The Previous Play Is Under Further Review
April 19, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
Midland RockHounds Catcher Beau Taylor
(Midland RockHounds, Credit: Frank Longobardo)
They don't go "under the hood" like football referees do, but baseball umpiring crews have their own version of a play "under further review."
In Monday night's game between the RockHounds and Northwest Arkansas, the game-winning run scored on a reversed call.
With the score tied, 3-3, in the last of the seventh, the RockHounds had runners at second and third with two outs. Jaycob Brugman's tailing line drive into center field appeared to be caught by Northwest Arkansas' Bubba Starling, ending the inning and the scoring threat. As the Naturals left the field, RockHounds manager Ryan Christenson calmly approached umpire Jeff Gorman, who had made the call. Their conversation led to a lengthy discussion involving the three members of the umpiring crew, and the call was overturned. The result was a tie-breaking RBI single for Brugman ... a 4-3 lead for the 'Hounds ... and (understandably) an ejection for Naturals' manager Vance Wilson.
Matt Chapman's first-inning single drove in the game's first run and Beau Taylor drove in a pair of runs with a single in the fourth to give the 'Hounds a 3-0 lead (see below).
The Naturals drew to within 3-2 with a pair of runs (one scoring on an error) in the fifth and tied the game on Orlando Calixte's solo home run in the sixth inning.
Reliever Trey Cochran-Gill pitched two perfect innings in relief (seventh and eighth) to earn the win. The right-hander has been exceptional in the early stages of the 2016 season (his first with the A's organization after coming to Oakland in an off-season trade with Seattle), making four near-perfect appearances. In those four outings, Cochran-Gill has yet to allow a run, giving up just four hits, no walks and one hit batsman while striking out eight. Aaron Kurcz pitched a scoreless ninth (one hit, two strikeouts) to earn his first (and the team's first) save of the season.
The RockHounds
... are 6-5 (4-1 at home and 2-4 on the road), trailing first-place Frisco (9-2) by three games and second-place Corpus Christi by two.
... conclude their season-opening home stand with the first of two Safety Awareness / Kids Days, with first pitch 11:00 a.m.
Kibbles & Bits
PLAY OF THE DAY ... perhaps even more than the overturned call, was a RockHounds' hit-and-run single in the fourth. With Matt Chapman on first base and two out, the 'Hounds sent "Chappy" on a 1-1 pitch to Franklin Barreto. His soft grounder, hit just hard enough to reach the right field grass, went through the hole vacated by the second baseman, putting runners at the corners. The 'Hounds then loaded the bases and Beau Taylor's first hit of the season delivered a critical, two-run single.
The Moustache That Roared: Daniel Mengden Named Texas League Pitcher of the Week
After posting a tremendous ... and very unusual ... pitching line through his first two Double-A starts, Daniel Mengden has been named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week (the initial honor traditionally covers the season's first week and a half). In two starts against the Arkansas Travelers (April 9 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock and last Friday, April 15, at Security Bank Ballpark), the right-hander posted the exact same (outstanding) pitching line in both games: six innings, allowing no runs on two hits, walking three and striking out eight.
His 16 strikeouts led the league entering Monday's play and his 0.00 ERA, of course, shares the league lead. Both games resulted in no decisions, but the 'Hounds went 2-0 in the two contests, with Ryon Healy providing the game-winning hit in the ninth inning of both games.
The Houston native, was selected by the Astros in the fourth round of the 2014 draft (Texas A&M) and came to Oakland last July (Scott Kazmir trade). Mengden, with his world class moustache (not quite Rollie Fingers, but darned close to the A's great) is rated the A's # 24 prospect.
- Danny Oh went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored, a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt. He also made a brilliant catch in deep left field, robbing Bubba Starling of extra bases in the eighth (Starling led off the Naturals' eighth moments after his attempted catch was nullified).
- Matt Chapman has seven RBI to open the season, six of them coming in the last two games (he had two home runs and five RBI Sunday).
- A video replay from the press box control center appeared to confirm that the umpires were correct in overturning the call.
Images from this story
 Midland RockHounds Catcher Beau Taylor (Frank Longobardo) |
Texas League Stories from April 19, 2016
- RockHounds Recess-Itate, Sweep Naturals - Midland RockHounds
- Springfield Stops Streak - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Travs Outlast Riders Tuesday, Win Series - Arkansas Travelers
- Riders Fall in Back-And-Forth Finale - Frisco RoughRiders
- Nielsen Navigates Cardinals to 6-3 Win Before 6,773 Fans - Springfield Cardinals
- Naturals Can't Hold Early Lead, Swept at Midland in Finale - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Star Wars Night Friday - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Naturals to Offer Special Graduation Party Packages in May - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Riders Game Notes - 11:05 a.m. vs. Arkansas Travelers - April 19, 2016 - Frisco RoughRiders
- The Previous Play Is Under Further Review - Midland RockHounds
- McGowin One-Hits 'Riders in Game Two Shutout - Arkansas Travelers
- Riders' Winning Streak Snapped with One-Hit Loss - Frisco RoughRiders
- Surge Continues with Shutout - Corpus Christi Hooks
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