AAA: Round Rock 6, at Sugar Land (HOU) 0
Round Rock: 6 hits, 6 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 5-3
SP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 29 P / 18 S, 3.86 ERA
RP John King: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 6.23 ERA
RP Jusitn Leone: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Yerry Rodriguez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
2B Justin Foscue: 2-4
1B Yoshi Tsutsugo: 2-4, HR (1)
No-hit through seven, the Express erupted for six runs in the final two innings. Yoshi Tsutsugo homered in Justin Foscue to begin the 8th, and both would also single and score in the 9th. Sam Huff bopped a two-run double.
Blaine Crim made a rare start at third base. With the roster lacking a genuine non-1B reserve infielder (no offense, Blaine), that’s the only way one of Davis Wendzel, Jonathan Ornelas, and Foscue can have a day off. Ornelas and Foscue have played every game.
Zak Kent, listed as the starting pitcher up to and into the game, did not appear.
Rehabbing Josh Sborz fanned two in a perfect 3rd.
The league-wide BB/HBP rate is 15%, far above last year’s 11.8% and last April’s 11.5%. Comparing 2023 to last April, that’s an extra 1.4 free runners per team per game. The league might just have to shut down and restart from scratch. This won’t do.
Elsewhere
The Yankees purchased the contract of OF Willie Calhoun on Saturday. They also placed reliever Demarcus Evans on the minor league 60-day IL. Don’t what what that’s about. Oakland signed reliever Spencer Patton.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
“Ronald Guzman [1-3, BB] has five hits, three walks and no strikeouts in three games (he missed Saturday and Sunday). Four of those hits went to the opposite field. And, of 29 pitches taken, only six were strikes. Nobody in Texas is seeing the ball better than Guzman right now. Since around last July, I’ve thought he could handle MLB pitching. Not dominate it, but handle it.”