PCL1 Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express - Game Notes Vs. Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs)

April 14, 2012 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


GAME 10 | 14 APRIL 2012 | 7:05 P.M. CDT | THE DELL DIAMOND | ROUND ROCK, TEXAS

ROUND ROCK EXPRESS (2-7) vs. IOWA CUBS (6-3)

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

EXPRESS: LHP Zach Jackson (0-1, 5.68 ERA) | CUBS: LHP Travis Wood (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

TONIGHT'S"ˆGAME

Round Rock continues an eight-game home stand with the second of four games against the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT at The Dell Diamond. The Express have lost six straight by a total of five runs, including four straight one-run games. The Cubs have won three straight and five of their last six, a stretch that started with a 6-5 series finale win against Round Rock in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday night. This is the sixth of 16 meetings between the two teams this season.

BROADCAST"ˆINFORMATION

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

EXPRESS-CUBS SERIES

Iowa leads the season series three games to two, winning two straight. Round Rock and Iowa split the season's first series at Des Moines. The Cubs won the opener (5-3) and the finale (6-5), while the Express won the middle games 4-3 and 7-2, respectively. The teams meet again for eight consecutive days in June with the Cubs visiting The Dell Diamond for four games June 19-22 and the Express following the Cubs to Des Moines for four games June 23-26. SERIES"ˆNOTES: Four of the five games have been decided by two runs or fewer, including three one-run affairs. ... The team that scored first is 4-1 in the series. ... Michael Biannuci is 7-for-19 (.368) with three homers, six RBI and five runs, hitting safely in all five games. He has homered in three of the five games. Leonys Martin (7-for-21) and Brad Nelson (4-for-12) both are hitting .333 against Cubs pitching. The rest of the Express squad is hitting .157 (18-for-115). ... Express pitchers have 31 strikeouts (6.44 per nine innings) against 13 walks (2.70 per nine innings). ... Iowa is hitting .296 as a team against the Express, compared to Round Rock's .216 team average in the series. ... Three Cubs with at least 10 at bats against Express arms are hitting .400 or better: Tony Campana (.412, 7-for-17), Wellington Castillo (.455, 5-for-11) and Anthony Rizzo (.400, 8-for-20). Rizzo also has three homers and nine RBI. Brett Jackson is hitting .381 (8-for-21) with two doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBI. ... Round Rock has not committed an error in the series, while Iowa has committed five.

SERIES"ˆINFORMATION

GAME"ˆ9 | FRIDAY, APRIL 13

Cubs 6, Express 5

WP: Jackson (1-0). LP: Reynolds (0-1). SV: Parker (1).

GAME"ˆ10 | SATURDAY, APRIL 14 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: LHP"ˆZach Jackson (0-1, 5.68 ERA)

Cubs: LHP"ˆTravis Wood (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

GAME"ˆ11 | SUNDAY, APRIL 15 | 1:05 p.m. CDT

Express: RHP Mark Hamburger (0-0, 11.25 ERA)

Cubs: RHP"ˆRandy Wells (1-0, 5.25 ERA)

GAME"ˆ12 | MONDAY, APRIL 16 | 7:05 p.m. CDT

Express: LHP"ˆMartin Perez (1-0, 3.09 ERA)

Cubs: RHP"ˆCasey Coleman (1-1, 4.50 ERA)

NOTES FROM LAST NIGHT'S GAME

Michael Bianucci (nine games) and Brad Nelson (seven games) both extended hitting streaks. Bianucci has hit safely in all nine Express games, while Nelson has reached safely in each of the eight games he has played. ... No Round Rock batter produced a multiple-hit game for the first time since the season opener. ... Luis Hernandez' fifth-inning RBI triple was Round Rock's first three-bagger of the year.

RARE SKID

Round Rock's six-game losing streak is its longest since an eight-game funk late in the 2010 season - the franchise's final season as an Astros affiliate. This is the longest skid by the Rangers Triple-A affiliate since a six-game stretch Aug. 25-30, 2009, which was two games removed from another six-game slide. The Rangers top affiliate has not lost seven straight since Aug. 25-31, 2007.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

Round Rock is 1-5 in one-run games, dropping five straight since a 4-3 victory April 6 at Iowa in the season's first game. Furthermore, Round Rock's last four games have all been one-run defeats, the first two of which were in walk-off fashion. The Express were 26-15 in one-run games last season, the second-best winning percentage (.634) in the PCL behind Sacramento (.652) and third in one-run wins behind Sacramento (30) and Oklahoma City (29).

EXPRESS STARTER

LHP ZACH JACKSON (0-1, 5.68 ERA)

2012: Allowed four runs on five hits in two innings of relief with no walks and one strikeout in April 2 exhibition game vs. Rangers.

LAST START: Suffered loss in April 9 start at Omaha, a 6-3 Express defeat ... allowed four runs on seven hits, including one home run, over 6.1 innings with one strikeout and no walks ... surrendered leadoff homer to Max Ramirez in the bottom of the seventh after Express tied game 3-3 in top half of inning ... used 72 pitches, 50 strikes.

2011: Tied franchise record with 13 wins (Jason Hirsh, 2006), three more than any other left-hander in Express history (Stephen Randolph, 2007) ... appeared in 28 games with 23 starts, tied for sixth in franchise history and third among southpaws ... led staff with 152.0 innings, sixth in Express history and third among lefties ... induced staff-best 20 double plays, second in franchise history ... win total was second in PCL, first among left-handers ... Round Rock has won 12 of his last 15 starts ... won six of last seven decisions and five of last six starts ... 7-2 in 10 outings after All-Star break ... worked at least into the sixth inning in 19 of 23 starts, going at least 7.0 innings five times ... tossed complete game in season's final outing, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts Sept. 4 vs. Albuquerque ... carried no-hitter into the eighth inning April 20 at Oklahoma City; bid broken up on first pitch of eighth inning ... wins April 9 vs. Iowa, April 20 at Oklahoma City, May 27 vs. Iowa, June 1 at Oklahoma City, June 12 at Iowa, June 20 vs. Omaha (relief), July 17 at Memphis, July 27 vs. Memphis, Aug. 1 at Nashville, Aug. 6 vs. Salt Lake, Aug. 12 at Sacramento (relief), Aug. 30 at Omaha, Sept. 4 vs. Albuquerque ... losses May 16 at Las Vegas, June 6 vs. Albuquerque, July 8 vs. Memphis (relief) and July 22 at Omaha, Aug. 25 at Albuquerque ... 11.51 ERA in four losses (29 ER/22.2 IP) ... 6-2, 5.09 ERA, .298 opponents' average in 11 starts, three relief appearances at The Dell Diamond ... 7-3, 5.92 ERA, .310 opponents' average in 12 starts, two relief outings on the road ... 15 of 21 home runs allowed were solo shots, including 14 of last 16 ... first-inning ERA was 7.43 (19 ER/23.0 IP) ... opponents hit .234 (15-for-64) with runners in scoring position and two outs.

2011 vs. IOWA: Earned win in all three starts, posting a 2.45 ERA (5 ER/18.1 IP) ... surrendered two home runs, walked two and struck out eight ... Cubs hit .286 (20-for-70) ... credited with win at The Dell Diamond in season's first start (April 9); allowed four runs on nine hits, including one home run, over 5.1 innings with five strikeouts and two walks (13-9 Express) ... earned victory in May 27 start at The Dell Diamond; limited Iowa to one run - a Bobby Scales homer to leadoff the game - on six hits and a walk over seven innings with no strikeouts (3-1 Express) ... allowed one unearned run over six innings June 12 at Des Moines for the win (9-2 Express); scattered five hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

NOTABLE: Began college career at Louisville (2002-2003) ... at Louisville, lettered two years as a pitcher ... had an overall record of 17-9 which ranked third all-time at Louisville ... earned Freshman All-American honors after the 2002 season ... earned All-Conference USA second team and CUSA All-Freshman team honors after the 2002 season ... played for the Hyannis Mets in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2003, earning a spot on the Cape Cod All-Star Game ... transferred to Texas A&M in 2004 ... went 10-7 with a 3.58 ERA in 18 starts his junior year prior to being drafted by Toronto ... was a community health and sport management major in college ... lettered four years at Seneca Valley High School in Cranberry Township, Pa. ... compiled a career high school record of 25-4 on the mound and hit a school-record 12 home runs ... struck out 17 batters in final high school game ... originally drafted by the White Sox in the 50th round of the 2001 June draft.

PLAYER"ˆNOTES

Michael Bianucci has hit safely in all nine games (.350, 14-for-40) with five multiple-hit games. He did not strikeout in each of the last two games after doing so in each of the season's first seven games. Bianucci is second in the PCL"ˆin home runs (4), tied for fourth in RBI (12) and third in total bases (28). ... Julio Borbon has reached safely in each of his first eight games, hitting safely in six. ... Dusty Brown has hit safely in each of his last three games and boasts a .412 on base percentage in four games. ... Joey Butler leads the PCL with eight walks. He has hit safely in four straight games and reached safely in seven of eight games played. ... Leonys Martin has reached safely in all eight games played, hitting safely in six of the last seven. He is second on the team with four multiple-hit games, including a trio of three-hit games. ... Tommy Mendonca has reached safely in seven straight after failing to do so in the season opener. His is hitting .368 (7-for-19) since starting the season 0-for-11. ... Brad Nelson has reached safely in all eight games played, hitting safely in each of the last seven. However, he has only one multiple-hit game in the streak, hitting .258 (8-for-31) in that time.

TEAM"ˆNOTES

Round Rock is 15-for-63 (.238) with runners in scoring position during the current six-game losing streak, stranding 55 runners in that time (9.2 per game). ... Six of Round Rock's seven home runs have come with no outs, including three leadoff homers. ... The Express have lost more one-run games (five) than any other PCL team has played. ... Round Rock batters are hitting .321 when leading off an inning but .231 with runners on base. By comparison, opposing batters are hitting .282 against the Express when leading off an inning and .320 with runners on base. ... The Express have committed three errors, the lowest total in the PCL. Round Rock's .991 fielding percentage is the league's best.

NEXT SERIES

Round Rock continues an eight-game home stand, hosting the Omaha Storm Chasers for a four-game series. The series runs Tuesday through Friday with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch each night.

GAME"ˆ13 | TUESDAY, APRIL 17 | 7:05 p.m. CDT | THE DELL DIAMOND

Express: RHP Neil Ramirez (0-1, 5.00 ERA)

Storm Chasers: RHP Nate Adcock (2-0, 0.00 ERA)

GAME"ˆ14 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14 | 7:05 p.m. CDT | THE DELL DIAMOND

Express: RHP"ˆGreg Reynolds (0-1, 5.25 ERA)

Storm Chasers: LHP Ryan Verdugo (0-0, 9.00 ERA)

GAME"ˆ15 | THURSDAY, APRIL 15 | 1:05 p.m. CDT | THE DELL DIAMOND

Express: LHP"ˆZach Jackson (0-1, 5.68 ERA; starts tonight)

Storm Chasers: LHP Mike Montgomery (0-0, 4.15 ERA; starts tonight)

GAME"ˆ16 | FRIDAY, APRIL 16 | 7:05 p.m. CDT | THE DELL DIAMOND

Express: RHP Mark Hamburger (0-0, 11.25 ERA; starts tomorrow)

Storm Chasers: RHP Vin Mazzaro (0-0, 3.00 ERA; starts tomorrow)

Check out the Round Rock Express Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from April 14, 2012


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