PCL1 Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express Game Notes

Published on May 27, 2010 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


TONIGHT'S GAMES

Round Rock concludes its third home stand of the season Thursday with the final game of a four-game series against the Las Vegas 51s (Toronto Blue Jays). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT at The Dell Diamond. This is the lone scheduled meeting this season between the Express and 51s. Round Rock holds a 2-1 lead in the series, winning Monday's opener 9-6 and Tuesday's second game 8-5; Las Vegas overcame an 8-1 deficit for a 13-inning, 10-9 victory last night. The Express are guaranteed at least a split in their sixth consecutive series. Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games. Round Rock enters the game fourth in the PCL American Southern Division, 4.0 games behind division leader Oklahoma City (24-20). Las Vegas is third in the PCL Pacific Southern Division, trailing division leader Fresno (30-16) by 10.5 games.

EXPRESS ON THE AIR

Tonight's game will be broadcast live on "The Horn" 104.9 FM ESPN Austin. Pregame starts at 15 minutes prior to first pitch with veteran Express play-by-play man Mike Capps on the call. Live streaming audio of the broadcast also is available online at www.ESPNAustin.com. ... Home games also are simulcast on 92.5 FM and 1260 AM. Games at The Dell Diamond also are broadcast on 88.9 FM throughout the stadium.

EXPRESS STARTING PITCHER

RHP SERGIO PEREZ

Fifth season in professional baseball, all with Houston Astros organization ... Astros 2006 second-round draft pick out of the University of Tampa, the same program that produced Tino Martinez and Lou Piniella ... Spent all of 2008 and 2009 seasons at Corpus Christi (AA) ... Started this season at Corpus Christi, going 2-3 with a 3.09 ERA in 43.2 innings ... 0-3 over last four starts despite a 3.04 ERA in that time ... Promoted to Round Rock in mid-May ... Allowed two runs on four hits, including a solo homer, and five walks with five strikeouts over 7.0 innings against Reno in first career Triple-A start (5/22); left game with 3-2 lead but did not factor in decision as Reno tied game in eighth and won 5-4 in 12 innings.

TEAM QUICK NOTES

The Express are guaranteed to at least split the series with the 51s. Round Rock has not lost a series since dropping three of four at Albuquerque April 29-May 2, a span of six series. The Express are 2-0-3 in their last five series. ... Round Rock is 1-10 this season in series finales. The Express lost each of their first 10 such games before defeating Reno 5-4 Sunday. ... Round Rock's six-run third inning Wednesday tied for its second highest-scoring frame of the season and was its highest-scoring third inning. The Express have posted at least one inning of at least five runs in each of the first three games of the Las Vegas series. The Express are 10-4 when scoring at least four runs in an inning and 11-21 when failing to do so. On the flip side, Round Rock is 1-7 when allowing an inning of four-plus runs (the lone win was Monday's series opener) and 20-18 when not allowing a big inning. ... Round Rock has homered in 10 of its last 14 games, going 7-3 in those 10 games. The Express are 13-8 this season when hitting at least one home run. ... The Express suffered their worst defeat of the season May 10 in the Memphis series finale (12-4). Since then, Round Rock is 9-6 with 122 runs scored (8.1 runs per game). That is Round Rock's most prolific scoring stretch since joining Triple-A in 2005. In fact, no Express team had scored as many as 90 runs in any 15-game during the Triple-A era before this run. ... Round Rock has tallied 10-plus hits in 13 consecutive games and in 14 of its last 15. ... The Express are hitting .312 and averaging 6.8 runs per game in May after hitting .244 with 3.5 runs per game last month. Round Rock has 25 home runs in May with a .475 team slugging percentage after hitting only 10 home runs in April. ... Despite being four games below .500, Round Rock has out-scored its opponents 244-211 on the season. ... The Express are 19-6 when scoring at least five runs and 2-19 when scoring fewer than five runs. Conversely, Round Rock is 17-8 when holding its opponent below five runs and 4-17 when allowing at least five runs. ... Round Rock is 19-2 when leading after eight innings, including a 10-1 mark at home. Wednesday's loss was the Express' first this season when leading after eight at home. Meanwhile, the Express are 0-20 when trailing after seven innings and 0-18 when trailing after eigth innings. ... Interestingly, Round Rock is 16-20 when committing no errors or one error but 5-5 when committing more than one error. ... The Express are hitting .326 (101-for-310) with runners in scoring position over the last 26 games. ... Of Round Rock's 25 losses, 20 have been by three runs or fewer, including 13 one-run losses. ... Express in the PCL statistical rankings: third in batting (.283), 10th in pitching (4.33) and 10th in fielding (.977).

PLAYER QUICK NOTES

Josh Banks is tied for third in the PCL with five wins and leads the league with 63.0 innings pitched. He is tied with Iowa's Casey Coleman for the most wins in the PCL this month (4), and Banks' 4-0 mark in May is the league's best. He owns a 1.80 ERA through the fifth inning that balloons to 7.62 after the fifth. Banks is 5-1 at home and 0-2 on the road. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of 10 starts, including each of the last six. ... Brian Bogusevic is riding a five-game hitting streak (.381, 8-for-21), his longest streak of the season. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games since April 29, hitting safely in 19 of 26 games in that time. Bogusevic is second in the PCL with 36 runs scored. He also leads the league with 25 runs scored in May. ... Jason Bourgeois has hit safely in 14 of the last 15 games; he is hitting .464 (32-for-69) in that time with nine multiple-hit games and six games of three-plus hits. Bourgeois ranks third in the PCL in batting average (.362), fourth in hits (59), fifth in on-base percentage (.422) and fourth in stolen bases (14). His .385 batting average this month ranks third in the league; in the PCL, his May totals rank second in runs (23), fourth in hits (37), tied for fourth in triples (2) and tied for fifth in total bases (53). ... Jason Castro is riding an eight-game hitting streak that is his longest of the season; he is hitting .344 (11-for-32) during the streak. Castro's current streak is one game removed from a seven-game streak, giving him hits in 15 of the last 16 games; he is hitting .339 (21-for-62) in that time. He has reached safely in 34 of 37 games played this season, including 17 straight. Castro has scored a run and/or produced an RBI in 15 straight games, scoring at least one run in each of the first 10 games of that streak. He has hit safely in nine consecutive home games, going 12-for-37 (.324). Castro has scored 19 runs in May, sixth in the PCL. ... Roy Corcoran's RBI single in the seventh inning last Thursday against Reno was the first RBI of his career and fourth career hit. He is riding a two-game hitting streak. ... Casey Daigle's blown save Wednesday night snapped a streak of six consecutive opportunities converted. He also allowed an earned run for the first time in 10 appearances. Daigle is tied for fourth in the PCL with six saves and tied with Memphis' Fernando Salas for the PCL lead with six saves in May. Seven of the eight earned runs he has allowed this season came in three of 18 outings, all blown saves. Both home runs Daigle has allowed this season were ninth-inning, game-tying, two-run shots. ... Michael Garciaparra is riding a six-game hitting streak that dates back to his first stint with the Express; he is hitting .600 (6-for-10) with three pinch hits in that time. ... Chris Johnson has hit safely in 13 of 15 games with the Express, producing at least one RBI in each of the two hitless games. Johnson was 0-for-5 Wednesday night, snapping a 10-game hitting streak that tied for the second-longest by an Express player this season; he was 18-for-43 (.419) during the streak with five multiple-hit games and two games of three-plus hits. Despite missing the May's first nine games, Johnson still is tied for sixth in the PCL this month extra-base hits (12), tied for 10th in RBI (19), fifth in slugging percentage (.672) and ninth in OPS (1.052). ... Matt Kata saw his 13-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday night, going 0-for-6. That is his longest dry spell since going 0-for-9 immediately before the start of the 13-game streak. Still, he is hitting .397 (56-for-141) in 34 games since breaking out of a 4-for-38 slump to start the season. Kata ranks fifth in the PCL in batting average (.335) and tied for second in hits (60), both league-best marks among switch hitters. ... Drew Locke has hit safely in eight consecutive starts (.387, 12-for-31) and in 14 of 15 starts (.380, 19-for-50). He is hitting .339 (20-for-59) since May 5. Locke ranks 10th in the PCL with a .597 slugging percentage this month. ... Yordany Ramirez suffered an 8-for-58 skew (.138) over a 21-game stretch from April 20 through May 22, collecting only one multiple-hit game in that time. However, he has multiple hits in three consecutive games, his first multiple-hit streak of the season. He matched his season high with three hits Wednesday against Las Vegas. Ramirez is hitless in his last seven pinch-hit appearances after starting the year 2-for-2 as a pinch hitter. ... Chris Shelton missed Wednesday night's game with soreness in his left hand. It was his first missed game this season. Shelton leads the Express with eight home runs, four of which have been solo shots. He is tied for first in the PCL with seven homers in May, which ties for third in Minor League Baseball. Shelton also is tied for second in May with 55 total bases and fifth with 23 RBI. He leads the team with hits in 32 games and has hit .279 or better all season, dipping below .285 only for a four-at-bat period in late April. ... Wesley Wright has allowed three or fewer earned runs in seven of nine starts, allowing one earned run four times. Interestingly, he was 1-0 with five no-decisions and a 2.78 ERA in his first six starts; however, he is 2-0 with one no-decision in his last three starts, despite a 10.13 ERA.

UNLUCKY 13 GETS KATA

Matt Kata's 13-game hitting streak was snapped Wednesday night as Las Vegas held him hitless in six at bats. He also failed to reach base safely, snapping a 15-game streak. Kata hit .517 (30-for-58) during the 13-game hitting streak, which was the sixth longest in the PCL this season at that time and the longest by an Express player. Interestingly, Kata was 0-for-9 immediatley prior to the start of the 13-game streak; that slump coupled with his current six-at-bat skid mark the only times he has gone more than five at bats without a hit since April 18. Despite seeing the hitting streak end, Kata remains one of the hottest hitters in the PCL. Since starting the season 4-for-38, he is hitting .397 (56-for-141) over the last 34 games. His .392 batting average this month ranks second in the PCL; he also ranks second in hits (38) and tied for eighth in doubles (8) this month. Kata is 10-for-18 (.556) with runners in scoring position since May 10.

JOHNSON, DAIGLE ALSO SEE STREAKS END

Chris Johnson was 0-for-5 Wednesday night, ending a 10-game hitting streak that tied for the second-longest by an Express player this season. He was 18-for-43 (.419) during the streak with five multiple-hit games and two games of three-plus hits. Despite not getting a hit, Johnson delivered two RBI in Wednesday's game; he has hit safely in 13 of 15 games with the Express, producing at least one RBI in each of the two hitless games. ... Meanwhile, Casey Daigle suffered his first blown save in seven opportunities. He also snapped a streak of 10 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run.

NEXT SERIES

Round Rock makes its fourth road trip of the season after the Las Vegas series, an abbreviated one-series swing. The Express play four games against the Omaha Royals (Kansas City) at Rosenblatt Stadium. The series starts Friday with a 7:05 p.m. CDT first pitch.

Check out the Round Rock Express Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 27, 2010


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