeouts over his last seven games, walking at least once in each contest with three multiple-walk outings. He is hitting .358 (19-for-53) with runners in scoring position, producing four homers, 29 RBI and six doubles. However, he is hitting .258 (8-for-31) with runners in scoring position and two outs, producing no homers and 10 RBI. Butler is 10-for-20 (.500) in the fifth inning with four homers and eight RBI. ... Luis Hernandez had a six-game hitting streak snapped last night. During the streak, he had three multiple-hit games, one home run, two RBI, a triple and three runs scored. He has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games (.276, 16-for-58) with six two-hit games. Hernandez has eight extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple, three homers) over a 40-game stretch since April 15. He also has 26 strikeouts in that time. Hernandez has a .289 on-base percentage when leading off an inning, hitting .244 (10-for-41) with three walks. He is 8-for-46 (.174) with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-17 (.118) with RISP and two outs. Hernandez is hitting .185 (12-for-65) after the sixth inning. ... Luis Martinez has not gone three straight games without a hit since April 15-18 "" his longest hitless slide of the season. Martinez is 11-for-23 (.478) in the third and fourth innings but 13-for-74 (.176) the rest of the game, going 1-for-16 (.063) in the second inning. He is 2-for-19 (.105) with runners in scoring position and two outs, and he is 0-for-5 with the bases loaded, walking once and getting hit by a pitch once. ... Tommy Mendonca snapped a five-game hitting streak Thursday night, going 0-for-1; it was his longest streak of the season. He has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, going 13-for-41 (.317) in that time with a home run, eight RBI, two doubles and nine runs scored. Mendonca is 6-for-20 (.300) with runners in scoring position and two outs. He is 3-for-10 with the bases loaded but hitless in each of his last four such at bats. Mendonca is 4-for-25 (.160) prior to the third inning but 13-for-39 (.333) after the seventh inning. ... Yangervis Solarte had a five-game hitting streak snapped Friday night. He has one multiple-hit game since May 20. Solarte has not gone consecutive games without a hit since April 13-15 (two games), hitting safely in 37 of 42 games since. He is hitting .197 (15-for-76) in the first three innings but .331 (47-for-142) thereafter with five of his six home runs and 23 of his 27 RBI. Solarte is hitting .394 (13-for-33) when leading off an inning with one home run and two walks. However, he is hitting .203 (12-for-59) with runners in scoring position. Five of his six home runs were solo shots. ... Ryan Spilborghs has hit safely in six of his last eight games (.448, 13-for-29) with three multiple-hit outings, two homers, six RBI, two doubles and 12 runs scored. He has scored at least one run in eight straight games (13 runs). Spilborghs has reached safely in all but one of his 25 games with the Express (May 24 vs. Sacramento) and managed a sacrifice fly in that game. He has hit safely in 22 of 26 games since joining the Express (May 5) with 12 multiple-hit games, a trio of three-hit outings and a four-hit outing (May 27 at Nashville). Spilborghs is 24-for-53 (.453) with runners on base, going 13-for-33 (.394) with runners in scoring position. Spilborghs owns a .500 on-base percentage when leading off an inning, going 9-for-25 (.360) with six walks and two home runs. He is hitting .300 or better in every inning except the eighth (.167, 3-for-18). Spilborghs has played 209 career PCL games, hitting .347 (274-for-790) with 24 homers, 116 RBI and 63 doubles.

PITCHER"ˆNOTES

John Gaub has not allowed a run in his first four outings with the Express (3.1 innings), surrendering three hits and two walks against four strikeouts. He has stranded two of three inherited runners. All three hits against him were with the bases empty (one double). ... Sean Green allowed 15 earned runs in 15.0 innings over his last 11 appearances (9.00 ERA) after surrendering two earned runs in his first eight outings. His 3.1-inning outing May 29 at Memphis was his longest of the year; he also had season highs of five strikeouts and five walks in that game. Opposing batters are 3-for-21 (.143) with runners in scoring position and two outs but 8-for-23 (.348) when leading off an inning and 17-for-47 (.362) with the bases empty. Green has issued 13 walks against seven strikeouts with runners in scoring position. Opponents also are 4-for-9 (.444) with the bases loaded, producing one grand slam and nine RBI. Green walked 18 batters over his last nine appearances (13.1 innings) after issuing five free passes over his first 10 outings (14.0 innings). ... Mark Hamburger has at least one strikeout in 15 of 16 appearances, including each of the last seven outings. Hamburger surrendered 13 runs in 15.0 innings (7.80 ERA) over his last seven appearances after yielding only one run over his first 9.2 innings (0.93 ERA) as a reliever. He allowed four runs in one inning May 9 at Salt Lake, the most runs he allowed as a reliever since surrendering four July 10, 2011, vs. Memphis. Opponents are hitting .467 (14-for-30) with runners in scoring position, producing two home runs and 22 RBI. He has allowed at least one run in five of his last seven outings. ... Derek Hankins has five strikeouts in 13.2 innings over his last seven outings. Opposing batters are 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position and two outs and 0-for-4 with the bases loaded. Hankins has stranded seven of eight inherited runners. ... Aaron Heilman has a 1.42 ERA (1 ER/6.1 IP) over his last five outings. The lone run was a solo homer May 23 vs. Sacramento. He failed to record a strikeout in his last outing, his first strikeout-less appearance since his first two outings. Heilman has 20 strikeouts in his last 16.2 innings. Four of 10 inherited runners scored, and opponents are hitting .313 (10-for-32) with runners in scoring position. ... Tanner Scheppers has allowed a run in five of 24 outings (11 runs total), surrendering multiple runs four times. He has walked one of his last 79 batters faced over 20 appearances (21.0 innings) with 20 strikeouts in that time; his last walk was May 9 at Salt Lake, and he has not issued multiple walks in a game. Scheppers allowed four of 11 inherited runners to score. He leads the PCL with 23 games finished. Opposing batters are 6-for-16 (.375) with runners in scoring position and two outs. ... Ben Snyder is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA (1 ER/12.0 IP) in eight outings at The Dell Diamond but 0-2 with a 5.12 ERA (11 ER/19.1 IP) in 12 road games. He has at least one strikeout in each of his last five appearances, recording eight strikeouts over 7.1 innings with two walks. Opponents are hitting .316 (6-for-19) with runners in scoring position and two outs. Snyder has stranded nine of 15 inherited runners.

TEAM"ˆNOTES

The Express are 18-3 when holding the opposition to fewer than five runs but 7-28 when allowing at least five runs. Wednesday night's 4-3 loss was Round Rock's first loss when holding the opponent to fewer than five runs since a 4-0 loss April 18 vs. Omaha. ... Round Rock is 4-10 in series openers. ... Of Round Rock's 63 home runs, 34 have been solo shots, including 16 to leadoff an inning; 28 came with no outs. ... The Express have at least one double in 53 of 56 games, including a 47-game streak after not getting a double in the season opener. ... Round Rock is 6-10 in one-run games, dropping three straight. Seven of the 16 games were against Iowa. ... Express relievers have allowed 25 runs (21 earned) after the seventh inning over the last 23 games. ... Round Rock is 1-22 when trailing after seven innings, posting their lone win May 2 with a six-run eighth to rally past New Orleans 10-5. Conversely, the Express have four losses in 26 games when leading after seven innings.

NEXT SERIES

Following the season's third of five off-days, Round Rock embarks on an eight-game road trip that starts with a four-game series at Omaha. The series begins Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. CDT first pitch and continues Friday at 7:05 p.m., Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 2:05 p.m.

GAME"ˆ61 | THURSDAY, JUNE 7 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: RHP Greg Reynolds (4-4, 4.19 ERA)

Storm Chasers: TBA

GAME"ˆ62 | FRIDAY, JUNE 8 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: RHP Roy Oswalt (0-0, 0.00 ERA; starts tonight)

Storm Chasers: TBA

GAME"ˆ63 | SATURDAY, JUNE 9 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: RHP Neil Ramirez (5-5, 7.57 ERA; starts tomorrow)

Storm Chasers: TBA

GAME"ˆ64 | SUNDAY, JUNE 10 | 2:05 p.m. CDT

Express: LHP Martin Perez (3-4, 5.37 ERA; starts Monday)

Storm Chasers: TBA

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 2, 2012


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