AAA: Round Rock 2, at Las Vegas (OAK) 5
Round Rock: 5 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 32-24, 2 GB
SP Spencer Howard: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 3 SO, 83 P / 48 S, 3.70 ERA
RP Jose Leclerc: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 8.31 ERA
Another scoreless outing for Spencer Howard, in Las Vegas, no less. Another mixed review from me. Last week, Howard allowed a lone runner through 3.2 innings and then inexplicably walked three straight. Last night, two runners in 3.2 innings, then three straight walks. Howard also started the 5th with two walks. The changeup didn’t make an appearance. The curve, absent until the 4th, was more effective than usual: three groundouts, a swinging strike, a called strike, and three balls.
Bueno’s high-low approach works well when batters can’t decide if the pitch is coming in at the chest or knees. When too many of those pitches comes across the belt, he gets last night’s result: four doubles, three runs in the 9th.
Round Rock didn’t score until the 9th. Adrian Martinez, acquired by Oakland as part of the Sean Manaea trade, flummoxed the Express with a high-run fastball and screwball-like change.
Texas transferred OF Josh Sale to Round Rock, but he wasn’t in last night’s lineup.
AA: Frisco 4, at Amarillo (ARI) 0
Frisco: 8 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 28-25, tied for first
SP Cole Ragans: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 SO, 93 P / 62 S, 2.81 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.22 ERA
DH Dustin Harris: 1-4, HR (10), .249/.338/.456
LF JP Martinez: 3-4, 3B, SB (19), .291/.397/.507
I feel like we’re not far from seeing some players on the move, and I’m hoping Cole Ragans is among them. Every Frisco starter has struggled with consistency. Everyone but Cole (pictured below).
Justin Foscue’s oblique issue happily turned out to be precautionary. He’s back and was 1-4 last night.
High-A: Hickory 6, at Bowling Green (TAM) 4
Hickory: 9 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 8 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 31-22, 1.5 GB
SP Ricky Vanasco: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 6 SO, 79 P / 42 S, 5.40 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3.16 ERA
1B Cristian Inoa: 2-4, HR (3), .306/.361/.450
3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, HR (8), .256/.344/.442
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 2-3, HBP, .307/.357/.412
LF Angel Aponte: 1-3, 2B, HBP, .296/.376/.444
Ricky Vanasco walked a batter in four of five innings and threw in a balk and wild pitch for good measure, but Bowling Green couldn’t muster much with the bat. Marc Church threw his sixth two-inning outing. Good as he’s been, the previous two resulted in multiple runs scored.
Cody Freeman is first on the Crawdads and third in the organization in homers, just like we all expected. Well, no. Freeman began to display some pop last year but had only six homers in 109 pro games entering the season, and he’s listed at 5’10” and 180 pounds. Last year, he lost a month to injury and didn’t don a mask after July. Assuming no health issues in 2022, we’ll have to see whether the rigors of catching affect his bat.
Evan Carter is hitting .118/.225/.177 in nine games since demolishing Greenville in mid-May. Not too many strikeouts, ample walks, but minimal production on balls in play.
Low-A: Down East 2, at Kannapolis (CHW) 1
Down East: 7 hits, 0 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 6 walks, 17 strikeouts
Record: 25-28, 3.5 GB
SP Emiliano Teodo: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 SO, 65 P / 44 S, 3.99 ERA
RP Jose Corniell: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 6.29 ERA
RP Jackson Leath: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 4.91 ERA
RP Theo McDowell: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.57 ERA
SS Maximo Acosta: 2-4, .266/.357/.367
Down East carried a no-hitter into the 7th and delivered a quasi-shutout, with only the extra-inning gift runner scoring. Emiliano Teodo faced the minimum across five, permitting only a 5th-inning walk that was erased on a a double play. Teodo fanned six straight at one point, running the fastball into the upper 90s. Jose Corneill lost the no-hitter on a bloop. Jackson Leath was placed into a high-leverage situation and made it more interesting than you’d like, but he escaped a two-out, two-on pickle in the 8th and was assisted by Theo McDowell after loading the bases in the 9th. McDowell stranded three by getting a call on a 2-2 fastball against Benyamin Bailey, who then drew a line in the dirt and was summarily dismissed.
In the 10th, Maximo Acosta doubled in Marcus Smith, and a Efrenyer Narvaez double and Yenci Pena single would bring Acosta home. A passed ball, walk and wild pitch put the tying run on 2nd with none out, but McDowell would prevail on a fly out and two strikeouts.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Alexy
AA: Kent
Hi-A: Anderson
Lo-A: TBD
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Drew Robinson batted .471/.591/.1.412 in four games at Colorado Springs.