AAA: Round Rock 8, at Sugar Land (HOU) 3
Round Rock: 10 hits, 8 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 27-17, tied for first, 71-47 overall
SP Cody Bradford: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 SO, 89 P / 61 S, 3.24 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 3-5, 2B, .289/.390/.500
DH Justin Foscue: 1-3, HR (12), 2 BB, .257/.383/.440
Cody Bradford rebounded from a couple of off starts and allowed only one scary ball in play (102 MPH, 37 degrees to left-center) that would have been out of some parks but not Sugar Land. Dustin Harris isn’t the most graceful outfielder you’ll ever see, but he he raced into position and was set to catch it in plenty of time. Bradford missed bats on nine of 17 swings against his changeup.
Since returning from a two-week IL stint, Justin Foscue is hitting .226/.348/.365 in 36 games.
Round Rock has won 11 straight. Six games out less than two weeks ago, the Express are now in a three-way tie for first. Neither Sugar Land nor preceding Albuquerque is very good, and Round Rock has made sure it stayed that way.
AA: Frisco 4, Tulsa (LAD) 10
Frisco: 10 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 11 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 23-21, 4 GB, 54-58 overall
SP Ryan Garcia: 0.2 IP, 2 H (7.02 HR), 4 R, 4 BB, 1 SO, 37 P / 16 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.73 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 2B, .204/.358/.306
3B Chris Seise: 2-4, 2B, .221/.285/.338
The game lasted three hours and 32 minutes; the pitch clock shrugged sheepishly as Frisco threw 206 pitches including 82 outside the strike zone. Since the All-Star break, Ryan Garcia has allowed 17 walks and six homers in six outings, leading to a .260/.402/.562 opposing line.
Hi-A: Hickory 2, Rome (ATL) 5
Hickory: 5 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 9 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 31-15, 4 G up, 58-49 overall
SP Nick Lockhart: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 47 P / 26 S, 4.64 ERA
RP Luis Tejeda: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.37 ERA
RP Seth Clark: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2.75 ERA
CF Daniel Mateo: 2-4, SB (27), .255/.269/.402
A messy 2nd set the tone, as Rome scored four on three singles, two walks, an error, and four stolen bases.
Wyatt Langford drew a walk in four trips to the plate.
Lo-A: Down East 2, at Charleston (TAM) 4
Down East: 7 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 23-24, 6 GB, 60-48 overall
SP Brock Porter: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 57 P / 37 S, 2.49 ERA
RP Kohel Drake: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 6.39 ERA
RF Quincy Scott: 3-4, 2B, .477/.511/.545
DH Anthony Calarco: 2-3, BB, .200/.256/.200
The usual for Brock Porter: five strikeouts and 14 swinging strikes against 15 batters, just two hits (both singles), but also three walks. Porter actually started the 4th but walked two straight after a Danyer Cueva error. Two runs would score on a Eury Rosado wild pitch and a sac fly.
Quincy Scott is off to a crazy start in Down East, batting .656 when he doesn’t strike out, reminding me of Ledarious Clark, a 2015 pick who began his pro career with a 19-game hit streak and a .377/.428/.685 line after 30 games. Scott will cool off, of course, but let’s hope he can avoid what happened to Clark next. The rest of that year, Clark hit only .173/.281/.252, and his career full-season line was .223/.324/.396. Clark had a couple of impressive seasons in the Atlantic League post-covid.
Today’s Starters
AAA: TBA
AA: Krauth
Hi-A: Teodo
Lo-A: B. Mendoza
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Spokane lost its fifth of six games at Vancouver minus the services of JP Martinez, Diosbel Arias, and Hasuan Viera, all Cubans and presumably unable to work in Canada at the time.