PCL1 Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express Game Notes

Published on June 3, 2010 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


TONIGHT'S GAMES

Round Rock continues its fourth home stand of the season Thursday with the second and third games of a four-game series against the Iowa Cubs (Chicago-NL). First pitch of the opener is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CDT at The Dell Diamond. The teams will play two seven-inning games. This is the second of four series between the two teams this season. Round Rock is 5-5 in its last 10 games, going 2-5 in the last seven. Iowa is 4-6 in over its last 10 games, also going 2-5 in the last seven. The Express are 13-12 at The Dell Diamond this season, winning 10 of their last 17 home games. The Cubs are 15-11 on the road, joining Omaha, Oklahoma City and Sacramento as the only teams in the Pacific Coast League with better winning percentages on the road than at home. Round Rock is fourth in the PCL American Southern Division, 5.0 games behind division leader Oklahoma City. Iowa is fourth in the PCL American Northern Division, 3.5 games behind division leader Nashville (Round Rock's next opponent).

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-CUBS SERIES

Iowa has won three of the first four meetings this season after 3-2 victory in Tuesday's series opener; the Cubs have won each of the last three. Round Rock won the first meeting this season 5-1 at Des Moines; that is the only meeting decided by more than two runs. In fact, each of the last three games has been decided in the Cubs' final at bat. The series at Iowa in late April was shortened to three games due to inclement weather; the fourth game of that series will be made up as part of a doubleheader June 14.

EXPRESS STARTING PITCHERS

LHP ANDY VAN HEKKEN

Third season with Astros organization, second with Round Rock ... 13th season in professional baseball ... Seattle Mariners 1998 third-round draft pick out of Holland [Mich.] High School ... Made Major League debut Sept. 3, 2002, with Detroit Tigers ... Also spent time in Atlanta Braves (2005) and Kansas City Royals (2006) organizations ... Signed by Astros as free agent July 1, 2008 ... Makes 10th start of season Thursday ... Recorded 14 strikeouts against one walk in last two outings ... Did not factor in decision at Omaha in last start (5/28); allowed five runs, two earned, on nine hits, including one home run, two-hit batters and one walk with nine strikeouts over 7.0 innings ... Nine strikeouts in last outing were most in a game by an Express pitcher this season.

RHP SHANE LOUX

In first season with Astros organization, 14th year in professional baseball ... Detroit Tigers 1997 second-round draft pick out of Gilbert-Highland [Ariz.] High School ... Acquired by Astros as a free agent Jan. 16, 2010 ... Spent last two seasons in Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim system, seeing Major League action each season ... Spent most of 2009 with Salt Lake Bees ... Has seen Major League time in four seasons with Tigers (2002, 2003) and Angels (2008, 2009) ... Started Express' fourth game of season (4/11) at New Orleans; allowed five runs, four earned, on 11 hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 5.0 innings ... Spent seven weeks on disabled list following that start due to shoulder injury ... Returned to rotation May 29 at Omaha; lasted only 1.1 innings and allowed five runs on five hits and a walk with no strikeouts.

TEAM QUICK NOTES

Round Rock is 3-1-3 in its last seven series after starting the season 0-5-1. ... Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Iowa was the 15th one-run loss for the Express this season. That is the most one-run losses in the PCL, three more than second-place Portland. The Express are a PCL-worst 7-19 in games decided by two or fewer runs. ... It also was Round Rock's 12th loss in the opponent's final at bat, three of which have been against Iowa. ...

Tuesday's game marked just the third game this season in which the Express and their opponent had the same number of hits; Round Rock is 1-2 in those games. ... The Express scored 109 runs in a 13-game stretch May 15-28, scoring at least five runs in 14 of those 15 games. However, Round Rock has scored just six runs in three games since, scoring four or fewer runs in all three games. ...

Round Rock is 20-7 when scoring at least five runs, 3-22 when scoring fewer than five runs. Meanwhile, the Express are 19-9 when holding their opponent to fewer than five runs, 4-20 when the opponent scores at least five runs. ... The Express are 16-12 following a loss but 7-16 following a win. ... Round Rock is five games below .500 (18-23) when committing no more than one error but one game below .500 (5-6) when committing more than one error ... The Express in the PCL statistical rankings: fifth in batting (.278), 10th in pitching (4.37), 11th in fielding (.976).

PLAYER QUICK NOTES

Josh Banks suffered his lone loss of May in Sunday's game at Omaha. Prior to that, he owned a PCL-best 4-0 mark for the month. Banks is 5-1 at home and 0-3 on the road. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of 11 starts. Banks owns a 1.80 ERA through the fifth inning; that figure balloons to 7.62 after the fifth. He ranks third in the PCL with 67.0 innings pitched. ...

Jonah Bayliss is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in seven road outings (13.0 innings) but 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in eight appearances at The Dell Diamond (11.0 innings). He is holding opponents' to a .111 average (3-for-27) when ahead in the count but allowing a .438 average (14-for-32) when behind in the count. All four home runs he has allowed have been solo shots. The home run Bayliss allowed to Micah Hoffpauir in Tuesday's series opener against Iowa was the first run allowed by Bayliss in 6.0 innings from the ninth inning on this season. ... Brian Bogusevic has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, going 13-for-43 (.302) in that time. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games since April 29, a 31-game stretch. Bogusevic hit his fifth home run of the season Tuesday. Four of the five have been solo homers; however, three of the five have either tied the game of given the Express a lead. He is tied for third in the PCL with 38 runs scored. ... Jason Bourgeois is riding a 10-game hitting streak, his second of that length this season; he is hitting .396 (19-for-48) during the current streak. Bourgeois' current 10-game run is one game removed from his previous 10-game stretch, giving him hits in 20 of the last 21 games; he is hitting .438 (42-for-96) in that time with 12 multiple-hit games and seven games of three-plus hits. He also has hit safely in 15 consecutive road games, the longest such streak in the PCL this season. Bourgeois ranks third in the PCL in batting average (.363), second in hits (69) and fourth in stolen bases (15). He ranks seventh in Minor League Baseball in hits. ...

Jason Castro has hit safely in 20 of 22 games, going 27-for-85 (.318) in that time. He has reached safely in 40 of 43 games, including 23 straight. His current 23-game streak is the fifth-longest on-base streak in the PCL this season and second in the league among active streaks. Castro is riding an 11-game hitting streak in home games, going 14-for-44 (.318) in that time; the streak is tied for the ninth-longest in the PCL this season and fifth in the league among active streaks. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games since May 6. Castro has 12 multiple-hit games, all two-hit outings. ... Michael Garciaparra has hit safely in 10 of 11 games, going 11-for-27 (.407) in that time. He also is 3-for-3 in pinch-hit at bats during the last 11 games. ... Chris Johnson has hit safely in 18 of 21 games with the Express, producing a sacrifice fly in each of the three hitless games. He is 10-for-39 (.256) since being named PCL Player of the Week (nine-game span). Johnson's current five-game hitting streak is his second of five-plus games this season. He is hitting .487 (19-for-39) when batting fifth in the lineup, .200 (10-for-50) elsewhere in the order. ... Matt Kata is hitting .032 (1-for-32) in seven games since ending his 13-game hitting streak. After going 0-for-4 in Tuesday's series opener against Iowa, his average dipped below .300 for the first time since May 14.

Still, Kata is hitting .352 (57-for-162) in 39 games since starting the season 4-for-38 (.105). He has committed only two errors in 109 total chances at second base this season, posting a .982 fielding percentage. ... Drew Locke snapped a nine-game hitting streak by going 0-for-4 in Tuesday's series opener against Iowa; he hit .385 (15-for-39) during the streak. It was his longest streak of the season and his third of five-plus games. Locke also snapped a streak of 13 consecutive starts with a hit. He has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 starts, going .368 (28-for-76) in that time. Locke is hitting .341 (29-for-85) in 25 games since May 5. All six of his home runs have come in the last 16 games (since May 16). Locke has multiple hits in six of his last eight games; all nine of his multiple-hit games this season have been two-hit outings. ... Oswaldo Navarro has reached safely in 20 of 22 starts. He has 10 multiple-hit outings in 24 games, the best percentage on the Express roster. ... Yordany Ramirez is hitting .067 (1-for-15) in four games since snapping a four-game hitting streak that was his longest of the season. He is hitless in his last nine pinch-hit appearances after starting the season 2-for-2. ...

Chris Shelton has missed five of the last seven games with a hand injury; it is his first missed action of the season. Shelton leads the team in games with at least one hit (33). However, he is hitting .111 (3-for-27) in his last seven games played. ... Sergio Perez has worked 7.0 innings in each of his three starts with the Express, allowing no more than three earned runs in any of those starts. He left the game with a lead twice and tied once, and he has allowed one home run in each start. His streak of three consecutive games with at least 7.0 innings pitched is the longest such streak by an Express pitcher this season. ... Polin Trinidad has allowed three home runs over his last two outings after not allowing a round-tripper in his first seven appearances. ... Andy Van Hekken has a 14-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio over his last two outings. His nine strikeouts at Omaha in his last start (5/28) were the most by an Express pitcher this season.

NEXT SERIES

Round Rock continues its fourth home stand with a four-game series against Nashville, beginning Saturday and running through June 8. First pitch for each game in the series is 7:05 p.m. CDT. This is the second of four series between the teams this season. The Express took three of four against the Sounds at The Dell Diamond in early May, winning each of the first three games before Nashville salvaged the finale.

Check out the Round Rock Express Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 3, 2010


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