Yu Look(ed) Marvelous; Teams Stayed Way After School
May 17, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
Midland RockHounds Shortstop Matt Chapman
(Midland RockHounds, Credit: Shawn E. Davis)
The second-largest crowd in franchise history saw a Major Leaguer pitch and a tremendous comeback from the home team, forcing the game into extra innings. A packed house on Safety Awareness Day (with thousands of school kids from across West Texas), augmented by the appearance of Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish, pushed the paid attendance to 8,488 (see note, below).
By the time the clubs had exchanged solo home runs in the 13th ... a pop fly, misplayed in the wind, broke the tie for good ... and a Frisco outfielder would become the winning pitcher ... the kids had long since gone back to class and only the "sturdy and stout" few remained.
The RoughRiders gave Darvish, pitching for Frisco on a rehabilitation assignment, a quick lead with a three-run first inning. By the time the Rangers' right-hander completed his designate five innings, the Frisco lead was 6-1. The 'Hounds rallied back with a four-run fifth inning and tied the game on Matt Chapman's RBI double with two out in the last of the ninth. Lewis Brinson homered in the top of the 13th, but Wade Kirkland, who had entered the game in the 11th as a pinch runner, answered with a solo shot to right field in the home half of the inning.
With the bases loaded and two out in the 15th, Ryan Cordell sent a pop up to shallow right. Franklin Barreto dropped the ball, but was initially ruled to have hung on long enough to constitute an inning-ending catch. After a lengthy discussion by the umpire crew, it was ruled a non-catch, with two runs scoring, and Brinson drove in two more with a triple to make the score 11-7. The 'Hounds rallied again, this time on a Kirkland RBI single, and had the tying run at the plate, but Preston Beck (who moved from right field to the mound and allowed just one run in two innings) struck Chapman out looking to end the game, five hours and two minutes after the first pitch was thrown.
The RockHounds
... are 20-17 (10-6 at Security Bank Ballpark and 10-11 on the road) ... are 2-4 against the RoughRiders ... have dropped four straight games.
... are now in third place in the Texas League South, five games behind Frisco and a 1.5 games behind red-hot Corpus Christi. The Hooks (3.5 games behind Frisco) will take a seven-game win streak into their Tuesday evening match-up with the Missions in San Antonio.
Congratulations Ryon!
RockHounds first baseman Ryon Healy has been promoted to the Nashville Sounds of the (Triple-A) Pacific Coast League.
While he had certainly earned the chance to play at the "next level" by virtue of an outstanding 2015 season with the RockHounds (Healy was named to the Texas League Postseason All-Star Team as a member of the 'Hounds league championship club), there was no room in Nashville at the start of the year. He responded to his return to the Double-A level with a remarkable start to the season. At the time of his call-up, Healy was among the Texas League leaders in (at least) thirteen offensive categories, including batting average (third at .338), RBI (second with 34) and home runs (tied for third with eight). He was Oakland's third round selection in the 2013 draft (University of Oregon).
Kibbles & Bits
- The only larger crowd in the franchise's 45-year history came on August 26, 2005, when 9,108 watched the RockHounds at (then) Citibank Ballpark. The night was a celebration of the 'Hounds reaching the playoffs for the first time in the Oakland A's era and sweeping both half-season pennants in the process (the RockHounds went on to win the first outright Texas League championship in franchise history).
STAT of the DAY
In the first six games between the clubs in 2016, the RockHounds have turned 16 double plays against the RoughRiders.
Images from this story
 Midland RockHounds Shortstop Matt Chapman (Shawn E. Davis) |
Texas League Stories from May 17, 2016
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- Yu Look(ed) Marvelous; Teams Stayed Way After School - Midland RockHounds
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- Riders Game Notes - 11:00 at Midland RockHounds - May 17, 2016 - Frisco RoughRiders
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