AAA: Round Rock 1, Reno (ARI) 3
Round Rock: 4 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 25-19, 3.5 GB
SP Peter Solomon: 3.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 66 HBP, 4 SO, 43 P / S, 2.79 ERA
RP Kyle Barraclough: 3 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 4.76 ERA
The Express lost the final game but won the the series, their fourth straight.
Texas optioned IF Davis Wendezel to AAA and will make a corresponding addition tomorrow. Wendzel’s MLB production was entirely at odds with what he’d done in the minors. In Round Rock, he’s been a high-power, high-angle, high-walk, high-strikeout type, while with the Rangers he didn’t walk into 29 trips to the plate, struck out only four times, and had a 50% grounder rate.
AA: Frisco 3, @ Amarillo (ARI) 2
Frisco: 7 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 6 walks, 16 strikeouts
Record: 24-14, 0.5 GB
SP Emiliano Teodo: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 7 SO, 76 P / 41 S, 2.20 ERA
RP Ricky Devito: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 5.54 ERA
1B Josh Hatcher: 2-4, HR (4), SB (5), .343/.385/.519
Emiliano Teodo walked five for the first time since last July but avoided extra-base hits for a sixth consecutive start. Opponents are batting .182/.308/.200. Only 59% of his pitches have been strikes, but only 59% of swings have resulted in contact. Keeping the bat on the shoulder and hoping for the best is a viable option.
Down 2-1 in the 7th, Josh Hatcher hit a solo homer to tie things, and Kellen Strahm (2-4) doubled and later scored on a balk in the 8th.
Hi-A: Hickory 4, Greensboro (PIT) 7
Hickory: 5 hits, 6 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 7 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 14-25, 7 GB
SP Aidan Curry: 3 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 7 R, 4 BB, 5 SO, 82 P / 45 S, 10.44 ERA
RP Adrian Rodriguez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 1.76 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.21 ERA
DH Alejandro Osuna: 3-5, .246/.313/.328
Aidan Curry’s streak of strong starts ended at one. Curry is missing plenty of bats and generating strikeouts at an above-average rate of 29%, but unlike Teodo, the contact has been ferocious.
Lo-A: Down East 3, Carolina (MIL) 2 (9)
Down East: 3 hits, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
SP Alejandro Rosario: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 73 P / 46 S, 2.21 ERA
RP Josh Trentadue: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 4.81 ERA
RP Victor Simeon: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 4.50 ERA
Lo-A: Down East 7, Carolina (MIL) 2 (7)
Down East: 8 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 20-18, 4.5 GB
SP Kolton Curtis: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 61 P / 36 S, 1.55 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.19 ERA
DH Arturo Disla: 3-4, 3 2B, .277/.396/.438
LF Tommy Specht: 1-2, 2B, BB, .191/.284/.225
Down East took five of six against the formerly division-leading Mudcats to bring them within shouting distance. The Woodies will play nine of the remaining 24 first-half games against Fredericksburg, the current leader.
Neither team led by more than a run until the 6th inning of Game 2, when Down East manad to score six on just three hits plus some patience and Carolina wildness. In the opener, Wady Mendez began the 9th on second, stole third, and scored the winner on a sac fly. (Doubleheaders are scheduled for seven innings, so teams get bonus runners beginning in the 8th.)
2023 5th-rounder Alejandro Rosario backslid into poor control his final year at Miami, but he’s walked only five in 20.1 pro innings while fanning 29.
Arturo Disla hit five doubles in the last three games to raise his total to 12, behind only Sandro Fabian’s org-leading 1
Elsewhere
37-year-old Zach Phillips, drafted by the Rangers in 2004’s 23rd round, is still active. He’s spent several seasons in Mexico after being released by the Cards in June 2017.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Nashville’s Pat Wisdom hit a three-run homer to extend the game at Round Rock beyond the top of the 9th. Swell, except my daughter and I were in line to run the bases. Hunter Cole also homered to place the Sounds ahead, and the Express didn’t score in the bottom half, so all ended well.