AAA: Round Rock 9, at Albuquerque (COL) 12
Round Rock: 14 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 15 hits, 9 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 28-18, 1 G up
SP Jake Latz: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 4.99 ERA, 76 P / 47 S, 0.00 ERA
CF Bubba Thompson: 4-5, 2 HR (5), SB (25), .340/.350/.500
3B Josh Smith: 1-4, HR (4), BB, .261/.370/.392
After three days of relatively few runs, at last a score worthy of the location. Round Rock led 4-0, trailed 7-4, retied the game at nine, and then allowed three in the 8th. Bubba Thompson homered twice, but the altitude receives no credit, as he hit both balls 105 MPH at angles just below 30 degrees. Those will leave any park. True to form, Thompson also stole third, collected another bunt single, and did not walk.
Josh Smith’s homer was only the 15th-hardest of the night, but he angled it perfectly. Smith can get a hold of a pitch, but his expertise is softer liners that are nearly always hits, if not the extra-base variety. By my count, he has a team-leading 26 balls in play of that type with an .808 average.
Every reliever (Ryder Ryan, Tyson Miller, Hever Bueno, Demarcus Evans, Nick Snyder) had his issues. All but Bueno were walk-prone. Bueno was victimized by a difficult but arguably playable fly that Willie Calhoun turned into an unsightly triple.
AA: Frisco 2, San Antonio (SDG) 8
Frisco: 4 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 16 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 23-20, tied for first
SP Cole Ragans: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 79 P / 52 S, 3.15 ERA
RP Nick Starr: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.74 ERA
DH Dustin Harris: 2-4, .250/.241/.431
Just after I’d written up Grant Anderson’s near-perfection since allowing three homers in Jack Leiter’s pro debut, he gave up four runs on his first homer since then plus several other hits. On Thursday, Chase Lee surrendered his first runs of the year.
High-A: Hickory 2, Winston-Salem (CHW) 5
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 25-18, 0.5 GB
SP Nick Krauth: 7 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 79 P / 56 S, 4.62 ERA
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 2-3, BB, .292/.331/.408
DH Chris Seise: 2-3, .224/.286/.405
Enlisted to protect a 2-0 lead in the 9th, Marc Church surrendered a homer after a single and rare walk. He’d worked the 8th without incident. Church has a 41% strikeout rate in May but has allowed five homers, one per nine batters faced.
Low-A: Down East 4, Fayetteville (HOU) 3
Down East: 5 hits, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 19-24, 5.5 GB
SP Josh Stephan: 7 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 9 SO, 83 P / 63 S, 4.42 ERA
RP Jackson Leath: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 4.50 ERA
RP Theo McDowell: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3.06 ERA
SS Maximo Acosta: 1-3, BB, .242/.342/.344
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-3, HR (3), BB, .192/.252/.303
2B Jose Acosta: 1-3, HR (2), .224/.318/.431
Drama in Kinston. Down a run with a runner on first, two out and a 2-1 count, Abimelec Ortiz fouled off three pitches and then connected on a game-ending homer. As a 19-year-old last summer, Ortiz led the Dominican Summer League with 11 homers and ranked second with a .581 slugging percentage. Last year, he had many more walks plus HBPs (42) than hits (30), but his walk and strikeout rates have moved the wrong directions so far in 2022.
Jackson Leath, heavily victimized early in his pro career, tossed a blissfully quiet 8th.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Alexy
AA: Kent
Hi-A: White
Lo-A: TBD
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas claimed Pete O’Brien off waivers from Cincinnati. Not the 59-year-old ex-Ranger. Younger Pete didn’t hit well and was lost on waivers three weeks later.